Thursday, December 31, 2009

Affidavit: Anger at government motivated Wytheville post office suspect


The 53-year-old disabled man accused of holding three hostages Wednesday night in an eight-hour standoff at the Wytheville Post Office told investigators he had planned to create his disturbance in Roanoke and that his motive for the attack "was a result of his growing anger towards the Federal Government about a variety of issues," according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint against him.

Postal Inspector J. David McKinney wrote that Warren A. Taylor of Bristol, Tenn., left his home about 9 a.m. Wednesday with the intent of traveling to Roanoke.

McKinney testified that: "Taylor stated he packed his vehicle with handguns, and mock explosive devices. Taylor indicated he had been planning this event for months or years in advance. Taylor indicated that his motive for his incident was a result of his growing anger towards the Federal Government about a variety of issues. Taylor indicated that he got tired while traveling from Tennessee to Roanoke, Virginia, so he stopped for gas and food in Wytheville, Virginia. He stated that he then made a decision to 'end it' at a Post Office in Wytheville, Virginia. Taylor admitted to firing one of the handguns he was carrying numerous times in the post office and also admitted to holding the hostages, according to the affidavit.

In an initial hearing this morning in federal court in Roanoke, Taylor was charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a federal crime of violence, kidnapping and possession of a firearm in a federal facility.
Taylor’s attorney, federal public defender Randy Cargill, submitted a motion for a competency evaluation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Giorno did not object. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski ordered that Taylor be transported to Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina for an evaluation, hospitalization and treatment.

Urbanski said that once a competency evaluation is complete, Taylor will be returned to court.

Taylor rolled into court in a wheelchair. His left leg was fitted with a prosthesis he described as partially made of Kevlar. Urbanski noted that the heavy-set man suffers from diabetes and other health problems and suggested he be transported as soon as possible for evaluation.

Aside from confirming he understood his rights and the purpose of the appearance, Taylor spoke only once.

“I’m sorry I got everybody out on Christmas,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s forearms displayed several tattoos that featured an American flag motif.

The standoff ended peacefully around 11 p.m. Wednesday after Taylor released the hostages and surrendered.


Source

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Upset Watch: Embattled USC Meets Motivated Boston College in Emerald Bowl


2009 will be remembered as a forgettable year for many people. The USC Trojans, who failed to win at least a share of the Pac-10 conference and qualify for a BCS Bowl game for the first time since 2001, are no exception.

Many factors led to a disappointing season for the Men of Troy on offense, defense, on the field, and off the field.

Matt Barkley was named the starting quarterback only nine days before the first game against San Jose State. All seemed well with the true freshman through two games, but the rigors of competing at the college level eventually wore him down toward the latter half of the season.

He regressed from wunderkind golden boy to battered, bruised, and turnover-prone game manager.

Stafon Johnson would have served as a valuable asset to the Trojan running game had a weighted bar not crushed his throat during a September bench-press session gone awry.

This type of injury is rare, but accidents happen, and the near-tragic incident in the Trojan gym was but one on a long list of telltale signs that pointed to a down year for USC.

Southern Cal would end up playing the sixth toughest schedule in the nation. Armed with the 58th-ranked offense in the nation against a very competitive Pac-10, and hampered by an exodus of high-profile coaches, USC had to make up for injuries, inexperience, and a paucity of quality coaching personnel outside of Pete Carroll.

While the mediocre 5-4 conference record and fifth-place Pac-10 finish speak for themselves, the void left by departed coordinators such as Norm Chow, Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin starts to become more noticeable once key players become academically ineligible for the postseason, and star running backs become the focal point of school investigations.

Senior tight end Anthony McCoy, freshman offensive tackle Tyron Smith and senior defensive lineman Averell Spice will all miss Saturday’s game due to respective academic ineligibilities.

Although he practiced with the team in the days leading up to the Emerald Bowl, the status of RB Joe McKnight is still yet to be determined.

Southern Cal’s leading rusher is being investigated for driving a sport-utility vehicle that was supposedly purchased for his girlfriend by a Santa Monica businessman.

The Trojan coaching staff may end up benching McKnight so as not to risk getting into hot water with the NCAA brass, but not having the explosive McKnight could prove problematic against Boston College's 16th-ranked rush defense if backup RB Allen Bradford and fullback Stanley Havili are unable to step up in his absence.

Instead of lamenting the loss of some of the Trojans’ premiere talent, the ever-optimistic Carroll sees opportunity for some of his second-stringers to impress coaches and fans before season’s end.

"Guys are jumping at this chance and hopefully they can do something with it," he said.

The Trojans will square off in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco against an overachieving Boston College team that is led by Dave Shinskie, a 25-year old freshman quarterback who spent six years playing minor league baseball.

The Eagles will also feature star tailback Montel Harris, who has accumulated 1355 rush yards and 14 total touchdowns this season. But the defense is what has turned Boston College into a bowl team.

BC was picked by some preseason prognosticators to wind up dead last in the conference. Instead, they finished second in the ACC Atlantic with a 5-3 record.

Unlike USC, the Eagles, winners of eight of their last nine bowl games, are thrilled to travel to the Bay Area for a chance to play in Saturday's postseason game at AT&T Park.

While their overall records may be the same, these two programs seem to have completely different mindsets headed into Saturday's matchup. This contest could come down to desire and motivation, which would spell trouble for Southern Cal.

A win would mean much more for Boston College’s program than USC’s. In fact, an ‘SC loss would, in many Trojan fans’ eyes, provide a fitting end to a season fraught with mediocrity and disappointment.


Source

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Dallas Cowboys motivated by doubters vs. New Orleans Saints


"We Dat!"

For 13 weeks New Orleans Saints fans have been asking the NFL "Who Dat Talkin' Bout Beaten Dem Saints?" On Saturday night at Superdome, the Dallas Cowboys had the answer:

"We Dat! -- 24-17."

The Cowboys did it by keeping quarterback Drew Brees and the league's hottest offense bottled up most of the night. And they did it with great play from their own quarterback, Tony Romo, who entered the gamer with the reputation of having a hard time winning in December.

Romo shredded the Saints' defense for 312 yards on 22-of-34 passing for a 104.0 rating. He was especially clutch on third down, converting eight of 15 opportunities.

And he did it with a little help from an unlikely source -- former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy.

"The coaches showed us a clip from Tony Dungy today, and he was asked what our chances were in this game -- and he said we had no chance, " Romo said.

"That came as surprise, considering it was an ex-coach who said it. It was able to motivate us.

"It's funny. We don't normally go into a game thinking we don't have any chance. But a lot of people were thin king that, and I can understand it, how we've been playing lately. But it motivated us."

Romo said his teammates took special pride in knocking off the undefeated Saints in the rowdy Superdome environment.

"It's a tough, tough place to play football, and (we) stepped up and played well, " he said. "I'm proud of the way our guys played."

Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips said his team's defensive game plan was "not to give up big plays" to the Brees-led Saints offense, especially in the first quarter.

"We wanted them to come down the field, to work for the things they were going to get, and to try to keep them off the field, " he said.

The Cowboys pressured Brees all game, sacking him four times and forcing two fumbles.

Desperately needing a win, the Cowboys set the tone early, taking their first drive 79 yards in just five plays with Romo hitting Miles Austin on a 49-yard touchdown pass.

By the end of the first quarter, Dallas had 195 yards -- the most yards for a single quarter by a Cowboys team in 18 years -- en route to a 14-0 lead

"That was big, getting the lead, " Phillips said. "I don't think we can play a better quarter of football. And against this team, you need all the point you can get."


Source

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Chatzky: With hiring scarce, staying motivated, inspiring others builds job security


If you’re lucky enough to have a job right now, you should do everything you can to hold on to it. If you’re in the ranks of the unemployed, you want to be the candidate who stands out in an increasingly large pool. And if you’re a boss at an organization struggling to stay afloat, you want to motivate your employees to hang tight, despite the bumps in the road.

There are endless ways to do it. You can fine-tune your résumé. Speak up at meetings with interesting, fresh ideas. Dress for the job you want rather than the job you have. But, as it turns out, one of the best ways to make your presence known is by being respectful and, quite simply, kind. You’ll get the same back in return.

That’s the theme of Deborah Norville’s new book, “The Power of Respect: Benefit from the Most Forgotten Element of Success.” Norville, who’s anchored “Inside Edition” for 14 years, clearly knows about success. Here are her tips, whether you’re in the job market, trying to get recognized at work, or trying to be an effective leader:

START WITH YOURSELF
It’s important to respect others, but self-respect, particularly at a time when you might be feeling down, is the starting line. “You have to tap back into what makes you a rock star. What is your skill set? Write it down, get it on paper and then look at it when you need to remind yourself why you deserve success,” Norville said. It’s nearly impossible to sell yourself in an interview if you don’t believe you’re the best person for the job, and it’s very difficult to motivate employees around you if you’re feeling insecure about your own abilities.

RECOGNIZE OTHERS
When people are acknowledged for their efforts, they want to achieve more. I’m not talking about an employee of the month bulletin board, which often comes across as superficial recognition at best and patronizing at worst. If employee morale is down, one of the best ways to bring it up is to make a big deal when someone goes above and beyond the call of duty. And not in private, either − shine the spotlight.

“When people are genuinely recognized, the residual effect is that euphoria activates the same part of their brain in charge of strategic thinking, reasoning and logic. So when you as the authority make people within the organization feel good about working there, you’ve enhanced their ability to be better workers,” Norville said. Not only that, but because you’ve recognized them in a public way, other employees strive for their turn in the spotlight.

APPRECIATION
This goes above and beyond sending a handwritten thank you card after each interview, although that’s a good place to start. Before any job interview, take the time to learn about the person you’ll be speaking to.

“People forget the little things like complimenting someone, or making sure you’re saying something positive about the company, and not just about how you need a job,” said Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group and co-author of “The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness.” Start with a compliment − something you’ve been impressed by while reading about the organization − and then move into your hard sell, telling them why you’d be a benefit to the admirable outfit they’ve built. You may not get that job, but every connection counts. If you leave a positive imprint on the interviewer, she may recommend you to someone else in her network.

BEYOND YOUR BUSINESS CARD
One of the best ways to garner respect at work is to go above and beyond your job description. Not just for the recognition − although that’s a nice byproduct − but because you’ll inspire your higher ups to believe in you and your abilities.

“If you are intimately aware of the processes involved in your work, and most of us are, try to recognize an inefficiency and a way to correct it,” Norville said. Sure, the bigger picture might be someone else’s job, but if you have an idea worth mentioning, speak up − particularly if it will help the bottom line. A good manager will respect you for contributing and even come to you for ideas in the future. Establishing that pattern is key to climbing up the ladder.

SHARE THE CREDIT
Let’s face it − as a boss, you are recognized all the time. Why not pass on some credit to the people who support you? It will give them a little boost, and that increased productivity will reflect positively on you.

With Arielle McGowen
Your Money columnist Jean Chatzky is financial editor of NBC’s “Today” show, a contributing editor at More magazine and a contributor to “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” She’s the author of six books, including, “The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even the Toughest Times.” Check out her blog at jeanchatzky.com.


Source

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Adalius Thomas is neither motivated nor a Jetson


I theorized earlier that Bill Belichick blowing up on his team yesterday was a good thing. Obviously, not everyone will agree with that, and that's fine. One guy who really, really doesn't agree, though, is one of the four guys sent home from practice, linebacker Adalius Thomas.

Will the incident serve as motivation for him? Here's Adalius's response, from ESPNBoston.com:

"Motivation is for Kindergarteners. I'm not a Kindergartner," Said Thomas. "Sending somebody home, that's like 'He's expelled, come back and make good grades.' Get that [expletive] out of here. That's ridiculous. Motivation?"

Does he understand why Belichick did what he did? Again, from ESPNBoston.com:

"I think everyone woke up to the snow yesterday. I didn't know it was going to snow. There was traffic. I can't run people over getting to work. I don't do that. I actually almost had a car accident. It is what it is. He did what he thought was best for him. That's what he did."

Thomas broke out a cartoon reference when asked about being stuck in traffic, saying, "What do you do? It's not the Jetsons, I can't jump up and just fly. What the heck am I supposed to do?"

It is difficult to side against any guy who evokes the Jetsons in an argument.

Really, though, none of this matters much. Thomas has become a situational player, almost certain to be playing elsewhere next year. If he's mad, he's mad, but he also noted that he'll continue to do what he's told to do. If he's more careful now about showing up on time, and he's there and working in practice, then it's mission accomplished for Belichick.

The more important reaction comes from team captain Randy Moss(notes). He did show up to practice on time today, but he didn't talk to the media. We'll see what things look like on Sunday.


Source

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Darling’s ‘Politically Motivated’ Bonus Tax Attacked (Update1)


Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the U.K. will force banks awarding discretionary bonuses of more than 25,000 pounds ($40,800) to pay a one-time levy of 50 percent.

The tax, effective today, will be paid by all banks that operate in the U.K., including U.S. firms such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Employees will still have to pay income tax on their bonuses, the Treasury said. The top tax rate on earnings of more than 150,000 pounds will rise to 50 percent in April, a measure announced earlier this year.

Today’s levy will raise about 550 million pounds, less than 1 percent of the U.K.’s total tax revenue, according to KPMG LLP. Darling, whose Labour Party faces an election by June, is trying to mollify voter anger after providing more than 1 trillion pounds to prop up lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in the credit crisis. Barclays Plc President Robert Diamond said yesterday the measure risks driving business away from the City of London.

“This will further damage the image of the City as a global financial centre,” said Shaun Springer, chief executive officer of Square Mile Services Ltd., which advises London financial firms on pay. “This is politically motivated.”

The government introduced the measure after firms that had benefited from taxpayer bailouts began to allocate more money to employee remuneration. Bonuses for U.K. financial services employees may rise by 50 percent to 6 billion pounds this year, the Centre for Economics & Business Research Ltd. said in Oct.

‘Giving Them a Choice’

“There is no bank that has not benefited either directly or indirectly from this help,” said Darling, who ruled out a tax on banks’ profits. “I’m giving them a choice. They can use their profits to build up their capital base, but if they insist on paying substantial rewards, I’m determined to claw money back for the taxpayer.”

The levy is effective until April, when the 50 percent income tax rate will start. The measure may be extended beyond that date if the Treasury finds banks are deferring payments.

About 20,000 bankers will be affected, according to Treasury estimates. The levy will apply to discretionary bonuses, which account for “substantially all” bonuses, according to Patrick Steven, a tax partner at Ernst & Young in London. The measure is unlikely to apply to executives working at private equity funds or insurers owned by banks, according to Bill Dodwell, head of tax policy at Deloitte LLP.

‘Righteous Anger’

It will now cost a bank 162,800 pounds to provide an employee with a 59,000-pound bonus after tax, compared with 112,800 pounds before, said Jill Storey, a partner at KPMG LLP.

“On a bonus of 1 million pounds, the new tax will be 500,000 pounds, National Insurance will be 130,000 pounds, and personal income tax is 400,000 pounds,” said Chris Maddock, tax director of Vantis Group Ltd. “This makes a total of 1.03 million pounds for the Treasury.”

Darling is “speaking to the righteous anger people are feeling toward the people who wrecked the financial system,” said Ken Miller, the former vice chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston and now a private investor. “But this is better short- term politics than long-term economic policy,” he added. “Even if it is unpopular, it is unlikely to ruin London as a world financial center.”

Tax rates in Britain are still far below the levels of the 1970s when Mick Jagger, together with the rest of the Rolling Stones, moved to France briefly to escape liabilities in the U.K.

Callaghan, Thatcher

When Labour was last in power, in the late 1970s under James Callaghan, the top tax rate was 83 percent on earned income and 98 percent on unearned income. The rates were cut to 60 percent and 75 percent when Margaret Thatcher took office in 1979 as her Conservative government tried to revive the economy. By 1988, Thatcher had cut the top income tax rate to 40 percent.

Britain’s financial services industry generates about 61 billion pounds of tax revenue, about 12 percent of the U.K. total, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the City of London Corporation, the municipality for the U.K.’s main financial center.

International securities firms such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan both base their European headquarters in the square mile. Goldman Sachs International Ltd., one of Goldman’s more 25 U.K. divisions, employed 5,831 people and allocated a total of 81 million pounds in gross wages and salaries in the year through November 2008, according to filings at the Cardiff, Wales-based registrar Companies House.

London ‘Less Attractive’

“London may well look to them now like a significantly less attractive place to build a business,” said Angela Knight, chief executive officer of the British Bankers’ Association, which lobbies for 260 financial companies. “Only concerted international agreements will succeed in reforming remuneration in the financial sector.”

The U.S. House approved in March a 90 percent tax rate on bonuses at companies that received more than $5 billion in government aid in response to disclosures of retention pay for employees of American International Group Inc. The Senate retreated from a similar proposal after President Barack Obama said the U.S. shouldn’t “govern out of anger” and AIG employees began returning their bonuses.

“You may find Obama coming on board now and saying ‘due to what London is doing we are doing the same,’” said Jason Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer of recruiter Kennedy Associates in London. “People are pretty depressed today in the City. At this point there’s no way out.”


Source

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Reports show downtown assaults were racially motivated


DENVER - Newly-released reports from the Denver Police Department suggest a series of assaults in Downtown Denver were driven by racial hatred.

Police think these attacks were the work of gangs trying to claim turf in LoDo; the Crips and the Black Gangsta Disciples.

Thirty-five suspects have been arrested in the cases. Their arrest affidavits released Friday explain why their attacks were directed at whites.

"Just white people getting knocked out," said one suspect.

The suspect says they targeted white people because they "looked like they had money."

A victim reported an attacker said it "smells like white people" before he was jumped.

Another victim reported being called racial slurs.

The arrest affidavits say suspects told police that the gangs "own that area" and they were sending a message to white people "not to come downtown without their friends for protection."

The suspects specifically said they were looking to keep white people away from the Bash nightclub.

A call left for the managers there wasn't returned to 9NEWS on Friday.

There were dozens of these allegedly racially-motivated assaults in LoDo in July and September, which is a lucrative time of year for entertainment venues and businesses in that area.

Denver Police didn't acknowledge the attacks until pressed by reporters and did not initially admit the assaults had a clear pattern: white men being attacked by gang members.


Source

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Many O'Leary constituents are 'motivated by a nickel'


Sen. Robert O'Leary wants us to "think outside the bottle." I would like him to think more about conservation. His litter bill would bring us back to a time when bottles littered our streets and highways.

He has never addressed how many people would be out of work if his bill were to pass. The last time he was working on this and was on the local radio station he said he did not know how many people would lose their jobs.

During these trying economic times there are many people picking up bottles to turn in for money to buy food. Our local sports teams and other charities receive money from bottles that are redeemed. I disagree with Sen. O'Leary when he says "people are less and less motivated by a nickel." He is clearly out of touch with his constituents and more interested in big business than the good of the public.

Karen Collings

East Sandwich


Source

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Noble, selfish intentions both motivated ‘Christmas Carol’


After years of writing feverishly, Charles Dickens desperately needed a break from his demanding schedule and money to finance a year abroad.

England’s best-known author hoped “A Christmas Carol,” a tale about ghosts haunting the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, would be his ticket to a yearlong Italian vacation for him, his wife, five children and servants.

“He lived very lavishly. He entertained very lavishly. ... Money was a concern,” said Michael Slater, a London-based scholar and author of a new Dickens biography, “Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing.”

But Dickens also had a nobler motivation. During “the hungry 1840s,” rural people crowded into urban tenements and children worked under frightful conditions in factories and mines.

These reports struck a nerve because Dickens’ education was interrupted at age 11 when his father was thrown in debtors’ prison. He wound up working in a shoe-polish factory pasting labels on bottles.

“He felt so abandoned and desolate and betrayed and the future seemed so hopeless,” said Slater, emeritus professor of Victorian literature at Birkbeck College at the University of London. “He thought his life was lost forever.”

One night, after speaking in Manchester, a town known for its coal mines and factories, the now-famous author had an idea:

“He would write a story which would highlight concern for the poor man’s child. ... Tiny Tim stood for all poor children in Britain,” said Slater, author of six other books about the 18th-century British novelist.

Dickens insisted on hiring John Leech to draw the illustrations and a whole group of women to hand-color them, both major expenses.

Released just in time for Christmas 1843, “A Christmas Carol” was an enormous hit. But financially, it was a bitter disappointment.

The first 6,000 copies gave Dickens a profit of 230 pounds. In today’s dollars that figure would be $28,000, according to the Web site www.measuringworth.com.

Dickens’ classic tale has been republished many times since and made into movies, including the just-released Disney version.

Professor John O. Jordan, director of The Dickens Project at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that Dickens contributed “to the modern idea of Christmas as a family celebration, moving it out of church and into the middle-class home.”

“Everyone responds powerfully to the idea, the possibility, that in midlife or late in life, one can still change and be a better person,” Jordan said.


Source

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Sid Hartman: Bears motivated to beat Vikings


The Bears are 4-6 this season and are 1-3 against the Vikings since they lost the Super Bowl XLI in 2007. They lost to the Eagles 24-21 in their last home game.

But if you check with Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway and defensive end Jared Allen, the Vikings expect a tough game Sunday at the Metrodome.

"You know, records don't seem to mean anything this time of the year," said Allen, who had 4 1/2 sacks against the Bears last season. "It's Bears versus Vikings, that's all that matters. They're going to come in and we're going to get their best, and we're going to have to come with our best."

Allen made it clear that this isn't like playing the Lions.

"You know what? Anything can happen on any day, but I think as long as we take the right mindset and we approach it, this isn't going to be a game where we're going to be lax," he said. "This isn't like you're going to Detroit overlooking an 0-and-whatever Detroit at the time; this is a game we're going to prepare for and we're going to prepare hard for."

Greenway, who like Allen is having a fantastic season, agrees with Allen.

"We're just treating it like a one-game season," said the former Iowa star. "You have to do that. At this point we're sitting at 9-1 and they're sitting, I think they're 4-6. It doesn't really matter.

"We know they're going to come in here and try to win this one game regardless of what the situation is; as far as records, you've got to throw it out. They're going to come in and play a tough game. They always play us tough, so if we go in with the attitude that we just want to win this one and not look ahead, we'll be OK.

"They have good players, there's no doubt about that. You can say that every week in the NFL, and you can continue to say it this week.


Source

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Inspiration: Compassionate helpers motivated by others


CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- They're the people behind the scenes, quietly washing the dishes at a soup kitchen, weeding a community garden, counseling a troubled teen or diagnosing an illness for someone without medical insurance. Their small acts of kindness add up to big differences in the lives of people they help.

Generally self-effacing, these people shrug off compliments and appreciation of their efforts, saying they need no recognition. So who inspires these inspiring people to give so much back to their community?

Feeding the hungry

"Oh instantly, my answer is my mother, Billie Simpson, and her best friend, Jean Pelzel, both deceased," said Jean Simpson, executive director of Manna Meal. "They were truly both such giving people. I pray daily that I can only be half as giving and kind as my mother."

Simpson's mother died 16 years ago, and people in the community continue to tell her what a wonderful influence both her mother and Pelzel had on their lives as Christians. Their work at Christ Church is remembered fondly by many people, Simpson said.

"Charlie Pelzel (Jean's husband) sent me a note the other day telling me how proud these two would have been of the work we are doing at Manna Meal," she said.

Always helping

When asked if he found someone on the Capitol grounds inspiring, House Clerk Greg Gray immediately named Randi Brooks. Even before she retired, Brooks volunteered in numerous activities and always lent a helping hand.

"She does things like go to the Town Center when pillows are on sale," Gray said. "She buys bags of them and gives them to homeless people."

For 31 years, since the first Vandalia Gathering, Brooks helps at West Virginia Division of Culture and History, either as a hostess, at the information desk or manning the desk in the Capitol rotunda. She's active with the Resolve family abuse program at the YWCA, in the Lions Club and Charleston's Citizen Police Academy.

"We provide Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for officers on duty on the holidays," she said.

As a child who grew up in a coal town during World War II, Brooks helped her mother knit warm hats and socks for soldiers, feed indigent families and salvage supplies for the war effort.

"You did not ignore someone with a need. You always gave back," she said. "People needed a lot of help, so we banded together and did what we could. That spirit is not as widespread today, although you still see it in some groups."

Smoothing the paths

As the executive director at Kanawha Pastoral Counseling, Sky Kershner is a minister who counsels. He also teaches at WVU's schools of medicine and social work. He named four local people who inspire him, as well as, at the global level, President Obama.

"Phil Pfister, Ron Sowell, Ric Cochran and Jeanne K. Cochran. Each of them is an amazing person. Each has remarkable gifts (in strength, in song, in connecting and in art) and at the same time, each has managed to clarify his or her ego so that the love usually shines through unimpeded," Kershner said. "Phil was once asked what was the heaviest thing he has ever lifted, his answer was that on some days the hardest thing is getting his own body out of bed."

Kershner became a father later in his life and is thankful for his wife and young children who bring joy and energy into their home. His church is an important influence in his life.

"I am involved in promoting interfaith dialog, understanding, respect and acceptance," he said. "I believe God is bigger than any one religion, and that each religion holds facets of truth about a Mystery that is beyond words. I practice faith as trust: a trust that this is a world of goodness and of love."

Helping people help themselves

Kerri Wade, WVU extension agent in Kanawha County, was drawn to her job because it gives her a chance to provide the public with the resources of a higher education campus. "I thought it was so neat -- I wanted to be part of it," she said.

She's thankful for her husband, children, sisters and parents, although her mother has Alzheimer's and her father has died, and said the unconditional love from her dog is always a day-brightener. Her work motivates her.

"I am inspired by those I help. To see folks learn, grow, make better decisions because of assistance you provided -- that is powerful inspiration to keep going," she said. "It makes you want to improve yourself so you can better help others."

Wade especially enjoys her work training child-care providers through the Apprenticeship for Child Development Specialist program. "Child-care providers are wonderful people. They provide love, support and education all day long to children and most don't make over minimum wage," Wade said. "What a dedicated, special group!"

Family tradition

Although she works full time, Ann Garcelon still finds time to direct St. John's Opportunity Shop, where they sell "gently worn" clothes and household goods, but also provide a listening ear for downtrodden customers who just need to talk.

She was drawn to this activity by her mother, Bernice Hosey, who still volunteers there. Garcelon helps out at Manna Meal and worked as a Master Gardener volunteer in the community garden.

Garcelon also serves on the boards of High Rocks, a leadership program for teenage girls in Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Nicholas counties, and the Women's Health Center in Charleston.

"My inspiration to help others comes from my dad -- even though he has been dead for nearly 40 years -- and my mom," she said. "You might say I grew up in a household where helping others was a way of life."

Her father, Bob Hosey, volunteered at West Virginia Tech as the athletic trainer for more than 10 years. He refereed high school football and basketball games. Garcelon's family holidays always included student-athletes who were too far from home to travel. Two days before he died from leukemia, he was doing volunteer work for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati.

After her mom retired from teaching and moved to Charleston in 1981, she had one or more volunteer activities going every day. "I am so thankful and fortunate to still have my mother in my life. She's nearly 92," Garcelon said. "She's my role model, my counselor, my cheerleader and my best friend." She also listed Gene Carte, his sons and many friends for whom she's thankful.

To their good health

When a friend invited pharmacist Barbara Gastineau to volunteer at West Virginia Health Right 25 years ago, Gastineau was immediately impressed with the importance of the facility's mission to provide medical and dental services for people without insurance.

She volunteered as a pharmacist on the spot, and still spends a day or evening there a week, despite her work schedule at Charleston Area Medical Center.

"Without this facility and staff, a lot of people would suffer and not receive any medical care," she said. "We used to serve mainly the homeless, but now we see a lot of working poor people. They are desperate for health care."

Building solid homes

Amy McLaughlin, ReStore director for Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha and Putnam counties, doesn't have to look far for inspiration. She finds it every day in the employees and volunteers at ReStore.

"They re-created the heart, soul and sales floor of a 40,000-square-foot store. Day in and day out, they work hard to raise money to build Habitat for Humanity homes," she said. "They take pride in their work and in their team and I feel blessed to be a part of it."

Her father, a social worker "by trade and at heart," and her creative schoolteacher mother also set an example by lives spent helping others.

The experiences of her past career perhaps provide the greatest inspiration for McLaughlin's affirming work.

"I have to say, what inspires me the most is not warm and fuzzy. Primarily, memories of my previous career, or as I often call it, my past life, are what inspires me to help others," she said. "During my 13 years in retail management, I traveled constantly, fired a lot of people and made a bunch of money for a few wealthy shareholders.

"But during that time, I acquired strong skills in leadership and teamwork which help me in my career with Habitat for Humanity today. Knowing that I can use my skills in a way that helps people and our community keeps me motivated and very grateful for the opportunities in my life."

McLaughlin also serves on the Charleston Beautification Commission and the East End Main Street Design committee. She was drawn to both organizations because of their aesthetic nature and enjoys the opportunity to make her hometown shine.

Better biking

Community activist and avid biker Dennis Strawn helps keep countless people moving through his work with Mountain State Wheelers Bicycle club and numerous neighborhood and community groups. He's worked to develop safe biking paths in the community and to attach bike racks on the front of all KRT buses.

Strawn is inspired to improve his community, specifically through projects that encourage safe and healthy walking and bicycling.

"I see examples of many people helping others. I have learned from example that drive, persistence and patience pays off. I apply that to what I know and care about, walking and bicycling," he said.

"I do have to admit I am drawn to the underdog, and walking and bicycling as a component within our national transportation plan definitely fits that position."

Strawn joined the West Side Neighborhood Association about nine years ago after moving there. "I liked the focus of some of their work. I was disappointed actually with the neglect of my immediate neighborhood and other areas of the West Side," he said. "A person has choices, they can take their family and leave, like many folks have done or they could get involved. I chose to get involved."

Through his involvement with that organization, he also joined Regional Intergovernmental Council, The West Side Main Street, The Strong Neighborhood Task Force, The Charleston Land Trust, The Charleston Greenways Committee, Friends of the Kanawha Trestle Trail and Bike West Virginia.

Soothing through music and gardens

Myra Dolan is employed by her church, so she gets her fair share of doing good for others. In her down time, she volunteers at Manna Meal, is a tireless worker in and organizer of Manna Meal's community garden, and runs the volunteer music program at Hospice House.

She is grateful for the inspiration of her husband, Adam, who established a small, nonprofit organization called Good Samaritan Foundation after he retired. He sets up a table in front of busy retail stores and asks for donations to help veterans or food pantries.

"He very quietly helps people right on the spot," Dolan said. Sometimes, his requests are met with a sad refusal and an explanation that they need help themselves. He'll ask for details and sometimes ends up helping the people he's asked for a donation.

"He's inspirational to me. He's out there touching lives all day long with the people he talks to and helps," she said. "He's making a difference, just a little bit at a time."


Source

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Motivated Belichick Gives Jets No Chance


The Jets knew they were in for a tough game against the Patriots at Foxborough after they outplayed, outworked, and outcoached their counterpart in the second week of the football season.

Now, it gets harder with Bill Belichick using the media's criticism of him as a method to get the Patriots to rally around him after his decision to throw the ball at fourth down in Colts territory turned out to be failure.

Not only will it spur Belichick's team to victory tomorrow afternoon, but it can move them to do better things in the next few months.

It won't be as big blowout as the media make it out to be when one looks at the history of both teams facing each other in the Belichick era, but the Jets don't have a chance in this contest.

The Jets defense showed its vulnerability in the last few weeks with their lack of ability to finish off an opposing team and their failure of blitzing the quarterback. Certain guys on that unit are not playing to their potential.

People can talked about how the Jets rank defensively, but who cares about that. If they can't get it done when it matters, rankings mean nothing. It's hard to take the Jets seriously on defense after their performance in recent weeks.

Tom Brady looked flustered in the first meeting of the season, but he was coming off an injury at the time so he was going to look rusty. Now, he is hitting his stride at the right time.

Brady connects to Randy Moss lately along with the rest of his receivers. With the way the Jets are playing defensively, Brady's eyes should lit up with this opportunity.

Darrelle Revis stopped Moss couple of months ago, but look for Brady's main target to get the best out of Revis this time around with Wes Welker playing after not playing at Giants Stadium. Moss will get more touches with Welker's presence.

Mark Sanchez played okay last week and he managed to make plays against the Patriots in his first ever start against them as the Jets quarterback, but Belichick devises different sorts of schemes when his defensive unit faces the same quarterback for the second time around, so Sanchez will likely have a hard time in this upcoming contest.

Their running game should give the Jets a chance in this game, but their running backs can only do so much. It will come down to the passing game, but the Jets don't have the receivers to match up with the Patriots.

The Patriots succeed when they play at their home turf with their offense scoring more points and the defense displaying its dominance. They look at it as an insult when an opposing team go to their place and play well so they got that going for them.

Belichick hates losing to the Jets, and bet on him to pull all the stops in getting a victory that his team needs to put their hated rivals away for good in the division race just like how Ryan pulled everything out of his playbook to get that well-deserved victory against the Patriots.

Right now, the Patriots are better than the Jets in coaching, defense and offense. They look like they are peaking at the right time despite their mistake on Sunday Night Football.

Gang Green looked like the team to beat in September, but that means nothing. It's how a team does late in the season that counts the most.

In recent years, they start off well just to falter at the wrong time in November and December, while the Patriots play their best in the final two months of the season.

That's the difference between a pretender and a contender, and that's why the Jets and the Patriots are heading to different directions.

It's easy to see who is winning this game.

The game should come down to the fourth quarter, but this time, the hoodie gets the last laugh over an amateur coach.


Source

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Motivated to sell


Forget delivering pizzas, washing dishes, or stocking shelves. Boston University senior Alex Hodara rents real estate. Hodara, 22, started Hodara Real Estate Group in January hoping to give college students like himself a taste of the business. With a real estate salesperson license in hand at the cusp of his freshman year, Hodara worked as a local leasing agent and at Century 21’s International Headquarters before going for his broker’s license last year and starting his own company. Now renting properties around BU, and Northeastern and Suffolk universities, Hodara is ready for the next step: launching Hodara Real Estate Academy, an educational initiative to get more students qualified and involved in the real estate business. We spoke with Hodara recently by phone.

Q. As a kid just heading to college, what made you think real estate would be something interesting to do?

A. I’ve always been extremely entrepreneurial. When I was a sophomore in high school, my dad and I won a fantasy football league for $2,000 and he said ‘You can do whatever you want with this,’ and I really wanted to start a business. The most popular thing at that point was poker, so I imported clay poker chip sets from China, brought them to American and started a website. . . . I learned a lot from the poker chip business.

Q. So, other than a seriously young chief executive, what’s your agency got that others don’t?

A. Our driving factor is experience, where most other agency’s driving factor is money. Because of that, people like to work with us because we’re less pushy than other agents.

Q. Do you find that students are more likely to rent with you because you’re one of them?

A. Absolutely, I’ve seen older people doing the same job that I’m doing and I’ve seen the reactions of students. They’re excited to work with us. . . . They don’t see us as a threat, they see us as someone who they can relate to.

Q. What’s the deal with Hodara Real Estate Academy?

A. I just got the license to open the school so we can actually pre-license people for their tests. They sign up for the class, they come in, they have 24 hours of education and I have a licensed professor that teaches the class and then after that they take a test and if they pass the test they get their real estate license. Our first class is pretty packed with students but for the future I see us gearing more toward professionals.

Q. How do your agents view the opportunity to work for you?

A. It’s opened a lot of doors for people, for me especially. Since I’ve started this, now I’m consulting for the chief operating officer of Century 21 - that was a big thing for me. One of my agents has gone to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers. . . . After they graduate from college I want them to find a new job. It’s a student owned and operated kind of thing, and then you move on from there.


Source

Friday, November 13, 2009

People gathered for H1N1 vaccinations


Upwards of 300 people gathered in Orland Memorial Hall Wednesday to get an Swine flu vaccination.

Glenn County Public Health nurses and staff were immunizing children and adults. The free vaccinations were available to anyone ages 2 to 24 and ages 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions.

Also receiving shots were pregnant and nursing women, and people who live with or care for infants younger than 6 months.

Deputy Director of Public Health Grinnell Norton said H1N1 vaccinations are not yet available to people older than 64 because they are the least likely to be infected. However, the vaccine will be available later for the elderly with chronic diseases, she said.

A special immunization clinic was held Tuesday for emergency first responders and medical professionals.

Immunization Coordinator Rosamarie Leal said the agency had enough vaccine to treat 600 people. Additional vaccine is expected to arrive weekly.

"The state says we're getting enough so anyone who wants one (an H1N1 vaccine) can get it," Norton said.

More people than usual are getting flu shots this year, Norton and Leal said. The Glenn County Public Health season flu clinics alone have treated 3,000 or more, Leal said. No serious reactions have been reported.

"People are motivated to get vaccines this year," Leal said, adding she thinks the reason is because the message is getting out better than normal.

H1N1 clinics will be announced once Public Health has the vaccine in hand. Regular seasonal flu clinics are from 4-6 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month and 9 to 11:30 a.m. the third Tuesday at 345 Yolo St.

There have been three confirmed cases of H1N1 in Glenn County, Norton said, but none of them have been fatal, and all three patients have recovered.

Health Services Director Scott Gruendl said Thursday all three cases were in people under 30.

One patient had to go to the hospital and was put in intensive care for a time, but has since recovered very well, he said. That person also had a pre-existing health condition that complicated the illness.

Contact Lydia Harris at 934-6800 or lharris@tcnpress.com.



INFORMATION

To learn when future Swine flu clinics will be held, go to the Glenn County Web site www.countyofglen.net and find the link to flu clinics for times and locations. For more information, call 934-6588.


Source

Thursday, November 12, 2009

More Emerging Bias: Maddow Guest Suggests Lack of Health Funding Motivated Fort Hood Killer


When in doubt, cite the need for more government funding of health care. You won't find an argument on MSNBC.

Among the guests offering their perspectives about the Fort Hood massacre on Rachel Maddow's show last night was Salon.com national correspondent Mark Benjamin, who tried to downplay growing evidence that suspected assailant Nidal Malik Hasan was motivated by a jihadist's hatred of America --

BENJAMIN: There are people that believe that this is a person that was suffering some sort of secondary post-traumatic stress from treating soldiers and there are people that believe he was somehow influenced by Muslim extremism. I think it could be a combination of both. I certainly have met mental health care providers in the military who after sitting all day long and listening to some really disturbing tales, you know, when they're treating these soldiers coming back from Iraq, and in combination with the fact that they're overwhelmed, overworked, don't have the resources to do their jobs, become extremely stressed and frazzled. And there's no reason to not think that this could, this could ultimately lead to that kind of a conclusion.

How could Benjamin know only hours after the massacre whether Hasan did not have "the resources" for his job as an Army psychiatrist? If Benjamin was in possession of such specifics, he wasn't sharing them with Maddow's audience.

More along the same lines after Maddow spoke of the high rate of suicide in the military ("even outpacing the civilian rate," she pointed out, as if that's surprising) --

BENJAMIN: The other thing that's interesting is that there's this discussion about whether there's some ideological component and, you know, motivation to this person. You know, I'm not sure that's necessarily separate from the kind of treatment this person was doing. I mean, in other words, if you sit, I have literally interviewed hundreds of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, and in private moments, when they tell you some of the things they were forced to do, and I'm not talking about, you know, intentional My Lai stuff, but, you know, things that happened in the vagaries of war, really, really, awful, awful things, it can affect you, it can turn people against the war, it can make you really think about that stuff. It's extremely difficult to think about, you know, to work on that all day long, imagine this doctor, who, that was his job.

By Benjamin's logic, he is also at risk of going berserk from the stress of interviewing "literally" hundreds of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and hearing of the horrors they experienced.

By the same logic, every blood-splattered doctor and nurse toiling in emergency rooms is one bad day from a rampage, along with every cop, every police reporter, every victim's advocate in court -- the entire country after 9/11, for that matter.

The difference here, as Mark Steyn pointed out today while filling in for Rush Limbaugh, is the apparent absence of trauma when it comes to Hasan, who was reportedly upset over his pending deployment to Iraq but had yet to serve there or in Afghanistan. Perhaps Hasan suffered from a new malady, Steyn suggested --"pre-post traumatic stress disorder."

Based on Benjamin's observations, I can see coming to a different conclusion about the wars we're fighting and the overarching conflict against radical Islam. If I am working as an Army psychiatrist, my patients might, for example, include soldiers who saw Afghan girls scarred from acid thrown in their faces as they walked to school. Who picked up the limbs after the mentally enfeebled were coerced into suicide bombings. Who returned fire at insurgents using children as human shields.

I might well conclude that as a soldier and single man of 39, as with Hasan, the only place for me is where I can serve to destroy the evil behind such malignancy.


Source

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Backed by casino cash, would Dan Gilbert be motivated to broaden his Cleveland sports interests? NBA Insider


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Last Tuesday night was a potentially huge win for the Cavaliers' franchise. And not just because they had a nice comeback victory against the Wizards.

A couple hours after the game, there was a massive party underway on The Q's fourth-floor practice court. The team's owners, especially majority owner Dan Gilbert, and top officials were celebrating and hugging amidst tables with high-end food and top-shelf alcohol. There was even a disc jockey. If not for the dozens of Issue 3 banners, you could have mistaken it for a five-star wedding reception.

Voters have cleared the way for Gilbert to build two casinos within the next three years, including one across the street from the arena he controls. The effect it will have on downtown is debatable, but there's no doubt the impact it will have on the Cavs.

Gilbert's victory -- which amounted to pulling the sword from the stone after casino issues had failed four times before -- can be attributed in part to how well he's managed the Cavs since he bought them in 2005. It may have only been the beginning.

Lost in all the discussion over where LeBron James would be playing next year was Gilbert's future as owner. If you took an informal poll in Northeast Ohio, there's a good chance Gilbert would rank second behind James in fan's approval ratings of Cleveland sports figures. He's committed to running a first-class operation, even if it is operating significantly in the red.

With the promise of the new casinos, which could perhaps vastly increase Gilbert's wealth over the long haul, it can be expected that he will continue to invest massively in his most high-profile asset. It does make sense to spend to keep James happy and in Ohio, but it doesn't make much fiscal sense to have $90 million payrolls in Cleveland. Yet Gilbert has never blinked in writing checks, and his war chest is about to grow.

Considering the value of keeping 20,000 fans coming downtown and around the forthcoming casino to watch the Cavs 41 times a year, don't expect to see Gilbert change his aggressive style, no matter what happens with James.

In fact, with that in mind, if the Indians or the Browns should ever become available there's a good chance Gilbert would make a bid to purchase one or the other. Before he bought the Cavs, Gilbert tried to buy the Milwaukee Brewers. Besides just wanting to win, having successful sports teams that draw people to downtown just became very important to the budding casino magnate.

Should there be celebration that Gilbert, who is already one of the richest men in America, is likely going to get richer? There are a lot of opinions on that one to be sure, but there is no questioning his willingness to spread that wealth around. The Cavaliers will likely only continue to reap those rewards.

AROUND THE ASSOCIATION

The delusion tour: Coming off the bench for the first time in his first game with the Memphis Grizzlies last week, Allen Iverson was asked how his injured hamstring was feeling. He missed almost all the preseason and the first week of the regular season, so coach Lionel Hollins slowly worked him back in, playing him 18 minutes.

But the answer about the hamstring said everything you need to know about The Answer these days.

"I had no problems [with the hamstring]," Iverson said. "I had a problem with my butt sitting on that bench for so long."

Ah, yes. Only one team made Iverson a concrete contract offer over the summer -- the Grizzlies with a one-year, $3.1 million deal. This was the reason for that lack of interest -- even though Iverson's skills have receded in his mid-30s, his ego has not. Time and age have made him a role player on one of the league's worst teams. But apparently he's no closer to accepting this reality than when he was sent home by the Pistons last spring.

In the preseason Iverson took aim at the Pistons and former coach Michael Curry and branded them "liars" because after they traded for him last year they promised he'd be a starter. What Iverson doesn't seem to understand is the Pistons weren't lying, they were just flabbergasted. They didn't think they'd have to resort to making the lineup change, assuming the former MVP still had game left. As it turned out, he was in the middle of a stunning loss of ability and athleticism, which was backed up by sight and by stats.

When Curry, who obviously didn't have a great year as he was fired, realized it was better to start Richard Hamilton instead of Iverson, he did it for the team's sake. It was not surprising the Pistons played their best ball of the season when Iverson was sent to the bench in the second half of the year. Apparently Iverson missed it -- he was in self-imposed exile, after all.

Now after being provided a career lifeboat by an organization desperate to pump up fan interest, Iverson is in the middle of ruining what could be his last chance. The Grizzlies should have known better, though; every other team did. They trusted a future Hall of Famer was ready to go out with some class. Right now, that doesn't look like it is going to be the case.

On Saturday, Iverson took a leave of absence for personal reasons on the same day he was supposed to meet with Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley. Unless he comes to grips with the truth, there's a chance he's he'll be on the bench for good.

Shooting star: Over the summer, the Cavs recruited Channing Frye and hosted him on a visit to Cleveland, liking his ability to shoot from the outside as a big man. Ultimately they finished second to the Phoenix Suns, who were prepared to offer Frye a significant role near where he starred in college at the University of Arizona.

After being buried on the bench in Portland the last two seasons, the Cavs felt Frye was undervalued and he's showing it with the Suns during their hot start. After Friday's win in Boston, Frye was averaging 14.6 points a game and shooting 51 percent from the floor.

Bat man: Manu Ginobili created one of the off-the-wall highlights of the year last week when he slapped a bat that was flying around the AT&T Center on Halloween night. Guess the security staff didn't check the bags fans brought in that night too closely.

But while it's gotten him a lot of attention, there's been some unpleasant fallout.

First the animal rights group PETA was upset, thinking Ginobili had killed the bat. However, team officials said when he picked it up off the floor and gave it to a security guard it was alive and it was later released. But out of precaution, team doctors recommended Ginobili undergo rabies vaccination, which is a series of four sets of shots. Ginobili told the San Antonio Express-News that the first batch gave him a fever for 24 hours.

Don't get in his way: After a blowout loss in Indiana Friday, which was the Washington Wizards' third straight, veteran forward Antawn Jamison went on a locker-room rampage. Calling it the "Wrath of Tawn," The Washington Post reported that Jamison went on a tirade about his team's lethargic effort, and to emphasize the point smashed a fruit tray against a wall in the visitor's locker room.

Perhaps Jamison, currently out with a shoulder injury, should have taken this approach years ago. The Wizards have never been able to get the most out of their impressive talent. A clutch player and a class act, Jamison stewed in the playoffs two years ago when teammates continued to run their mouths against the Cavs to the point of distraction. Often the Wizards' famous childish antics have seemed to upset Jamison. The days of bearing them silently seem to be at an end.

Getting a good break: As part of a new deal with Spalding, the NBA is using a new style of rims this season. Called the "Arena Pro 180," it has a thicker rim that collapses from all sides when dunked on. For years, the classic breakaway rims only flexed in the front.

Over the first two weeks of the season, scoring has shot up, leading some to speculate that the more flexible rims are permitting more shooters rolls. There's not enough data to support that yet. Some of the scoring numbers can be attributed to a couple of terrible defensive teams that are driving the whole league up.


Source

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

After release of man at center of racially motivated slaying, pain still lingers


Everyone agrees that Christopher Brosky didn’t pull the trigger on the shotgun that killed Donald Thomas early one June morning in 1991.

Brosky’s buddy William "Trey" Roberts admitted shooting Thomas, 32, who was sitting on a flatbed truck in east Arlington, drinking beer with friends. Roberts fired from the front passenger seat of a 1965 Mustang driven by a second friend, Joshua Hendry.

Regardless, it’s Brosky’s name that is indelibly linked to the slaying, which outraged many in Tarrant County because of its random brutality and blatant racism.

Thomas was black. The boys in the Mustang were 16-year-old white skinheads.

And when an all-white Tarrant County jury convicted Brosky of murder in March 1993, and turned around and recommended that he serve only probation, protests erupted.

Four days after Brosky’s sentencing, an estimated 10,000 people marched in downtown Fort Worth to protest the lenient sentence.

The outcry by ministers, politicians and ordinary people, including Thomas’ widow, led to the passage of the state’s first hate crime law.

And the Tarrant County district attorney’s office responded by filing new charges against Brosky, overcoming defense objections that doing so was double jeopardy.

Brosky’s second trial was moved to Galveston, where the jury included two blacks and one Hispanic. They heard much more about Brosky’s skinhead activities, and he was convicted of engaging in organized crime with the intent to commit murder and received 40 years in prison — the same as Roberts.

Almost 20 years have passed. With no public notice, Brosky, now 34, is free again.

He was released from prison Aug. 10 and was deported to his native Canada on Sept. 17.

"I figured one day he’d be getting out," said Carolyn Thomas, who gave testimony opposing the release of her husband’s killers each time he came before the parole board.

Thomas said she was notified that Brosky was being paroled but had no idea he had been deported.

"I never really thought about whether he’d be around here," she said. "My focus was just that he stay in prison longer."

A flash, then a bang

Carolyn Thomas’ emotional testimony before a state legislative committee — one week after Brosky’s first trial ended — was credited with winning the votes to pass the first hate crime bill in Texas history.

Legislators were inspired by the young woman’s story about her husband’s murder as he and several co-workers relaxed outside one man’s home after they finished an overnight shift at a Grand Prairie liquor distributor.

Steve Sloan, a white co-worker, told police that he and Thomas were sitting on a flatbed truck when a Ford Mustang drove by twice. The second time, Sloan said, the Mustang stopped just feet from the truck. Sloan said he saw a flash, heard a bang, and then saw Thomas fall off the truck into the road, shot in the chest, mortally wounded.

Within 24 hours, three teenagers were in custody after police tracked them through a license plate number obtained by Sloan, who followed the Mustang while another friend stayed with the dying man.

The teens were proud white supremacists.

Brosky, of Dallas, was the only one to go to trial. Roberts, of Carrollton, pleaded guilty to murder and agreed to a 40-year prison term. Hendry, of Arlington, pleaded guilty to delinquent conduct-murder in 1991 and was sentenced to 15 years. He served two years in a juvenile facility and 13 years in adult prison.

Hendry and Roberts testified against Brosky. Prosecutors contended that Brosky handed the gun to Roberts immediately before the killing. Hendry testified that he heard Brosky cry, "Shoot!" But the state case was hurt when Roberts backed off, saying he wasn’t sure Brosky gave him the gun.

Brosky’s defense was that all the boys were drunk — they had been "slamming beers" and had consumed more than 12 each — and that Brosky was passed out in the back of the car.

State District Judge Everett Young did not allow prosecutors to play a movie that they said would link Brosky to the Dallas-based Confederate Hammerskins. The jury took only an hour on March 22, 1993, to return the guilty verdict. But the elation felt by Carolyn Thomas and other observers was short-lived.

The next day, the jurors sentenced Brosky to 10 years of probation after hearing pleas for leniency by his mother, Sheilaugh Brosky. Judges must impose the sentence recommended by the jury, but Young ordered that Brosky serve 180 days in jail as a condition of probation.

How far have we come?

Maryellen Hicks, then a judge on the 2nd Court of Appeals, said the shock of the sentence led to spontaneous demonstrations.

About 200 people marched on the courthouse the day after Brosky was sentenced, demanding justice for Thomas. Within four days, Hicks and other African-American leaders had organized a march that drew more than 10,000 people — black and white — to downtown Fort Worth.

Much of the outrage was focused on the jurors, who said later that they had intended to give Brosky a five-year prison term followed by 10 years on probation but were confused by the jury instructions.

"We were in utter shock that the majority community didn’t understand that we would be so hurt and angry and offended," Hicks said.

But, she said, she was gratified that legislators and court officials listened.

"I commend the district attorney who said we, too, are shocked and dismayed, and we’re willing to take this to a different level, and they did," she said.

County officials conducted diversity training and began actively recruiting more minority grand jurors, prosecutors and others, Hicks said.

"I think we’ve come a long way in the criminal justice system, but quite frankly many African-Americans and people of color still have a very negative perception of the justice system because of the lack of minority judges and jurors," she said. "Since Brosky and since we had to take it to the street, there’s a better understanding on all sides — minority and majority — but we’re not there yet."

The Rev. Wendell "Buck" Cass, another protest organizer, vehemently disagreed. He said he was "horrified" that Brosky was free.

"Killing a black man don’t mean nothing in Texas," Cass said. "Now he’s going to Canada where he can still live a full life. Donald Thomas can’t live no full life. He’s in the grave."

Not much has changed for minorities, said Cass, associate pastor of Morning Chapel CME Church, near downtown Fort Worth.

"No, the hate crime law didn’t do anything," he said. "It’s easy to say when you’re not affected by it. Those who are affected don’t see the changes. The same system is still in place, and they’re still doing the same thing."

And the Rev. Michael Bell, a leader of what he called the "death march" — "Justice is dead!" he said at the time — and discussions with prosecutors after the Brosky verdict, sees little change in the criminal justice system.

"Tarrant County has been pretty consistent in its failure to evolve as far as justice issues are concerned," said Bell, senior pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Church.

He cited the case of Grace Head, an older white woman in Arlington who hit her black neighbor in the head with a two-by-four. Head was tried under the hate crime statute — it’s rarely used in Texas — and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and a $4,000 fine after being convicted of a reduced charge.

But Bell credited then-District Attorney Tim Curry for meeting with African-American leaders to try to address their concerns.

"At least back then, there were conversations across cultures about race," he said. Since then, however, "any movement has been incremental," he said. "We have not made any great strides or quantum leaps. We seem to be stuck in a kind of time warp."

Staying quiet

Even Brosky’s attorney, Ernie Bates, didn’t know that his former client had been paroled until he got a call from Brosky’s mother a few days before the deportation.

Brosky came to the United States with his mother when he was 12 but never became a citizen. Noncitizens are routinely deported after serving time for criminal convictions. They are prohibited from re-entering the U.S. for as little as five years and for as much as life. A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not say how long the ban would last in Brosky’s case.

On Sept. 15, Bates said, Brosky called him collect on a borrowed cellphone. He was to be deported in two days. Brosky had been in the custody of U.S. immigration officials since he was paroled, 13 years after he was first eligible.

"He sounded a lot different from what I remember — none of the crazy talk from before," he said, referring to Brosky’s "intellectual" discussions of his "dyed-in-the-wool" white supremacist beliefs.

Bates contends that the teenage Brosky was "a true believer" in the ideology. But he said Brosky told him that he steered clear of those like-minded groups in prison.

In another brief call from Canada, Brosky told Bates that he just wants to get on with his life. "Sixteen years is a long time to serve when he was in the back seat passed out," Bates said. "He said he was glad he was transferred to Canada. 8."

Bates said he had no way to reach Brosky, and Brosky’s mother declined to put the Star-Telegram in touch with her son. She also refused to talk about her son’s life before and after prison.

In a brief phone conversation, the Dallas nurse, who was outspoken during the 1993 trials, seemed bitter about her son’s treatment by authorities and the media. Her son was vilified more than Roberts, who admitted killing Thomas, she said.

"I don’t want to stir things up," she said in a voice-mail message. "The press was not kind to him. I don’t trust [the media], the police or the justice system. I just want Christopher to have a life."

Relatives of Hendry, the Mustang driver, want the same for him. By pleading guilty in juvenile court, Hendry could have been freed when he was 18. But a juvenile court judge ordered Hendry to serve the remaining 13 years of his sentence in adult prison, and he did. He was paroled in 2006, two months before completing his entire 15-year sentence.

Since then, Hendry has done well, his attorney and relatives said. He got a driver’s license, a job and a house, and is staying out of trouble. Hendry’s mother declined to talk about her son, saying it was at his request because he wants to move on and fears retaliation from people still angry about the case.

Roberts’ family could not be located. He became eligible for parole in 2001, but his requests for parole have been turned down several times. He comes up for parole again next year.

His defense attorney Layne Harwell said he has had little contact with Roberts or his mother, Linda Roberts, who was nearly as outspoken during the trials as Brosky’s mother. "I haven’t heard from Linda, but she was very happy with what I did for him," said Harwell, who has retired.

Trying to cope

Carolyn Thomas, 45, is a shy, private woman who still speaks to groups about her experience but not as often as she did in past years. She works at the same job, attends the same church, has a daughter and is supported by friends and family.

"For me to go on, I had to pray and ask God to forgive the boys that killed my husband and to help me forgive them," she said. "I’ve learned a lot that made me a different person. I’m the same Carolyn, but a little stronger and more outspoken. It’s about standing up for what I believe no matter what.

"Overcoming obstacles makes you stronger and do things you have to do in life no matter how tough it is."

Donald Thomas’ mother, Ruth Aviles, had an emotional breakdown after the murder and the trials, said her husband, Paul Aviles.

"It changed her life 100 percent," he said in a telephone interview from Ohio, where the couple lives. "She was a happy woman. She hasn’t been the same since."

Aviles said his wife had to quit her job at an auto plant where they met. Without her income, the couple ended up filing for bankruptcy, he said.

"We’ve faced many hardships since then," Aviles said. "Our biggest concern is with her health. This has been very damaging."

Aviles said his wife was too upset to be interviewed about the case but said she appreciated the strangers who supported her during the trials.

"She would like to thank the people for the Fort Worth and Dallas who showed their support of the misjustice of Brosky’s first trial," he said.

Impact on the law

Mark Briskman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, who helped write the Texas hate crime laws, said the Brosky case had an impact statewide, beginning with the passage of a 1993 law that made it a crime to target a person because of hate.

The law increased the range of punishment for crimes motivated by bias or prejudice and forbids granting probation for hate-motivated murder. The law defined a hate crime as an offense where the victim was chosen "primarily because of the defendant’s bias or prejudice against a person or a group."

From the beginning, the lack of specificity in that language troubled legal experts because it created ample room for legal challenges.

But combined with the 1990 prosecution of 17 leaders of the Confederate Hammerskins — the group the teens were associated with — the law led to a decline in the number of racially motivated hate crimes, which seemed rampant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Briskman said.

Then came the 1998 murder of James Byrd Jr., a black man whose throat was slashed before he was stripped, dragged behind a truck and decapitated by three white men in the East Texas town of Jasper. Two of Byrd’s killers were sentenced to death; the third to life in prison. Byrd’s gruesome death led state legislators in 2001 to revise the hate crime law and name it for Byrd.

"The Donald Thomas incident was horrific and garnered a lot of attention," Briskman said. "But with time and the incident with Mr. Byrd, [Thomas’ killing] kind of got eclipsed.

"A lot people have forgotten, but having been involved with the Thomas case, it was just as bad and just as heartbreaking as the James Byrd case."

Kirk Lyons, an attorney who represents groups that believe they are discriminated against because of their Confederate or Southern heritage, said Texas legislators overreacted to the Brosky case.

Lyons, who works through the North Carolina-based Southern Legal Resource Center, said hate crime laws use people’s "belief structures" to convict them.

"I don’t want to be against the widow, but this resulted in bad law," he said. "The people that promoted this hate crime law nonsense are the same people who promote gun control legislation every time a politician is killed. The problem is nobody wants to be against that because they’ll be labeled racist. Nobody in government cares about the Constitution anymore."

Briskman disagreed.

"Hate crimes don’t just victimize the victim’s family," he said. "They victimize the whole community. If it’s a hate crime against an African-American, it’s a form of terror for the entire African-American community.

"That’s why we tack on the hate crime charge. It helps to bring closure to the community because the legal community recognizes it’s a hate crime."

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Motivated O'Neal still a force inside


Jermaine O'Neal played like he was at home. He looked like it after the game, too.

The former Indiana Pacers center now playing for Miami gave his game shoes to a young fan in the stands after the Heat's 96-83 victory Friday night.

He walked over to the Pacers' postgame television broadcast and gave former teammate Austin Croshere, now doing color commentary, a kiss on the cheek. O'Neal high-fived and hugged some of the Conseco Fieldhouse security guards.

"It's good to be back home in Indiana," O'Neal said. "One thing that people haven't heard from me is that this will always be my family here, and this will always be my home.

"I appreciate the support I've had over the eight years. You guys and this community made me and gave me an opportunity to do some things in my life that I couldn't have dreamed that I would be able to do."

O'Neal's career blossomed with the Pacers.

Following four years of little playing time with the Portland Trail Blazers after being drafted out of high school, the Pacers acquired O'Neal prior to the 2000-01 season and he became an All-Star during his eight years here.

When injuries slowed him, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors prior to the 2008-09 season, then moved midyear to Miami. O'Neal said he still considers Indiana and Portland his homes.

"But especially Indianapolis because Indiana gave me the opportunity to do so many great things," he said. "I consider people here my family no matter what, no matter the people who don't like me for whatever reason.

"I wasn't a negative guy. All I did is, I played and I played hurt and I got hurt more by playing hurt. I still love this city. It's difficult to come back and play, but I have a new family, too, in Miami."

O'Neal had 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Pacers, becoming the first Heat player to open the season with consecutive 20-10 games. He also had 22 and 12 in the Heat's season opener, a 115-93 victory over the New York Knicks.

"You look athletic, man," Croshere told O'Neal after the game.

"I worked hard as hell," O'Neal said.

In the offseason, O'Neal went through a seven-week program with the Heat and another seven weeks with noted trainer Tim Grover in Chicago to regain his movement after knee injuries slowed him most of the past three seasons.

"This is the best Jermaine has played in at least three years," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said.

O'Neal averaged just 13 points per game in 2008-09 with Toronto and Miami and 13.6 in 42 games in his final season with the Pacers in 2007-08. Prior to that, he had six seasons of averaging at least 19 points.

"If it was going to happen in my career to come back, this was the summer to come back," O'Neal said.

On Friday, he made easy work of Pacers centers Roy Hibbert and Solomon Jones. Veteran Jeff Foster missed most of the game with a sprained right ankle.

"Our young guys got a lesson inside," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "Solomon and Roy really got schooled by Jermaine."

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Friday, October 16, 2009

Florida Gators' defense still motivated by 2007 loss at LSU


GAINESVILLE — Two years later, Florida safeties coach Chuck Heater feels a lot better about his defense's chance against LSU at Tiger Stadium.

"Unless Hester's back. Is he gone?" Heater joked. "He was such a man that night."

That would be Jacob Hester, now a second-year running back for the San Diego Chargers who turned in a legendary performance in LSU's 28-24 victory against Florida in 2007, a win that propelled the Tigers to a national championship and sent the Gators tailspinning to a 9-4 record.

Not only did Hester rush for 106 yards that night, he willed his team to victory, converting two crucial fourth downs late in the fourth quarter and scoring the game-winning touchdown with 1:09 remaining.

LSU went a stunning 5-for-5 on fourth down conversions that game and 8-of-17 on third down. The Tigers held the ball for more than 35 minutes, and Florida's young defense, littered with freshmen and sophomores, simply couldn't get off the field.

Even with all the Gators' accomplishments - two national titles in three years under Urban Meyer - the loss still keeps Meyer awake at night.

"That was a tough night," Meyer said this week. "All we got to do is go score. All we got to do is not turn the ball over twice."

"Does it haunt us? Yeah, it sure does."

The No. 1 Gators (4-0, 2-0) return to Baton Rouge tonight for the first time since that devastating loss in 2007, for a showdown against No. 4 LSU (5-0, 3-0) with major national title implications.

Tim Tebow is expected to be a game-time decision, though sources have told the Post that Tebow will sit in favor of backup John Brantley. Regardless of who plays quarterback, the Gators' defense is confident it won't have a repeat of its 2007 performance.

Six players that started the 2007 will start again tonight, including Brandon Spikes, Joe Haden and Major Wright.

Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong "told us that it's basically the same people that played in that game, but we just have two years more of experience and a national championship under our belt," Haden said. "We feel there's no way that can happen again, unless the whole team lays down."

The Gators' defense already got its revenge in last year's 51-21 win over LSU at The Swamp, scoring a touchdown, forcing two turnovers and limiting the Tigers to 27 minutes of offense.

But just to make sure his players don't get complacent, Strong went into the video room over the bye week and spliced together a few "highlights" from the 2007 game. Last week, he forced the defense to watch replays of all the third- and fourth-down conversions over and over again.

"We keep telling Coach, 'We did play them last year, if y'all forgot,'" Haden said.

Heater said the 2007 game was the best thing that could happen for the Gators' defense. The players started taking their jobs more seriously after the game, and in 2008 allowed 12 points per game while leading the Gators to a national championship. This year, Florida leads the nation in allowing just 7.3 points per game.

"We really went in there played hard and tough, but you couldn't see it because we couldn't get off the field," Heater said. "I think that was a real defining moment for our defensive guys."

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