Survivors of Hudson crash toast to anniversary NEW YORK – They looked like they were posing for an eclectic class picture: dozens of smiling faces, everyone carefully lined up. As cameras clicked, the survivors of US Airways Flight 1549 cheered and laughed loudly enough to remind everyone that they had made it. From the plane's ugg outlet youngest passenger to the frail woman edging along carefully with the help of a walker, many of the 155 survivors gathered Friday to mark the anniversary of their harrowing water landing with a return to the place their crippled jet hit the Hudson River. Crying, cheering and embracing, they raised a toast to life at 3:31 p.m., the moment of impact, on one of the ferries that plucked them shivering from the water just minutes after they splashed down. With the sun gleaming on the Hudson and festive sprays of colorful water shooting into the sky behind them, they made the toast at the approximate place where the plane went down after a half-day of gatherings to mark their miraculous survival. In the extra year that no one expected they would have, the survivors have been coping with the trauma of their terrifying crash, but also discovering new gifts. One passenger, Jennifer Doyle, is pregnant. Karin Hill became Karin Hill Rooney when she married her boyfriend, who was sitting next to her as the plane went down. Another two, Ben Bostic and Laura Zych, strangers at the time of the crash, have fallen in love and begun ugg outlet dating. The year has also been a difficult one. Ann Oblak, a 73-year-old retired watchmaker, still sometimes dreams of being on the plummeting plane. She and her husband took a train from their home in Lancaster, S.C., to reunite with the other passengers. The Croatia native has yet to get on a plane again, and she had been too afraid to get on a boat and return to the water. Still, they were uggs outlet determined to join in Friday's celebration, she said, to see the other passengers again. At the ferry terminal, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was mobbed by well-wishers. Passengers ran to get their cameras and pose with the man who was so instrumental in saving their lives — a celebrity even among this group of celebrities. Among the group was Hannah Acton, whose husband, Patrick, was on the flight. "Thank you so much," she told the pilot, tears welling behind her thick-rimmed glasses, clutching a copy of his book to her chest. Later, she recalled the dread she felt after getting a call that her husband's plane had gone down, then not knowing for 23 minutes whether he was dead or alive as she watched the rescue on television. "I was hysterical," she said. "I thought, 'Oh, my God, now I'm watching my husband die.'" The plane's entire crew was present: Sullenberger, co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles uggs outlet and flight attendants Doreen Welsh, Donna Dent and Sheila Dail. Welsh had been nervous as the anniversary approached. After nearly drowning as the river filled the back of the plane, she developed post-traumatic stress disorder and a fear of water. Returning to the Hudson for the ferry ride was scary. After the toast, she sat on a bench and found herself in tears. But after all that fear, she was crying for a different reason. "How lucky we all are. How lucky we are to be here," she said. For the toast, one passenger provided champagne. Another arranged for Grey Goose vodka to donate bottles of liquor, said Pat Smith, a spokesman for NY Waterway, the employer of ferry crews that rescued many of the 155 people aboard. It was apparently a wry nod to the ugg outlet store flock of geese that disabled the engines of the Airbus A320. Smith said some passengers had approached NY Waterway to ask for help in arranging the on-the-water celebration. The ferry company donated the use of their terminal and boats for the event. The gathering allowed one woman to return the jacket that ferry Capt. Vince Lucante had given her and another passenger off his back. The two drenched women had sat, huddled together and shivering on the ferry, with their feet dug into the sleeves of his jacket. In a strange anniversary coincidence, the pilot of a two-seater plane heading toward the river to fly a banner marking the anniversary instead had to make an emergency landing at the former Fresh Kills ugg boots on sale landfill. The pilot was uninjured, police said. Earlier in the day, the group gathered for a breakfast to thank first responders. Skiles called all the rescuers, from the fire and police departments to ferry and boat operators, "the true heroes of that day." Skiles then made a $5,000 donation to the American Red Cross for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. He made the gift in the name of the victims of the fatal crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Buffalo, N.Y., last February. Passenger after passenger said how glad they were to be back with people whom they've come to consider closer than relatives. "We're a family," said ugg boots for sale Vallie Collins. "There's some connection I have with these 154 that's kind of hard to explain." "They know what it felt like," she said. "We were all on our own odyssey, but we each went through the same thing."

Obama confident bank tax plan will pass Congress WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama expressed confidence Saturday that lawmakers would approve his proposed tax on banks to recover bailout money, despite opposition from Republicans and the financial industry. "Like clockwork, the ugg boots on sale banks and politicians who curry their favor are already trying to stop this fee from going into effect," he said, using his weekly radio and Internet addresses to promote the plan he announced this past week. "The very same firms reaping billions of dollars in profits, and reportedly handing out more money in bonuses and compensation than ever before in history, are now pleading poverty. It's a sight to see." If banks can afford to pay out all those bonuses, he said, then they can repay taxpayers, too. "We're not going to let Wall Street take the money and run. We're going to pass this fee into law," he said. Congress must approve the tax and that's not assured, given the immediate opposition from Republicans. Democrats also could lose their 60-vote majority in the Senate, with Democrat Martha Coakley in an unexpectedly close race against Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts to fill the seat held for decades by the late ugg outlet Democrat Edward M. Kennedy. Brown opposes Obama's bank tax. Obama planned to campaign in the state on Sunday. The White House's decision to use the address to speak about the proposed tax instead of the U.S. response to the suffering and devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti suggested one line of attack Obama would use against Brown on Sunday. The proposed 0.15 percent tax would last at least 10 years and generate about $90 billion over the decade, according to administration estimates. It would apply to about 50 of the biggest banks, those with more than $50 billion in assets, and include many institutions that accepted no money from the $700 financial industry bailout. Obama said uggs outlet that although the banks were facing a "crisis of their own creation," the "distasteful but necessary" taxpayer-funded bailout prevented an "even greater calamity for the country." Most of the banks have returned the money they borrowed, and Obama said that was "good news." "But as far as I'm concerned, it's not good enough," he said. "We want the taxpayers' money back, and we're going to collect every dime." Six of the biggest U.S. banks are on track to pay $150 billion in total executive uggs outlet compensation for 2009, slightly less than the record $164 billion in 2007 before the financial crisis struck, according to the New York state comptroller's office. Obama challenged those who say banks can't afford the tax without passing the costs on to shareholders and customers. "That's hard to believe when there are reports that Wall Street is going to hand out more money in bonuses and compensation just this year than the cost of this fee over uggs outlet the next 10 years," he said. "If the big financial firms can afford massive bonuses, they can afford to pay back the American people."

Haiti earthquake appeal hits more than ?2m in 36 hours Britons have donated more than ?2m to an appeal to help earthquake-stricken Haiti in the space of 36 hours. The Disasters Emergency Committee said it was "delighted", while Gordon Brown said there had been an "extraordinary" response from the British public. UK rescue ugg outlet workers are among those trying to find survivors. So far 30 Britons have been found safe and well, but a UK woman is still missing. Meanwhile, Haitians in the UK are awaiting news of loved ones. Up to 50,000 people on the Caribbean island are feared dead after Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake. The aid operation is being hampered by poor infrastructure - the small airport is struggling to deal with the number of flights and the roads and port have been badly damaged. 'Keep giving' The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella organisation which co-ordinates responses to major disasters overseas, thanked the British public for their contribution to its quake appeal so far. David Loyn, with a UK rescue team in Haiti Food, water, medical supplies and shelter are needed on a huge scale for several months to come. Rescue teams from a dozen countries are doing what they can in the capital, which was the epicentre of the earthquake. A Spanish team that arrived on Thursday morning had pulled out five people by nightfall including a two-year-old boy. Although the team did not have any of their heavy equipment, that is still stuck ugg outlet in the gridlock at the airport, they dug with simple tools. Annika Coll, the head of the team, said that "goose pimples went up on my arm" when the boy answered when she called out. He was unharmed after 50 hours without food or water. The rescue teams know that there could be many more people like that under the rubble and are frustrated by being unable to get out to work. There are also security concerns. Some 9,000 UN military and police personnel have been trying to keep order, and all rescue teams have had armed guards. Among the donations was an undisclosed amount from the Queen. DEC chief uggs outlet executive Brendan Gormley said they were "delighted" at the public's generosity. "Efforts on the ground have been hampered by a lack of power and communications problems after the devastating quake but aid is starting to get through and DEC members are working hard in the field," he said. "Our message to the public is, thank you for your efforts so far but it is vitally important that people continue to donate to increase the amount of aid that can be delivered to help the millions of people affected by this terrible earthquake." The ?2m figure for online giving was hit at around 0800 GMT on Friday, and donations by other means are not included. The DEC's main television advert is to broadcast later on Friday. 'Seek solidarity' Shelane Chapman, from Downham in Kent, is one of the 1,000-strong Haitian uggs outlet community in the UK. She has no idea what has happened to her family. She heard rumours her mother's house collapsed in the earthquake, killing her six-year-old cousin, but has been unable to verify the news. Mrs Chapman said: "We're sick with worry because we can't get through at all. We keep redialling my mother's mobile number but it just won't work. If the house has gone, where could she be? Where could they all be?" Judith Craig of United Haitians in the UK, says the charity has seen its membership jump since the earthquake hit. She attributes ugg outlet store the increase to people wanting to find out more and seek solidarity with others. The Red Cross has set up a website to help people abroad to try to contact their relatives. A similar site has been created by two Haitians in the US. Rescue operation The Foreign Office is checking on Britons in the country and will start repatriations, but concern is growing for a missing British woman, Ann Barnes, a PA to the UN police commissioner in Haiti. Ann Barnes, 59, is originally from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Quake brings UK Haitians together Haiti quake aid effort hampered DEC launches Haiti quake appeal Living sleep among dead Haiti Earthquake: Your stories In pictures: Haiti rubble A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of reports that (Ms Barnes) is missing and we are aware that the building she was working in collapsed. The UN has confirmed a number of deaths but has not given confirmation of her death." The UK ambassador to the Dominican Republic and other consular staff ugg outlet store have gone to neighbouring Haiti. A British search and rescue team - made up of 71 people, mostly from the fire services, and including two search dogs - flew to the region on Thursday; however not all have made it to Haiti. The Disasters Emergency Committee is co-ordinating an appeal to help the people of Haiti There are 13 ugg boots on sale charities involved including the British Red Cross, Islamic Relief and World Vision Donate via the DEC website or by telephoning 0370 60 60 900 DEC radio appeal Peter Stevenson, who is a member of the team, told the BBC most of the workers had arrived: "I think we've been victims of our own success, we were actually in the Dominican Republic within 24 hours, the problem being that the airport was shut in Port-au-Prince because they didn't have electricity. "We've got 40 of our people up in Port-au-Prince at the moment and their ugg boots on sale task will be search and rescue. "Although there is a lot of serious damage to the buildings we're hopeful there are voids created in the damaged structures which will enable us to find live casualties." British aid workers are already in Haiti and more are being flown out, as are emergency items such as food, water and tents. The quake, Haiti's worst in two centuries, has flattened whole areas in the country's capital, Port-au-Prince. Many Haitians spent a ugg outlet third night without shelter or in makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince, where bodies have been building up outside the city's mortuaries.

Cutcliffe to remain Duke's coach coach David Cutcliffe on Friday withdrew his name from consideration for the Tennessee head coaching job. ACC blog ESPN.com's Heather Dinich writes about all things ACC in her conference blog. ? Blog network: College Football ugg outlet store Nation Cutcliffe, a former offensive coordinator with the Vols, had talks with Tennessee on Thursday to potentially replace Lane Kiffin, who bolted the program on Tuesday to become USC coach. "After much thought and consideration, Karen and I reached the decision that Duke is the place for our family," Cutcliffe said in a statement released through the university, adding "we have the best coaching staff in the country, and are convinced that we will continue to build a successful football program that both the Duke and Durham communities will be proud of." Duke is 9-15 in two seasons under Cutcliffe after winning only 10 games in the previous eight seasons combined. Duke athletic director Kevin White said Cutcliffe told him Friday morning ugg outlet store that he "intends to remain the Duke football coach for a long time." "Simply put, we could not be happier or more excited about the future of the Blue Devils football program," White said. Cutcliffe's withdrawal from Tennessee's search follows that of Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, the Longhorns' head coach-in-waiting, who turned down a lucrative offer from Tennessee, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com. Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton continues to work toward having a coach in place by this weekend. The recruiting period goes live again on Sunday, and the Vols are working feverishly to have a new coach in place by then. Louisiana Tech's Derek Dooley also is on Tennessee's list, as is Temple coach Al Golden. Kippy Brown, in his ugg outlet store third stint at Tennessee, is the Vols' interim coach. Brown on Wednesday said he's been told that he also would be considered for the permanent head-coaching job. Maybe the Hughes brothers (Albert and Allen) just couldn’t decide what kind of movie they wanted. Is The Book of Eli this year’s Mad Max or is it a new incarnation of HBO’s western series Deadwood? Either way, despite some good sets and some good intentions, this Denzel Washington film is mostly disappointing. Set in a very bleak period in the not too distant future, Washington is Eli, a man who has been traveling the roads of a nuclear winter in America for years, feasting on the occasional cat and always wary of just who he might encounter on the road. Almost everyone he meets is of course, horribly bad. But that’s not a ugg outlet problem for Eli. Denzel Washington could easily be confused with Wesley Snipes in Blade for his prowess with a knife as well as other martial arts skills as he mows down a dozen adversaries at a time. If The Book of Eli had more of comic book feel to it, the brothers Hughes might get away with Eli’s superpower tendencies, but it almost borders on the ridiculous. Eli is not unlike Clint Eastwood in his early Sergio Leone films where Eastwood was the lone rider in lawless western towns. In keeping with that Leone western feel, more than once, one of the main characters (Ray Stevenson from HBO’s Rome) is heard whistling the theme song from Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. Another nice touch that underlies the theme of the film is a poster on the wall of one of Eli’s temporary lodgings — it’s from the 1970s classic post-nuclear war film, A Boy and His Dog. But the Hughes brothers just don’t weave all of this into one cohesive story. Eli’s book, is appropriately enough, and this really isn’t giving anything away, is the Bible. He has probably the last one in existence, and apparently guided by some kind of religious impulse (which also contributes apparently to his near super human powers), keeps heading west. His biggest obstacle is Carnegie (Gary Oldman), the big man in the town of Carnegie. He finds out that Eli has a Bible, and knowing its power in the world before this last catastrophic war, he wants to use it to increase his own strength. Eli and Carnegie are the uggs outlet only two characters in the film who are old enough to remember how things were before the war. When Eli refuses to surrender the book, Carnegie and his band of thugs give chase. It sets up the best scene in The Book of Eli. Eli, who is now accompanied by a young woman, who wants to escape from Carnegie, both the town and the man, come across a secluded farmhouse. The old couple inside (Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour) offer up some tea from their cracked china and music on a Victrola. There is only one drawback to the Norman Rockwell setting: their uggs outlet adaption to the current state of the world includes cannibalism. It’s one of the few original scenes in Book of Eli, which mostly is a rehash of other superior, post-apocalypse films.

Local Religion Among many other things, of course, Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor who rose to a leadership first within the church and Baptist associations. So it is only appropriate that the national holiday in honor of his birthday is marked, among other observances, by church services and gospel performances. Realizing the Dream The celebration co-hosted by North County Churches Uniting for Racial Harmony and Justice and St. Louis Community College this year will feature three choirs: Olivet Missionary Baptist, Church of the Master UCC, and Florissant Valley. This celebration ugg outlet store also will include a recreation of Dr. King’s historical speech “I Have A Dream” by Ben Golley, an Alton businessman and former Alton School Board member. The program will feature the five winners of North County Churches Uniting for Racial Harmony and Justice's Oratory Essay Contest, titled “Realizing the Dream Through Civic and Community Engagement” and will include one student from an Elementary School, three from Middle Schools, and one from a High School. The keynote speaker will be Gilberto Pinela, the first Spanish language talk television personality in the St. Louis area. The NCCU/SLCC Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, January 17 in the Terry Fisher Theatre on the Florissant Valley campus. The program is free and everyone is welcome. The event will be followed by a reception. Contact Dr. Rance Thomas, 314 921-7364 or Ms Jada Irwin, 314 595-4263. Freedom Celebration The Saint Louis Art Museum’s 2009 MLK observance will feature musical performances by praise dancers from Dickerson Memorial Community Church and gospel songs performed by Psalms, a Contemporary Gospel Group and the Mount Zion Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir. This year’s celebration, “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Celebration: If It Wasn’t for the Women” recognizes women who were – and continue to be – drum majors for justice and peace: ugg outlet store Frankie Muse Freeman, Margaret Bush Wilson and Wyvetta Young. Dr. Leah Gunning Francis, assistant professor of Christian Education at Eden Theological Seminary, will deliver the keynote address. The Art Museum event honoring the life and legacy of Dr. King will be held 7:30-9 p.m. Friday, January 15 in the Auditorium. The performance is free. Free public parking is available. Call 314-721-0072 or visit www.slam.org. Interfaith Celebration The civic ceremony organized by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Committee (Merdean Gales, president) always concludes with an Interfaith Celebration at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd., featuring local choirs and speakers. This year’s interfaith ceremony will start at 12:30 p.m. Monday, January 18. The day begins at 10 a.m. with Civic Ceremony held in the Rotunda ugg outlet of the Old Courthouse at Fourth and Market, follwed by a Celebration March to Powell Symphony Hall for the service. Spirit Of Unity Conference Though not specifically an MLK celebration, the Spirit Of Unity Conference being organized by L. Stiles Ministries will share Dr. King’s spirit, if it is preaching unity. The conference will be held January 20-22 with services nightly at 7 p.m. featuring Pastor Sheryl Brady (Durham, NC), Dr. Wanda Turner (Atlanta, GA) and Dr. Lozell Stiles (Alton, IL). Host venue is Tribe Of Judah Christian Church, 3465 Shackelford Rd. in Florissant. Call 618-465-1660. (CNN) -- World No. 1 Roger Federer faces a potential quarterfinal clash with Nikolay Davydenko after his recent nemesis was drawn in the same quarter of the field for the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. The Russian has beaten Swiss star Federer in his past two meetings as he has ugg outlet risen to sixth in the rankings, winning the 2009 season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. Last year's losing finalist Federer faces Davydenko's unseeded compatriot Igor Andreev in the first round, and could play former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the third. To get to Federer, Davydenko -- who starts against a qualifier -- may have to face last year's semifinalist Fernando Verdasco, or the Spanish ninth seed's compatriots Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya, who are both former top-ranked players. Third seed Novak Djokovic is also in Federer's half of the draw, along with No. 8 Robin Soderling. The Serbian ugg outlet could face Soderling, last year's French Open finalist, in the quarterfinals before a potential semifinal with Federer. World No. 2 and defending champion Rafael Nadal heads the other half of the draw, where he could face Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Murray has paid the price for deciding against defending his Qatar Open title earlier this month, with the Britain dropping outside the top four in the rankings. If he were to get past Nadal, Murray could possibly face a semifinal against U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, who is fourth seed and expected to play despite pulling out of the Kooyong Classic with a wrist problem. Del Potro could play American seventh seed Andy Roddick in the last eight. Verdasco will play Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is seeded 10th for the season's first Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne, in Saturday's final in the exhibition event.RICHMOND, Va. (ugg outlet AP) — Al Groh says he's heading to Georgia Tech to be the Yellow Jackets' defensive coordinator. The former Virginia coach told The Associated Press on Friday that he set out several criteria before deciding where he wanted to coach in 2010, and Georgia Tech meets them. The top priority was taking a job where there's a chance to win championships. The Yellow Jackets are coming off their first outright ACC title since 1990 and played in the Orange Bowl. But they struggled on defense, firing ugg outlet store coordinator Dave Wommack shortly after the season.

New Jersey legislature approves medical marijuana bill (CNN) -- The New Jersey legislature voted Monday to make that state the 14th in the country to approve marijuana for medicinal use, pending the governor's signature. Gov. Jon Corzine, ugg outlet who leaves office next week, has said he would sign the bill. Two years after the bill was introduced to the legislature, the New Jersey Compassionate Medical Marijuana Act was passed by the state Assembly in a 48-14 vote. It received Senate approval just hours later in a 25-13 vote. According to the news release from the state Senate, the bill would allow doctors to give to patients with state-issued identification cards prescriptions to buy marijuana legally from registered alternative treatment centers. The identification cards would be issued by the Department of Health and Senior Services Only patients with proven "debilitating conditions" would qualify for ID card. Such conditions include "cancer, glaucoma, positive HIV/AIDS status or other chronic, debilitating diseases or medical ugg outlet conditions that produce, or the treatment of which produces, wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe and persistent muscle spasms," according to the Senate news release. "Out of the 14 states that have similar bills, New Jersey's will be the strictest," Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, one of the bill's sponsors, told CNN. "I believe that this bill will be model legislation for states here on out that will look to (be) legalizing marijuana. We looked at the pitfalls of California and made a more restrictive bill." Sen. Nicolas Scutari, the bill's Senate co-sponsor, also attributed the bill's success to its restrictive measures, saying, "We put a whole lot of safeguards to make sure that what had happened in other states with respect to abuses ... would not happen here, and uggs outlet I think everyone was satisfied as a result, so it passed pretty easily." Gusciora pointed to the omission of stress and anxiety as one of the qualifying conditions for a prescription, to further emphasize the bills distinction from other states' bills, saying "I feel like every college student would qualify for stress and anxiety, and has qualified in California." Marijuana use would be restricted to private property under the measure. Patients with legal prescriptions could still be arrested for using marijuana in public, and they could still face driving under the influence charges if they used marijuana and got behind the wheel, according to Gusciora. The bill has been passed in time for Corzine to sign it before Gov.-elect Chris Christie takes over on January 19. According to Scutari, although Christie has shown a "willingness to sign" the bill, the uggs outlet timing of the bill's passage is ideal. "I didn't want to start from scratch," says Scutari, "I've been working on this for five years, and we wanted to ensure while we had control of the bill that we could get it passed in a form that was acceptable to all sides. According to Gusciora, the bill will still take six to nine months to take effect. Various safeguards such as Department of Health approval of dispensaries and tracking of patients by the Division of Consumer Affairs need to take place before doctors and patients can legally buy medical marijuana in New Jersey. For most of the New Jersey state lawmakers, however, this is huge victory. "My mother has multiple sclerosis and I could tell you that anything that could ugg outlet store alleviate her symptoms, I would certainly want to be able to offer," said Scutari.

Carroll worms his way out of USC, off to Seattle Of his decision to leave USC, Pete Carroll said: “There was never going to be a good time.” Then again, if your university is under investigation, some times are better than others. It’s worth ugg outlet store noting that Carroll’s four years as a head coach in the NFL resulted in the same number of playoff victories that Mark Sanchez has now achieved in his rookie season. Yet he abruptly abandoned L.A.’s only big-time football operation for a minor-league outfit in Seattle. What’s more, he wants you to believe it has absolutely nothing to do with a famously stalled probe into illicit benefits Reggie Bush accepted while at Southern Cal. “If you say something else, you’re not telling the truth,” he said Monday at his farewell news conference at Heritage Hall. In other words: If you don’t believe me, you’re lying. Once again, like most stories about seven-figure coaches in ostensibly amateur athletics, this one engenders mostly cynicism. Woefully unmentioned in accounts of Carroll’s sudden good fortune — a $7 million-a-year gig with the Seahawks that miraculously “came ugg outlet store out of nowhere” — is a recent court ruling in San Diego. On Dec. 28, the California Court of Appeal denied Bush’s request to compel confidential arbitration in a suit brought by Lloyd Lake, a would-be marketing agent who claims he provided the former Trojans star and his family with cash and gifts worth $291,000. The case, like the NCAA investigation, has been around for years. But Lake’s lawyers can get something the NCAA cannot: subpoenas. And the moment Bush lost his appeal, they were working to depose him, his family and the man who made Angelenos forget about the NFL. “I do find it curious,” Lake’s attorney, Brian Watkins, said of Carroll’s timing. Did the impending uggs outlet deposition have an effect on Carroll’s decision? I asked. “I’m sure it did,” he said. “…That’s why they fought so hard to get confidential arbitration.” I don’t know whether Southern Cal is guilty or whether Bush will be held liable in civil court. I just know transparency is not regarded as good news at Heritage Hall, where Carroll conducted his goodbye news conference Monday afternoon. Watkins is now free to compel the testimony the NCAA has been unable to extract since 2006, when its investigation began. Way back then, USC was the envy of every program in America. Carroll had already won a couple of national championships and the fourth of his seven consecutive PAC-10 crowns. Bush was the third of Carroll’s players to win the Heisman — in four years. Little wonder that movie stars vied for face time on the Coliseum’s sidelines Now it’s different. The entire athletic department is embattled. Men’s basketball has voluntarily forfeited the postseason for a street agent’s payments made to O.J. Mayo. One hears the university has uggs outlet sacrificed basketball for the sake of football. Plausible gossip. But here are the facts: After Sanchez left to compete in the pros — a move Carroll publicly criticized — the coach’s vision for a true freshman quarterback failed. The team went 5-4 in the conference, fifth in the Pac-10. Running back Joe McKnight was kept out of the Emerald Bowl after the Los Angeles Times reported he was driving around in a Range Rover that wasn’t his. Most recently, SI.com reported former USC assistant Dave Watson was addicted to painkillers and would routinely obtain them from team doctors. He testified he told Carroll of his addiction three months before getting into a wreck with his university-issued Jeep. Then there’s the Bush investigation, or, as Carroll dismissively refers to it, “the stuff.” As in: “The stuff … has been ongoing for five years now. … It has no factor.” Just for the record, salary wasn’t a factor, either. “It wasn’t about money,” he said. “It was about the challenge.” He may believe ugg outlet that, but I don’t. Nor should you. If Carroll really wanted a challenge, he’d restore a fifth-place team to its customary standing atop the conference standings and the national polls. If he really wanted to do the right thing, he’d see the program he re-created, and the university he claims to love, through this investigation. “I thought I would be here forever,” he said. A lot of people did. USC is a dream job. But apparently not dreamier than the Seattle Seahawks. “The challenge of a lifetime,” as Carroll referred to the Seattle coaching job, “came along really quickly.” According to Yahoo!Sports, “Carroll has been aware for weeks of the specific violations the NCAA may be alleging against his program.” Then he found out he could no longer dodge a deposition. There has been a lot of talk about how he will fare in the pros. He has already failed with two NFL teams. And as Tony Dungy noted, it’s more difficult to motivate rich men than poor teenagers. There’s ugg outlet a reason college coaches are so notoriously bad in the pros. Consider John McKay, another championship coach who left USC after finishing fifth in the conference. He accepted an even greater challenge than the Seahawks. It was called the Tampa Bay Bucs. And he lived to regret it for the rest of his days. The United Nations health agency will review the way it dealt with the outbreak of swine flu once the pandemic has subsided, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a news briefing. "Criticism is part of an outbreak cycle. We expect and indeed welcome criticism and the chance to discuss it," she said, adding the WHO's review would involve independent outside experts and its results would be made public. But she said it was too soon to say when the examination would take place or which experts would be involved. In the latest complaint about the way authorities have dealt with the pandemic, the Council of Europe, a political forum of most European uggs outlet countries, is to determine whether drug companies influenced public health officials to spend money unnecessarily on stockpiles of H1N1 vaccines. Chaib said the WHO took its work of providing independent advice to its 193 member states seriously, and guarded against the influence of vested interests. REVIEWING DEMAND Several countries are cutting back orders for H1N1 vaccines as it becomes clear that the outbreak, declared a global pandemic by the WHO in June, is not as severe as at first feared. Governments will have an opportunity to question the WHO about H1N1 at a meeting of its 34-member board next week. The WHO's top flu expert, Keiji Fukuda, will brief the board on January 18 about the latest developments in the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years. Developing countries still lack adequate access to both antivirals and vaccines despite donations from industrialized countries and drug makers, the WHO said. Some 200 million doses of H1N1 vaccine and funding of some $12 million have uggs outlet been pledged to date, it said in a document prepared for the board. "Significant progress in international solidarity has been achieved, through donations by developed countries and manufacturers, but overall access to antiviral medicines and vaccines in developing countries remains limited," it said. GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis are among H1N1 vaccine producers. The WHO last week delivered donated H1N1 vaccine to Mongolia and Azerbaijan, the first of 95 developing and middle-income countries targeted to receive supplies. It aims to provide ugg outlet store these countries with enough vaccine to cover 10 percent of their populations, with health care workers a top priority. The WHO said last week that southern hemisphere countries struck by H1N1 last year are now broadly protected against new infections, and sickness levels are declining in much of the northern hemisphere, including North America where it first emerged last April. According to lab-confirmed cases, swine flu has killed at least 12,799 people, but the ugg outlet store real toll is much higher and will take several years to establish, the WHO says.

Somali faces terror charge for cartoonist attack COPENHAGEN – Prosecutors filed a preliminary charge of terrorism Monday against a Somali man accused of trying to kill a Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. The man had faced a preliminary charge of attempted murder for breaking into Kurt Westergaard's home in Aarhus, in western Denmark, Jan. 1 armed with a knife and an ax. Prosecutor Marian ugg outlet store Thomsen said investigators changed the preliminary charge to terrorism, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, after questioning the suspect over the weekend for the first time since his arrest. Westergaard, 74, locked himself in a safe room and was not injured. The suspect was shot by police in the hand and knee, but was not seriously injured and is being held in jail pending the outcome of the investigation. The man, who cannot be named under a court order, also faces preliminary charges of attempted murder of a police officer, assaulting another officer and breaking Denmark's weapons law. The suspect claims he only wanted to scare Westergaard and has denied all the ugg outlet store allegations except the weapons charge, according to his lawyer, Niels Christian Strauss. Denmark's intelligence agency has said the suspect, who has a residence permit in Denmark, is linked to the Somali militant group al-Shabab and to al-Qaida leaders in eastern Africa. A spokesman in Somalia for al-Shabab denied the man was member of the group. In Kenya, police have confirmed that the suspect was on a terror watch list and was briefly detained there before U.S. Secretary of State ugg outlet Hillary Rodham Clinton's visit in August. Westergaard has faced a series of death threats over his drawing of Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, which was considered the most provocative of 12 Danish cartoons of Muhammad that sparked an uproar in Muslim countries in 2006. He has lived under police protection since February 2008. In October, terrorism charges were brought against two Chicago men who allegedly planned to kill Westergaard and a Danish newspaper's former cultural editor. That trial has not yet begun.CABINDA, Angola – Authorities have arrested two separatists in Angola's restive Cabinda region following a shooting attack on the Togolese national soccer team that killed three people, a prosecutor announced Monday. According to a brief statement from Antonio Nito, the prosecutor in charge of Cabinda province, two unidentified members of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda forces, or FLEC, were captured Sunday near the site of Friday's shooting. A FLEC leader reportedly in exile in France said Monday his group had been targeting Angolan troops escorting the Togolese team. "In war, anything can happen, this is only the beginning," Rodrigues Mingas, who uggs outlet calls himself the group's leader, told France-Info radio. However, an organization that reunites former FLEC members who started a peace process with the Angolan government in 2006 said that the attack had likely been made by dissident FLEC members. "This attack has been committed by armed gangsters who just want to sabotage the peace process," said Andre Puango, coordinator of the Cabinda forum for dialogue. The Togolese team was driving to Angola to take part in the African Cup of Nations tournament when gunmen opened fire on the bus Friday. Togo's assistant coach and team spokesman were killed, as was the Angolan bus driver. Eight were wounded, including a goalkeeper flown to South Africa for treatment. Doctors said Monday it was too soon to say whether Kodjovi "Dodji" Obilale will recover enough to play again, but they are optimistic. He was listed in good condition Monday, an ugg outlet store improvement from serious a day earlier. Meanwhile, three days of mourning were declared in Togo, where sobbing relatives met a plane late Sunday carrying the victims of the attack. Weeping women threw themselves to the ground and had to be helped up. "Our boys went to Angola to celebrate the best in African football (soccer) but they came back with dead bodies and bullet wounds," said Togbe Aklassou, a traditional ruler from the Be area of Lome. Togo's players had wanted to compete to honor the dead, but their government dispatched the presidential plane after saying it was not safe for them to stay. Togo's Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo said Angola had not done enough to protect the team after the attack in Cabinda, an oil-rich region that has seen occasional separatist violence. "We fully understand our government's decision to leave because they didn't receive enough guarantees for our security," forward Thomas Dossevi told The Associated Press. "We as players, we wanted to stay to honor the memory of our dead people, but both positions are understandable." Togo team captain Emmanuel Adebayor, speaking in an interview with France's RMC radio Sunday, said the team had decided finally to "pack our bags and go home" after the Manchester City striker got a call from Togo President Faure Gnassingbe himself urging them to return. Boarding the plane, Adebayor told journalists: "We have to mourn our dead. We ugg outlet go back home to do this." In the tournament's opening match Sunday, Mali and host Angola tied 4-4. The first match to be played in Cabinda was scheduled for later Monday. "Despite the terrorist attack, Cabinda will remain a hosting city," Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said in a speech at the opening ceremony before the Mali-Angola match. "There is no need to be afraid." Mingas, who calls uggs outlet himself FLEC's leader, said Monday his group was behind the attack. But another FLEC official in Cabinda has denied responsibility. In a telephone interview with the AP on Sunday, Tiburcio Tati Tchingobo said his group had no objection to the tournament, even with play in Cabinda. "The tournament can go on, but we are worried about security. We don't have any problem with our fellow African brothers," said Tchingobo, minister of defense in the self-declared Federal State of Cabinda, when reached on a satellite phone number. Portugal's state-run Lusa news agency said FLEC claimed responsibility in a message on Friday. The conflicting reports could stem from divisions among Cabinda's pro-independence ugg outlet store groups. Several claim the name FLEC. Cabinda's armed groups have been weakened by the factional fighting. But periodic announcements from the Angolan government that the Cabinda uprising has been quelled — either by force or negotiations — have been followed by new outbreaks of violence. The Angolan government has denied charges from international human rights groups its military has committed atrocities in Cabinda. In Sunday's exclusive interview, Tchingobo said he feared the attack on the Togolese team would spark a crackdown by Angolan forces in Cabinda after the tournament ends. Angola has been ugg outlet struggling to climb back from decades of violence, and its government was banking on the tournament as a chance to show the world it was on the way to recovery. Cabinda's unrest is unrelated to — and often overshadowed by — a broader civil war that lasted nearly three decades and ended in 2002.

Yemeni radical cleric warns of foreign occupation SAN'A, Yemen – Yemen's most influential Islamic cleric, considered an al-Qaida-linked terrorist by the United States, warned the government on Monday against allowing "foreign occupation" of the country in the growing cooperation with the U.S. against the terror group. Sheik Abdul-Majid ugg outlet al-Zindani's comments reflected a deep mistrust among Yemenis of Washington's intentions as it ramps up counterterrorism aid and training for San'a to combat al-Qaida's offshoot here. Al-Zindani, a radical cleric who once associated with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, is highly influential among Yemenis and the government is careful to maintain at least his tacit support. "We accept any cooperation in the framework of respect and joint interests, and we reject military occupation of our country. And we don't accept the return of colonialization," al-Zindani told reporters. "Yemen's rulers and people must be careful before a (foreign) guardianship is imposed on them," he said. "The day parliament allows the occupation of Yemen, the people will rise up against it and bring it down." President Barack Obama said he does not plan to send American combat forces to Yemen, and San'a has said it will not allow such a deployment. "I have no intention of sending U.S. boots on the ground in these regions," Obama ugg outlet said in an interview with People magazine to be published Friday. U.S. military personnel are helping train Yemeni counterterror forces and gave Yemeni forces intelligence and logistical help in heavy airstrikes last month against suspected al-Qaida hideouts that Yemen says killed dozens of militants. Al-Zindani is a controversial figure in Yemeni politics. The United States has labeled him a "global terrorist," alleging he helps fund and recruit for al-Qaida and that students from Iman University — which he heads — were involved in past attacks. But Yemen's uggs outlet government courts his support. The deputy prime minister last week denied al-Zindani is a member of al-Qaida. Addressing a news conference held at his San'a home, al-Zindani denied U.S. accusations against him, saying "it's become well known among the people that a lot of lies come out of" Washington. He also denied any knowledge of al-Qaida's activities in Yemen. He also denied he had any influence on an American-Yemeni radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who is being hunted by Yemeni forces for alleged al-Qaida links. Al-Awlaki is a young cleric popular among extremists for his calls for jihad, or holy war, against the Americans. Yemeni officials say he may have met with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in Yemen before the 23-year-old Nigerian allegedly tried to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day. Al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen is accused of ugg outlet store plotting that attack. Al-Awlaki also had e-mail contact with the accused Fort Hood shooter before he allegedly opened fire at the military base in Texas, killing 13 people. Al-Awlaki later praised the attack, and he has also praised al-Zindani's writings in Internet speeches. "I was never a direct teacher for Anwar al-Awlaki," al-Zindani said, his white beard dyed red with henna in the style of some Islamic hard-liners. "I am general ugg outlet lecturer and a writer of books. If someone says they listened to my lectures or read my books, am I to blame if he then, say, divorces his wife, or if he attacks someone? If that's the case, then all teachers and professors should be accused," said al-Zindani, who also denied any connection to Abdulmutallab. Al-Zindani, who often preaches in favor of holy war to defend the Muslim world, was careful not to directly criticize the Yemeni government's cooperation with the United States and avoided any comments that uggs outlet suggested a call for violence. But he said San'a must regulate its counterterror partnership with Washington with written agreements approved by parliament. "The constitution says agreements must be put before parliament. I demand the implementation of the constitution," he said. He sharply criticized a U.S.-backed Yemeni airstrike against a suspected al-Qaida hideout on Dec. 17 in which dozens of civilians were reported killed. "Is ugg outlet store this right? What about a government that calls in any force to strike whoever it wants in this way, without any restrictions?" he said.

UPDATE: China's Strong December Trade Shows Economy On Rebound BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China's exports surged in December from a year ago, ending 13 months of declines. Despite the rebound in external demand, though, the country's annual trade surplus dropped as expected for the first time in six years as the global financial crisis hit home. The surprising rally in imports, up 56% last month, came as China's crude oil imports hit a record monthly high and its iron ore imports were the second highest on record, signaling strong domestic demand due to the government's stimulus package reviving the national ugg outlet economy. The sharp improvement in China's trade last month--the top trading partner for many countries and the world's largest exporter--should give a lift to investor confidence that the world's third largest economy will continue to hold up demand as the rest of the global economy gets back on its feet. It also flags the chance that China's economy expanded at a double-digit, year-on-year growth rate in the fourth quarter of last year, from the 8.9% expansion made in the third quarter, and stoking the debate among Chinese policymakers about a timing for exit strategies from Beijing's expansionary policies. "Growth in exports is expected to be strong in the coming months due to steady improvement in external demand combined with low base effects. Continued recovery in China's industrial sector should support increased demand for energy and raw material imports," said Jing Ulrich, chairman of China equities and commodities at J.P. Morgan. Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets senior strategist Brian Jackson said the yuan ugg outlet may have an excuse to strengthen from the end of the current quarter as China's exports grow again. Critics say Chinese exporters enjoy an unfair advantage in global markets because the yuan is undervalued as it pretty much tracks the movements of the U.S. dollar. "Positive export growth will also likely increase the global pressure on Beijing to allow some currency appreciation, while also making it easier to justify such a move to domestic audiences," Jackson said. China's exports last ugg outlet month surged 17.7% to $130.7 billion as imports grew to $112.3 billion, resulting in a trade surplus in the month of $18.43 billion, data issued Sunday by the General Administration of Customs showed. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected exports to grow 5% and imports to increase 31% in December. China's exports last grew on a year-on-year basis in October 2008. For 2009, China's exports fell 16% to $1.202 trillion and imports slid 11.2% to $1.006 trillion, customs said. China's trade surplus last year just topped $196 billion, falling 34% for the year and recording its first annual drop since it fell 16% in 2003. Among categories of imports, China's crude oil imports hit a record 21.26 million metric tons in December, equivalent to 5.03 million barrels per day, the data showed, partly on a push by state-owned refiners to have enough fuel in reserve ahead of the Spring Festival holiday next month. For all of last year, crude oil imports rose 13.9% to 203.79 million tons, likely cementing China's place as the second-largest importer of crude oil after the U.S. in 2009, leapfrogging Japan whose oil demand ugg outlet stagnated when its economy slid into recession. China's commodity imports trumped market expectations of a winter slowdown, underscoring an unabated hunger for key industrial products. China imported 62.16 million metric tons of iron ore in December, 80% more than a year earlier and the second highest volume on record, the data showed. The iron ore imports were up 22% from the month before. The rise underlined there was no let-up in the country's hunger for the steel making ingredient. For the full year of 2009, China imported 627.78 million tons of iron ore, up 41.6% on 2008, reinforcing China as the world's biggest importer of iron ore. The high import ugg outlet store volume points to traders and steelmakers moving to stock up on the steelmaking ingredient, ahead of market expectations that annually-set benchmark prices are poised to rise some 20%. Copper imports also rose strongly last month, reaching 369,368 tons, a 27% increase over November and up 29% on year, bringing the increase for all of last year to a strong 62.7% or 4.29 million tons. For the year, China's trade with the European Union, its top trading partner, fell 14.5% to $364 billion as exports to the E.U. slumped 19.4% to $236 billion. China's trade with the U.S., its second largest trading partner, sank 10.6% to $298 billion as exports fell 12.5% to $221 billion. China's imports from Australia, a key source of iron ore and other raw materials, finished 2009 just 5.4% higher, but imports from Brazil fell 5.3%. "Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel," George Mitchell said on U.S. television on Wednesday after being asked about the kind of ugg outlet store pressure that could be brought to bear on Israel. Over the past two decades, Israel has received U.S. guarantees covering billions of dollars in loans, underwriting that has been instrumental in raising money overseas more cheaply. Although such guarantees have slipped in importance and Mitchell made clear in the U.S. public television interview that no sanctions against Israel were being considered, the remarks added more discord to Israeli relations with President Barack Obama's White House. In a statement late on Saturday "in reaction to media inquiries after Mitchell's interview," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office blamed the Palestinians for a peacemaking impasse which the envoy, due back in the region later this month, has failed ugg outlet to break. "Everyone knows that the Palestinian Authority refuses to renew peace talks, while Israel took significant steps to restart the process," the statement said. Israeli media seized on Mitchell's remarks as reminiscent of a low point in U.S.-Israeli relations -- President George Bush's withholding of $10 billion in guarantees in 1991 after Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir refused to freeze settlement expansion. "Mitchell's threat," said the main headline of Israel's mass circulation Maariv newspaper, which described the envoy's comments as a "bombshell." SETTLEMENTS Obama and Netanyahu have clashed over the president's demand -- since softened -- that Israel halt all settlement activity on land captured in a 1967 war, in line with a 2003 U.S.-backed peace road map that calls uggs outlet on Palestinians to rein in militants. Nabil Abu Rdeinah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, rejected Netanyahu's accusations Palestinians were to blame for a lack of progress toward a statehood deal. "Israel continues settlement building in violation of the road map," Abu Rdainah said. Under pressure from Obama, Netanyahu imposed a limited, 10-month moratorium on Nov 25 on housing starts in West Bank settlements, saying he hoped the move would help restart negotiations suspended for the past year. But he excluded East ugg outlet store Jerusalem and nearby annexed areas of the West Bank, and Abbas has not budged from his demand for a complete settlement freeze before talks can resume. Asked about Mitchell's remarks, Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz called U.S. loan guarantees a "token of friendship" but said Israel had no plans to use those available for 2010 and 2011. In 2002, the United States provided a package of $9 billion in loan guarantees. The package includes a formula that deducts a dollar of guarantees for every dollar Israel spent on settlement building. As of December 15, Israel still had $3.148 billion of the guarantees available afterugg outlet already issuing $4.1 billion in bonds backed by the United States and a $1.1 billion deduction for settlement building and concerns over the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.

Report: Health costs up slightly under Senate bill WASHINGTON -- Americans would see only a modest rise in health care costs under the Senate's plan to extend coverage to 34 million people who currently go without health insurance, government economic experts say in a new report. The study found that health spending, which accounts for about one-sixth of the economy, would increase by less than 1 percent than it otherwise ugg outlet would over the coming decade even with so many more people receiving coverage. Over time, cost-cutting measures could start to reduce the annual increases in health care spending, offering the possibility of substantial savings in the long run. At the same time, however, some of the Senate's Medicare savings could be unrealistic and cause lawmakers to roll them back, according to Medicare's top number crunchers. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the report released Saturday shows the Senate bill would slow the rate of health care costs, strengthen Medicare and provide millions more people with insurance coverage. President Barack Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to play up the brighter side of the overhaul he hopes to sign in time for his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress ugg outlet in a matter of weeks. He said it would ban "the worst practices of the insurance industry" even as he acknowledged it would take several years - until 2014 in some instances - for some of the changes to be fully in place. That has disappointed consumers and their advocates. ad_icon "Now, it'll take a few years to fully implement these reforms in a responsible way," the president said. "But what every American should know is uggs outlet that once I sign health insurance reform into law, there are dozens of protections and benefits that will take effect this year." Among them, Obama said: -People with illnesses or medical conditions will be able to buy affordable health insurance. -Children with such conditions will no longer be denied coverage. -Small-business owners who can't afford to cover their employees will get tax credits to help them do so. -Insurance companies will be required to offer free preventive care to their customers and will be prohibited from dropping coverage when someone becomes ill. "In short, once I sign health insurance reform into law, doctors and patients will have more control over their health care decisions and insurance company bureaucrats will have less," Obama said. House and Senate versions of the overhaul would require nearly all Americans to get coverage and provide subsidies for many who can't afford the cost, but they differ on the details. Among the remaining uggs outlet sticking points are whom to tax, how many people to cover, how to restrict taxpayer funding for abortion and whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to use their own money to buy coverage in new insurance markets. Obama had several meetings with Democratic lawmakers at the White House this week to help resolve those differences. In one instance, he signaled to House Democratic leaders that they must drop their opposition to taxing high-end insurance plans to pay to extend coverage to ugg outlet store millions of uninsured people. The tax, which is in the Senate bill, is largely opposed by House Democrats and organized labor. Saturday's report cited this tax on "Cadillac" health plans, as well as reductions in annual increases to Medicare providers, as having potential to hold down costs. But the authors were skeptical that Congress could stand the political fallout, noting that the Medicare cuts "may be unrealistic." Republican lawmakers are near unanimous in opposing the legislation. They say the bills cost too much and impose too much government control.

Sunnyvale shorts: Caltrain to use GPS tracking for arrival data Caltrain plans to add a GPS tracking device to trains to calculate real-time arrival data and delays. In spring 2011 the information, down to the minute, will be available for riders to view at train platforms from San Francisco to Gilroy. The cost of the project is an estimated $10.5 million, and the funds are already allocated. The information will also be uggs outlet available at www.511.org, the 511 phone number and eventually on the Caltrain web site, accessible from personal electronic devices. Sunnyvale woman arrested, charged with manslaughter Sunnyvale resident Jennifer Bautista, 19, was arrested Dec. 30 in conjunction with the death of Alviso resident Norma Leticia Martinez, 20. According to Jermaine Thomas, spokesman for the San Jose Police Department, Martinez, ugg outlet known as Letty, was found dead on a San Jose street not far from her home at 6:43 a.m., Dec. 28. Bautista, Martinez's former girlfriend, was named a person of interest in the case. Bautista was seen driving in San Jose the morning of Dec. 30 when San Jose Police arrested her. According to Amy Cornell, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, Bautista is being charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross neglect, hit and run and driving while unlicensed. Winter 'SNAP' preparedness classes announced The winter Advertisement Quantcast session of the uggs outlet Sunnyvale Neighborhoods Actively Prepare, or SNAP, is scheduled to begin Jan. 14, 6:30 p.m. at the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, 700 All America Way. To sign up, call 408-730-7190.State Bar leaders hope Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign just-approved dues legislation for California's 214,000 lawyers, after he vetoed a previous bill in a dispute over the bar's treatment of one of his judicial nominees. More Bay Area News * State Bar dues legislation awaits governor OK 01.08.10 * High-speed rail agency pursues new director 01.08.10 * 2 Oakland cops face demotion after report 01.08.10 * Erosion shuts Great Highway lane indefinitely 01.08.10 The bill, SB55 by state Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, cleared the state Senate on a 32-0 vote Wednesday, two days after passing the Assembly, 59-0. Like the measure Schwarzenegger rejected in October, it would let the bar collect $410 this year from the state's 169,000 active attorneys and $125 from the 45,000 uggs outlet nonpracticing lawyers who maintain bar membership. "We believe we have met all the governor's legitimate concerns," said the bar's president, Los Angeles attorney Howard Miller. Schwarzenegger was noncommittal, but spokesman Mike Naple said the governor's office "has been working to address the concerns that were raised in previous bills." It's the first such conflict since 1997, when Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed the bar's dues bill in a political dispute that cut off the organization's ugg outlet store funding and nearly forced a shutdown. Schwarzenegger was irate over the response that former state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, his nominee for a state appeals court seat in Fresno, received from the bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, which reviews the governor's candidates for the bench. The commission rated Poochigian unqualified, citing his lack of courtroom experience for the previous 20 years. The state's Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed Poochigian in September, and its members, including Chief Justice Ronald George, said the bar panel had apparently ignored a recent state law requiring it to consider a nominee's legislative service. Schwarzenegger criticized the panel's rating and the fact that it had been ugg outlet store leaked to the media, saying the bar's "reputation for impartiality" had been damaged. The governor also cited a former bar employee's embezzlement of $675,000 and a state audit that found the costs of the bar's disciplinary system for lawyers had risen while the number of disciplinary cases had declined. In response, Miller said the bar has appointed a committee to make sure its judicial evaluation panel follows the law, and hired an independent investigator who looked into the Poochigian leak but was unable to find the source. He said the organization ugg outlet is reviewing its management structure and has hired an auditor who will report to a committee of the bar's governing board headed by a Schwarzenegger appointee. The dues cutoff has not disrupted operations, Miller said, and "it's been healthy, on the whole, for us to go through the process of meeting the governor's concerns."

Fremont Union district leaders move ahead with parcel tax measure Just two months after voters rejected a new parcel tax for local high schools, Fremont Union High School District officials are already working to put another measure on the ballot. Chief business officer Christine Mallery said a parcel tax is critical. When the current one expires in June 2011, the district will ugg outlet lose $5.2 million annually, or more than 5 percent of its general fund budget. On Nov. 3, the district attempted to replace the current tax with a new one that had no expiration date. The tax did not receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass. According to district officials, before the election, polling showed more than a 70 percent favorable rate. Mallery said the district recently consulted with the Center for Community Opinion to find out why the tax failed to win enough votes. Seven out of nine districts in the Bay Area garnered enough support for the passage of a parcel tax last November. The findings, from random telephone interviews, concluded that the county's higher unemployment rate and a low voter turnout among parents with children in schools could have been factors. Survey results from another firm showed that voter support to renew the current parcel tax at its current rate of $98 per parcel for six years or less is "very strong." During the election, some uggs outlet voters criticized the district for trying to quietly pass a tax that would continue indefinitely. "I was in favor of a parcel tax, but Advertisement Quantcast not the way it was written," said voter Patrick Grant. Mallery said the district has not yet decided when it will put a measure on the ballot. Mallery said the district conservatively estimates to finish with about $1.3 million in its budget this year and to break even for the 2010-2011 school year. After that, the district is projecting a $10.65 million deficit by summer 2011, when the current parcel tax expires. In the 2009-10 school year, the district received one-time federal stimulus funds of $1.4 million to offset state reductions but is also ugg outlet store participating in the basic aid fair -share revenue reduction of $2.5 million this year and $3.5 million next year. The district has lost about $250 in per pupil funding for the current academic year and next year. "We are not sure how much of this will be ongoing, or what other reductions the state will make," Mallery said. Mallery said property tax growth is an important concern because growth offsets the inflation of various operating costs. The district is budgeting only for a 1 percent growth this year and no growth in 2010-2011 or 2011-2012. "It takes almost a 4 percent increase in property tax growth to keep things ugg outlet going," Mallery said. "This added to the state reductions are causing [the district] to need to make some budget reductions." The district's most significant reductions made so far have been in the area of administration. Staff layoffs have been put off for as long as possible. The district's operating budget is $100 million, and 81 percent of the budget is earmarked for staff salary and benefits. "We have done everything we can uggs outlet to avoid staff layoffs, but at this point, it is very hard to know if we will be able to completely avoid staff layoffs in the future," Mallery said. The district includes five high schools and 10,000 students in portions of Cupertino, Sunnyvale and San Jose.

Restoration of lost Scientology materials complete CLEARWATER, Fla. – More than 1,000 unreleased recordings of lectures by L. Ron Hubbard and reams of corresponding writings have been unveiled in the culmination of a 25-year project to locate, restore and transcribe lost pieces of the Scientology founder's work. Though sure to be uggs outlet derided by the church's many critics, its followers say the materials amount to an opportunity to deepen understanding of the religion and to release the last known unpublished Hubbard works dealing with Scientology and Dianetics. "It would be like discovering that Buddha, unbeknownst to anybody, had sat down and wrote down the entirety of his discoveries and it could be verified that he wrote it," said Tommy Davis, the church's top spokesman. The new materials were announced in a New Year's celebration at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles that was broadcast to churches around the world last week and include 1,020 lectures and hundreds of corresponding booklets from courses and other sessions with Scientology ministers from 1953 to 1961. They include discussions of how Hubbard arrived at the principles of Dianetics and his research on everything from decision-making to personal responsibility. They were recovered through a painstaking hunt that led members to find uggs outlet tapes and papers in a basement in Wichita, Kan., a storage trailer in Phoenix, and a garage in Oakland, Calif., among other places. Some of the materials were believed to have been lost. "We've been able to restore lectures we literally never thought would be heard again," Davis said. The release marks the third and final batch of Hubbard works to be distributed as part of the decades-long project initiated by Hubbard himself but carried out after his 1986 death by the church's current leader, David Miscavige. Releases in 2005 and 2007 included updated versions of 18 basic Scientology books to correct transcriptional errors, as well as hundreds of other lectures given by Hubbard. "It's so huge for our religion having these materials. It's really a renaissance," said Davis. "It's as if it's a rediscovery of our own scriptures and what they hold and what they mean." All the materials — ugg outlet store contained on 970 compact discs and corresponding booklets in 57 binders — are being shipped out of a Los Angeles warehouse to Scientology churches worldwide. Unlike writings related to upper-level coursework, they are not considered confidential; they are available to those outside the church and members of all levels. They're also available for sale to members for about $7,500, a price likely to raise some eyebrows, though the church insists no one will be denied access to the materials simply because they don't have the money. Reading rooms at Scientology centers worldwide, and at its spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, are full of members poring over Hubbard's words, and the founder's quotes are frequently uttered by followers. The publication of Hubbard works, even if they contain just seemingly minor revisions, is of interest to the most devoted ugg outlet store Scientologists. "Scientologists are literalists, fundamentalists in the sense that they take Hubbard's writings as literally true," said David Bromley, a professor of religion and sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University who has written extensively about Scientology. Founded in the 1950s by Hubbard, a prolific science fiction writer, Scientology teaches followers they are immortal spiritual beings, or thetans, who ugg outlet live on after death. The church says there is a supreme being but its practices do not include the worship of a god. It has enjoyed worldwide growth and exposure unlike any other new religious movement, but has also been routinely called a cult in which members are scammed and abused. The church claims millions of followers in the U.S. and millions more internationally, though one respected count, the American Religion Identification Survey, reported the estimated number of Americans who identify as Scientologists plummeted from 55,000 in 2001 to ugg outlet 25,000 in 2008. Davis says the survey's number is impossibly low.

Restoration of lost Scientology materials complete CLEARWATER, Fla. – More than 1,000 unreleased recordings of lectures by L. Ron Hubbard and reams of corresponding writings have been unveiled in the culmination of a 25-year project to locate, restore and transcribe lost pieces of the Scientology founder's work. Though sure to be uggs outlet derided by the church's many critics, its followers say the materials amount to an opportunity to deepen understanding of the religion and to release the last known unpublished Hubbard works dealing with Scientology and Dianetics. "It would be like discovering that Buddha, unbeknownst to anybody, had sat down and wrote down the entirety of his discoveries and it could be verified that he wrote it," said Tommy Davis, the church's top spokesman. The new materials were announced in a New Year's celebration at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles that was broadcast to churches around the world last week and include 1,020 lectures and hundreds of corresponding booklets from courses and other sessions with Scientology ministers from 1953 to 1961. They include discussions of how Hubbard arrived at the principles of Dianetics and his research on everything from decision-making to personal responsibility. They were recovered through a painstaking hunt that led members to find uggs outlet tapes and papers in a basement in Wichita, Kan., a storage trailer in Phoenix, and a garage in Oakland, Calif., among other places. Some of the materials were believed to have been lost. "We've been able to restore lectures we literally never thought would be heard again," Davis said. The release marks the third and final batch of Hubbard works to be distributed as part of the decades-long project initiated by Hubbard himself but carried out after his 1986 death by the church's current leader, David Miscavige. Releases in 2005 and 2007 included updated versions of 18 basic Scientology books to correct transcriptional errors, as well as hundreds of other lectures given by Hubbard. "It's so huge for our religion having these materials. It's really a renaissance," said Davis. "It's as if it's a rediscovery of our own scriptures and what they hold and what they mean." All the materials — ugg outlet store contained on 970 compact discs and corresponding booklets in 57 binders — are being shipped out of a Los Angeles warehouse to Scientology churches worldwide. Unlike writings related to upper-level coursework, they are not considered confidential; they are available to those outside the church and members of all levels. They're also available for sale to members for about $7,500, a price likely to raise some eyebrows, though the church insists no one will be denied access to the materials simply because they don't have the money. Reading rooms at Scientology centers worldwide, and at its spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, are full of members poring over Hubbard's words, and the founder's quotes are frequently uttered by followers. The publication of Hubbard works, even if they contain just seemingly minor revisions, is of interest to the most devoted ugg outlet store Scientologists. "Scientologists are literalists, fundamentalists in the sense that they take Hubbard's writings as literally true," said David Bromley, a professor of religion and sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University who has written extensively about Scientology. Founded in the 1950s by Hubbard, a prolific science fiction writer, Scientology teaches followers they are immortal spiritual beings, or thetans, who ugg outlet live on after death. The church says there is a supreme being but its practices do not include the worship of a god. It has enjoyed worldwide growth and exposure unlike any other new religious movement, but has also been routinely called a cult in which members are scammed and abused. The church claims millions of followers in the U.S. and millions more internationally, though one respected count, the American Religion Identification Survey, reported the estimated number of Americans who identify as Scientologists plummeted from 55,000 in 2001 to ugg outlet 25,000 in 2008. Davis says the survey's number is impossibly low.