Wedding hand bells

Son of Bermuda's leader will stand trial in LA

2012-03-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

A doctor who is the son of Bermuda's leader was ordered to stand trial Wednesday on 33 counts of molesting female patients at Los Angeles medical clinics where he practiced.

The decision by Superior Court Judge William R. Hollingsworth Jr. came after a week of testimony from 12 women, including an undercover vice officer and a 15-year-old girl. They testified that Kevin Antario Brown, the 37-year-old son of Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown, touched them inappropriately. One woman said he raped her.

Brown is charged with 33 felony sex counts involving 12 alleged victims over five years. Last year, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He faces the possibility …

Blacks beat bias with guts, talent // Globetrotters featured some of best ever Series: COACH

2012-03-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

When the Harlem Globetrotters were founded in 1950, Ray Meyerwas asked to find some college players to compete against them. Eventhen, the Globetrotters were amazing players, but because they wereblack they found the doors to college teams closed to them. Theplight of black players is explored in Part III of this five-partseries excerpted from his autobiography, "COACH."

There was no better time for a pleasant diversion than the endof my first losing season (1949-50). Good fortune came my way in theperson of the little round man who had made a circus of basketball,Abe Saperstein, founder of the Harlem Globetrotters.

The previous spring, Saperstein had brought …

Phillies' Lee hit hard in five-run fourth

2012-03-15T02:31:00.000-07:00

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Cliff Lee gave up home runs to Juan Rivera and Edwin Encarnacion in a five-run fourth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 Thursday.

Lee had only allowed one baserunner to reach second base in the first three innings. Lee allowed five runs — three earned — and seven hits in four innings. He …

Health care issues: The 'trigger' public plan

2012-03-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

A look at key issues in the health care debate:

THE ISSUE: Would a so-called "trigger" or "fallback" public plan win enough votes to get some sort of government-run insurance option in any health care legislation Congress may pass?

THE POLITICS: The trigger option is seen as a possible compromise that would replace the idea of allowing the government to sell insurance in competition with private insurance. Many Democrats want the so-called public option but Republicans oppose it. The idea is that a public plan would kick in, or be triggered, only if private insurers fail to meet targets for providing affordable policies. Republican …

Rate rejection short-circuits Edison outlook

2012-03-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

When the Illinois Commerce Commission rejected CommonwealthEdison Co.'s controversial $660 million rate increase package twoweeks ago, Wall Street slammed its briefcase shut and took a hike ofa different sort.

Within minutes of the regulatory board's move, investment housesrapidly changed portfolio recommendations from an affirmative "buy"to a more cautious "hold" or "hold/sell." Standard & Poor's Corp.lowered ratings on Edison's senior debt and preferred stock asMoody's Investors Service said it was considering a downgrade.

Within days, Edison's stock fell more than 2 points. With some206 million shares outstanding, the drop meant a paper loss of about$515 …

NH's 10 Most Powerful People: Gary Long: The Original Power Broker

2012-03-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

As the president and COO of the state's largest electric utility, Gary Long is used to dealing with power. And Long will need his influence, and that of Public Service of NH, to move major projects through what can be contentious, and slow, approvals processes in Concord.

Long says finding ways to provide cleaner and greener energy is his highest priority in 2011. At the top of his agenda is making the Northern Pass project a reality, even though that will likely take several years to get through state and local red tape. The $1 billion project, a joint effort with Hydro Quebec, will allow NH to tap into renewable hydropower and create up to 1,200 construction jobs. But given that …

Swiss military plane nearly collided with civil aircraft on June 4

2012-03-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

The Swiss Air Force on Sunday confirmed a report that a Swiss military plane nearly collided with a business jet above Geneva earlier this month.

The F-18 Hornet fighter plane had been on a training flight on June 4 when it almost crashed with the civilian plane flying from Spain, Swiss Air Force spokesman Juerg Nussbaum said, confirming the report published Sunday in the weekly SonntagsZeitung.

He said the incident is being …

World mourns tireless crusader for liberty Believers of all faiths thankful for pope's work for peace

2012-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Quietly at home, or with heads bowed in church, people around theworld marked the death Saturday of Pope John Paul II, recalling himas a great leader who combined warmth with moral power, a call tocare for the poor with an emphasis on liberty.

Bells tolled at Roman Catholic churches across the nation, as theydid at the Vatican and around the world. In Paris, the bells of NotreDame Cathedral sounded 84 times -- once for each year of thepontiff's life.

Religious leaders of all faiths spoke out to honor the pope, asdid political leaders. Flags were lowered to half-staff; black bowsreplaced Easter wreaths at a Wisconsin cathedral.

"We will always remember the …

El Mega Fraude es Hugo Chávez

2012-03-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Ch�vez acusa a la oposici�n democr�tica venezolana de mega-fraude, pero realmente el �nico megafraude que existe en Venezuela se llama Hugo Ch�vez...

Cumpliendo respetuosamente con los t�rminos de la Constituci�n vigente, el pueblo venezolano acaba de presentar ante las autoridades competentes del Consejo Nacional Electoral, casi tres millones quinientas mil firmas solicitando la convocatoria a un referendum revocatorio, que ponga fin al mandato autoritario y sem�terrorista del presidente Ch�vez.

Las firmas requeridas por la Constituci�n para el acto revocatorio eran s�lo dos millones cuatrocientas mil, lo que quiere decir que se recogieron un mill�n de firmas adicionales …

Another teenage girl abandoned at Neb. hospital

2012-03-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

State officials say a 15-year-old girl left at an Omaha hospital is the 21st child abandoned under Nebraska's unique safe-haven law.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services' Todd Landry says the girl from Douglas County, Neb., was left Monday evening at Creighton University Medical Center.

Landry says the girl will remain in a residential shelter while her situation is investigated.

Nebraska's safe-haven law, which took effect in …

Back off bicyclists

2012-03-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

[On the police crackdown on bicycle riders:] One of the fattest,most congested, most polluted cities in the country cracks down onits trimmest, least numerous and greenest commuters.

If you think there are lots of complaints now, imagine ifbicyclers joined the flow of traffic in car lanes. Or imagine if wesat in the turn lane with five cars wanting to make a right behindus. We have been ordered to travel on the streets without anyprotection from the city. Drivers who complain are frustrated withthe system. They are frustrated that someone can turn pedals withtheir feet and get to work faster than them.

Why does …

GOP Concerns About Bush's War Policy

2012-03-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - The House Republican leader said Sunday that GOP support could waver if President Bush's Iraq war policy does not succeed by the fall.

But first, the president's troop increase deserves a shot, Minority Leader John Boehner said.

"We don't even have all of the 30,000 additional troops in Iraq yet, so we're supporting the president. We want this plan to have a chance of succeeding," said Boehner, R-Ohio.

"Over the course of the next three to four months, we'll have some idea how well the plan's working. Early signs are indicating there is clearly some success on a number of fronts," he said.

But, he added, "By the time we get to September or …

Corporate farming, redux ; By helping farmers till their land, Coromandel International has created a new revenue stream.

2012-03-14T02:50:00.000-07:00

At Cherlopalem village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, aninteresting sight awaits any visitor-uniformed farm hands eithertilling the land or transplanting rice seedlings. The fields look alot greener (read productive), too, and more orderly than those thatone usually sees in paddy-growing areas.

The fields belong to 48-year-old Tatineni Ramesh, who has 32acres in the village. He has no sons and his only daughter isstudying in one of the bigger cities of Andhra Pradesh. Untilrecently, Ramesh had to depend entirely on hired labour. Even thatchanged when hired hands became scarce as they flocked to work forschemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment GuaranteeAct offering better wages.

The predicament was the same for Ramesh's friend M. Raghuramaiah,55. His two sons have moved to a town to work in a private company."Our land is our pride -we own it. It cannot compare in intrinsicsatisfaction to what a private company can offer as salary," saysRaghuramaiah, hoping that his sons will one day come back.

In fact, many farmers in Nellore district are passionate abouttheir land. But they increasingly worry that with their children notready to take up farming and the ever increasing shortage of farmhands, they may have to exit farming altogether. But the seeds ofhope have been planted by the Rs 14,000-crore Murugappa Group, whichsaw in farmers distress a great opportunity to create an allnewrevenue stream by working more closely with them -its maincustomers.

"At our Mana Gromor centres, we were getting feedback about thefarmers' distress," says N.S.B. Hariprasad, Area Sales Manager,Retail Operations. Mana Gromor chain of retail stores were set up byCoromandel International, formerly Coromandel Fertilisers, to peddlefertilisers, pesticides and nutrients along with lifestyle productsto the farmers.

Coromandel drew up a unique model and decided to help farmers sowcrops for a fee of Rs 4,500 per acre. Unlike contract farming, itdid not involve taking over of the farmland on lease or buying backthe produce. The farmer remained in charge of the land, chose whathe wanted to grow and where to sell. All that Coromandel did was tohelp him sow the crop by using the latest machinery and advising himon the right mix of fertilisers, pesticides and nutrients.

In November 2009, Coromandel International began by handling 400acres around Nellore -ploughing the land and transplanting seedlingsusing imported machinery indigenised for the purpose. The idea wastremendously successful and soon demand rose to 1,200 acres for thenext season. The farmers happily paid for the service -they wererelieved to see a crop in their fields.

"For the coming season in November-December, we hope to do 6,000acres," says G. Raviprasad, Vice President for Fertilisers Sales andMarketing at Coromandel. He is very optimistic about covering100,000 acres as part of the first tranche of the company's plan"very quickly" once the business plans are finalised.

The reasons for the immediate success of the model are many.Fragmented landholdings deter farmers from investing inmechanisation as it is not viable. Murugappa Group found a way totap into this by spreading costs over many farmers. For instance,the conventional method of carrying the seedlings from the nurseryand then planting them by hand requires intense physical labour andis done mostly by women.

At least 12 women work for eight hours to cover an acre. The riceplanter, operated by two trained hands, does the job in two hours.The mechanised method also ensures better spacing leading to bettersunlight and aeration for the crop and so better growth than in theconventional method of transplanting.

Some farmers were even willing to pay another Rs 4,500 per acrefor completing the entire process of farming; harvesting, threshingand bagging. "We are now freeing the farmers to take up otheractivities such as dairy or poultry farming or shrimp cultivationand grow their income," says Raviprasad. In fact, large farmers likeRamesh Reddy, who owns 300 acres and had gone to become a governmentemployee, have expressed their intention to return to farming.

For the Murugappas, the tangible and intangible benefits aremany. Farmers do not mind waiting a day or two for the company'sconsignment of compost or fertiliser to arrive rather than buy areadily available brand from a competitor. Farmers are increasinglytaking to specialty chemicals (bio nutrients and pesticides) made bythe company. Coromandel expects sales of its compost to touch 90,000tonnes this year.

It helps the company since increasing sales of non-subsidiseditems such as compost fatten its margins. "Also, by selling themthings like footwear, T-shirts, and mixer grinders through the ManaGromor chain, we aim to lock them in to be with us completely," saysRaviprasad. That apart, there is also a new revenue stream to tap.The servicing income from paddy alone would eventually amount toseveral hundred crores.

The total potential is estimated to be around Rs 3,000 crore.Coromandel has a strong presence in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, AndhraPradesh and Chhattisgarh, which are predominantly rice-producingstates. The company is also considering extending the mechanisedmethod to other crops like maize and cotton. A. Vellayan, Chairman,Murugappa Group, is proud of this effort.

"We have sown many firsts in Coromandel. But this time, we havesown the beta seeds of farm mechanisation in the country, whichshould help in modernising agriculture," he says. Indeed, when anobsessive focus on productivity management is fast becoming areligion in Indian manufacturing, why should agriculture be leftbehind?

THE INITIATIVE

-- Coromandel International helps farmers with mechanisation offarm activities for a fee

-- Also provides the necessary farm hands

-- Offers farmers soil sampling and testing

-- Runs specialised retail stores to meet farmers' needs . theystock both farming and lifestyle products

THE OUTCOME

-- Gets deeper relationship with farmers that goes beyond pointof sale, ensuring brand loyalty and market share

-- Helps bring mechanisation into the country for betterproductivity

-- Addresses farmers' problems of shortage of hands, thereluctance of the next generation to work on farms and avoidoutright sale of farmlands

-- A new revenue stream for itself, and an opportunity to sellits products and other services, particularly financial services

Living with integrity

2012-03-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

In 2003, Mara Boyd was dismissed from the Air Force for being a lesbian. Now, she's fighting to remove the policy that changed life as she knew it

ANN ARBOR - Mar� Boyd can still remember the tenets of the United States Air Force, and she recites them proudly as mottos to live her life by: "Those core values are integrity first, service before self and excellence in all you do," Boyd shares from her Ann Arbor home. She lived them so vigorously - in and out of uniform - that when she came out to herself halfway through her University of Colorado ROTC program, living a He under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was not an option.

Stripped of her career, a college scholarship and her identity as an Air Force cadet, now Boyd uses her position to fight against the law that forced her to choose between her life in the service and her life as a lesbian. Years of speaking to groups and college classes culminated last month with an action of civil disobethence that landed Boyd, now 28, in a Washington, D.C. jail alongside five other ex-service members. And she's never been prouder.

Boyd's story is both unique, and common to over 13,000 people who have been dismissed under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" since its implementation in 1 993. Like most of the service members dismissed under the discriminatory policy, she voluntarily came out, sacrificing all she had worked for in order to live her life honestly.

"I needed to decide, unfortunately, unlike any other cadet has to, whether I was going to be able to negotiate lying," she says of her time in the ROTC program. "I soon experienced how hard it is to be closeted in the military. It's less about not telling or anyone asking . . . and more about constantly deceiving and actually pretending and creating an illusion that you are heterosexual."

The notion didn't jive with what Boyd had been taught in the Air Force, or with the example she wanted to set for others. Looking back, she says she ultimately has no regrets . "It was not the easiest road, I think, in a lot of ways," she says of her decision to come out. "However, I had to make peace with looking at myself in the mirror for the next five years, and I did what I had to do. It wasn't so much a choice as deciding whether to breathe or not."

But her actions now speak loudly for the woman she has become after being forced to reinvent her life. Her personal experience with DADT has led to speaking engagements, a passion for activism and, recently, her name on national television.

Boyd describes the April 20 action, in which she and five other uniformed officers handcuffed themselves to the White House fence, as a spurof-the moment decision she made to continue her activism.

"I went to listen to (Lt. Dan Choi's) speech at Eastern Michigan University and I met him afterward and we started a conversation about the coming week and it just sort of all happened very quickly," Boydrecalls. "They were organizing an event and I met him and within 48 hours, I was trying to organize a uniform and tie up loose ends and get out to D.C. in time for the event."

The action, organizedby the national LGBT grassroots group GetEQUAL, was the second of its kind protesting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." In March, Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo were arrested for similar actions; during the April 20 action, the outcome was no different.

For Boyd, the decision to participate was a simple one. "The opportunity and the timing was right, and it was a pretty easy choice, really," she said. "When you spend that large of a portion of your life dedicated to something, and you have an opportunity to continue to participate in a new way, it was a no-brainer."

The prospect of jail time aside, Boyd says the emotions that day ranged from anxious to proudto empowered. "It was very powerful," she describes of the action. "It was refreshing to be able to participate in another form of activism; it was refreshing to physically do something, to engage in a direct action to send a message."

Civil disobedience similar to Boyd's may be the way of the future for LGBT activism. Revved up by speeches like Choi's or experiences like the 2009 National March on Washington, more gay activists are choosing to take to the streets and test their limits, rather than donating to an organization they hope will garner their rights for them.

And with an administration that seems willing to listen, it's understandable why, says Boyd. "People are tired of waiting, especially now that we have leadership that can really create change."

But Boyd maintains that all forms of activism are necessary to get the job done, and if "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is repealed, she hopes to work for the military again - this time, helping to implement the new policy and educate soldiers.

Likewise, she says, activism on all LGBT issues needs to balance out direct action and education. "Multiple avenues of activism and demanding change and educating are essential," she insists. "A message needs to be sent to the president that the gay community is growing impatient with Hp service about change. We demand change and we expect change and we elected him to create the change he spoke of. We're ready for it."

And that, like the motto Boyd lives her life by, is the truth.

[Sidebar]

"It's so easy to look back and question things* It was not the easiest road, I think, in a lot of ways. However, I had to make peace with looking at myself in the mirror for the next five years, and I did what I had to do. It wasn't so much a choice as deciding whether to breathe or not."

Ann Arbor resident Mara Boyd took part in an April 20 action in which she and five other gay and lesbian service members handcuffed themselves to the White House fence to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The decision to participate, she says, was "a no-brainer." BTL photos by Emily Locklear.

US PGA-Stanford St Jude Championship Scores

2012-03-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

First Round

Boo Weekley 34-31_65

Tommy Armour III 33-33_66

Vijay Singh 33-34_67

Davis Love III 35-33_68

Sergio Garcia 35-33_68

Marc Turnesa 34-34_68

Craig Kanada 35-33_68

Cody Freeman 35-33_68

Justin Leonard 32-36_68

Stuart Appleby 32-36_68

Stephen Ames 34-35_69

Dean Wilson 35-34_69

Bart Bryant 34-35_69

Brandt Snedeker 37-32_69

Jonathan Byrd 36-33_69

Charley Hoffman 35-34_69

Michael Bradley 35-34_69

Alex Cejka 34-35_69

Brad Elder 35-34_69

Glen Day 35-34_69

Brett Rumford 35-34_69

Jason Dufner 35-34_69

Vance Veazey 34-35_69

Eric Axley 33-37_70

Dan Forsman 34-36_70

Mark Calcavecchia 36-34_70

Stephen Leaney 35-35_70

Ryan Palmer 37-33_70

J.P. Hayes 37-33_70

Jimmy Walker 33-37_70

Jason Allred 36-34_70

Michael Letzig 32-38_70

Scott Sterling 34-36_70

Jeff Overton 30-40_70

David Duval 33-37_70

Omar Uresti 35-35_70

Jeff Gove 36-34_70

Vaughn Taylor 36-34_70

Rich Beem 37-34_71

Jeff Maggert 34-37_71

Woody Austin 34-37_71

Scott Verplank 36-35_71

Lucas Glover 37-34_71

Marco Dawson 37-34_71

Webb Simpson 36-35_71

John Huston 35-36_71

Camilo Villegas 36-35_71

Brandt Jobe 35-36_71

Jay Williamson 36-35_71

Bill Haas 37-34_71

Kenny Perry 39-32_71

Padraig Harrington 35-36_71

Robert Allenby 36-35_71

Jim McGovern 36-35_71

Y.E. Yang 34-37_71

Tom Pernice, Jr. 38-34_72

Harrison Frazar 35-37_72

Bob Tway 36-36_72

Chris Smith 37-35_72

Chad Campbell 37-35_72

John Daly 37-35_72

Garrett Willis 37-35_72

Richard S. Johnson 36-36_72

Chris Rogers 35-37_72

Fred Funk 35-37_72

David Toms 37-35_72

Ken Duke 38-34_72

Tim Clark 32-40_72

Bob Burns 37-36_73

Fredrik Jacobson 36-37_73

Heath Slocum 37-36_73

Charles Howell III 37-36_73

Kevin Stadler 37-36_73

Robert Gamez 38-35_73

Tim Petrovic 36-37_73

Jay Delsing 38-35_73

Jin Park 36-37_73

Gavin Coles 38-35_73

Mike Heinen 35-38_73

Brenden Pappas 34-39_73

Patrick Sheehan 36-37_73

Larry Mize 37-36_73

Jesper Parnevik 37-36_73

Brian Davis 37-36_73

Bob Heintz 33-40_73

Kris Cox 33-40_73

Todd Demsey 36-37_73

Danny Briggs 38-35_73

Doug LaBelle II 38-35_73

Chris Riley 37-37_74

Cameron Beckman 37-37_74

Trevor Immelman 35-39_74

Tim Herron 36-38_74

Mark Brooks 38-36_74

Tag Ridings 38-36_74

Kevin Streelman 37-37_74

Brad Adamonis 36-38_74

Bob Estes 35-39_74

Troy Matteson 35-39_74

Shaun Micheel 39-35_74

Frank Lickliter II 37-37_74

Tom Byrum 37-37_74

Ron Whittaker 37-37_74

Paul Claxton 39-35_74

Richard Johnson 38-36_74

Dicky Pride 37-38_75

Mathias Gronberg 37-38_75

Tim Wilkinson 35-40_75

Retief Goosen 35-40_75

Tom Scherrer 38-37_75

John Riegger 37-38_75

Travis Perkins 35-40_75

Kyle Thompson 36-39_75

Casey Wittenberg 37-38_75

Ryan Armour 38-37_75

Bob May 36-39_75

Steve Lowery 38-37_75

Corey Pavin 38-37_75

Olin Browne 37-38_75

J.L. Lewis 38-37_75

Grant Waite 35-40_75

Chris Stroud 36-39_75

Justin Bolli 39-36_75

Charlie Wi 38-38_76

Brian Gay 39-37_76

Billy Andrade 36-40_76

Charles Warren 38-38_76

Craig Barlow 40-36_76

Bob Sowards 39-37_76

Chad Collins 41-35_76

Brent Geiberger 37-40_77

Jamie Lovemark 37-40_77

Scott McCarron 36-41_77

Carlos Franco 39-38_77

Ted Purdy 39-38_77

Chris DiMarco 39-38_77

Nicholas Thompson 37-40_77

Andrew Buckle 36-41_77

Jonathan Kaye 35-43_78

Cliff Kresge 35-43_78

Len Mattiace 40-38_78

Bo Van Pelt 35-43_78

Joe Durant 37-41_78

Lucas Wald 39-39_78

Martin Laird 39-39_78

John Morse 39-40_79

Russ Cochran 40-39_79

Jim Gallagher, Jr. 41-38_79

David Lutterus 38-41_79

Paul Goydos 40-40_80

Tommy Gainey 38-42_80

Notah Begay III 40-40_80

Steve Allan 36-47_83

Kelvin Burgin 41-43_84

Michael Allen DQ

No money for transit, but state might buy Wrigley Field?

2012-03-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Let me get this straight. The state has no money for mass transitfunding to get breadwinners to their jobs, but it somehow has thefunds to buy Wrigley Field ["Tax debt no bar to tollway deal," newsstory, Thursday]? If it's profitable, why doesn't Sam Zell want it?Or does Gov. Blagojevich need to give Al Chaib a new venue for hisfast-food outlets when the state finally yanks his tollway oasisfranchise?

Larry Schneider,

Buffalo Grove

THE NEW GENERATION

2012-03-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

ALAN TOBACK

Lake Toback & Yavitz.

Nine attorneys specializing in divorce.

Age: 42.

Years in biz: 18.

Famous clients: Loren Walgreen, Marisol Reynolds, $40 millionLotto winner Polly Andreen.

Strangest things clients fought over: The husband's baseball cardcollection. The wife said he collected them during the marriage. Shewas just doing it to be vindictive. We won on that point.

Most memorable cases: The Walgreen case. Both people wound upkilling themselves (through drug overdoses) before the case was over.The biggest rush in the case was getting custody for my client overthe Walgreens.

Pet Peeves: People really don't understand how difficult it is tobe a good and caring divorce lawyer. The perception of divorcelawyers is that we're not good people--that were the bottom of thebarrel. Some of the best lawyers I know are divorce lawyers.

Marital status: Married 18 years. It helps your marriage. Youlearn from other people's mistakes.

Retainer: $5,000 to $25,000.

Hourly Rate: $325 court / $300 office.

Best divorce lawyers in his opinion: My partners, Steve Lake, DaveYavitz. ENRICO `RICO' MIRABELLI

Nadler Pritikin & Mirabelli.

11 lawyers specializing in divorce law, including partners FloydNadler and James Pritikin

Age: 44.

Years in biz: 18.

Famous clients: Danny Bonaduce, Chicago school board chairman GeryChico. Strangest things clients fought over: A $100,000engagement ring. She broke off the engagement. My client, the man,got it back. We made jokes about could we get weekend visitation withthe ring.

Most memorable case: (My client) was shot at point blank range inthe face by his wife and survived. We got him an order of protection.When she got out of jail on bond, she went back with a larger weaponand shot him and this time killed him. I always wished there wassomething I could have done.

Pet Peeve: People who call me just to see if I'm thinking abouttheir case. Marital Status: Happily married.

Retainer $7,500.

Hourly rate: $300.

Best divorce lawyers in his opinion: James Pritikin, Floyd Nadler,Mike Kalcheim, Bernie Rinella and Don Schiller

DAVE PASULKA

Pasulka & Associates.

Two attorneys specializing in divorce law.

Age: 40.

Years in biz: 16.

Famous clients: Judd and Jeanne Malkin; was the court-appointedattorney for children in two Scottie Pippin paternity cases; otherNBA players Gary Payton, Kendall Gill, LaSalle Thompson; embryos inthe Margaret Hale/Tod Ginestra case.

Strangest things clients fought over: dog custody, dog visitation.

Most memorable case: What people do in terms of putting kids inthe middle of divorce is sickening. I just represented a 16-year-oldgirl Her earliest memory in her life, when she was 3, 4, 5 years old,her dad was downstairs telling her to come sleep with him. Her momwas upstairs telling her to come sleep with her. This little girlwalked halfway up the stairs and slept there as a compromise.

Pet peeve: lawyers who assume with no first-hand knowledge thattheir clients are 100 percent correct.

Marital status: Happily married for 14 years.

Retainer: $5,000.

Hourly rate: $350.

Best divorce lawyers in his opinion: I know so many qualifiedlawyers. William White, Alan Toback, ``Rico'' Mirabelli, BernieRinella, Jim Feldman, Sandra Murphy.

Israeli Air Strike Kills 5 in Hamas House

2012-03-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli warplanes killed five people in an attack early Wednesday on a Gaza City meeting of Hamas commanders, Israelis and Palestinians said, while Israel's military expanded an offensive in the region with an incursion in the southern Gaza Strip.

The military said it attacked the Gaza City residence because it was a "meeting place for terrorists." It also confirmed Israeli forces were operating in southern Gaza as part of an effort to win the release of a captured soldier.

With tanks and troops on the move in the south, a huge explosion destroyed the house of Hamas activist Dr. Nabil al-Salmiah. Health Minister Bassem Naim said at least five people were killed including two children, and 27 wounded. He said the number of body parts had led to earlier statements that seven were killed.

Nervous Hamas officials carefully inspected the bodies, saying a senior Hamas commander was among the wounded but they did not know who was killed.

The Israeli military said the house was targeted because it was being used to plan attacks and rocket launching. Palestinians said a high-level meeting of Hamas commanders was going on inside the building just before the airstrike.

Palestinian rescue teams dodged broken water pipes and electricity wires to get to injured people screaming for help. The scene resembled the aftermath of a 2002 attack, when an Israeli warplane dropped on one-ton bomb on the house of a Hamas leader in Gaza, killing him and 14 other people, including nine children.

A neighbor, Safwan Amamour, 39, said he and his wife were cleaning their house next door when they heard a huge explosion, and he was hit by flying rubble.

As doctors stitched a cut next to his eye, he recounted grisly scenes of dismembered bodies. "No words can describe this destruction, this hellish damage, which I will remember of the rest of my life," he said.

Hamas official Ismail Radwan pledged to hit back at Israel. "It was a terrible, bloody massacre, and the Zionists will pay a heavy price for it," he said.

The expansion of the Gaza offensive came hours after Israeli leaders authorized incursions into areas of the territory they have not yet entered.

Palestinians said they saw Israeli bulldozers leveling farmland and tanks moving across the border near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The military ordered Palestinian security to leave their forward positions in the area.

The Israelis have not entered Khan Younis during the current offensive. Before Tuesday, Israeli forces had entered southern and northern Gaza and have approached Gaza City.

Israel launched its offensive on June 28, three days after Palestinian militants linked to the Hamas-led government captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid. The operation was expanded last week to halt Palestinian militants from firing homemade rockets into Israel.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense minister, Amir Peretz, ordered the new incursions into Gaza after Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Monday he would not free the captive soldier, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit, security officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.

Mashaal called Shalit a prisoner of war and demanded a prisoner swap - which Olmert has ruled out.

Responding to Mashaal's statement, Shalit's father, Noam, called on Hamas to allow the Red Cross to visit his son. Under Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross is supposed to have access to prisoners of war.

Israel has demanded the unconditional release of its soldier to end the offensive.

The invasion - Israel's largest ground operation in Gaza since withdrawing from the area last year - has caused widespread destruction, knocked out much of Gaza's power supply and left more than 50 Palestinians dead, most of them gunmen. One Israeli soldier has died.

The European Union began delivering aid to Gaza in a bid to repair some of the damage. Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he had received $50 million from the Arab League.

It was the first aid delivered under internationally backed funding restrictions that bypass the Palestinian government led by the militant group Hamas since March.

Officials said the money had bypassed Hamas because of the international boycott. The European Union, along with Israel and the U.S., considers Hamas a terrorist group.

Mohammed Awad, the Palestinian Cabinet secretary, said Hamas agreed to allow Abbas to handle the money. He said the funds would be used to pay civil servants, who have not received salaries in four months.

The European Commission said it has started delivering $765,000 in monthly aid to hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said the funds - to purchase fuel for emergency generators at Gaza hospitals - was requested by Abbas after Israel destroyed six transformers at a power plant during its Gaza offensive. Gaza now has only sporadic electricity, almost all of it provided by Israel.

In Gaza, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said the area is "on the verge of a genuine humanitarian crisis."

"There are shortages of food, fuel and essential needs of Palestinian citizens," he told his Cabinet, calling on the United Nations, Arab League, Muslim countries and the rest of the international community to help.

Also on Tuesday, a 15-month-old Palestinian boy injured in an Israeli missile strike last month died of his wounds at an Israeli hospital.

Tajik security forces kill insurgent

2012-03-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) — Security forces in Tajikistan killed a fugitive Islamist insurgent and arrested another in an armed standoff, the Central Asian nation's Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

A policeman was also killed during a special operation that took place in a village in the mountainous eastern Tavildara district Monday, Interior Ministry chief of staff Tohir Normatov said.

The two militants were among 25 inmates who fled from a high-security detention facility last August after a daring breakout in the capital, Dushanbe, in which six prison guards were killed. All but one of the escaped convicts have been either killed or recaptured.

Police attempted to arrest the two men but faced armed resistance, after which they opened fire, Normatov said.

Normatov said two Kalashnikov assault rifles and a Makarov pistol were also seized during the operation.

Two police were also wounded in the clash, Normatov said.

Tajikistan, which shares a long and poorly defended border with Afghanistan, has been plagued in recent years by an Islamist-inspired insurgency in the remote eastern Rasht Valley.

The Central Asian nation's security forces have scored a number of notable successes in the conflict this year, including the killing in April of elusive militant leader Abdullo Rakhimov, also known by his nom de guerre Mullo Abdullo. Fourteen other militants were also killed during the same raid.

Authorities say militants led by Rakhimov carried out last year's ambush on a military convoy in which at least 25 soldiers were killed.

In January, authorities reported killing Islamist fighter Alovuddin Davlatov, who was also believed to have been involved in the military convoy attack.

Strasburg sees no use in studying past No. 1 flops

2012-03-13T05:36:00.000-07:00

Relaxation is on Stephen Strasburg's agenda for the summer. History, apparently, is not.

Asked about the spotty success rate of No. 1 draft picks over the years, the latest to claim that mantle said Wednesday he's not inclined to learn from other people's mistakes.

"I'm sorry, but what would I learn from other top picks?" Strasburg said in a conference call with reporters. "Obviously, I watch guys that have made it to the big leagues. I don't plan on being the top pick and then not being successful in the big leagues.

"I obviously want to take my game to the next level and I believe that I've learned how to work hard in college and I hope to carry that over."

The mega-hyped right-hander from San Diego State was selected Tuesday by the mega-bad Washington Nationals. Now comes a summer of negotiation and relaxation. The player will be the one doing the relaxing, while agent Scott Boras and the Nationals work out what is expected to be a record-setting contract.

"There's obviously a few places I'd like to go, and just relax this summer and have fun," said Strasburg, who spent last summer playing in the Olympics and just completed his college season with the Aztecs. "It'll be good to have a little rest time, especially after the big workload I had the previous year. It'll be a good summer to be able to lift and get stronger and have the summer I haven't had in a while."

Strasburg said he hasn't followed the Nationals and hasn't visited the nation's capital since he was a kid. That might be for the best, given the team's worst-in-majors 15-41 record headed into Wednesday's game against the Cincinnati Reds.

Boras, meanwhile, made it clear he feels where his client stands headed into the contract talks. The agent put Strasburg in the category of "a different breed of cat," belonging in the one percent of the draft class that is low risk and worthy of big payoffs.

"An extraordinary player receiving a substantial bonus far above other draft picks has happened before ... Obviously Stephen falls into that class of players," Boras said. "They just happen to have that extraordinary ability."

Boras wouldn't give numbers, but he's expected to ask for a package worth several times the value of the current high-water mark of $10.5 million that Mark Prior received in 2001. The Nationals have already started their counteroffensive, saying they're not going to throw baseball's salary structure out of whack for one player and that the expectations surrounding Strasburg have reached unrealistic proportions.

The Nationals, however, are hardly in a good bargaining position. They need talent in the worst way, and they forfeited the pitcher they chose No. 9 overall a year ago _ Aaron Crow _ when they couldn't get him signed by the Aug. 15 deadline.

Both sides say they want to get a deal done, but say they have contingency plans if it doesn't.

"If that does not happen," Boras said, "you then would look to all the available resources one would have to evaluate what the next step is."

For Strasburg, that could mean playing independent ball or going to Japan while he waits for his name to re-enter the pool for next year's draft.

Assuming the contract does gets done, Strasburg knows of another hurdle he'll face _ jealously.

"I'm sure there'll be a little hostility," Strasburg said. "I'm sure there'll be a lot of hostility for other first-round draft picks who just signed big contracts. It's something you're just going to have to deal with."

`Paranormal Activity' slays `Saw' with $22 million

2012-03-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

"Paranormal Activity" has won a weekend battle of fright films over part six of the "Saw" franchise.

The upstart chiller "Paranormal Activity" went into nationwide release and took over the No. 1 spot with $22 million. That compares to just $14.8 million for the debut of "Saw VI," a franchise that has been an annual fixture before the October Halloween holiday since 2004.

It was the worst opening ever for Lionsgate's "Saw" series, whose previous low was $18.3 million for the original movie. Subsequent installments of the "Saw" franchise all opened at $30 million or better.

This time, horror fans simply gravitated toward "Paranormal Activity" instead of "Saw VI."

"`Paranormal' ate their lunch," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "There's no other way to explain it."

After four weeks in narrower release, distributor Paramount slotted "Paranormal Activity" into 1,945 theaters. That still was just under two-thirds of the 3,036 theater count for "Saw VI."

"Paranormal Activity" raised its total haul to $62.5 million. The low-budget movie was shot for a reported $15,000 but has become a horror sensation because of online fan buzz.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the Warner Bros. tale "Where the Wild Things Are," fell to No. 3, just behind "Saw VI" with $14.4 million. Spike Jonze's adaptation of the beloved children's book by Maurice Sendak raised its total to $54 million.

Among other wide releases, Summit Entertainment's "Astro Boy" opened at No. 6 with $7 million, Universal's "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" debuted at No. 8 with $6.3 million and Fox Searchlight's "Amelia" premiered at No. 11 with $4 million.

Rare, prehistoric-age reptile found nesting in NZ

2012-03-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.

Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday, conservation manager Rouen Epson said.

"The nest was uncovered by accident and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Epson said. "It suggests that there may be other nests in the sanctuary we don't know of."

Tuatara, dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 32 inches, are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.

They have unique characteristics, such as two rows of top teeth closing over one row at the bottom. They also have a pronounced parietal eye, a light-sensitive pineal gland on the top of the skull. This white patch of skin _ called its "third eye" _ slowly disappears as they mature.

A native species to New Zealand, tuatara were nearly extinct on the country's three main islands by the late 1700s due to the introduction of predators such as rats. They still live in the wild on 32 small offshore islands cleared of predators.

A population of 70 tuatara was established at the Karori Sanctuary in 2005. Another 130 were released in the sanctuary in 2007.

The sanctuary, a 620-acre wilderness minutes from downtown Wellington, was established to breed native birds, insects and other creatures securely behind a predator-proof fence.

Empson said that the four eggs _ the size of pingpong balls _ were unearthed Friday but that there were likely more because the average nest contains around ten eggs.

The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing incubation.

If all goes well, juvenile tuatara could hatch any time between now and March, she said.

Obama cites progress on energy, health care

2012-03-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama says agreement on an energy bill and a promise by interest groups to squeeze trillions of dollars in savings from the health care system show that change has come to Washington.

Some of those most opposed to past attempts at health care overhaul pledged this week to reduce the annual rate of growth in such spending by 1.5 percentage points, for a promised savings of $2 trillion in the next decade.

Weeks of negotiations have led to the introduction in the House of an energy proposal that, for the first time, would mandate reductions in the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming and shift the country toward cleaner sources of energy.

Obama campaigned for president on a promise to change the way Washington works.

He said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address that he was heartened by the "willingness of those with different points of view and disparate interests to come together around common goals, to embrace a shared sense of responsibility and make historic progress."

Obama singled out utility companies and health insurers, doctors and hospitals for coming to the table.

"I have always believed that it is better to talk than not to talk, that it is far more productive to reach over a divide than to shake your fist across it," he said. "This has been an alien notion in Washington for far too long, but we are seeing that the ways of Washington are beginning to change."

Both agreements, in the long term, will strengthen an economy experiencing its worst days since the Great Depression, Obama said.

The climate bill will help create millions of jobs producing wind turbines and solar panels, and developing alternative fuels with the goal of reducing U.S. reliance on foreign energy sources, he said. Controlling health care costs will make businesses more competitive and give families more money to save or spend.

Republicans said they agree with Obama that the health care system needs an overhaul.

But they warned against offering consumers an option for health insurance that would be run by the government and replace employer-based coverage, saying it could have "devastating consequences" that include limits on care and higher taxes.

"A government takeover of health care will put bureaucrats in charge of health care decisions that should be made by families and doctors," Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana said in the Republican radio and Internet message.

"It will limit treatment options and lead to rationed care. And to pay for government health care your taxes will be raised," said Boustany, a cardiovascular surgeon and member of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group. "That is something we cannot support, and frankly, it would clearly violate some of the principles the president himself has endorsed."

Obama said during an appearance in New Mexico this week that his goal is to improve the existing system, not replace it.

___

On the Net:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov

Video of GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vEDkFaAAIGSQ

Riesch leads Mancuso in downhill training

2012-03-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Maria Riesch of Germany led the opening training session Wednesday for the annual World Cup downhill in Cortina, as she looks to increase her lead in the overall standings.

Riesch clocked 1 minute, 41.67 seconds down the twisty Olympia delle Tofane course.

Olympic silver medalist Julia Mancuso of the United States was second, 0.51 seconds behind, and local hope Daniele Merighetti of Italy was third, 0.62 back.

Riesch holds a 1,023-827 lead over American rival Lindsey Vonn in the overall standings ahead of two super-G's and one downhill this weekend.

Vonn was fastest through the first checkpoint of her run, but then coasted the rest of the way and placed 29th, more than four seconds behind Riesch.

Serena Williams advances to French quarterfinals

2012-03-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

Serena Williams dispensed with any drama and won easily Monday to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open.

The No. 2-seeded Williams extended her Grand Slam winning streak to 18 matches by beating Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-2 in the fourth round.

It was a straightforward, 53-minute victory, in contrast to Williams' previous match, when she accused her opponent of cheating and had a coughing fit during a changeover.

Williams is seeking her 11th major title and third in a row. She won last year's U.S. Open and the Australian Open in January.

Her next opponent will be No. 7-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian, winner of the 2004 U.S. Open, advanced by beating No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Kuznetsova hit 32 winners to 13 for Radwanska.

The tournament's final week began in perfect weather _ mild and sunny _ and Williams was close to flawless, too. She committed only eight unforced errors and totaled 25 winners to nine for Wozniak.

The rout was nothing like her three-set match in the third round, when Williams accused opponent Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of cheating, saying the Spaniard failed to admit that a shot had bounced off her arm on a critical point.

Williams _ at 27, the oldest woman to reach the round of 16 _ reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the sixth time. She won her only French Open title in 2002.

The aftershock of Rafael Nadal's upset loss Sunday will be felt throughout the final week of the tournament. With the four-time defending champion eliminated by Robin Soderling, those hoping to take advantage of Nadal's departure included Roger Federer, seeking the only Grand Slam title he has yet to win.

Federer was scheduled to play Tommy Haas in a fourth-round match Monday. Also seeking his first berth in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros was Andy Roddick of the United States, who was to play Gael Monfils of France.