Submitted by tcarpenter on December 30, 2011 - 12:17pm
Address:?
Desert
Whitesboro
TX
76273
Source: http://www.heralddemocrat.com/content/crossroads-presbyterian-church.html
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It seems like a simple idea: Roadways should be safe for all users, whether they drive, ride public transit, bike or walk. But Detroit is the 12th-most dangerous metro area for pedestrians in the country, and the region has a long way to go.
In April 2010, Detroit received a federally-funded grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health to support efforts to pass "Complete Streets" policies, which dictate that pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities must be able to safely move along and across a complete street.
The Detroit Complete Streets Coalition was born, bringing together an all-star team comprising many advocacy groups, including the Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance, Department of Public Works, City Planning Commission, Detroit Department of Transportation, Detroit Police Department, Detroit Food & Fitness Collaborative, Wayne State University, City Connect Detroit, Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Transit Riders United and plenty of committed community members.
Its mission is to bring complete streets policies to life in Detroit, but its members won't be starting from scratch.
"It's the best city I've ridden a bike in," said Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways coordinator for the Michigan Trails & Greenway Alliance.
Citywide, changes are going into effect that are steadily making Detroit more accessible for walkers and cyclists. This year, the Southwest Detroit Greenway installed bike lanes and routes throughout the neighborhood.
The Southwest Detroit Greenway had been in the works for while, but had some fits and starts. The Greater Corktown Development Corp. had been supporting the project, until the group went defunct. A mix of funding from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Tour de Troit, and MDOT finally made the project a reality.
"Almost all the projects have occurred because there's a local champion who wants to see it happen," Scott explained. When complete, there will be 24 miles of new bike lanes and 11 miles of marked bike routes in the area.
Complete Streets has also been working to get an ordinance passed by the city that would affirm a commitment to pedestrian and bicycle safety. Currently, the ordinance is in the Law Department and will next be introduced to City Council for a vote.
The coalition is also working to get the Detroit Non-motorized Master Plan implemented. The document was passed by City Council and calls for 400 miles of bike lanes in the city.
Next year will see the beginning stages of a north-south greenway connecting Cass Tech High School to the Fisher Building, converting Second Ave. and Third St. into two-way streets with bike lanes.
Scott and others are working to make the city more bike-friendly in a variety of ways. Valuable online resources are making bike riding easier and safer -- Google Maps shows Detroit bike routes, and two informational Wikipedia pages, Cycling in Detroit and Trails in Detroit, are frequently updated.
Scott said there is sometimes concern that people will not take advantage of the projects Michigan Trails and Greenways has implemented, but anecdotal evidence (for example, the often crowded revamped Riverfront) and community information show how much the greenways are impacting the lives of Detroiters.
While the Motor City's automobile heritage is often celebrated, Scott reminds people not to overlook the long legacy of cycling in Detroit. Biking advocates went on to become the founders of the auto industry, from the Dodge brothers, who first made bicycles, to Henry Ford, whose first car, the Quadricycle, was made using bike parts.
And motorists have been amenable to the recent greenways changes -- Scott said that bike riders in Southwest have been surprised at how well drivers share the road and adhere to the new traffic rules for bike lanes.
And biking seems to be making a comeback. "We've seen a tremendous uptick in people out walking and biking," Scott said. "We really just want to see more and more folks choosing to walk and bike and building a healthier, more sustainable, more green community."
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LOS ANGELES - An unusual nativity display at a Claremont church that conveyed a gay couple was vandalized over the weekend in an incident authorities are investigating as a hate crime.
Claremont United Methodist Church has a Christmas tradition of unusual nativity displays, intended to carry a social or political message.
Despite some of the controversial topics, the scenes had never been vandalized or defaced, according to church officials and John Zachary, the artist who created the scenes.
But this year, suspects vandalized a nativity scene that included wooden light boxes with three couples holding hands - a man and a woman, two women and two men - under a star of Bethlehem and a sign that said "Christ is Born."
Church officials came in before the Christmas morning service to find that someone had pushed over the two gay couples and left the heterosexual couple standing.
The vandalism occurred sometime between 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve and 9 a.m. on Christmas Day, police said. No suspects have been identified.
The church has never shied away from controversial topics, including a scene of war in the Middle East, a mother and baby in prison and a depiction of the U.S./Mexico border fence.
One year, the nativity depicted a homeless family. The scene prompted an impromptu outpouring of giving, with congregation members leaving donations of food, clothing and money.
"Christ?s birth in a stable had a lot to do with poverty and being marginalized," said Pastor Sharon J. Rhodes-Wickett. "What this church has tried to do through these scenes is say, ?What would that look like today??"
In 1993, the church made a decision to be a "reconciling congregation" which welcomes gay, lesbian and trasngender members. This year?s nativity display was intended to convey that message, Rhodes-Wickett said.
Ed Kania, 60, an openly gay member of the church, called the act of vandalism disappointing, especially because Claremont is a generally progressive college town.
"It?s a reminder that although there are pockets of acceptance, not everybody is accepting," he said. "We?re all kind of disappointed, but we?re using it as a rallying point."
Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bostonherald/news/~3/gyNbv9CMZFM/view.bg
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City approves tax break for jobs
Times-Journal
Fort Payne Mayor Bill Jordan recommended the council approve the city's $18 million 2012 fiscal year budget. Jordan said the budget showed a deficit of $426000 but the city had $500000 due in the form of grant reimbursements. ...
Source: http://ftpayne.waff.com/news/news/65266-city-approves-tax-break-jobs
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CLINTON, Iowa ? Mitt Romney has stepped into the center of a perfect storm in Iowa ? and he's going all in.
Sensing an opening to win next Tuesday's caucuses, an ever-more confident Romney is campaigning hard in a region of the state where he performed well in his failed 2008 race, with a bus tour and new crush of advertising intended to bolster his closing argument: that he's the most electable candidate against President Barack Obama.
It's thanks to a combination of luck and planning that Romney now finds himself in strong contention for an Iowa caucus victory that would give him a boost heading into the next contest, in New Hampshire, where the former Massachusetts governor's standing is strong.
Not that he's publicly entertaining the notion of back-to-back victories.
"I can't possibly allow myself to think in such optimistic terms. I just have to put my head down and battle as best I can," Romney said Wednesday. "But I can tell you: If the people here in Clinton are any example, or any indication, of what's going to happen in the process, I feel pretty good."
In a sign of his growing confidence, Romney hasn't announced where he'll be on caucus night and has left open the possibility that he may stay in Iowa if victory is at hand. Advisers are redoubling efforts to try to capitalize on the slide in support for Newt Gingrich and skepticism of Ron Paul by making a concerted effort to increase turnout in areas where Romney did well four years ago. His campaign also added at least $100,000 in additional advertising for the final days ? and bought broadcast advertising for the first time in the Quad Cities market in eastern Iowa.
And, while Romney is largely shying away from criticizing his rivals, he jabbed at Paul, who has emerged as his chief rival in Iowa, on Wednesday ? another indication of Romney's efforts to triumph here.
"One of the people running for president thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon," Romney said in Muscatine in response to a question from the audience. "I don't."
This is a far more aggressive strategy than the one Romney has employed all year after pouring $10 million into the state in 2008 only to lose it in a defeat that crippled his entire campaign. He couldn't allay concerns about his Mormon faith or his reversals on some social issues in a state where evangelical Republicans and other social conservatives dominate.
Romney approached Iowa more cautiously for this race, so much so that until recently aides worked out of an attic in Des Moines on a shoestring budget. He also had spent less than $200,000 on the state before the campaign started buying TV ads in December.
But even as advisers worked to play down expectations, they quietly stayed in contact with backers from his first campaign ? and Romney stood at the ready to try to take advantage of an opportunity in the race, should one present itself.
It looks like it has.
Social conservatives that united behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008 remain splintered among a handful of candidates that include Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Gingrich, the former House speaker, was Romney's latest threat but he's taken a significant beating from an onslaught of advertisements by a super PAC run by Romney's allies. Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican, is a serious contender in Iowa but he has foreign policy views so outside the Republican mainstream that most Republicans believe he has little chance to win the GOP nomination.
On Wednesday, a new CNN/TIME poll in Iowa showed Romney leading with 25 percent support. Paul had 22 percent and Santorum drew 16 percent while Gingrich had fallen to 14 percent.
So Romney is trying to seize the moment. And it may be working.
Overflow crowds have been greeting Romney at every stop of his three-day, seven-city tour on a bus plastered with his campaign logo and "Conservative, Businessman, Leader" slogan on the side.
So many people showed up at a deli in Clinton that Romney's staff also sent the candidate to visit the restaurant across the street. Before sunrise, the line to see Romney at Elly's Coffee and Tea in Muscatine stretched out the door and down the block.
On Tuesday night, the campaign said that only 150 people had RSVPed to attend Romney's speech in Davenport. But more than 500 people showed up, shutting at least 200 people out of the Blackhawk Hotel ballroom. Many area voters were notified only that morning of Romney's visit.
People seem to like what they hear.
"He's probably the best chance to beat Obama," said Carol Hetzler, a medical secretary who backed Sen. John McCain's in 2008. She had also considered voting for Gingrich.
And Tim McCleary, who was waiting in line at Elly's before 7 a.m. to see Romney, said: "The only reason I'm supporting Romney is because he can win the election."
As Romney visits small towns in eastern Iowa, he's also doing countless interviews with the local media. He spent most of Wednesday morning talking to radio stations and small Iowa newspapers.
He's also relying on friends to help him make the sale.
Romney was dispatching surrogates from nearby states, including South Dakota Sen. John Thune, former Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Jim Talent of Missouri, to campaign in Iowa. Former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole was dialing influential activists Tuesday, including former state GOP chairman Steve Grubbs, who is a well-connected campaign operative in Davenport in the heart of Romney's eastern Iowa base.
"He made the argument that the candidate who has shown the ability to win by the effectiveness of the campaign he's run is Mitt Romney," said Grubbs, who worked on Dole's 1996 campaign. "At the end of the day, he was selling electability."
It's the case Romney will try to make in North Liberty, Waterloo and Ames on Thursday and in Des Moines on Friday.
Mindful not to ignore New Hampshire altogether, Romney planned events there Friday and Saturday. Four of his five sons will campaign in the state Thursday before heading to Iowa this weekend. His wife, Ann, will remain in Iowa all weekend, campaigning in the western part of the state. Romney returns to Iowa later Saturday.
__
Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
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By Reuters
U.S. stocks may open slightly higher Wednesday in what looks to be another low-volume session, with investors waiting for the start of 2012 before betting on risky assets.
Equities ended mostly unchanged on Tuesday on about half of the year's daily average volume as investors paused following a 5 percent gain in the previous week. Markets may continue to struggle for direction, with no major economic indicators on tap or S&P 500 companies scheduled to report quarterly results until January.
European shares were modestly higher on light volume, rising 0.5 percent after short-term Italian debt costs were cut in half at an auction, which improved confidence about demand for Thursday's Italian long-term bond sale.
"This portends good news and is a positive as the European Union tries to become more stable," said Tim Speiss, head of personal wealth advisors at EisnerAmper in New York. "However, with the limited participation, I still expect today to be fairly quiet and flat."
Wall Street movements have been closely correlated to European markets in recent weeks as the region deals with a debt crisis, but the problems have receded into the background with the lack of new developments. Still, any sign of improving conditions could spur further gains, with the light volume amplifying any moves.
S&P 500 futures rose 3.2 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 22 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures put on 5 points.
For the year, the Dow is up 6.2 percent, while the S&P is up 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq is down 1 percent.
Energy shares may be in focus after Iran's navy chief said it would be "easier than drinking a glass of water" for Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz, and choke off oil supplies, if foreign sanctions are tightened.
"While OPEC has already offered to step in and make up for any shortfall, meaning we may not see an impact in prices for a while, this brings up the issue of stability in the Middle East, so it could be very significant," Speiss said. "A disruption of oil shipments globally could have a significant impact on prices."
U.S. crude futures fell 0.6 percent, while Brent crude was off 1 percent.
U.S. stocks ended flat on Tuesday after fluctuating between small gains and losses in light volume as investors took a breather following last week's rally. A stronger-than-expected reading on consumer confidence added credence to the idea that the economy was growing faster than previously thought.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/28/9765894-wall-street-wary-ahead-of-the-new-year
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SALT LAKE CITY ? When winter comes to Utah and atmospheric conditions trap a soup of pollutants close to the ground, doctors say it turns every resident in the Salt Lake basin into the equivalent of a cigarette smoker.
For days or weeks at a time, an inversion layer in which high pressure systems can trap a roughly 1,300-foot-thick layer of cold air ? and the pollutants that build up inside it ? settles over the basin, leaving some people coughing and wheezing.
"There's no safe level of particulate matter you can breathe," said Salt Lake City anesthesiologist Cris Cowley, who is among a number of Utah doctors raising the alarm over some of the nation's worst wintertime air.
The doctors and a lobby group of Utah mothers are blaming a company that mines nearly a mile deep in the largest open pit in the world for contributing one-third of Salt Lake County's pollution. The rest is from tailpipe and other emissions.
They have filed a lawsuit against Kennecott Utah Copper, accusing it of violating the U.S. Clean Air Act. The company operates with the consent of state regulators who enforce the federal law.
The company is the No. 1 industrial air polluter along Utah's heavily populated 120-mile Wasatch Front and operates heavy trucks and power and smelter plants. It says the claims are "without merit."
Kennecott cites the blessing of Utah regulators for expanded operations and new controls that hold emissions steady.
Utah's chief air regulator, however, acknowledged Kennecott is technically violating a 1994 plan adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that limited the company to hauling 150 million tons of ore a year out of the Bingham Canyon Mine.
Utah has twice allowed the company to exceed that limit, most recently to 260 million tons, as the company moves to expand a mine in the mountains west of Salt Lake City. In each case, Utah sought EPA's consent, but the EPA didn't take any action.
The lawsuit could force EPA's hand, said Bryce Bird, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality.
Bird said the old limit would defeat changes Kennecott made to curb dust and emissions since 1994.
The EPA rules that set production instead of emissions limits puts many companies in a similarly "awkward position" and undermines confidence in Utah's air pollution permits, Bird said.
Kennecott disputes the doctors' figure and says it contributes about 16 percent of Salt Lake County's overall emissions.
An examination by The Associated Press of emissions figures provided by Kennecott to state regulators shows the company's share of pollutants ranges from 65 percent of Salt Lake County's sulfur dioxide emissions to 18 percent of its particulates.
Particulates are tiny flecks of dust that doctors say can attract heavy metals. The particulates are ingested through the nose and lungs and can become lodged in brain tissue. They are especially damaging to the development of children.
Medical research has found that the first few minutes of exposure to air pollution does the most damage, with many people's bodies able to react and fight off longer bouts of exposure, the doctors said.
Yet exposure to dust, soot and gaseous chemicals constricts vessels and send blood pressure soaring, making some people's hearts flutter and spiking emergency hospital visits while putting fetuses in the womb at risk, the doctors say.
"Rio Tinto is making our blood vessels act as if they were seven years older," said Dr. Claron Alldredge, an opthamologist at LDS Hospital. "One year after returning to Utah after practicing elsewhere, I began to have high blood pressure myself."
Kennecott is a subsidiary of the international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, which posts billions of dollars of profit a year and can afford to clean up its act, said Cherise Udell, founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air.
"This is not an attempt to shut down their mine," she said.
Kennecott said its takes improving air quality seriously, and Bird noted that while Kennecott is Salt Lake County's largest industrial source of air pollution, it has accomplished the largest reductions through better emissions controls.
"Kennecott has and continues to operate within the parameters of its air permits and is consistently in compliance with U.S. EPA and Utah Division of Air Quality regulations, which are based on strict standards for protecting human health," the company said.
The doctors are members of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, which joined Udell's group in the lawsuit filed at Salt Lake City's federal court last week by lawyers for WildEarth Guardians of Santa Fe, N.M.
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DGK, which is short for Dirty Ghetto Kids, is back with another colorway for their new ?Scholar? styled fitted baseball cap. This New Era 59Fifty features a Purple base with a Black chenille ?DGK? embroidered onto the front panel; they also added a Black/White ?Ghetto University? embroidery on the back panel of the hat. If you?re interested, you can grab one at?http://www.tillys.com/
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? A South Korean polar research ship on Monday reached a leaking Russian fishing vessel that has been stuck in the frigid waters off Antarctica for the past 10 days, New Zealand officials said.
The Sparta, with 32 crew on board, hit underwater ice on Dec. 16 that tore a 1-foot (30-centimeter) hole in its hull and caused it to list at 13 degrees. Several rescue ships had been hampered by heavy ice in the Ross Sea off the northern Antarctica coast before the icebreaker Araon finally pushed through and reached the Sparta on Monday, New Zealand Rescue Coordination Center spokeswoman Rosalie Neilson said.
The arrival was a relief to the crew, which had been desperately pumping out near-frozen sea water while awaiting rescue. At one point, more than half of those on board were forced onto life rafts.
The crew is made up of 15 Russians, 16 Indonesians and one Ukrainian.
A New Zealand air force cargo plane had previously made two parachute drops of pumps and hull patching gear that had helped keep the single-hulled Sparta from sinking.
Search and rescue coordinator Mike Roberts said the South Korean vessel was alongside Sparta transferring fuel to it to change its trim ? or how it's sitting in the water ? so the bow rises clear of the sea, exposing the damaged area of hull.
Roberts said crew from both ships will attempt to weld a "doubler plate" over the hole ? one external and a second inside. If successful, the repair is expected to make Sparta seaworthy, and should enable it to be escorted by Araon out of the sea ice to open water, he said in a statement. Roberts did not say how long the repair attempt was expected to take.
Weather in the area was calm, which should help the repair operation, he said.
The survival drama on the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf is taking place about 2,200 miles (3,700 kilometers) southeast of New Zealand.
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With the expansion of Microsoft?s Kinect beyond the Xbox 360 to Windows, computer scientists and researchers are coming up with all sorts of novel uses for the motion sensor and camera array built in to the device. But here?s a new one: weighing astronauts in space.
New Scientist reports that?Carmelo Velardo, a computer scientist at?Eurecom?in France, is proposing to use Kinect in that way at the International Space Station, replacing much larger and more complex systems for tracking the weight of people in space. Here?s how it would work, according to the New Scientist article.
Along with colleagues at the Italian Institute of Technology?s Center for Human Space Robotics in Torino, he used the Kinect?s depth-sensing ability to create a 3D model of an astronaut. Then the team ran their calculation using a statistical model that links weight to body measurements based on a database of 28,000 people. Velardo?s estimates are 97 per cent accurate, corresponding to an average error of just 2.7 kilograms, which is comparable to the current method used on board the ISS.
A NASA scientist tells the site that the idea appears feasible, but changes in body density in space mean that the approach would still need to be tested to make sure the tests on Earth hold true in zero gravity.
Richard Hay, who originally brought the New Scientist article to our attention, jokes in a post that the introduction of Kinect in space could have a side benefit: ?Maybe a little Dance Central action amongst the astronauts??
See Richard?s full post here on Windows Observer.
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Holiday travelers throughout most of the United States are getting the gift of good weather to help their travel plans this Christmas Eve.
On Sunday, Christmas Day, at least 99-percent of the country will not have any snowflakes in the air, AccuWeather reported.
"It doesn't get much quieter than this, this time of year," said Tom Kines, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.
But winter storm warnings in the southern Plains, rain and snow in Texas, and rain in the Pacific Northwest could snarl some travel plans in those areas.
Moderate to occasionally heavy snow will continue on Saturday to blanket parts of the southern Plains where winter storm warnings remain in effect, according to the National Weather Service.
The greatest accumulation is expected in far southeast New Mexico and areas west of Midland, Texas.
Along with the southern Plains, parts of Colorado, areas of the Northeast and the Great Lakes region will see a white Christmas with the snow that's already on the ground.
Video: Dry vs. white Christmas (on this page)
But most of the country will have no new snow on Sunday, with the exception of parts of the Northeast and Great Lakes region, which may see some snow showers. Rain is also expected in parts of the Southeast, reported AccuWeather.
"A large part of the country is going to be green or brown on Christmas Day," said Kines. "It stinks for Santa because he doesn't have the snow for his sleigh."
Kansas City, like most cities in the Midwest, is no exception. Temperatures there were forecast for 47 on Saturday and 48 on Sunday, under sunny skies.
Snowless Minneapolis
While snowless Christmases are not that unusual in Kansas City, they are more so for Minneapolis. Last year a winter storm 12 days before Christmas dumped 17 inches of snow on the city and caused the roof of the Metrodome, the Minnesota Viking's football stadium, to collapse.
This year, Minneapolis has no snow and will have temperatures in the high 30s over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
According to AccuWeather, El Paso, Texas, and Chicago are tied for seasonal snowfall so far with a total of 1.7 inches.
Video: Americans hit the road for holidays (on this page)In a typical December, Chicago sees 8.5 inches of snow. To date this December, Chicago has seen the lowest amount of snow since 2003, according to Victor Murphy with the National Weather Service.
Drought-weary Texans are welcoming the snow and rain there. The worst one-year drought in the state's history sparked devastating wildfires, killed as many as half a billion trees, and prompted the most serious urban water use restrictions ever.
Story: Little to no snow this Christmas for northern USSome of the most extreme water rationing will be lifted this weekend because of the rain. But Roland Ruiz, Vice President of the Edwards Aquifer Authority, which manages the underground reservoir, a main source of drinking water for millions of Texans, said the severe drought is still very much alive.
"Aquifer levels remain well below historic averages, and a return to severe restrictions is possible early in 2012," he said.
Texas needs 10 to 20 inches of rain in some areas just to return to normal levels for the year, and forecasters are not expecting anything close to that.
The National Weather Service's latest Seasonal Drought Outlook forecasts the drought to 'persist or intensify' across all but northeast Texas through March.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45783537/ns/weather/
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Stocks on the Dow rise for the third day in a row, buoyed by falling jobless claims and better readings from leading indicators.?
Encouraging economic reports pushed stocks higher Thursday. The?Dow?Jones industrial average rose 61 points, its third gain in a row.
Skip to next paragraphThe number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since April 2008, the latest sign that the job market is healing. It was the third week in a row that applications fell. The Conference Board also reported that its measure of future economic activity had a big increase last month. It was the second straight gain, signaling that the U.S. economy was picking up speed and the risk of another recession was fading.
"Today, Main Street is what matters because Main Street makes up 71 percent of the economy," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist for Prudential Securities. "You can't argue with the fact that the cost of gas has come down, which puts more money in the pockets of consumers to spend, and so things are starting to tick up."
Krosby noted that the latest data showed that shoppers were opening up their wallets to spend during the holidays. However, she said the economy needs to grow at a faster pace than 2 percent to be able to survive any shocks caused by the European debt crisis or a sharp slowdown in China's economy in 2012.
The government lowered its estimate of U.S. economic growth in the July-September quarter to an annual rate of 1.8 percent from 2 percent. That was still the fastest growth this year, up from 1.3 percent in the April-June quarter.
The?Dow?Jones industrial average rose 61.91 points, or 0.51 percent, to close at 12,169.65. The?Dow?has risen 409 points over the past three days. Bank of America Corp. rose 4.6 percent to $5.47, the most among the 30 stocks in the?Dow.
The S&P 500 index gained 10.28 points, or 0.83 percent, to 1,254. The Nasdaq composite index rose 21.48, or 0.83 percent, to 2,599.45.
Economists say that the improving job market, strong holiday shopping, and cheaper gas prices will leave consumers with more money to spend. That would get the economy growing at an annual rate of more than 3 percent in the final three months of this year, which would be the fastest pace since 3.8 percent growth in the spring of 2010.
Banks, energy and technology stocks were the biggest gainers, while consumer goods companies traded lower. Morgan Stanley led bank stocks, gaining 6.5 percent to close at $15.88, while among tech stocks Akamai Technologies Inc. the biggest gainer, rising 18.6 percent to $31.63.
In other corporate news:
? Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. plummeted 10 percent on news that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. pulled a batch of its powdered infant formula from more than 3,000 of its stores nationwide. A newborn Missouri boy was fed a batch of the Enfamil Newborn powder made by Mead and died from what preliminary tests indicate was a rare bacterial infection. So far, no link has been established between the death and the formula and the government has not ordered a recall of Enfamil.
? Tibco Software Inc. jumped 8 percent after the business software maker reported a 20 percent increase in revenue and net income that was far ahead than what Wall Street analysts were expecting.
? Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. slid 6 percent after the retailer warned investors that its fourth-quarter earnings might be lower than analysts had expected. Third-quarter sales also fell below analysts' expectations.
With just over a week of trading left in 2011, the S&P 500 is less than 1 percent below where it started the year. The?Dow?has managed to gain 5.1 percent in 2011, while the Nasdaq is still off 2 percent.
Nearly three stocks gained for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was very light at 3.5 billion, compared to the recent average of 4.6 billion.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/m5XlIEkQhso/Stocks-climb-on-encouraging-signs-in-economy
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From Naima Benallal, CNN
updated 5:15 PM EST, Wed December 21, 2011
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Paris (CNN) -- The French government will pay for tens of thousands of women to have silicone breast implants removed over concerns about a possible link to a rare form of cancer, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
French health authorities are due to make a recommendation Friday about whether women with implants by a company called Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) must have them removed.
The ministry says about 30,000 French women have PIP implants, which are not currently approved for use in the United States.
According to a news release from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, PIP is now defunct. It says the company "used non-medical grade silicone believed by the manufacturers to be made for mattresses."
The French government agency that evaluates the safety of medical products says 523 women have had them removed since a defect was discovered last year.
More than 1,000 implants have ruptured since then, the agency says.
British authorities are advising caution over the implants but are not going as far as the French.
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said Tuesday it was "aware of the recent report in France of the death of a woman implanted with breast implants from anaplastic large cell lymphoma," which it called "a rare form of cancer which affects cells from the immune system."
It said it would "monitor for any associations of all types of breast implants, including PIP, with cancers and any other health implications."
But it did not advise women with PIP implants to have them taken out, saying more generally that "women with any type of breast implant... who have questions about their breasts or think that their implants may have ruptured, should seek clinical advice from their implanting surgeon."
A committee made up of representatives of several French health agencies was set up December 14 to discuss PIP implants.
Women will only be reimbursed for new implants if they were originally for reconstructive surgery, the Health Ministry said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided in March 2000 not to approve saline PIP implants in the United States. The company never submitted a marketing application for its silicone implants in the United States, the agency says.
CNN's Laura Perez Maestro and Miriam Falco contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/21/health/breast-implants/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
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LOS ANGELES?? Grammy-winning singer Etta James, who has been deemed terminally ill with leukemia, has been hospitalized in California and placed on a breathing machine, her long-time manager and friend said on Friday.
James, 73, best known for the blues ballad "At Last," was taken to the hospital near her home in Riverside, east of Los Angeles, earlier this week because she was struggling to breathe.
"They took her to the hospital. She was having trouble breathing, so they intubated her. She is on a breathing machine and is resting," Lupe De-Leon, the singer's manager for 30 years, told Reuters.
The singer has been in failing health for a number of years and suffers from leukemia, kidney disease and dementia but had previously been cared for at her Southern California home.
During a Friday court appearance, she was accused of felony battery and possession of a controlled substance.
Her live-in doctor said last week that James was considered terminally ill, and that she communicates mostly with nods and simple words.
The three-time Grammy Award singer earlier battled obesity and was addicted to heroin for many years.
"It is really sad. She is like my sister," De-Leon said on Friday.
James was a key figure in the early days of R&B music with hit songs like "The Wallflower" and "Good Rockin' Daddy". But it was her 1961 recording of "At Last" that put her on the map.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45778733/ns/today-entertainment/
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The Los Angeles Galaxy signed 18-year-old midfielder Jose Villarreal as a Homegrown Player on Thursday.
Villarreal is the third player to be signed directly from the Galaxy Academy, joining Tristan Bowen and Jack McBean.
"Jose is a player that we have known and watched for a long time and it's been great to have him in our Academy this past year," said Galaxy Academy Senior Director Chris Klein. "He has a tremendous amount of promise and potential and we're excited that he'll be able to continue his development with the first team."
Villarreal has represented the United States at various youth levels.
"It's been my dream ever since I was little to be a professional soccer player, so to be able to do that and stay close to home so that I can play in front of my family and friends is a dream come true," Villarreal said.
"Growing up here in the area I've always watched the Galaxy and been a fan of the team so this will be a great experience for me."
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/22/2558231/galaxy-sign-midfielder-villarreal.html
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FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2011 photo, Montreal Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin reacts during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks, in Montreal. Martin has been fired as coach of the last-place Montreal Canadiens. The team said Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 that assistant Randy Cunneyworth will be the interim head coach for the rest of the season. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)
FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2011 photo, Montreal Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin reacts during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks, in Montreal. Martin has been fired as coach of the last-place Montreal Canadiens. The team said Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 that assistant Randy Cunneyworth will be the interim head coach for the rest of the season. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)
MONTREAL (AP) ? Sloppy play, blown leads, a poor record at home.
It proved all too much for the last-place Montreal Canadiens, who fired coach Jacques Martin on Saturday and put assistant Randy Cunneyworth in charge for the rest of the season.
"The primary reason is the team wasn't performing as well as it should be in our minds," general manager Pierre Gauthier said at a Bell Centre news conference.
Assistant GM Larry Carriere was appointed assistant coach, his first coaching job after a long career in scouting and administration.
Martin, who preaches defense, was in his third season with the Canadiens. He is also one of the winningest coaches in NHL history.
He now gives way to Cunneyworth, a Toronto native whose lack of French was quickly noted. He is team's first unilingual English-speaking coach since Al MacNeil in 1971. On a team that symbolizes French-Canadian pride, he faces a daunting task in his bid to remove the interim tag.
"I have the utmost respect for the language here and I am very aware of how important it is to try and learn the language," Cunneyworth said after running his first practice. "Obviously I know a few words, and not all the good ones."
Montreal remained at the bottom of the Northeast Division with a 13-13-7 record after losing 5-3 to New Jersey in Cunneyworth's debut on Saturday night.
The 59-year-old Martin has also coached the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators. Gauthier hired Martin in Ottawa. In 1996 in Ottawa, Martin inherited Cunneyworth as his hardworking captain.
"I would hope that my coaching style was similar to the way I played," Cunneyworth said. "I felt for the most part that I competed very hard."
Cunneyworth joined his former coach's staff as an assistant this summer after spending the previous season as head coach of Montreal's AHL affiliate in Hamilton.
"I have mixed emotions this time around," said Cunneyworth, who began and ended his career with Buffalo and also played for Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, Hartford and Chicago. "There is still the excitement but my thoughts are with Jacques. ... I have the utmost respect for Jacques and everything he does, the wealth of experience that I have learned over my times with him."
Martin was in his 17th season in the NHL. He reached his 600th NHL career victory last April, making him the ninth winningest coach in league history.
The Canadiens have been hurt by mistakes this season. They are 5-6-6 at home, often squandering third-period leads.
"Especially in the last few weeks, we didn't really know what was coming out of the box every night," Gauthier said. "And the way we were losing the leads and the way we were coaching the games wasn't very consistent, and that's what we hope to change."
There were hints of tension between Martin and Gauthier. After a poor start, Martin's closest ally, assistant Perry Pearn, was fired just before a game Oct. 26.
"We were on the same wavelength right to the end, but that doesn't mean that the team's performances were acceptable," Gauthier said.
The players were told of the coaching changes when they arrived for their morning skate.
"When we are where we are and expect to be a better team than we've been, you definitely are aware there might be changes," forward Michael Cammalleri said. "For it to be Jacques was somewhat surprising."
"We're in 11th place, that's what went wrong," he added. "I think Jacques was still trying to work on thing and improve the team. I don't think there was anyone not listening to him."
In the 50-year-old Cunneyworth, the Canadiens get a more tech-savvy coach, although one who is not expected to make major changes.
"I think the message will be to get back doing the things that the players are potentially capable of," Cunneyworth said. "We obviously have to figure out ways to get more out of our individual players. It's a responsibility of the coaching staff, but it's also a responsibility of the players themselves."
Cunneyworth was promoted to the NHL club along with assistant Randy Ladouceur after coaching in Hamilton last season.
"What system is in place doesn't matter if everyone buys in and plays the right way," defenseman Josh Gorges said. "If you only have half the guys doing what's asked of them, everything is in disarray and I think that's where we got to."
"We weren't playing together and doing the things we need to do to win," he added. "And consequently we lost games we shouldn't have lost and changes needed to be made."
Martin joined the Canadiens in 2009-10 and took them on an improbable run to the Eastern Conference finals where they lost to Philadelphia. Montreal made the playoffs the following year but was eliminated in the first round.
Martin also won the NHL coach of the year in 1998-99 and was part of Canada's gold-medal triumph at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
"The bottom line is winning games," Canadiens defenseman Hal Gill said. "We weren't winning and changes happen. I don't think it was about losing the room or anything like that."
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MicroRNAs or miRNAs are tiny RNA molecules that have only about 20 nucleotides and do not code for proteins. They regulate many important processes in cells by binding to target messenger RNAs ? the instructions for protein production ?, thus blocking production of the respective protein. In cancer, the production of some miRNAs is often reduced or amplified. This particularly affects miRNAs that regulate the activity of cancer-promoting genes.
A key molecule in the development of cancer is a transcription factor called NFkappaB, which is an important switch for many genes with inflammation-promoting effects. At DKFZ, Professor Dr. Stefan Wiemann and collaborators have now investigated whether microRNAs that affect NFkappaB production are deregulated in breast cancer. Jointly with colleagues at Heidelberg and Tuebingen University Hospitals, the DKFZ team studied over 800 miRNAs and discovered a family of RNA molecules known as miR-520, which particularly strongly reduce the production of NFkappaB. "If the cells produce less NFkappaB, the production of inflammation-promoting signaling molecules is reduced. This puts a brake on cancer growth, because these signaling molecules promote invasive capacity, formation of new vessels and metastasis," says Ioanna Keklikoglou, a doctoral student Wiemann's department, explaining this mechanism.
However, miR-520 does not only act like a cancer brake by suppressing NFkappaB. In addition, Wiemann's team discovered that this microRNA also blocks another cancer-promoting signaling pathway that is triggered by growth factor TGF-beta. TGF-beta signals cause malignant cells to be less firmly anchored in the tissue and, thus, better able to invade surrounding organs ? a characteristic feature of cancer cells.
Subsequently, the DKFZ researchers studied the question of whether the findings obtained in cancer cells in the culture dish are also involved in breast cancer. Studying tumor tissue samples of 76 patients, the team discovered that tumors which have already spread to the lymph nodes produce less miR-520 than those which have not yet spread. However, this connection was only found in tumors that do not produce receptors for the female sexual hormone, estrogen (ER-negative tumors).
"Our findings clearly demonstrate that miR-520 is a genuine cancer brake that suppresses the malignant behavior of tumor cells in two different ways at once," said Stefan Wiemann, commenting on the findings reported in his now published work. "This cancer brake appears to fail in many ER-negative breast tumors ? and also in cells of other types of cancer, as colleagues have now demonstrated." ER-negative breast cancer is particularly difficult to treat in many cases. Developing a microRNA therapy that blocks several cancer-promoting signaling pathways at once may therefore be an interesting option.
###
I Keklikoglou, C Koerner, C Schmidt, JD Zhang, D Heckmann, A Shavinskaya, H Allgayer, B G?ckel, T Fehm, A Schneeweiss, ? Sahin, S Wiemann and U Tschulena: MicroRNA-520/373 family functions as a tumor suppressor in estrogen receptor negative breast cancer by targeting NF-kappaB and TGF-b signaling pathways. Oncogene 2011, DOI: 10.1038/onc.2011.571
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres: http://www.helmholtz.de/en/index.html
Thanks to Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres for this article.
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CHICAGO (AP) ? Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd was locked up in federal custody Thursday as his stunned teammates learned he had been charged with trying to set up a drug-dealing network following his arrest with more than a pound of cocaine.
U.S. Magistrate Young Kim ordered Hurd held until at least Friday while prosecutors and defense attorneys work out bond details before he is sent to Texas to face charges.
The handcuffed Hurd declined to comment on the charges. Asked before the hearing if he was still a member of the Bears, he said: "As far as I know." He shook his head when asked if he had talked to anyone on the team.
"Sam intends to fight these charges, and we intend to defend him fully," said high-profile defense attorney David Kenner, one of Hurd's lawyers. "We have complete confidence in him."
Kenner told The Associated Press that he and partner Brett Greenfield had not evaluated all of the information in the case. But Kenner ? who successfully defended rapper Snoop Dogg against murder charges ? said he had other cases where the evidence appeared to be stacked against his client.
"They start off looking terrible, and then we end up with 'not guiltys,'" Kenner said.
Kenner and Greenfield said they expected Hurd to be released from custody Friday.
Hurd, 26, was arrested Wednesday night after meeting with an undercover agent at a Chicago restaurant, according to a criminal complaint that says the player was first identified as a potential drug dealer over the summer as the NFL lockout was coming to an end.
Hurd told the agent that he was interested in buying five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area, the complaint said. He allegedly said he and a co-conspirator already distribute about four kilos of cocaine every week, but their supplier couldn't keep up with his demands. A kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.
Hurd told the agent "his co-conspirator is in charge of doing the majority of the deals" while he focused on "higher-end deals," the complaint said.
He agreed to pay $25,000 for each kilogram of cocaine and $450 a pound for the marijuana, according to the charges, and then said he could pay for a kilo of cocaine after "he gets out of practice." He walked out of the restaurant with the package and was arrested.
The criminal complaint was filed in Texas, where the U.S. attorney said Hurd faces up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine if convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, or half a kilogram.
Hurd's agent, Ian Greengross, did not return messages seeking comment. The NFL said it was looking into the incident while the NFL Players Association declined to comment.
Coach Lovie Smith said the arrest was a disappointment and a "total surprise," adding that Hurd was still a member of the Bears for now.
"Sam wasn't in meetings this morning and that's how from there of course we started searching trying to find out why a player wouldn't be here," Smith said. "There was no tipoff, didn't know it was coming."
Smith said there was no reason to believe Hurd had problems when the Bears signed him before the season.
"No issues, no reason. I'm in shock over it. I never saw it coming," Smith said. "But just like I think I know most of you, you don't really know what people do once you're not with them. But I know that anyone we bring through here, we've had an extensive search to find out everything, if there is something out there, and that wasn't the case. There was nothing we knew about Sam."
Hurd, a San Antonio native who played college ball at Northern Illinois, spent five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and is in his first stint with the Bears. He has contributed mostly on special teams, playing in 77 games overall with six starts and two career touchdowns. He has played in 12 games this year, catching eight passes for 109 yards.
The complaint says an informant tipped off authorities in Texas in July, leading to an investigation in which an unidentified acquaintance of Hurd's "negotiated" for approximately five kilograms of cocaine on the player's behalf. The acquaintance wanted to buy the drugs quickly to take it to a "northern destination that same day," the complaint said.
The Bears reached a three-year deal with Hurd this summer that was reportedly worth up to $5.15 million, including a $1.35 million signing bonus and base pay this season of $685,000.
The deal was announced on July 29 ? the day after federal authorities say he had agreed to a "consensual interview" with Homeland Security investigators over $88,000 in cash that had been seized in a car he owned in the Dallas area. The money was inside a canvas bag that authorities said was covered in a plant-like material that tested positive for "properties of marijuana."
The acquaintance told authorities that Hurd "routinely leaves large amounts" of money in his vehicles, while Hurd said the money was indeed his and that he had given the car to his acquaintance, a car shop employee, for maintenance and detail work.
Hurd showed authorities a bank statement he said showed he had withdrawn $88,000 from his account, but authorities said it did "not reflect the transactions and amounts" he claimed.
Teammates said they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"It's a situation that you don't, I don't, want anybody to be in, especially a close friend, a teammate that I've been playing with now for four or five years," said wide receiver Roy Williams, who played with Hurd in Dallas before being reunited on the Bears this year. "Especially a guy from Texas with a wife and a daughter. ... I know it has to be tough for him because he has his family."
Linebacker Brian Urlacher said it's sad for Hurd, who he called a good teammate and good guy. But he said it won't affect the team's play.
"Football-wise it's not going to be an issue," Urlacher said. "We'll go out there and practice like we do every day and hopefully put it behind us when Sunday gets here."
In 2009, four years into his NFL career, Hurd established a charitable organization, Running with the Hurd, aimed at mentoring kids. The organization sponsored a football camp in the South Texas city of Harlingen last year.
Hurd's sister, Jawanda Newsome, told the San Antonio Express-News in 2008 that her brother was paying to fix up their parents' home as well as covering his younger brother's junior college tuition. She said she worried about her brother because he was so prone to give his money away.
Newsome told the newspaper Thursday she is hoping people will refrain from speculating about her brother's case.
"We need to see what the outcome is," she said. "He has a lawyer. I hope San Antonio doesn't lose its trust in Sam. We are praying for a positive outcome, because we don't yet know hard-core facts either."
Linebacker Lance Briggs said the Bears were going to focus on practice and Sunday's home game against Seattle.
"You hate to see this happen to anyone. That's just it. We all make mistakes," Briggs said. "You don't go through a football season without distractions. Distractions are expected. This is a game where we're professionals and you have to approach it that way.
"There's a sports side, there's a business side and then there's a personal side. And, when it comes to business as a professional, you have to take care of business."
___
AP Sports Writer Rick Gano in Lake Forest, Ill., and AP writers Danny Robbins and Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.
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