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CHULA VISTA (CNS) – Two people — including a teenager — pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges stemming from the shooting death of a man who was gunned down during a robbery near the site of a child’s birthday party in Otay Mesa last month. Deon Bryant, 17, and Tyrone Cannady, 20, were charged in the May 19 slaying of 28-year-old Reynaldo Bonoan. Bryant — charged directly in adult court and held without bail — faces 35 years to life in prison if convicted, said prosecutor Allen Brown. Cannady — held on $1 million bail — faces 51 years to life behind bars if convicted, according to the prosecutor. a third defendant, 22-year-old Andrew James Oliver, was arrested within hours of the killing, which occurred about 4:20 p.m. in the 3400 block of Alonquin Way. Oliver, who was previously arraigned, faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted. Police said that shortly before being shot, Bonoan left a child’s birthday party to run an errand and was walking back to the celebration when he was robbed and shot in the street. he died at the scene. Later the same night, Oliver was arrested in the 1100 block of Camino Regalado, about a block away from where a getaway vehicle was located, police said. All three defendants will be back in court June 20.

Friday, June 1, 2012

More than 40 trees that are part of the campus-wide arboretum at the University of Massachusetts have been removed to make way for construction of a new building on North Pleasant Street that will house the journalism, linguistics, communications and film studies departments.

For members of Preserve UMass, a 150-member organization of former and current UMass professors, staff, alumni and professionals dedicated to recording the history of the campus, the loss of these trees from the Waugh Arboretum results from a faulty process that excludes participation by entities such as the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

Joseph Larson, corresponding secretary for Preserve UMass, said his organization is not opposed to the construction, but is worried about the effect removing trees and shrubs has on the integrity of the arboretum, named in memory of Frank A. Waugh, who founded the Department of Landscape Architecture.

"if the administration had any care in the role for the arboretum, there would have been discussions," Larson said. "We could have planned for their moving or replacement."

UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski said all sites for new buildings are chosen in consultation with faculty and sites are examined for their physical, functional and academic aspects. The site in question was considered ideal for the new building because it will ensure a hub of activity based on its proximity to the Campus Center and Student Union, he said.

"The ultimate decision was made because we want to locate something in a central location that would be easy to get to for students," Blaguszewski said.

But preparing for the $85 million, four-story, 173,000-square-foot structure meant taking down a number of trees and shrubs and clearing vegetation in an area near the Student Union.

Blaguszewski said university landscape services relocated four trees and 30 shrubs, and the contractor replanted one black walnut tree at Holdsworth Hall. But 43 trees had to be removed, along with additional shrubs.

When construction is complete, a planting plan includes 52 new trees, a large number of shrubs and ground covers and perennials, he said. "A comprehensive landscaping plan will complement the building once it is erected," Blaguszewski said.

Larson said the specimens removed should be in the replacement plan. "We are going to assist them because it’s important," he said.

He said that an inventory of the significant trees and shrubs that are part of the arboretum was done in 1974. Some of the specimens were transported from Japan by William Smith Clark, the third president of the university.

Among the trees lost are three amur corktrees, which are from Japan but are considered an invasive species, two Eastern white pines, one Japanese black pine and one Austrian pine.

Although the town’s Public Shade Tree Committee has no oversight for the college campuses, the decision to remove the trees does not sit well with its chairwoman, Hope Crolius. In its halcyon days, she said, UMass was nationally recognized for its arboretum. "that vision is nowhere to be found now," Crolius said.

Crolius said the removal of all foliage and vegetation on the south side of the Campus Center is distressing.

"It’s just sickening. We’re appalled," Crolius said.

Amherst Tree Warden Alan Snow said he believes many of the trees removed were less than 40 years old. Many were ash and red maples.

Though the town committee doesn’t have oversight on campuses, the members still make their voices heard. The committee recently sent a memo to Amherst College expressing concern about a camperdown elm that could be cut down when Pratt Field improvements are made.

Meanwhile, Larson said he is worried about the adverse impact construction will have on the campus pond landscape and the likely demolition of the historic Waiting Station Shelter.

The changes to the campus pond came under the purview of the town’s Conservation Commission, which issued an order of conditions related to the project in January.

Elizabeth Willson, the town’s wetlands administrator, said the order of conditions covered the construction of the new building, the repair and reconstruction of the dike and outlet structure at the pond, the water quality structure in the pipe leading to the pond and habitat improvements on the shore.

Abstract: We present a two-current-pulse temporal correlation experiment to study the intrinsic subnanosecond nonequilibrium magnetic dynamics of a …
arxiv.org/abs/1205.7034

Eating healthy is easy when you’re at home, or have your favorite market nearby, but if you’re in a new town or planning a road trip, it can be easier to just drive through a fast food joint to grab a bite. Well, no more: the Eat Well Guide has over 25,000 healthy eating options, from cafes to stores, where you can grab a bite that’s good for you, whether you’re in an unfamiliar place or you’re in the car on the way to your destination.

The Eat Well Everywhere travel map is a service from the Eat Well Guide, which can help you find CSAs, farmer’s markets, stores, restaurants, and other healthy dining options anywhere you go.

The travel map can do the same—just type in where you are in the “start” field and you’ll see the options near you. Type in your start and end addresses and select how far off your route you’re willing to drive for healthy eats, and the app will give you a list of places you can stop for a bite along the way. from there, you can filter the list so you only see restaurants, markets, and stores. Once you’ve decided on where to stop, you can head out knowing you won’t have to resort to the drive through just because you’re not familiar with the area.

How do you manage to eat healthy when you’re on the move, or in an unfamiliar town? Share your tips in the comments below.

Eat Well Guide – Travel Map

A COMPANY that is changing the lives of special needs children in the UK and Europe is the latest entrant for the Citizen and Gloucestershire Echo 2012 Business Awards. Tomcat SNI was set up by engineer Bob Griffin in 1997 after he met a boy with …
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Exactly. I am a black woman, with black parents and grandparents.. etc, and I am lighter in skin tone that Lou.my family comes in shades of vanilla all the way to chocolate, and many shades of brown in between. We blacks come in many hues.

1 junho 2012

[Artigo do the new York Times traduzido e publicado na edição desta sexta-feira (1º/6) do jornal O Estado de S.Paulo]

Na defesa da adoção da nova Constituição rascunhada na Filadélfia, os autores de the Federalist Papers zombaram da "imbecilidade" do governo central fraco criado pelos Artigos de Confederação.

Quase 225 anos depois, críticos de todo o espectro consideram o sistema político americano disfuncional e até patológico. Mas o que eles não mencionam é o papel da própria Constituição para causar a patologia.

Ignorem, para o bem da discussão, as cláusulas que ajudaram a impingir a escravidão até ela ser extinta por uma brutal guerra civil. Comecem com o Senado e sua atribuição de poderes votantes iguais para Califórnia e Wyoming; Vermont e Texas; Nova York e Dakota do Norte.

Considerem que, apesar de uma maioria de americanos ter manifestado, desde a 2ª Guerra, sua oposição ao colégio eleitoral, participaremos neste ano de mais uma eleição dominada pelos estados indefinidos entre democratas e republicanos enquanto os três maiores estados serão, em grande parte, ignorados.

Nosso alardeado sistema de "separação de poderes" e "equilíbrio entre poderes" — um legado da desconfiança das facções pelos fundadores — significa que é raro termos algo que realmente pode ser descrito como um "governo". Exceto por aqueles raros exemplos em que um partido tinha o controle folgado de quatro instituições do poder — a Câmara de Representantes, o Senado, a Casa Branca e a Suprema Corte — paira uma ameaça de impasse.

As eleições têm cada vez menos significado, ao menos em termos de produzir resultados condizentes com os desafios que se colocam para os EUA.

Mas se for preciso escolher a pior parte isolada da Constituição, esta é com certeza o Artigo 5º, que tornou nossa Constituição uma das mais difíceis de emendar do mundo. a última modificação constitucional significativa foi a 22ª Emenda, acrescentada em 1951, para limitar os presidentes a dois mandatos. a quase impossibilidade de emendar a Constituição nacional não só impede reformas necessárias; também faz a discussão parecer fútil e causa uma recusa complacente de que haja alguma coisa com que se preocupar.

Nem sempre foi assim. Na eleição de 1912, dois presidentes — passado e futuro — questionaram seriamente a adequação da Constituição. Theodore Roosevelt teria permitido que o Congresso derrubasse decisões da Suprema Corte invalidando leis federais, enquanto Woodrow Wilson basicamente apoiava um sistema parlamentarista e, como presidente, tentou agir mais como primeiro-ministro do que como agente do Congresso. Os anos seguintes viram a promulgação de emendas estabelecendo a legitimidade do imposto de renda federal, a eleição direta de senadores, a Proibição (Lei Seca) e o direito de voto para as mulheres.

Veneração. Um debate como esse provavelmente não ocorrerá entre Barack Obama e Mitt Romney. Eles aparentemente perderam, como a maioria dos americanos contemporâneos, sua capacidade de pensar com seriedade em até que ponto a Constituição nos serve bem. Em vez disso, a Constituição está envolta numa veneração quase religiosa (a teologia mórmon a trata, aliás, como dádiva divina).

O que poderia ser uma reforma radical? Poderíamos avaliar as Constituições dos 50 estados, consideravelmente mais fáceis de emendar. Houve mais de 230 convenções constitucionais estaduais; cada estado teve uma média de quase três Constituições (Nova York, por exemplo, está na sua quinta Constituição, adotada em 1938).

Este ano, os habitantes de Ohio votarão sobre a convocação ou não de uma nova convenção constitucional; sua Constituição, como outras 13, entre as quais a de Nova York, confere aos eleitores a opção de fazê-lo em intervalos regulares, tipicamente a cada 20 anos.

Outra reforma buscaria resolver o impasse do Congresso. Poderíamos permitir que cada presidente recém-eleito nomeasse 50 membros da Câmara e 10 membros do Senado, todos para servir mandatos de 4 anos, até a próxima eleição presidencial. Os presidentes seriam julgados por programas reais e não por retórica vazia.

Se aumentar os poderes presidenciais parecer assustador demais, a solução poderia repousar, então, na redução, se não na eliminação, do poder do presidente de vetar legislação e voltar ao verdadeiro bicameralismo, em vez do tricameralismo sob o qual realmente os EUA operam. Poderíamos permitir que os impasses entre as duas Casas do Congresso sejam rompidos por uma supermaioria da Câmara ou o Congresso votando como um todo, por exemplo.

Também poderíamos nos inspirar nos estados que admitem ao menos alguns aspectos da democracia direta.

A Califórnia — o único estado com uma Constituição mais disfuncional do que a dos Estados Unidos — permite emendas constitucionais pelas urnas. O Maine, mais sensatamente, permite que seus cidadãos derrubem leis que considerem objetáveis. Não estaríamos muito melhor com um referendo nacional sobre o "Obamacare" (a reforma do sistema de saúde) em vez de deixar nove juízes politicamente não responsabilizáveis decidirem? Mesmo se quisermos preservar a revisão judicial da legislação nacional, uma coisa que o juiz Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. acreditava que poderíamos dispensar, talvez devêssemos imitar Dakota do Norte ou Nebraska, que exigem supermaiorias de seu tribunal para invalidar leis estaduais. Por que não deveriam ser precisos os votos de, por exemplo, sete dos nove juízes da Suprema Corte para derrubar legislações nacionais? Ou considere-se o fato de que quase todos os estados rejeitaram o modelo de juízes nomeados pelo presidente e depois confirmados pelo Senado. a maioria dos juízes estaduais é eleitoralmente responsabilizável, de certa maneira, e quase todos devem se aposentar em uma determinada idade. Muitos estados adotaram comissões para limitar a politização do processo de nomeação.

O que foi realmente admirável nos primeiros constituintes foi sua disposição de comentar, na verdade, eliminar, os Artigos de Confederação. Não é preciso acreditar que a Constituição de 1787 deve ser eliminada da mesma maneira para aceitar que já faz tempo que estamos devendo uma discussão séria sobre seu papel na produção do estado deprimente (e depressivo) da política americana.

Sanford Levinson é professor de Direito e Administração Pública na Universidade do Texas, em Austin, e autor de Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the crisis of governance.

Revista Consultor Jurídico, 1º de junho de 2012

School Bus driver Ford Thompson (middle) is surrounded by special education students who attend Groveland Elementary and Excelsior Elementary in Minnetonka.

The award was established by the widow of the local businessman who volunteered countless hours, and likely money, to assist the district’s Special Education Department. each year a special education teacher or school staff member who goes above and beyond to touch the lives of students with special needs is chosen to be the recipient.

Thompson told School Transportation News the Parnell family includes a daughter with special needs.

“Ford is an outstanding driver,” said Christine Rutledge, manager of the local first Student operation. “He is dedicated to the students he transports, treating them with respect and compassion. we are proud Ford was recognized for his service, and pleased to have him as a member of our team.”

Thompson started driving for first Student in 2004, when a back injury ended his career in construction. He said he was surprised to receive the award because special education teachers and paraprofessionals are also eligible, and they must be nominated. Whoever nominated him remains unknown, but he noted “the most votes wins.”

“I have nothing but good things to say about everybody involved with special needs at Minnetonka,” Thompson added, including bus drivers along with the teachers, paraprofessionals and other staff. “Everybody has a part.”

Thompson received the award during a ceremony may 10 in Minnetonka, which is located about 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis.

One of the 1st points that the Obama Administration has performed in workplace continues to be the enacting of the Financial debt Relief Act and also the Charge card Financial debt Act. each of those laws had been enacted with the realization of the Obama Administration that more than 90% of America’s revolving financial debt is because of the massive charge card financial debt that almost all us citizens are struggling with probably due to everyone abusing a my reward zone mastercard.

As component of the Financial debt Relief Act, the authorities enacted some laws that might control how creditors do business and improve authorities spending to assist ease customer financial debt.

The Financial debt Relief ActAs component of a massive plan to assist increase the economic climate, the Financial debt Relief Act is actually a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA, that is to promise more than $787 billion in authorities spending to stimulate the economic climate. below the ARRA, the capital invested is intended to visit tax credits which are created to allow the operating class of American modern society to take household a larger paycheck and spend off debts they may well have. below this regulation, the authorities also extends tax credits to employers as an incentive to help keep us citizens operating, as an alternative to laying them off. As component of Obama’s charge card relief plan, the authorities has also promised to provide more than $288 billion in tax credits and reforms.

One of the components of the ARRA is also allotted as authorities contracts and entitlements created to make work opportunities and aid these people that are in communities exactly where there are plenty of work cuts. An additional component of the act has permitted for unemployment benefits to rise and authorities contracts provided to these companies who are answerable for upgrading the infrastructure, supplying more work opportunities. all of this, guess what, is a huge component of assisting the authorities to relieve charge card financial debt by 2010.

The ARRA also has provisions in it that improve the spending on training grants and business grants to assist modern society get back again to work. the ARRA has doubled the spending budget for federal Pell grants for training up to $40 million and also the SBA is also assisting women-owned organizations secure authorities contracts. all these points can aid the American customer earn more capital to spend off their financial debt.

The Charge card Financial debt Relief ActTo fundamentally explain what the Charge card Financial debt Relief Act is about, it is fundamentally enacted to safeguard the interests of the consumers and avoid them from being taken for the cleaners by creditors as component of the Charge card Reform Act of 2009 engage customers. the act actually puts the brakes around the deceptive marketing that lots of charge card companies have been engaged in to tear off the unsuspecting customer via high rates of interest and late charges. a number of the unfair techniques that creditors have made use of to perform this consist of arbitrary alterations in the billing date and vague definitions about fixed and prime rates.

One huge factoid about charge card companies is the fact that 15% of their income is from charges and penalties. To quit this apply, there have to be unique safeguards that safeguard the customer from legal loansharking. the Charge card Financial debt Act actually regulates how creditors can perform business and creditors ought to clearly define fixed and prime rates. Lenders ought to also possess a concrete due date for each and every billing cycle which is set on a fixed date and ought to notify the consumer of any alterations. On best of that, creditors are also necessary to push the due date up to the next business day if the due date falls on a weekend or federal vacation. the regulation also calls for creditors to notify its clients in an improve in rates of interest inside 45 days prior to the improve like to the iamdavie.com/reward-zone-mastercard/.

An additional component of the Charge card Financial debt Relief Act, charge card companies aren’t permitted to offer credit cards to any person who’s underneath 21, unless they can prove that they have a livable income. Existing clients may also cancel their credit cards whenever they make a decision they do not like their charges. Prospects are also to become permitted through the creditor to spend off their financial debt at the outdated interest rate for three billing cycles ahead of the brand new interest rate kicks in.

The two above pointed out laws had been enacted to get the majority of us citizens who are deep in charge card financial debt from financial debt and thus aid the economic climate.

The fistfight at the Short BranchSaloon in Neenah began after Dan Wintheiser, a union worker at amanhole-cover foundry, altered a yard sign promoting Wisconsin’sgovernor to read “I Can’t Stand Walker.”

Wintheiser said he tried to stop the punch-up betweenworkers and managers that he set off at a May 30 retirementparty. still, it drove home that no matter what happens intomorrow’s recall election pitting Democratic Milwaukee MayorTom Barrett against Republican Scott Walker, Wisconsin won’tgreet the next day’s sunrise in a spirit of peace and unity.

“I just see the divide getting deeper and deeper,” saidWintheiser, 50. He said there was a “huge fight” over therecall at his dinner table — on Mothers’ Day.

While Americans have gone to the polls only twice to recalla governor — in 2003 and 1921 — those votes didn’t carry thenational significance of tomorrow’s election. Organized labor istrying to halt nationwide momentum from Walker’s collective-bargaining restrictions on public-employee unions. Both partiessee the election as a proxy for the presidential contest. Andconservatives are embracing Walker as the standard-bearer forausterity and backing him with more than $30 million, most of itraised since January.

“We’re in a battle for freedom in this country,” Reince Priebus, a Wisconsin native and chairman of the RepublicanNational Committee, told about 75 Walker supporters yesterday inGermantown. “We’re not only in a battle for the state ofWisconsin; we’re in a battle for the future of America.”

The recall effort that started last year after Walkerpushed limits on unions through the Legislature hasmetamorphosed into a debate over the job climate and controllingthe cost of government services. most minds, according to polls,were made up long ago. Undecideds are a sliver of theelectorate.

“This election, as we all know, will be determined byturnout,” said U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, a Democrat whocampaigned with Barrett yesterday at a coffee shop in Oshkosh.“We’re fairly well evenly divided. That’s what Wisconsin isthese days.”

Wisconsin, a hotbed of the early 20th century’s Progressivemovement, is polarized. Voters recalled two Republican statesenators last year of nine who were challenged. Walker will beup for an ouster vote along with Republican Lieutenant GovernorRebecca Kleefisch and four state senators from their party.

Barrett, 58, who lost the 2010 governor’s race to Walker byabout 125,000 votes, said his opponent’s agenda “is all aboutthe Tea Party. It’s all about making Wisconsin this experimentaldish for all these radical notions.”

“He’s obsessed about becoming the rock star of the farright,” Barrett told about 60 supporters in the Oshkosh coffeeshop.

At a strip mall along a freeway in Germantown, where womenjumped up and down with Walker placards urging drivers to honktheir horns, the governor quoted the Wisconsin constitution.

“Moderation and frugality in government leads to freedomand prosperity for our people,” he told cheering supporters.“And that’s what this is all about.”

A Walker victory would embolden labor opponents nationwideto continue chipping away at unions, including by weakening theNational Labor Relations Board and banning requirements thatworkers pay dues, said William Jones, a historian of themovement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“We’ll certainly see those trends increasing,” Jonessaid. “The outcome of the recall election could have a bigimpact nationally.”

Labor is already on the defensive. Although Ohio voterslast year repealed by 61 percent a law limiting bargaining andrequiring increased pension and health-care insurance paymentschampioned by Republican Governor John Kasich, it has lostground elsewhere. Governor Mitch Daniels and fellow Republicanlawmakers made Indiana the nation’s 23rd so-called right-to-workstate Feb. 1 by exempting nonunion employees from paying dueswhen working alongside unionized colleagues.

The rate of U.S. union membership fell to a record low in2011, with collective-bargaining units representing just 6.9percent of employees in nongovernment jobs, down from 7.2percent in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of LaborStatistics.

Wisconsin membership in the American Federation of State,County and Municipal Employees, the state’s second-largestpublic union, fell to 28,745 in February from 62,818 in March2011, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited ananonymous source.

While membership has declined, the numbers published by theJournal are “wildly inaccurate,” Bob Allen, a spokesman forAFSCME Wisconsin, said in a telephone interview and e-mailedstatement. the union doesn’t disclose its membership numbers, hesaid.

If Walker is recalled, it will be “a shot in the arm forlabor,” said Robert Reich, who was labor secretary underDemocratic President bill Clinton.

Clinton campaigned for Barrett last week. New JerseyGovernor Chris Christie has been part of a cadre of Republicansstumping for Walker.

Barrett and Walker hopscotched around the state today toencourage people to go to the polls. Election officials haveforecast 60 to 65 percent of registered voters will castballots. While the recall will officially end with tomorrow’svote, members of both parties said wounds will not heal quickly.

“People don’t want to respect other peoples’ opinionsanymore,” Wintheiser, the foundry worker, said. “It’s becomethat contentious.”

Jean Barina, 64, a freelance court reporter from Milwaukeeat Walker’s strip-mall rally, said there “will be hard feelingsfor a while.” as to how long that lasts, Barina said, “You’llhave to ask the Democrats that. We’re prepared to be at peace.”

To contact the reporters on this story:Timothy Jones in Germantown at tjones58@bloomberg.net;Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net