Dad's death shock [Edition 4]

BRYNAMAN A 27-year-old dad of one has collapsed and died afterfalling ill at a briefing …

Meszaros, Sens Rally Past Rangers 3-2

NEW YORK - Andrej Meszaros' bank shot off the stick of New York Rangers defenseman Marek Malik snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory Tuesday night.

Meszaros rushed up the slot and took a shot that connected with Malik's stick, hit the right post and caromed past Henrik Lundqvist with 8:48 left. The defenseman hadn't scored in 21 games.

Ottawa, which erased a 2-0 …

Christian Camargo stars in a stylish 'Hamlet'

The current off-Broadway revival of "Hamlet" is modern, streamlined and primarily black and white, but there is plenty of color, as always, in the centuries-old richness of Shakespeare's words.

Christian Camargo acquits himself admirably as Hamlet, the young Danish prince whose dead father's ghost tells tell him that he was killed by his own brother Claudius. Hamlet was already disgusted by the "wicked spectacle" of his mother so quickly marrying Claudius within two months of his father's death. Now he must contend with his father's desire for revenge and with the treachery of nearly everyone in his life.

Appropriately dark and broody, …

Scowcroft sees Soviet peril // Says crisis threatens arms talks

WASHINGTON President Bush's national security adviser said Mondaythat Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was "in deep trouble" and"very unpopular" at home and that the current pullback from reformcould trigger a new period of "sterile relations and some hostility"between the superpowers.

Brent Scowcroft assessed the crisis in the Soviet Union inexceptionally blunt terms as he also renewed the administration'swarning that it would not sign a strategic arms reduction treaty, orSTART, with Moscow until disagreements over the interpretation of thenew conventional arms accord are cleared up.

In a speech here to the European Council of the AmericanChambers of …

Jordan militant demands release of terror suspects

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The brother of a Jordanian militant who killed seven CIA workers in Afghanistan demanded Sunday that Jordan's government release terrorist suspects.

Mohammed al-Balawi warned that militants will "hunt down" Jordanian authorities who he accused of torturing detainees.

"I'm sending this clear warning to the Jordanian government: Release all the Muslim (militant) detainees and prisoners, or you will open a door nobody will be able to close," al-Balawi said. He declined to elaborate. Jordanian jihadists typically use the word "Muslim" to describe members of their movement, whose hard-line members see themselves as the true followers of Islam.

His threat …

English Soccer Results

Results Sunday in English soccer (home teams listed first):

Premier …

Freezer death: trial date set

Bristol: Matthew Roberts, aged 28, formerly of Hanham, deniesmurdering Mr Heal between January 3 and January 14 this year.

Yesterday at Bristol Crown Court, the Honourable Mr Justice Royceadjourned the case pending a trial set for March 7 next year.Roberts was remanded in custody.

AVONMOUTH: Firefighters were called to Bristol Vending Services onBurcott Road at about 10pm yesterday.

An electrical fault in a Ford Escort next to the building causedthe car to go up in flames. The fire spread to the building, guttinghalf the ground-floor office. The first floor of the buildingsuffered smoke …

China: Import tariff on PTA reduced sharply

The State Council Tariff Commission has notified customs in all ports that the import tariff on PTA has been revised to 8%, while that on EG has been reduced to 7%. These reductions are consistent with China's promise of progressive reductions in tariffs …

Parents of captured Israeli soldier move to block deal with Hamas while son remains captive

The parents of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas-allied militants petitioned Israel's supreme court Saturday night to block a truce deal with the militant group so long as their son remains in captivity.

Noam and Aviva Schalit petitioned the court on behalf of their son, claiming that part of the deal included opening the Gaza Strip's crossings. They said this would allow their son's captors to smuggle him out and harm efforts to free him.

As part of their petition, the Schalits published a handwritten letter, penned by their son, which was delivered to the family two weeks ago by representatives of former President Jimmy Carter.

Gilad Schalit was …

Jackson fined $10,000 for missing hearing in sex assault lawsuit

NEW ORLEANS -- An irate judge, miffed by Michael Jackson's failureto have his lawyer show up for a hearing in a civil case, fined thesinger $10,000 on Wednesday.

Jackson was a no-show and had no lawyer present at a July hearingin the case accusing him of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old manduring the 1984 World's Fair. Jackson denies the accusations.

Jackson attorney Charles F. Gay Jr. told U.S. District Judge EldonFallon on Wednesday that the summons for the court date was simplylost in the confusion of Jackson's child molestation trial inCalifornia. The summons for the New Orleans court …

New camp policy accepted by WSD

Mennonite Church Manitoba

A new Camps with Meaning (CwM) guest group policy has been accepted by the Winnipeg School Division (WSD). This means that, after a nearly two-year disruption, WSD schools can again book trips to the three camps. Contacts are being made to renew relationships with school groups that have rented CwM facilities in the past.

In the fall of 2003, the school board instructed its schools that CwM facilities were not on its "approved" list. This ruling was based on MC Manitoba's guest group policy in place at the time, which the school division deemed to be inconsistent with its own policies of inclusion. The school board ruling was part of a wider issue …

Taiwan to expand official travel to China

Taiwan will soon allow senior Cabinet officials to visit China, and is considering lifting a ban on military personnel traveling to the mainland, a government official said Saturday.

The statement by Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liu Te-shun, a Cabinet-level agency in charge of implementing Taiwan's China policy, is the latest step in rapidly warming ties between Taiwan and rival China.

Under current rules only mid-ranking officials from Liu's council, or officials invited by international organizations to attend forums in China, can visit the mainland.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Liu said Taiwan will let senior Cabinet …

Play mistry for me

Family Matters, by Rohinton Mistry. New York: Knopf. 448 pages. $26.

Family Matters sounds less like a name for a novel than for a whole tradition in fiction, extending from Jane Austen's Bennetts to Trollope's Pallisers and, now, to Rohinton Mistry's Chenoys. But for several generations the Family Matters novel has largely been shunted aside by the twentieth-century triumph of a rival fictional school whose slogan is Stream of Consciousness and which has produced Woolf, Joyce, and Proust. The first sort of novel is concrete, social, and builds character from the outside in; the second, seemingly more modern sort moves from the inside out.

Reading Mistry, however, helps us realize that the shift from realist to modernist fiction in English has as much to do with social change as with progress in technique. Bath and Barchester were minutely hierarchical, densely grained, self-- contained worlds, where the position of each character on the grids of birth and wealth could be, and had to be, exactly charted. In the West in the twentieth century, such distinctions became at once less dear and less important, and the drama of social elevation or decline less gripping. For Lydia Bennett to run off with her officer lover meant total disgrace, ostracism, and disinheritance; for a young woman in contemporary London or New York, it's a learning experience. Character can be explored from within because it is no longer so rigorously imposed from without.

The excitement of Rohinton Mistry's new novel-his third, following A Fine Balance, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize-is that it discovers, in our own day, a place where the traditional novel is once again possible. That the place is Bombay, one of the many cities long plundered to equip Barchester's clergy with their fat incomes, adds a deep irony to Family Matters; but Mistry is a good enough writer to acknowledge this irony without making it his subject. Indeed, a running theme of the book is the way its central plot-the story of two connected families, the Vakeels and the Chenoys, and their travails with love and money-is nearly overwhelmed by the political and historical world that surrounds it. Austen said that her novels were carved from a few inches of ivory, but Mistry's ivory is set atop several feet of splintery wood and spiked steel. Yet he does not allow this to make the drama of personal life seem irrelevant, a bourgeois luxury. In this, he shows himself to be a profoundly humane and, in the classic sense, liberal writer: one who acknowledges that the core of human life is in the everyday, immediate, and personal.

The drama of Family Matters takes place over several months in the mid-'90s, as the family of the aged Nariman Vakeel tries to cope with his drastic decline into Parkinson's disease. As the story opens, he is living in a roomy apartment with his stepchildren, the timorous Jal and the cold, grievance-hoarding Coomy; his truly beloved daughter, Roxana, lives with her husband, Yezad, and her two children in a tiny flat. It is a declaration of war when Coomy, stuffed with old resentments and disgusted by her father's stinks and effluvia, carts him over to Roxana's for three weeks of recuperation.

In doing so, Coomy marks herself out as the egoist, the miser, the emotional cripple, whom Dickens in particular taught readers to see as the archetypal novelistic villain. Other peripheral characters are also Dickensian in their flatness and comic repetitiveness: above all, the handyman Edul Munshi, a fine creation, whose enthusiasm for DIY as an ideology is matched by his total incompetence at every project he undertakes.

Such characters do not really change, and so they cannot be at the center of the novel. The soul at stake in Family Matters is that of Yezad Chenoy, husband of Roxana and manager of the Bombay Sporting Goods Emporium. His fate will be determined by two linked challenges: how to find the money to care for "the chief," installed on his settee and filling his apartment with foul odors; and how to resist the resentment, personal and political, this new responsibility kindles in him. This kind of reflective, bourgeois character is the classic protagonist for the novel, replacing the heroes and gods of ancient epics, and Roxana makes this literary genealogy explicit:

So in the morning he was ready again, armed with optimism. She watched him return to the fray, knowing how it would end in the evening, and knowing that he knew it too, and yet he persevered. Then she felt her husband was as brave and strong as any Rustam or Sohrab, her hero, whose mundane exploits deserved to be recorded in his very own Shah-Nama ....

The Shah-Nama is an epic Persian poem, and it is the appropriate reference, since the Vakeel-Chenoy clan are all Parsis-that is, Indians of Persian descent who practice the pre-Islamic religion of Zoroastrianism. The demands of that faith, and its iron prohibition against intermarriage, are central to the novel. But Yezad's challenge is actually more difficult than a heroic quest, since it has no goal or conclusion: It is a matter of maintaining one's faith and decency day after day.

That struggle is particularly hard in contemporary Bombay, Mistry shows us, because of the abominable state-half ridiculous, half terrifying-of Indian politics. Petty corruption and graft are everywhere-one character suggests that the Indian national emblem should be a suitcase stuffed with cash-and the rising political force is the Hindu nationalist BJP, associated with the thugs of Shiv Sena, an organization Mistry portrays as only slightly better than the Nazi Brownshirts. Yezad has it bad on both fronts. As a non-Hindu, he is a potential target for extortion and violence; as a model-minority Parsi, he holds himself to high standards of honesty and accomplishment. Thus he cannot bring himself even to play the lottery without guilt, much less smile at clients who ask for kickbacks or at his boss's under-the-table cash transactions.

Exactly how this fraught situation develops is the substance of the novel, and Mistry's deft plotting shouldn't be revealed in advance. Suffice it to say that the book is finally a comedy, or at least a comedy with a tragicomic epilogue; by the end, Roxana can say that "when she looked back over all the events that had led them to this evening, it was almost proof of divine power in the universe...." From the novelist's point of view, of course, there is no divine power at work, only the intertwined powers of the city, the family, and the soul, which together spin out each individual's fate. By giving each of these three elements its due but reserving his final interest for the soul, Mistry incarnates much of what is best and most neglected in traditional English fiction.

[Sidebar]

Austen said that her novels were carved from a few inches of ivory, but Mistry's ivory is set atop several feet of splintery wood and spiked steel. Yet he does not make the drama of personal life seem irrelevant.

[Author Affiliation]

Adam Kirsch's first book of poems, The Thousand Wells, has just been published by Ivan R. Dee.

Colleges are allowing coed dorm rooms

Erik Youngdahl and Michelle Garcia share a dorm room at Connecticut's Wesleyan University. But they say there's no funny business going on. Really. They mean it.

They have set up their beds side-by-side like Lucy and Ricky in "I Love Lucy," and avert their eyes when one of them is changing clothes.

"People are shocked to hear that it's happening and even that it's possible," said Youngdahl, a 20-year-old sophomore. But "once you actually live in it, it doesn't actually turn into a big deal."

In the prim 1950s, college dorms were off-limits to members of the opposite sex. Then came the 1970s, when male and female students started crossing paths in coed dormitories. Now, to the astonishment of some Baby Boomer parents, a growing number of colleges are going even further: coed rooms.

At least two dozen schools, including Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, Oberlin College, Clark University and the California Institute of Technology, allow some or all students to share a room with anyone they choose _ including someone of the opposite sex. This spring, as students sign up for next year's room, more schools are following suit, including Stanford University.

As shocking as it sounds to some parents, some students and schools say it's not about sex.

Instead, they say the demand is mostly from heterosexual students who want to live with close friends who happen to be of the opposite sex. Some gay students who feel more comfortable rooming with someone of the opposite sex are also taking advantage of the option.

"It ultimately comes down to finding someone that you feel is compatible with you," said Jeffrey Chang, a junior at Clark in Worcester, Mass., who co-founded the National Student Genderblind Campaign, a group that is pushing for gender-neutral housing. "Students aren't doing this to make a point. They're not doing this to upset their parents. It's really for practical reasons."

Couples do sometimes room together, an arrangement known at some schools as "roomcest." Brown explicitly discourages couples from living together on campus, be they gay or straight. But the University of California, Riverside has never had a problem with a roommate couple breaking up midyear, said James C. Smith, assistant director for residence life.

Most schools introduced the couples option in the past three or four years. So far, relatively few students are taking part. At the University of Pennsylvania, which began offering coed rooms in 2005, about 120 out of 10,400 students took advantage of the option this year.

At UC Riverside, which has approximately 6,000 students in campus housing, about 50 have roommates of the opposite sex. The school has had the option since 2005.

Garcia and Youngdahl live in a house for students with an interest in Russian studies. They said they were already friendly, and didn't think they would be compatible with some of the other people in the house.

"I had just roomed with a boy. I was under the impression at the time that girls were a little bit neater and more quiet," Youngdahl said. "As it turns out, I don't see much of a difference from one sex to the other."

Garcia, 19, admitted: "I'm incredibly messy."

Parents aren't necessarily thrilled with boy-girl housing.

Debbie Feldman's 20-year-old daughter, Samantha, is a sophomore at Oberlin in Ohio and plans to room with her platonic friend Grey Caspro, a straight guy, next year. Feldman said she was shocked when her daughter told her.

"When you have a male and female sharing such close quarters, I think it's somewhat delusional to think there won't be sexual tension," the 52-year-old Feldman said. "Maybe this generation feels more comfortable walking around in their underwear. I'm not sure that's a good thing."

Still, Feldman said her daughter is partly in college to learn life lessons, and it's her decision. Samantha said she assured her mom she thinks of Caspro as a brother.

"I'm really close to him, and I consider him one of my really good friends," she said. "I really trust him. That trust makes it work."

Chinese imports bully Indian SMEs ; Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are caught in a vice- like grip of monumental proportions, if a recent FICCI survey is to be believed.

Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are caught in a vice-like grip of monumental proportions, if a recent FICCI survey is tobe believed. They are up against rising imports from China which arereaching Indian markets at prices lower by 10-70 per cent of theirIndian counterparts.

Over two-thirds of the surveyed firms have reported seriousinjury to their businesses. India has not offered the market economystatus to China, as there are serious distortions and lack oftransparency in the pricing of products that come out of any Chinesefactory.

Dhiman Chattopadhyay

Libyan rebels push front line closer to Tripoli

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan rebels said they were less than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Moammar Gadhafi's main stronghold of Tripoli on Sunday, a day after opposition fighters launched their first attack on the capital itself.

Fighters said a 600-strong rebel force that set out from Zawiya has reached the outskirts of the village of Jedaim and was coming under heavy fire from regime forces on the eastern side of the town.

Murad Dabdoub, a fighter who returned to Zawiya from the front, told The Associated Press that Gadhafi's forces were pounding rebel positions with rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft fire.

The rebels' arrival at Jedaim was also confirmed by Abdul-Bari Gilan, a doctor in Zawiya. He told the AP that he had treated a rebel who was wounded in the fighting at Jedaim.

An AP reporter in Tripoli, meanwhile, said the city was largely quiet on Sunday after a night of gunfire and explosions.

Libyan rebels said Saturday that they had launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO and gunbattles and mortar rounds rocked the city. NATO aircraft also made heavy bombing runs after nightfall, with loud explosions booming across the city.

State Libyan television on Saturday aired what appeared to be a live audio message by Gadhafi in which he condemned the rebels as traitors and "vermin" who were tearing Libya apart and said they were being chased from city to city — a mirror image of reality.

"Libyans wanted to enjoy a peaceful Ramadan," he said. "Instead they have been made into refugees. What are we? Palestinians?" He called on Libyans to march by the millions on cities across the nation to peacefully liberate them.

"Libyans wanted to enjoy a peaceful Ramadan," he said. "Instead they have been made into refugees. What are we? Palestinians?"

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim appeared on Libyan television to deny there was an uprising in Tripoli.

"Sure there were some armed militants who escaped into some neighborhoods and there were some scuffles, but we dealt with it within a half hour and it is now calm," he said.

The claims from both sides could not immediately be independently verified.

Tripoli has been Gadhafi's stronghold since the Libyan civil war began some six months ago, but it is not clear whether the embattled leader was still there.

The capture of Tripoli would almost certainly herald the end of Gadhafi's regime, more than 40 years after the maverick leader seized power in a military coup that toppled the monarchy of the vast North African nation.

Meanwhile, Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam delivered a similarly defiant message on Saturday when he addressed supporters. He told them: "We are not surrendering; it is impossible to raise the white flag."

"Surrender or the white flag are rejected because this is not the decision of Moammar Gadhafi or Seif al-Islam, it is the decision of the Libyan people," he said.

Italy cancels Venice floodgate plan // Environmental fears scuttle project to stop rising waters

ROME One of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken to stopVenice from flooding was scrapped by the Italian government Thursday,triggering a political dispute over whether the city was being leftto the mercy of the lagoon.

After 10 years of discussion over a $2.5 billion plan to buildhuge gates across the city's lagoon to hold back floodwaters,government advisers have said the project should be abandoned forenvironmental reasons.

The project would have had "irreversible and very considerableeffects on the lagoon," said Maria Rosa Vittadini, head of thegovernment-appointed environmental panel.This isn't the first time that plans to save Venice from sinkinghave fallen through. Ever since serious flooding in 1966, manyproposals have been made to keep Venice above water, such as dividingthe lagoon into three artificial basins.The latest plan was the most widely discussed of all. Theproject's collapse may have implications for Venice's buildings,tourism and, some say, its continued existence.The government said it was scrapping the plan because of fearsit would damage the lagoon's ecosystem. Environmentalists -including the powerful Green Party, part of Italy's ruling coalition- argued that new 99-foot-high gates, which could be raised andlowered according to the sea level, would prevent the water in thelagoon from oxygenating and mixing with the sea.However, those backing the plan, including a consortium ofprivate developers called Consorzio Venezia Nuova, warned thatflooding would worsen in the next century because of global warmingand coastal erosion.In the last 10 years, the sea level has risen by 32 inches 787times and by 3.3 feet 137 times. At these levels, around 12 percentof the city falls below water, forcing people to make their wayaround the city on makeshift wooden walkways.The problem of high water is expected to get worse. During thefirst half of this century, the city experienced flooding only fivetimes a year. Now that figure has risen to more than 80 a year, andon more than one occasion St. Mark's Square has been transformed intoa lake.A study by a British flood control expert, EdmundPenning-Rowsell, predicts that St. Mark's Square could be floodedevery day by the middle of the 21st century.Giancarlo Galan, chairman of the Veneto Regional Council, saidthe decision not to go ahead with the flood control scheme was"scandalous, presumptuous and irrational" and the government wasbeing led by a "do-nothing party."But Green Party Deputy Sauro Turroni said the government hadresisted pressure from individuals who were "on the lookout for hugebusiness contracts."Many of the city's tourist-dependent merchants had backed theproject, estimated to cost $2.6 billion. City leaders had beendubious at best, dreading the potential for bungling and corruption.With the sinking of the floodgate project, Italy's next stepshould be restoring the lagoon's ecological balance - barring heavyshipping, dismantling fish farms and other measures, said JohnMillerchip, a leader of a Venice-based umbrella organization ofgroups interested in the city's preservation.Only then, he said, can Venice's protectors get a clear idea ofthe best way to deal with high water, said Millerchip, who was amongthose opposed to the flood barriers.Contributing: Associated Press

Alaska Republican senator mounting write-in bid

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who lost Alaska's Republican primary last month in a stunning upset to a tea-party backed rival, announced Friday that she's mounting a write-in candidacy in a bid to hold onto her job.

Murkowksi told supporters at a late afternoon rally in Anchorage that Alaskans have told her they're worried about Republican nominee Joe Miller's extremist views and concerned about the Democratic candidate's inexperience.

The decision follows Miller's surprise win in last month's primary. Murkowski acknowledged she made mistakes during that campaign, but promised she'll be more aggressive this time in running against Miller, who was supported by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and the anti-establishment, anti-tax tea party.

"The gloves are off," she said.

Palin urged Murkowski on Twitter Friday afternoon to recognize that the state's primary voters demonstrated their support for Miller, a tea party favorite.

"Listen to the people, respect their will," said Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. "Voters chose Joe instead."

Miller told The Associated Press Friday night that voters chose to support him because they wanted to move away from Murkowski's agenda, which he said includes looking to government as the answer.

"Liberals don't relinquish power easily, that would be my first observation," he said.

The convention center where the rally took place had a table where people could sign up to help Murkowski's campaign. Fliers explaining the correct way to cast a write-in vote was also available.

Also prominently displayed was a photo of the late Sen. Ted Stevens with his arm around Murkowski.

Stevens is beloved in this state for bringing billions of dollars in federal aid and project to Alaska, and he was one of her biggest cheerleaders before his death last month.

Earlier this month, Murkowski told The Associated Press she wasn't a quitter and was "still in this game." On Friday, she took a swipe at Palin, who resigned last year part-way through her first term as governor.

"Perhaps it's time they met one Republican woman who won't quit on Alaska," she said.

In running, Murkowski faces long odds. Historians and election officials can think of no Alaska candidate who has successfully run as a write-in.

Political observers say that, to win, she would have to be far more assertive than she was in the primary, when she touted the benefits of her seniority for Alaska and ran largely on her record.

Miller cast her as part of the problem in an out-of-control Washington. The California-based Tea Party Express, which reported spending more than $550,000 in support of Miller during the primary, called her a liberal Republican and repeatedly claimed she opposed repeal of the federal health care overhaul — claims she called false but didn't challenge until late.

Murkowski has since lost support from within the Republican establishment. Some leaders had urged her either to wait to challenge Alaska's Democratic Sen. Mark Begich in 2014 or to join them in supporting Miller, the self-described "constitutional conservative" who has been endorsed by Palin.

No sooner did she announce her intentions Friday than party leaders — including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell — weighed in to reiterate their support for Miller.

"Lisa has served her state and our party with distinction," McConnell said in a statement. "But Republicans acknowledge the decision Alaskans made and join them in support of the Republican nominee."

McConnell also said he'd told Murkowski that if she ran as a write-in candidate, she no longer had his support for any leadership roles. Murkowski has resigned her position as vice chairwoman of the Senate Republican conference, campaign spokesman Steve Wackowski said.

Miller said Murkowski's re-entry won't change his strategy, which is to continue calling for the need to rein in government spending and end the era of earmarks and big government regulation.

The Tea Party Express earlier this week vowed to work twice as hard to defeat Murkowski if she ran a write-in campaign.

Murkowski has just has over six weeks to gear up a campaign and turn out the vote. But she enjoys widespread name recognition, and her campaign estimates she has about $1 million left in the bank. Plus, the race features a "kind of perfect storm of the things you need for a write-in to be successful," pollster Ivan Moore said. Among those, he said: a vast middle of Alaskans — "tens of thousands" — looking between Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams and questioning their choices.

The largest bloc of registered voters in Alaska are nonpartisan and undeclared.

___

Associated Press writer Mary Pemberton contributed to this report from Anchorage, Alaska.

Putnam sheriffs' cruisers wrecked during pursuit

DAILY MAIL PUTNAM REPORTER

Putnam County sheriff deputies temporarily will be short twopatrol cars after they were damaged in a police chase that requireddogs, a roadblock and a State Police helicopter, Chief Deputy JohnDailey said.

Martin D. Fitzpatrick, 43, of Huntington has been charged with twocounts of leaving the scene of an accident, fleeing the police in avehicle, fleeing without a vehicle and two counts of assault on apolice officer for leading police on a chase early Tuesday morning,Dailey said. Fitzpatrick is now free on a $25,000 bond.

A deputy responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at theScary Creek Industrial Park. When he arrived at the scene, the cardrove in reverse away from the police cruiser. As the deputy pulledforward to follow the car, the suspect threw the car into gear andslammed into the cruiser, Dailey said.

The cruiser was damaged but drivable so the deputy started topursue the fleeing car. Other cruisers joined the chase as the carswound along Bluelick Road where deputies set up a roadblock, Daileysaid.

When the suspect saw the roadblock, he did a U-turn in the middleof the road and slammed his vehicle into one of the pursuing cars,Dailey said.

The chase continued back along Bluelick Road until the suspectturned up a dirt road, Dailey said. The police cruisers got stuckentering the road so the deputies continued the chase on foot withpolice dogs.

Deputies discovered the suspect's car abandoned farther up theroad where he apparently got out and fled on foot, Dailey said. Toassist the manhunt in the dark, deputies called in a State Policehelicopter.

Deputies ended up tracking the suspect to the residence of anacquaintance where he was arrested, Dailey said. He said sheriff'sdeputies are uncertain why the suspect fled when he initially wasapproached by officers, but they are continuing to investigate.

The chase caused $5,000 in combined damage to the two cars, Daileysaid. He expects that the cruisers will be out of commission for thenext two days.

Dailey said the suspect has car insurance so the sheriff'sdepartment should not have to absorb the cost of repairs.

The officers were not injured in the accident, Dailey said.

Writer Mike Connolly can be reached at 348-4806 or by e-mail atmikeconnolly@dailymail.com.

Odor emissions control in yard trimmings composting

University of Gent researchers evaluate effects of turning frequency, shredding and screening at three facilities.

IN the Flanders region of Belgium, about 270,000 tons/year of yard trimmings are collected separately and composted in windrows at 15 outdoor facilities. Although the method is widely used, few systematic scientific studies have been done on factors that are controllable by the compost operator. These factors include turning frequency and its impact on odor generation.

A key question is: "To minimize odor emissions during composting, is it better to turn frequently or infrequently?" Unfortunately, there isn't a simple answer. On the one hand, turning releases odorous compounds trapped within the windrow. On the other, lack of turning allows anaerobic conditions and the associated odorous compounds to proliferate within the compost windrow. This increases the severity of odors that are released when the pile is eventually disturbed.

To get a clearer view on turning frequency and odor production, a monitoring campaign was set up at three Flemish yard trimmings composting plants with three different turning frequencies. General information about turning frequencies, duration of the composting process and capacity for the different plants are given in Table 1.

Two different odor measurements were applied. To evaluate the total impact of the composting plants, sniffing team measurements were carried out. Secondly, at each plant one pile was evaluated from the beginning to the end of the composting process by olfactometric measurements.

Sniffing And Olfactometric Measurements

Sniffing team measurements allow evaluation of the total (including diffusive sources) odorous impact on the neighborhood, but it does not distinguish the relative importance of different emission points of a source. Although it is not as standardized as olfactometric measurements, the sniffing approach gives reasonable results. Over the years, we developed our own standard operational procedures, which result in intrapanel standard deviations of 20 to 30 percent.

During sniffing team measurement, one walks around the composting plant starting downwind and afterwards going to the composting plant perpendicular to the wind direction. Every time odor is noticed, it is noted on a topographical map. Afterwards, the central axis of the odor spot can be drawn. The maximum distance of odor observation along this axis is called the maximum distance of odor perception (MDOP) or the sniffing border. With the distance and the meteorogical conditions during the sniffing team measurements, one can calculate the overall odorous emission, which is expressed in sniffing units per second (su/s), using a short term atmospheric dispersion model.

The aim of olfactometric measurements study was to get odor emissions for the different composting plants expressed in ouE/ton compost/h (ouE = European odor unit). Expressing the emission per weight unit of compost allows a comparison between the different composting plants. To achieve this unit, not only the odor concentration was needed but also the flow rate of the air emitted by the compost piles. Compost piles are naturally ventilated surface sources which make it difficult to measure the flow rate of the outcoming air. Furthermore, flow rates are very low. In order to convert the surface source to a guided source, a part of the compost pile was covered with a measuring tent.

For the olfactometric measurements, a method was used to determine odor concentration of a gaseous sample by presenting a panel of selected and screened people with that sample. Varying concentrations were presented by diluting samples with neutral gas, in order to determine the dilution factor at the 50 percent detection threshold. At that dilution factor, the odor concentration is 1 OUE/m3 by definition. The odor concentration of the examined sample is then expressed as a multiple (equal to the dilution factor) of one European Odor Unit per cubic meter (ouE/m3) at standard conditions for olfactometry.

Determining Odor Cause And Effect

At a yard trimmings composting plant, different activities take place and they all are considered to cause a different odor emission. When the yard trimmings arrive at the plant, size of material is reduced with a chipper or grinder. From time to time, material is turned to speed up the process. At the end of the process, composted material is screened to two or three fractions. During the different activities, sniffing team measurements were carried out to see if there was a difference between the plants.

At each plant, one compost pile was followed up from the start for three months. Every week, an olfactometric sample was taken and the measurements were done more frequently during periods of turning of the compost piles.

For the different activities, we could say that the highest odor emission occurs during size reduction and turning. When the odor emissions of the three composting plants were compared, it became clear that all three composting plants had nearly the same odor emissions during the first ten days. Every time the compost was turned, there was a peak emission of odor that dedined to the level of odor emission before turning within three to four days. These peak emissions were the lowest for composting plant B. Afterwards odor emission level was in the same range for all three plants (100-700 ouE.ton-l.h-1). It can be concluded that the composting plant with the highest turning frequency had the lowest overall odor emission.

[Author Affiliation]

N. Defoer and H. Van Langenhove are in the Department of Organic Chemistry and Applied Biological Sciences at the University of Gent, Belgium. The authors acknowledge the financial support of Vlaco (the Flemish organization for promotion of biological and vegetation compost) based in Mechelen, Belgium. The report is excerpted from a paper presented at the Microbiology of Composting Conference in Innsbruck, Austria in October, 2000.

Craigslist killing suspect indicted by grand jury

A former medical student accused of killing a 25-year-old masseuse he met through Craigslist has been indicted by a grand jury.

Philip Markoff's indictment on charges of first-degree murder and other crimes moves his case from district court to Superior Court, where he is scheduled to be arraigned Monday. The indictments were returned late Thursday and announced Sunday.

He was indicted for the April 14 shooting of 25-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York, who advertised on the "exotic services" section of Craigslist at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel. He was also charged with the April 10 armed robbery of a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman at the Westin Copley Place hotel.

The 23-year-old upstate New York native who had been living in Quincy is being held without bail after pleading not guilty in district court.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the grand jury reviewed dozens of exhibits, including Internet and telephone records, during a two-month investigation.

"Contained in those records was a wealth of information, all of it pointing directly at the defendant," Conley said. Markoff, a second-year medical student at Boston University, was arrested April 20 on Interstate 95 while driving with his fiancee to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

Defense attorney John Salsberg said Markoff would continue to plead not guilty.

The indictment makes no mention of a Rhode Island warrant that accuses Markoff of pulling a gun on a stripper April 16 at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, R.I. Markoff faces assault and weapons charges in that case.

Deco puts Chelsea back on top

Deco scored with a free kick Sunday to give Chelsea a 1-0 victory at Wigan and extend coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's winning start in the Premier League.

The Blues now have six points after two games and lead Liverpool on goal difference at the top of the league. In Sunday's other game, Manchester City beat 10-man West Ham 3-0 behind two goals from Elano to give new manager Mark Hughes a win in his first home game.

Deco's shot over the wall caught Wigan's stand-in keeper Mike Pollitt out of position in the 4th minute and drifted into the top corner.

Chelsea's hopes of reproducing the attacking style that characterized Scolari's time in charge of Brazil gave way to a cautious approach that effectively shut Wigan out of the game.

Wigan lost its England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland during the warmup and Pollitt was at fault for the goal. Lee Cattermole handled the ball on the edge of the area and Pollitt left his corner exposed, with Deco clipping the ball over the wall and into the net.

Wilson Palacios and Jason Koumas both tested Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech as Wigan reacted strongly.

Chelsea successfully took the sting out of the second half, giving Wigan a significant amount of possession without allowing clear chances.

In the closing stages Wigan's Amr Zaki began to exploit the space on Chelsea's right but the hosts were let down by their wayward shooting.

With eight minutes to go Chelsea left back Ashley Cole had a suspected hamstring injury and was replaced by Wayne Bridge.

Wigan's last chance came in injury time when Olivier Kapo's free kick hit the Chelsea wall.

In Manchester, City dominated the first half and wasted several good chances to go ahead before the break. West Ham's Callum Davenport made a double clearance on the goal line in the 10th minute, first blocking Stephen Ireland's header and then deflecting Tal Ben Haim's effort.

Martin Petrov's free kick in the 22nd swirled above the West Ham wall but hit the outside of the right post.

West Ham was reduced to 10 men in the 37th, when defender Mark Noble picked up his second yellow card by lunging at Michael Johnson, but City still couldn't take the lead before the break.

It wasn't until the 65th minute that Petrov's cross was partially cleared by Matthew Upson and Daniel Sturridge controlled the ball before striking it into the roof of the net.

Five minutes later, Stephen Ireland cleverly brought down Vedran Corluka's pass and laid it off to Elano, who sent it into the bottom corner for a 2-0. Corluka then again found Ireland, who this time cut the ball across the six-yard-box for Elano to volley in his second goal in the 76th.

The game saw 10 minutes of injury time added on, largely due to a six-minute delay caused when defender Micah Richards clashed heads with his Ben Haim. Richards was carried off on a stretcher.

City's owner Thaksin Shinawatra attended the game despite having been advised to stay away because of security concerns. The former Thai prime minister jumped bail and flew back to exile in England from Beijing two weeks ago, after refusing to face corruption charges in Bangkok.

Leno Act Goes to O.J. Jury

Jay Leno, following Friday's Tonight Show, zipped off with hisband and headed for a secret rendezvous with the O.J. Simpson jury.Several weeks ago Leno quipped on air that "considering all thematerial the Simpson trial is providing me, I probably shouldentertain the jury . . . they're probably bored out of their minds."The next day, Judge Lance Ito's office called Leno.

No "Dancing Itos" or other Simpson stuff, natch, but Lenoprovided an hour of fun. Tickets to David Letterman's Late Show (plus air fare and hotel)will go to two lucky folks when the show goes to London in May.WBBM-Channel 2 and WLUP-FM are sponsors and Kevin Matthews willannounce details Monday on his morning show on The Loop. Starting onTuesday, Matthews will ask a question about the previous night'sshow. The first caller with the correct answer wins a LettermanT-shirt and becomes a finalist. A drawing April 28 will determinethe winner.

Pakistan Offers to Fence Afghan Border

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan, under international pressure to stop militants from crossing over its border with Afghanistan, said Sunday it was willing to fence off the frontier.

Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri made the offer during talks with his Dutch counterpart, Bernard Bot. Bot arrived in the Pakistani capital after visiting Kabul, a ministry statement said.

Kasuri also said both Pakistani and Afghan security forces should jointly monitor the border to prevent movement by militants, according to the statement.

"Bot welcomed Pakistan's readiness to seal the border ... and said that he would discuss this with other NATO partners," the statement said.

Pakistan has repeatedly said it is willing seal its border with Afghanistan. But officials say Afghanistan has rejected proposals to build a fence or mine the frontier.

Pakistan's government has come under increasing pressure from Afghanistan, the U.S. and NATO to crack down on militants operating along the Pakistan-Afghan frontier where al-Qaida and Taliban militants are thought to roam freely. Osama bin-Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere along the porous border.

Afghan officials have repeatedly said remnants of the Taliban militia are hiding in Pakistan, but Islamabad denies the charge.

In Afghanistan, where the Netherlands has assumed command over NATO-led troops in the country's troubled south, Bot said Saturday that Islamabad needed to be pressured to block Taliban fighters based in Pakistan from crossing into Afghanistan.

Pakistan - an ally in America's fight against militant Islamic radicals - has deployed some 80,000 troops along its border with Afghanistan to hunt down militants.

Honda plans electric vehicle, plug-in in 2012

Honda will start selling an electric vehicle as well as a plug-in hybrid in 2012 in the U.S. and Japan, joining the race to manufacture green cars in which rivals have already taken slight leads.

The plans were disclosed by Honda Motor Co. President Takanobu Ito at the Japanese automaker's facility in a Tokyo suburb Tuesday.

"Honda has no future unless we achieve significant reduction in CO2 emissions," he told reporters. "The next 10 years will be true test for Honda's survival."

Coming up with good cars quickly and at affordable prices is now crucial to score success in changing times, he said.

He also said the world's needs were shifting to small and green vehicles.

Ito declined to give details of the vehicles but said green technology was becoming increasingly important in the auto industry.

Tokyo-based Honda, Japan's No. 2 automaker, now makes the Insight and CR-Z hybrids but has not given concrete plans for a plug-in or EV previously.

Ito denied Honda was ever disinterested in electric vehicles as was the impression among some analysts and media reports.

Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co. has already begun taking orders for its Leaf electric car, which is set to arrive in Japan and the U.S. later this year. Toyota Motor Corp. is also planning electric vehicle model for 2012.

FBI: Air Force Mechanic Threatened Base

SALT LAKE CITY - An aircraft mechanic sent e-mails to the FBI claiming he had planted explosives at Utah's Hill Air Force Base and planned to take six hostages in Idaho, authorities said Wednesday.

Five buildings were evacuated Tuesday after the e-mails began surfacing, but the threat turned out to be false and no hostages were taken, FBI agent Tim Fuhrman said.

William Stiffler, 39, was unarmed when he was arrested Tuesday in Malad, Idaho, as he prepared to board an employee shuttle to the base, Fuhrman said.

Stiffler has worked on C-130 planes at Hill since 2001. He was arrested for investigation of making threatening communications through the Internet and was expected to appear Wednesday in federal court in Salt Lake City.

Fuhrman said FBI headquarters received an e-mail from Stiffler about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, followed by another with similar content three hours later. Stiffler didn't identify himself in the e-mails, but Fuhrman said the FBI was familiar with him. He did not elaborate.

Ruzicka, Flyers Sweep Thrashers

PHILADELPHIA - Stefan Ruzicka had a goal and two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory Thursday night and a season sweep of the Southeast Division-leading Atlanta Thrashers.

Geoff Sanderson had a goal and an assist, and Derian Hatcher scored for the first time in more than a year for the Flyers, the owners of the NHL's worst record (20-40-11).

Keith Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and Eric Belanger added a goal for the Thrashers, who had won six of seven but are 1-10-2 against the Flyers in Philadelphia.

Ruzicka put the Flyers ahead 2-1 at 8:52 of the second period when he batted in a rebound of a shot by Sanderson, who skated the length of the ice and fired in a slap shot from the left side.

It was the second goal of the season and first in 25 games for Ruzicka, who has split time between the Flyers and Philadelphia of the AHL. Martin Biron stopped 37 shots and is 4-2-1 since the Flyers acquired him from Buffalo on Feb. 27.

Sanderson made it 3-1 with his 11th goal at 4:48 of the third period when he flipped in a shot from the left side.

Belanger deflected in Tkachuk's shot at 14:28 to cut Atlanta's deficit to one goal.

Biron preserved the lead with a brilliant save of a point-blank shot by Scott Mellanby midway through the third period, and other stellar stops against Vyacheslav Kozlof and Pascal Dupuis in the closing minutes.

Kari Lehtonen, who had won six of seven starts, made 33 saves. He kept the Thrashers even midway through the first period when he smothered a short-handed breakaway attempt by R.J. Umberger.

Hatcher put the Flyers ahead with a power-play goal with 43 seconds left in the first period. After the initial shot by Ruzicka bounced off his chest, Hatcher knocked in the loose puck.

It was Hatcher's first goal in 126 games, dating to Dec. 3, 2005, when he scored at Nashville.

Tkachuk tied it 1:16 into the second period when he poked in a rebound of Niclas Havelid's shot, lifting the puck high over Biron's glove.

Notes:@ Philadelphia RW Mike Knuble returned after missing 12 games with a fractured cheek bone and orbital bone. ... Flyers LW Ben Eager was back after missing 11 games with a sprained ankle. ... Atlanta RW Marian Hossa's team-record, 11-game point streak (7 goals, 11 assists) ended. ... Atlanta C Jim Slater and D Steve McCarthy were healthy scratches. ... Philadelphia RW Scottie Upshall sustained an upper body injury when he was checked into the boards by Ilya Kovalchuk in the second period and didn't return.

CHRISTIAN CAMPBELL; Beyond the soup, beyond the sibling

If you don't know Christian Campbell, you will in a few more months. The Toronto-bred actor is handsome. Oh, and he wants to be respected for his craft, and he isn't afraid to bust out the elbow grease to prove he's in it for the haul.

"I'm an actor who likes to work," he says rising from his sprawl on a couch. "I'm an actor who likes earning my paycheck." In other words, he wouldn't like it if Bobby, his character on the daytime soap All My Children, went into a coma. That would be easy loot. I imagine that won't happen. AMC's people are smart enough to keep his perfectly-dimpled smile alive.

There are basically three ways you'd recognize Campbell. One is from the soap where he's been scamming women for the last half-year--particularly attractive to the grandma crowd. He also outshone Tori Spelling in the cult comedy Trick several years back and won gay fans nationwide. But he's best known as the older brother of actress Neve Campbell. And frankly, it's through that connection he's accrued much of his budding celebrity. But that's about to change.

Campbell is a busy guy these days--an actor, singer, producer and traveler--and he was in town last weekend for the True West Film Festival, at which his short musical film Pretty Dead Girl glossed the screen.

Campbell also just wrapped the Showtime musical Reefer Madness (with Neve), based on the Los Angeles stage production. On name alone, it should evoke a larger, if not more creative, fan base.

"I used to act more, now I seem to be singing more," Campbell says of his current musical lineup. "I'm an actor who happens to sing. I don't consider myself a singer."

I believe that when he sings a little from Reefer in a squeaky falsetto. Campbell is personable and chatty, peppering the conversation with abrupt chuckles. He is also confident and believable when morphing into a public persona.

"So much of the business, we hope, is about the work we're doing. It's not. It's also about the personality you bring to it," he says shifting his unbuttoned shirt to reveal a family crest inked on his chest. "Having to do the schmooze with people and all the people checking, it gets a little tiring sometimes."

True, being bugged during a dinner date doesn't sound much fun. But I get the feeling that he kinda digs blathering to reporters ("I'm a good singer!"). But good or bad, he is ready to step it up, and he knows what he is in for.

"You have to be careful of what you say," he confides as though I haven't read the Star lately. "It's gonna hurt you, it's gonna be taken out of context. There are a lot of actors who do not handle it gracefully. I hope to be one of them that does handle it well."

It will always go well if he wears that same unbuttoned cowboy shirt ... I mean, uh, what? Nevermind.

Article copyright Bar Bar Inc.

Photograph (Gelband getin' some noogie from Christian Campbell)

Massacre at Babi Yar remembered in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine Weeping survivors clutching red carnations paidtribute Thursday to tens of thousands of Jews massacred by the Nazis64 years ago at the ravine known as Babi Yar.

At a memorial park erected at the chasm just outside Kiev's citycenter, about 200 people bowed their heads and laid flowers at thebronze monument marking the area where the killings took place inSeptember 1941. Senior Jewish community leaders bemoaned the factthat some of the country's most senior leaders were unable toattend.

"People must understand that this tragedy is important, not onlyfor Jewish people, but also for all Ukrainians," Ukraine's chiefrabbi Yakov Blaikh told The Associated Press after the ceremony. "Ifchildren learned a lesson from history, no skinheads would attackpeople on the streets."

The massacre began when Nazi forces occupying Kiev marched Jewsto the brink of the ravine and shot them. More than 33,700 werekilled in just a few days. The killings continued for months, withNazis also executing thousands of Red Army prisoners of war andresistance fighters.

The Babi Yar massacre followed weeks of grenade attacks againstGerman troops staged by Soviet resistance groups. Nazis accused Jewsfor the attacks, and ordered them to gather in downtown Kiev and totake with them documents, money, valuables and warm clothes as ifthey were to be deported.

The final death toll was never established.

Massacre at Babi Yar remembered in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine Weeping survivors clutching red carnations paidtribute Thursday to tens of thousands of Jews massacred by the Nazis64 years ago at the ravine known as Babi Yar.

At a memorial park erected at the chasm just outside Kiev's citycenter, about 200 people bowed their heads and laid flowers at thebronze monument marking the area where the killings took place inSeptember 1941. Senior Jewish community leaders bemoaned the factthat some of the country's most senior leaders were unable toattend.

"People must understand that this tragedy is important, not onlyfor Jewish people, but also for all Ukrainians," Ukraine's chiefrabbi Yakov Blaikh told The Associated Press after the ceremony. "Ifchildren learned a lesson from history, no skinheads would attackpeople on the streets."

The massacre began when Nazi forces occupying Kiev marched Jewsto the brink of the ravine and shot them. More than 33,700 werekilled in just a few days. The killings continued for months, withNazis also executing thousands of Red Army prisoners of war andresistance fighters.

The Babi Yar massacre followed weeks of grenade attacks againstGerman troops staged by Soviet resistance groups. Nazis accused Jewsfor the attacks, and ordered them to gather in downtown Kiev and totake with them documents, money, valuables and warm clothes as ifthey were to be deported.

The final death toll was never established.

OCEAN PLANT LIFE SLOWS DOWN, ABSORBS LESS CARBON

Plant life in the world's oceans has become less productive since the early 1980s, absorbing less carbon, which may in turn impact the Earth's carbon cycle, according to a study that combines NASA satellite data with NOAA surface observations of marine plants.

Microscopic ocean plants called phytoplankton account for about half the transfer of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the environment into plant cells by photosynthesis. Land plants pull in the other half. In the atmosphere, CO2 is a heat-trapping greenhouse gas.

Watson Gregg, a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center researcher and lead author of the study, found that the oceans' net primary productivity (NPP) has declined more than 6% globally over the last two decades, possibly as a result of climatic changes. NPP is the rate at which plant cells take in CO2 during photosynthesis from sunlight, using the carbon for growth. The NASA-funded study appears in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

"This research shows ocean primary productivity is declining, and it may be a result of climate changes such as increased temperatures and decreased iron deposition into parts of the oceans. This has major implications for the global carbon cycle," Gregg says. Iron from transcontinental dust clouds is an important nutrient for phytoplankton, and when lacking can keep populations from growing.

Gregg and colleagues used two datasets from NASA satellites: one from the coastal zone color scanner aboard NASA's Nimbus-7 satellite (1979-86), and another from sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor data on the OrbView-2 satellite (1997-2002). The satellites monitored the green pigment in plants, or chlorophyll, which led to estimates of phytoplankton amounts. The older data was reanalyzed to conform to modern standards, which helped make the two data records consistent with each other. The sets were blended with surface data from NOAA research vessels and buoys to reduce errors in the satellite records and to create an improved estimate of NPP.

The authors found nearly 70% of the NPP global decline per decade occurred in the high latitudes (above 30�). In the North Pacific and North Atlantic basins, phytoplankton bloom rapidly in high concentrations in spring, leading to shorter, more intense lifecycles. In these areas, plankton quickly dies and can sink to the ocean floor, creating a potential pathway of carbon from the atmosphere into the deep ocean.

In the high latitudes, rates of plankton growth declined by 7% in the North Atlantic basin, 9% in the North Pacific basin, and 10% in the Antarctic basin when comparing the 1980s dataset with the late 1990s observations. The decline in global ocean NPP corresponds with an increase in global sea surface temperatures of 0.36�F over the last 20 years. Warmer water creates more distinct ocean layers and limits mixing of deeper nutrient-rich cooler water with warmer surface water. The lack of rising nutrients keeps phytoplankton growth in check at the surface.

The North Atlantic and North Pacific experienced major increases in sea surface temperatures: 1.26� and 0.72�F, respectively. In the Antarctic, there was less warming, but lower NPP was associated with increased surface winds. These winds caused plankton to mix downward, cutting exposure to sunlight. Also, the amount of iron deposited from desert dust clouds into the global oceans decreased by 25% over two decades. These dust clouds blow across the oceans. Reductions in NPP in the South Pacific were associated with a 35% decline in atmospheric iron deposition.

"These results illustrate the complexities of climate change, since there maybe one or more processes, such as changes in temperature and the intensity of winds, influencing how much carbon dioxide is taken up by photosynthesis in the oceans," says co-author Margarita Conkright, a scientist at NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Local Ties: It's time for WVU to take over as the East's premier pigskin power

WHAT once appeared bad for West Virginia football, now is good. Infact, for Mountaineer football now is the time!!

In case you have forgotten, consider a brief history lesson inEastern college football.

From 1966-1992, Penn State dominated the East. Coach Joe Paterno'sNittany Lions won national championships in 1982 and 1986, postedundefeated seasons in 1968, '69 and '73, and went to numerous majorNew Year's Day bowls.

In the fall of 1993, Penn State began play in the Big TenConference, and many Mountaineer fans grumbled about the NittanyLions leaving the East.

The 'Eers should have been happy.

Had Penn State not left the East, there would have been noundefeated West Virginia season and Sugar Bowl berth to remember in1993.

If Penn State were still on the schedule, those Mountaineers wouldhave had to play at Beaver Stadium against a team that featured fivefuture All-America selections, three top 10 first-round draft picks,a future Fred Biletnikoff Award winner at wide receiver, a futureDoak Walker Award winner at running back, and a future Davey O'BrienAward-winning quarterback.

That Penn State team smashed a good Tennessee team in the FloridaCitrus Bowl, 31-13. West Virginia would not have won that game, andthe 1993 season would not be remembered as it is today.

After the Nittany Lions left, the East became Virginia Tech'splayground. From 1993-2005, the Hokies became the new Penn State inthe East, and found themselves playing in bowls they have neverdreamed of before: 1995 Sugar Bowl, '96 Orange Bowl, 1999 Sugar Bowl,and numerous Gator Bowls.

Their success also featured a berth in the '99 nationalchampionship game, where they lost to Florida State.

Then, the Hokies, along with Miami (Fla.), and a year later,Boston College, bolted the East for the ACC and again Mountaineerfans cried foul.

They should have been happy.

Had the Hokies still been in the East, there would have been noBig East title last year, and no memorable berth and upset win overGeorgia in the Sugar Bowl. Virginia Tech beat the Mountaineers lastyear in Morgantown, 34-17.

Now, Eastern football is re-grouping. Other BCS conferences havelarge stadiums, state-wide followings, and state wide support. Rightnow, the Big East is a league of city schools, with no statewide fanbases, minimal statewide followings, and in comparisons to the otherBCS conferences, small stadiums.

There is one exception: West Virginia.

Now is the time for the Mountaineers to be the Penn State of the'60's and Virginia Tech of the '90's. No one else is left.

In college football, scheduling is the key to success. Take NotreDame and Ohio State, for example.

If the Mountaineers had either one of those two schedules, wouldwe really be talking about WVU going undefeated?

The Irish's September schedule includes Georgia Tech, Penn Stateand Michigan. The Buckeyes meet Texas, Penn State and Iowa in thefirst month.

How about WVU playing Tennessee's schedule of California, Florida,Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and LSU. Hoping for a winning seasonmight be more realistic.

The point is right now, for this season, it doesn't matter. It maynot always be that way in the future. The current BCS structure isnot set in stone. The Big East is no longer taking academic non-qualifiers among recruiting classes.

There could be another conference shake-up. If we do get aplayoff, it would be unlikely a Big East team could win a two-, three-or four-game stretch of games. Who knows what is on the horizon forcollege football?

So, for right now, the window of opportunity for West Virginia towin a national championhip is here. The dominos have not only falleninto place, they have gotten up and left the table. Now is the timeto take advantage of it.

The opportunity may not be there forever.

* n n

WHEN KENT State hosts Minnesota on Thursday night, three membersof the Minnesota coaching staff with Mountain State ties will be onhand.

The Golden Gophers defensive coordinator is former West Virginiadefensive back David Lockwood. Lockwood played for the Mountaineerson the 1988 Fiesta Bowl team. The passing game coordinator andquarterbacks coach for Minnesota is former Marshall quarterback TonyPetersen.

Petersen quarterbacked Marshall to several of the most importantwins in school history, including a berth in the Division I-AAchampionship in 1987.

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Political parties not in position to exert pressure on Central Election Commission - Ombudsman.

Neither political parties, nor others, including President, are not in position to exert pressure on the Central Election Commission, Ombudsman of Kyrgyzstan Tursunbek Akun told reporters today.The Ombudsman said it is necessary to allow time for the Central Election Commission to tabulate the final results of the elections. CEC has procedures which should be implemented.At the same time the Ombudsman asked the Central Election Commission to accomplish tabulation of the results as soon as possible, since the situation …

Noteworthy.(Capital Region)

Special patrols to target DWI

Drunk drivers beware! The New York State Police, the Albany County Sheriff's Department and 11 municipal police agencies will participate in an Albany County STOP-DWI Blanket Patrol, scheduled from 7 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Sunday. A patrol on Oct. 28-29 resulted in 30 people being arrested for drugged or drunken driving. This is the 50th STOP-DWI Blanket Patrol held in the county since 1989.

Birthday party for Elvis

Come celebrate the birth of the King. The fifth annual birthday celebration for Elvis Presley will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Jan. 6 at the Veterans of Lansingburgh, at 777 First …

FDA prepared to push RFID.(Focus)

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Food and Drug Administration pledges to "reinvigorate" its commitment to radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at a time in which the government is concerned about the pace of RFID adoption by the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Acting associate commissioner of policy and planning Randall Lutter told those attending an RFID conference sponsored by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the Healthcare Distribution Management Association that the FDA would hold a public hearing on counterfeit drugs and RFID adoption early next year.

"Our interest is in identifying the current barriers to adoption and finding ways these …

Saber-toothed squirrel fossil found in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Scientists have found a rare fossil of a previously unknown saber-toothed, squirrel-like creature in Argentina, providing new clues to how small mammals lived among dinosaurs more than 93 million years ago.

The fossil evidence shows Cronopio dentiacutus had extremely long teeth, a narrow snout and large eye sockets, meaning it probably moved around at night to be …

Speak up at Pact event [Edition 2]

GET the chance to discuss community issues with yourNeighbourhood Policing Team and have the chance to influence theirpriorities.

Partnerships and communities together (PACT) meetings take placeat Cross Hands Public Hall at 7pm on the last Thursday of everymonth.

Alternatively, you can speak …

Corne: It's unbelievable Province are in the final.(Sports)

BYLINE: Ashfak Mohamed

THE last Western Province captain to hold aloft the Currie Cup trophy, Corne Krige, says it is "unbelievable" that his beloved former team are in a final again.

And he thinks that the individual brilliance of Province's star Springbok backs could be the difference in the Currie Cup final against the Sharks in Durban on October 30.

Krige raised the Currie Cup for the last time in 2001, when his WP side triumphed over the self-same Sharks at Newlands. Ironically enough, WP's 2000 Currie Cup title success also came against the Sharks, but the final was played in Durban.

It has been a dreadful nine years since, with WP failing to even reach a final, let alone win any silverware. They also missed out on the Currie Cup semi-finals in 2002, 2007 …

SPAC MUST MAKE THE BALLET SEASON POP.(Perspective)

Byline: Paul Bray

Ballet is dead, long live ballet, or so I thought after reading about Bard College in Monocle magazine.

Bard, located about 50 miles south of Albany, is a "cultural powerhouse" and "ready to pop." Bard President Leon Botstein "believes that classical music is an endangered species," but he still "wants it presented in a way that audiences can relate to."

This summer I despaired at the number of empty seats at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (a 10 percent decrease in attendance from the previous year) for the dazzling performances of the New York City Ballet. Presenters of ballet and other classical arts face challenging times with declining …

CANDIDATES TALK DEVELOPMENT.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: MIKE HUREWITZ Staff writer

Clifton Park At League of Women Voters forums, candidates traditionally confront each other in person. But Thursday's matchup between supervisory candidates Philip Barrett and Martin O'Connor provided a new twist.

While Barrett was there in person at the Shenendehowa Public Library, O'Connor's presence was merely a voice emanating from a wall speaker-phone of red and green blinking lights.

That's because O'Connor was in Sandusky, Ohio, accompanying his 10-year-old daughter Eileen, who flew to the Midwest Monday to play the role of the orphan Kate in the road show of ``Annie.'' The play comes to Proctor's Theatre …

KTF's W-CDMA smart card.(KOREA)(Brief Article)

South Korea's KTF is the first company in the world to develop a W-CDMA technology-based cellular smart card. The card includes CDMA SIM, GSM SIM, and W-CDMA universal SIM. KTF is planning to apply the new card for its cellular commerce transaction service (W-CDMA K-merce) that will …

Court blocks judge's order to free Chinese Muslims

A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked a judge's decision to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo Bay into the U.S.

In a one-page order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued the emergency stay at the request of the Bush administration. The three-judge panel said it would postpone release of the detainees for at least another week to give the government more time to make arguments in the case.

The appeals court set a deadline of next Thursday for additional filings but it is up to the judges to decide how quickly to act afterward.

"The decision is quite a blow," said Emi MacLean, an …

Mines launch safety inspections , Equipment checks, lectures precede workers' shifts at sites across state

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thousands of West Virginia miners got safety lectures at the startof their shifts and officials began a round of inspections across theNo. 2 coal-producing state in a "time-out" urged by the governor.

Sixteen West Virginia workers have been killed in mining-relatedaccidents over the past month - up from a record low of three lastyear - in what is already the deadliest year in the state'scoalfields in more than a decade.

Gov. Joe Manchin called on coal operators to hold safetydiscussions after accidents at separate mines Wednesday claimed thelatest two lives.

Manchin said he was pleased with reports that mining companies,which employ …