– Samantha Anderson figured she had a work-packed weekend ahead when something happened at breakfast: The then-39-year-old couldn't swallow a single bite. "I went to swallow and I couldn’t," says the Australian jewelry maker. "It didn’t happen. I choked." The mother of three dismissed it until she couldn't eat anything that day and went to a doctor, who diagnosed stress and prescribed Valium, then anti-depressants, Australia's News Network reports. Then, after six months of weight loss and ravenous hunger, an answer: dysphagia—an unusual condition that prevents people from swallowing. "My days became solely about survival," she writes for the Swallowing Disorder Foundation. "I would set goals for myself—a whole tub of yogurt, a glass of water and two whole strawberries to be consumed by the end of the day. I rarely met them." Doctors told her a bout of shingles had damaged cranial nerves V, VII, IX and X, which triggered her swallowing issue. (Mosaic Science notes 7 of our dozen cranial nerves have a role in swallowing.) More than 18 months later, she had a feeding tube inserted; it provided a welcome relief from the 13 drinks she had been tasked with trying to choke down each day. The Brisbane resident and her husband then contacted US expert Peter Belafsky, whom she credits with understanding and helping her. "It’s like being constantly waterboarded," Belafsky says of dysphagia, which can render patients unable to swallow even their own saliva. Some 3.5 years after her fateful breakfast, Anderson's diet has expanded to include mashed potatoes, blueberries, oatmeal, and bread. "I am determined to eat," she writes, "even though it’s a long and arduous battle to get through each and every meal." (In another case, a teenager's bleeding eyes are ruining her life.)

Expand this summary.

© Aaron Tilley and Kerry Hughes

 Whether it takes the form of lefse or pizza or toast, bread is loved around the world. It is also the arch-enemy of those with dysphagia, as one of the hardest of all foods to swallow. Tests have found that as a person chews bread, it tends to readily absorb saliva that would otherwise lubricate the throat. It also forms into hard, sticky balls that can prevent a smooth journey on to the oesophagus. Unadulterated white bread purée, although easier to swallow, looks a bit like cereal left overnight in a bowl of milk and tends to be at the low end of what researchers call the “meal appeal” spectrum.

 In October 2015, Japan’s EN Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd began selling an engineered substitute called iEat Bread, which has been treated with enzymes to alter its physical properties. The reformulated bread is being marketed directly to consumers with chewing or swallowing impairments and to medical institutions and nursing care homes. At the dysphagia conference in Chicago, Shingo Umene and Masahiro Hayashi explained how they and colleagues in the company’s Tokyo lab had put iEat Bread through its paces. Although it looks, feels and tastes like the real thing, their experiments suggested that it absorbs virtually no saliva, is easily mashed up by the tongue, and is roughly only one-fifteenth as sticky as normal bread.

 Bread is the arch-enemy of those with dysphagia

 Other researchers are experimenting with moulds that shape purées into more natural-looking dishes such as sliced roast in Burgundy sauce with asparagus or currywurst with tomato mousse. Efforts like the European Union-funded PERFORMANCE consortium have taken the concept one step further by using 3D printing to design nutritious and appealing foods with a gel-like consistency. Led by the German company Biozoon, the consortium unveiled 3D-printed peas and pasta in 2014. The group followed up with the first fully 3D-printed meal, roast pork with gnocchi, in October 2015. Similar meals may be commercially available within three to five years, according to the company.

 Better-looking food may help ensure that people with dysphagia eat enough to remain nourished and hydrated – especially those who have lost their sense of smell or taste, or all enjoyment from eating. There’s another twist: Michael Crary and Giselle Carnaby recently discovered that in the week after a stroke, people who were put on a modified diet of thick liquids or puréed foods were more likely to become dehydrated than those who remained on a regular diet. Crary says the provocative finding raises the question of whether the dehydration resulted from people eating less of the modified food because they found it unappealing or from some other biological response to the food itself. If it’s the former, the research could add new weight to the importance of palatability.

 For people who lack the strength in their throat muscles to swallow anything at all, one of the most eagerly anticipated advances closely resembles the kind of stud earring that daring youngsters might use to pierce their necks. Every time a user of Belafsky’s Swallow Expansion Device pulls this titanium rod, a connected plate embedded in the throat mechanically moves the larynx forward and opens the upper oesophageal sphincter to allow food or liquid to move into the oesophagus. When the user lets go of the piercing, the valve snaps shut. After first implanting the device in a Uruguayan doctor in 2010, Belafsky has launched a phase I clinical trial.

 Belafsky and colleagues are also experimenting with nerve-aiding medications such as the Alzheimer’s drug donepezil, and are running a clinical trial to determine whether muscle stem cells could help strengthen damaged tongue muscles. (Steger’s foundation raised $40,000 in 2013 to support the latter effort.) Other groups are working to limit the collateral damage wrought by radiation therapy, or trying to develop new ways of dilating the oesophagus to help food move through an abnormally constricted space.

 No single approach is likely to help everyone, except for one: a basic awareness of how swallowing disorders can afflict young and old, active and moribund. For Anderson, after months of misery, an alert specialist finally linked her seemingly sudden dysphagia to a severe case of shingles that had damaged four of her cranial nerves – a viral infection that she initially thought was little more than painful cold sores in her left ear. With the mystery solved, she turned to Steger’s foundation for help in how to address her condition and was referred to Belafsky for critical medical advice.

 During a phone consultation that Anderson describes as “the turning point in my life”, Belafsky recommended a high dose of donepezil to improve the function of her damaged nerves. With the drug and the safety cushion of her feeding tube, Anderson embarked on a regimen of strengthening exercises, like the tongue-biting Masako Manoeuvre, and training to practise her new swallowing technique, the manual tongue-push method commonly used to swallow pills.

 A few months after weaning herself from her feeding tube, Anderson is slowly regaining her strength. Bad choking episodes happen only once a week instead of nearly every day. She can eat solid foods as long as each bite dissolves in a follow-up sip of water, she keeps her chin tucked while chewing, and she holds her breath while swallowing to protect her airway (always after an ‘in’ breath in case she needs to cough). Her sense of taste is improving as she regains sensation in the back of her tongue and throat, but she must still keep track of each bite. Her husband still eats every meal with her as a precaution.

 The joy is returning, and she and her husband have dared to consider a work-related relocation to Connecticut. “It’s my life and I’m desperately trying to get it back,” she says. Her case has also created a ripple effect in Australia. Some of the doctors who initially doubted her condition have since told her they’ve seen other patients with similar symptoms – even another case of shingles-induced dysphagia – and now have a better sense of what to do.

 On a Thursday three-and-a-half years after her swallow disappeared, Anderson is starting her day with a breakfast of oatmeal, strawberries, blueberries and milk, washed down with two-and-a-half glasses of water. She’s one of the lucky ones, perhaps: her diagnosis, therapy and determination are helping re-establish a measured, more normal morning routine. But her breakfast is more than just sustenance. It’s another step in regaining what she never imagined she could lose – and a simple pleasure that she savours all the more. ||||| SAMANTHA Anderson had a busy weekend ahead, making jewellery in the workshop at her Brisbane home while her husband looked after their three kids.

 She had taken her breakfast, peanut butter on toast, to eat in the studio, but for some strange reason, she couldn’t get a single bite down.

 “I went to swallow and I couldn’t,” she told news.com.au. “It didn’t happen. I choked.

 “I was confused, and ended up having to cough it out. I tried a few more times. That gulp just didn’t happen.”

 Sam was shaken, but brushed off what had happened — until she couldn’t eat again at lunchtime, and dinner. By the end of the day, she was starving.

 “I told myself, ‘don’t think about it, you’re only going to make it worse,’” said the 40-year-old. “I didn’t want to let myself get fearful for the next mouthful.”

 But Sam’s frightening problem wasn’t going anywhere.

 The doctor told her she was stressed and needed valium. When that didn’t work, he prescribed anti-depressants a few weeks later. None of it felt right to the businesswoman and mother of three, who loved her job and home life, and didn’t feel worried about them.

 She bargained with the doctor “to buy herself time”, trying hypnosis and counselling and taking a step back from her work responsibilities.

 One day, she arrived at the doctors with such low blood pressure that she was put straight in an ambulance and taken to hospital.

 Specialists tested her for motor-neuron disease as well as mental health disorders. Finally, after four months, they diagnosed dysphagia — a rare condition in which patients lose the ability to swallow.

 ‘I’D WAKE UP CHOKING ON MY OWN SALIVA’

 Sam’s life had become a living nightmare. She learnt to eat foods with a soft texture, like custard or yoghurt, and push them to the back of her throat while she waited for her swallowing mechanism to kick in. Half the time it would take too long, and she would cough up her food.

 “I’d get three-quarters of the way through a tub of yoghurt and would have choked 20 times. My hand would be shaking so much I couldn’t keep going, I’d have to try again in a few hours.”

 She stopped seeing friends, and wore loose clothing to hide the fact her weight had plummeted from 60 to 45 kilos, but her children could see something was very wrong. She often woke up in the night to find them standing over her tears, begging her not to die.

 “It was very surreal, I felt like Alice in Wonderland, fallen down the rabbit-hole,” she said. “It felt like a dream.

 “The whole day became a battle for survival. I thought, ‘I’m going to starve to death or choke to death, either way it’s coming for me.’

 “My life, my world had been devastated. I had nothing positive to say anymore. I was a hermit.”

 Some friends told her she looked great, and that they wanted to be on her diet. Sam was horrified. “I was a 40-year-old mother weighing less than I did at 14.”

 After nine months, doctors realised that a painful rash Sam had experienced in her left ear shortly before she lost the ability to swallow had been shingles. Left untreated, it had damaged four of her cranial nerves, triggering her dysphagia.

 A dietitian put Sam on a liquid diet of 13 drinks a day, each high in calories, vitamins and minerals. “It would take me half an hour or 45 minutes to get one down. Sometimes it was like, as soon as you got the drink down, you’d look at the time and in half an hour you’ve got to do it again. I’d think ‘Why am I fighting through the day just to get up and do it again?’

 “I’d wake up at night choking on my own saliva.”

 TOO DANGEROUS TO EAT ALONE

 A year and a half after the problem began, it became clear Sam was suffering from malnutrition. Her hair was falling out, her skin was dry and her dry mouth had wreaked havoc on her teeth. She was anaemic and at as much risk of heart failure as a morbidly obese person.

 Doctors inserted a feeding tube into her belly button for 18 months so she didn’t need to eat. They monitored her swallowing mechanism on film, and found it was as weak as that of a 90-year-old.

 Having exhausted the help available in Australia, she and her husband looked online and found a specialist in the US, Professor Peter Belafsky, director of the University of California at Davis Voice and Swallowing Center. He has described the condition as “like being constantly waterboarded” as patients struggle to swallow their own saliva.

 Four years on, Sam has learned to eat some foods that can be chewed with water until they become liquid, including mashed potato, cake and bread without grains. She can’t eat mincemeat or anything fibrous, and she cannot eat alone, because “it’s too dangerous.”

 She works from her studio now, despite her previous love of interacting with customers, and her husband comes home every lunchtime to help her eat. Each meal is an exhausting ordeal of “non-stop chewing and swallowing and head positioning and throat clearing and keeping your airway clear and managing spillage and trying to keep a track of where the food in my mouth is,” Sam wrote in a heartfelt article on the Swallowing Disorder Foundation’s website.

 The wife and mum says she’s realised who her real friends are. “People were using words like ‘phobia’ and ‘breakdown’,” she said. “I felt judged and betrayed by the people that should have known me better than that.

 “There are definitely days when I don’t want to get out of bed ... But when I think about how far I have come, what I can manage to eat now compared to a year ago, two years ago, I am so happy.”

 Sam has signed up for stem cell trials with Prof Balafsky next year. She hopes that may help her improve further, although she is unlikely to ever be able to swallow without thinking.

 One thing is certain, she will never take for granted any simple thing her body can do.

 emma.reynolds@news.com.au |||||


Detroit � A U.S. district judge has overturned Michigan�s bans on gay marriage and same-sex adoption, aligning the state with a growing number in which prohibitions have been challenged and overturned.

 Judge Bernard Friedman�s decision came shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, when county clerks offices had already closed for the week. Couples seeking marriage licenses in many communities will need to wait until they reopen for business Monday.

 But people in some counties, including Washtenaw, Oakland and Muskegon, will be allowed to marry today. Couples, including same-sex ones, wanting a marriage license have a chance to get one from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Washtenaw County building at 200 N. Main in Ann Arbor, Clerk Larry Kestenbaum said.

 Guided by �strong urging� from county leaders, he said Friday night, the vital records office will open on a day it normally is closed for those seeking marriage licenses.

 There are restrictions, though. The option is open only to pairs with at least one partner who resides in Washtenaw County and out-of-state couples who marry within its borders, Kestenbaum said. Michigan couples from outside the county must remain in their own jurisdictions, he said.

 Normally, there�s a three-day waiting period for a license, with a $50 fee for those seeking a waiver for immediate processing, Kestenbaum said. But today, through a �fee holiday� arrangement by the county Board of Commissioners, it�s only 1 cent, he said. The cost to marry is $20 for local residents and $30 for others.

 With a smaller staff agreeing to work today, Kestenbaum said he expected the county will be able to process about 60 marriage licenses.

 �After 1 p.m., the staff will not be available,� the clerk said in a statement. �I apologize in advance to those we will have to turn away.�

 Applicants will be issued a number on a first-come, first-served basis; however, same-sex couples issued a number at the office when trying to tie the knot last October are to be honored first, the clerk said.

 Proper documents, including a birth certificate, are required.

 Attorney General Bill Schuette immediately filed a challenge with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and asked the court to freeze Friedman�s ruling, which would prevent clerks from issuing licenses.

 Michigan joins the states of Kentucky and Ohio, which also have gay marriage cases pending before the 6th Circuit Court.

 In his 31-page written opinion, Friedman said the constitutional amendment known as the Michigan Marriage Act, passed by 2.7 million state voters in 2004, was unconstitutional because it denied gays and lesbians equal protection under the law.

 Attorneys for the state of Michigan, a defendant in the case, contended voters passed the amendment banning gay marriage because they wanted to keep marriage only between a man and a woman.

 The judge said the disapproval of same-sex marriages didn�t matter under the eyes of the law.

 �Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their daily lives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage,� the judge wrote. �Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law.�

 �Voters enshrined that decision in our Michigan Constitution and their will should stand and be respected. I�ll continue my duty to protect, defend the Constitution,� Schuette said.

 Since December, bans on gay marriage have been overturned in Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia, but appeals have put those cases on hold. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia issue licenses for same-sex marriage.

 Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh said Friday night that if no stay is granted, her office would begin issuing marriage licenses Monday.

 Making marriage plans

 The ruling by Friedman stems from a lawsuit filed by Hazel Park nurses April DeBoer, 42, and Jayne Rowse, 49, who are living as a couple, raising three special-needs children they adopted as individuals.

 Their lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the laws banning gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.

 Surrounded by a crowd of about 100 people at the Affirmations, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender advocacy organization on West Nine Mile in Ferndale, DeBoer and Rowse were obviously moved by their victory. But their enthusiasm was tempered by the news that Schuette was seeking a stay.

 �We are going to get married when we can stay married,� said DeBoer. �This is a happy day. We don�t want to speculate. We want to get married when we know our marriage is going to be forever binding.

 �We did this for the protection of our children,� said DeBoer of their efforts to overturn the law banning same-sex couples from adoption. �We do want to get married, but this is about our children.�

 Cheering the couple on at the news conference were Jeff Perdue, 36, and Edward Ewing, 48, a couple hoping to marry. They are planning a June wedding.

 �We can get married,� said Ewing Friday holding Perdue�s hand. �It�s exciting when you can get married to the person you love.�

 Perdue said the ruling and the right to marry makes him feel �we�re actually recognized as humans.�

 Dana Nessel, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, called Friedman�s decision �an enormous victory and a fantastic ruling.�

 �It means equality for thousands and thousands of families in Michigan,� she said.

 But Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan and co-author of the constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage, issued a blistering response to the ruling.

 �One Detroit lawyer in a black robe doesn�t have legitimate constitutional or moral authority to overturn either natural law or the vote of 2.7 million Michigan voters who placed the Marriage Protection Amendment in our state constitution,� Glenn said.

 �This one political elitist put his own personal views above the will of the people, arrogantly ruling that all 2.7 million voters were �irrational� in their common sense belief that the ideal environment for every child is having both a mother and a father committed to each other and to their children in marriage. We support Attorney General Bill Schuette in his appeal to overturn this illegitimate decision that has at least temporarily stripped Michigan citizens of the full measure and impact of their voting rights.�

 In a statement released for the Michigan Catholic Conference, Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron reacted to the ruling by reiterating the church�s opposition to same-sex marriage: �As I said with my brother bishops in Michigan, marriage has come to us as a gift of God in establishing the order of nature. The Catholic community in southeast Michigan will continue to give witness to the truth that marriage is between one man and one woman, which is the foundation for the flourishing of society.�

 Attitudes changing

 The judge�s ruling came after a nine-day trial that began Feb. 26 and focused heavily on testimony from scholars and researchers on opposing sides of the gay marriage debate.

 The trial pitted pro-gay marriage psychologists and sociologists against marriage traditionalists. The testimony on both sides was heavily laden with statistical data and research methodology.

 Experts who testified on behalf of DeBoer and Rowse said their research concludes there is no difference in children raised by same-sex parents than those raised by straight couples.

 The court cases are being played out as gays and lesbian relationships gain more acceptance in the United States. According to 2013 Gallup Poll, 59 percent of Americans approved of same-sex relationships, up 19 percent since 2001.

 And in Michigan those favorable attitudes toward gays and lesbians also continue to grow, according to 2014 Michigan State University�s State of the State Survey.

 Nearly 59 percent of Michigan adults surveyed said they were in favor of adoption by gays and lesbians, while 33 percent said they were opposed. The study also found that social attitudes among African-Americans in Michigan toward gays and lesbians have changed, with 47 percent saying they approved of gays compared to 31 percent two years ago. ||||| In a historic ruling that provided a huge morale boost to the gay-rights movement, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman Friday struck down Michigan�s ban on same-sex marriage, making it the 18th state in the nation to allow gays and lesbians to join in matrimony, just like their heterosexual counterparts.

 Just hours later, Washtenaw, Muskegon and Oakland counties announced they�ll open their clerk�s offices to issue marriage licenses on Saturday.

 �Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their daily lives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage,� Friedman wrote in his 31-page ruling. �Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law.�

 ■ PDF: Read the judge�s ruling on gay marriage

 ■ Related: Questions, answers on today�s ruling

 Friedman, who declared Michigan�s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, went a step further than other judges across the country who have made similar decisions.

 Friedman did not stay his ruling.

 That prompted Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to file an emergency stay request to prevent gay couples from marrying right away. That includes the two plaintiffs in the case: Hazel Park nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who fought for the right to marry and adopt each other�s special needs children.

 �It�s just amazing,� said DeBoer, who wiped tears and hugged her partner after learning of Friedman�s ruling. �This is what we�ve wanted for our family and families like ours �we are just so happy ... We got our day in court and we won.�

 Rowse was overwhelmed.

 �We�re going to actually be a legalized family, a recognized family by everybody,� she said.

 In his 31-page ruling, Friedman heavily criticized the state�s position that the will of the voters should have been upheld, noting that just because voters approve something doesn�t make it right, especially when it violates the Constitution.

 �In attempting to define this case as a challenge to �the will of the people,� state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people.

 �No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples,� Friedman wrote.

 �It is the court�s fervent hope that these children will grow up to �understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.�

 �Today�s decision is a step in that direction, and affirms the enduring principle that regardless of whoever finds favor in the eyes of the most recent majority, the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.�

 Schuette, meanwhile, vowed to continue to fight to uphold the Michigan Marriage Amendment Act, which 2.7 million voters approved in 2004 when they decided that marriage can only be defined as a union between a man and a woman.

 �In 2004, the citizens of Michigan recognized that diversity in parenting is best for kids and families because moms and dads are not interchangeable. Michigan voters enshrined that decision in our state constitution, and their will should stand and be respected,� Schuette said following today�s ruling.

 Schuette said he expects the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will grant his request for a stay, noting the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in Utah�s gay-marriage case and granted that state�s request for a stay.

 The state has long argued that the will of the voters should not be drowned out by a single judge. The state also argues that it has a �legitimate� interest in preserving the traditional family structure because � it claims � children thrive best when raised by married moms and dads.

 Friedman, though, sided with the plaintiffs.

 For DeBoer and Rowse, the case did not start out about marriage rights but about adoption rights. The two women want to adopt each others�s children � two preschool-age boys and a 4-year-old girl � but can�t because Michigan doesn�t allow same-sex couple adoptions.

 Now, if Friedman�s ruling stands, they can get married and adopt each other�s children.

 Unlike most federal judges who have taken up the gay-marriage issue, Friedman opted last fall to hold a trial and give both sides the chance to present their arguments and scientific evidence.

 The state�s experts said that their studies show that children of same-sex couples have poorer outcomes than kids raised by married moms and dads.

 Friedman didn�t find the state�s experts credible, stating in his ruling that the testimony of one state witness was �entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration.� He said the state�s four witnesses �clearly represent a fringe viewpoint that is rejected by the vast majority of their colleagues across a variety of social science fields.�

 Friedman, however, said he did find the plaintiffs� experts to be credible. They said their research showed that there were no real differences in the outcomes of children raised by same-sex couples compared with those raised by moms and dads.

 The plaintiffs also argued that child outcomes should have nothing to do with the marriage issue anyway, because having kids isn�t a prerequisite for getting married.

 Friedman agreed.

 Meanwhile, legal experts believe the gay-marriage debate ultimately will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not yet issued a definitive ruling on same-sex marriage.

 Dana Nessel, one of the lawyers for DeBoer and Rowse, said the patchwork of legislation involving same-sex marriage has led to chaos, specifically for same-sex couples who are legally recognized in one state but then move to another and have no legal recognition. It�s especially problematic come tax time, she said, noting same-sex couples, depending on where they live, have to file separately because their marriage isn�t recognized.

 �This has to be resolved,� Nessel said. �This can�t continue. You can�t have this patchwork system anymore.� |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A big court ruling this afternoon sets up Michigan to become the 18th state to allow gay marriage. A federal court judge struck down the state's 2004 ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, reports the Detroit Free Press. The judge sided with lesbian plaintiffs April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who want to marry and adopt each others' children. (All three are adopted kids with special needs.) The couple filed suit in 2012, and today's ruling also strikes down the state's ban on adoption by same-sex couples, reports the Detroit News. Unlike judges in similar cases, US District Judge Bernard Friedman did not stay his ruling pending appeal. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed an emergency request to have the ruling put on hold, and he's still awaiting a decision on that from the 6th Circuit Court. In the meantime, gay couples are free to wed. (Update: Some have begun doing so already.)


Here is a news article: (8 comments)

 Update, 11:17 AM: The names have appeared in a second floor women's bathroom in Butler. We have not received a photo tip of the list, so we cannot verify whether or not it differs from the previous three versions. Please continue to tip us updates of locations and photos.

 Update, 4:50 PM: A lot has happened since we took our 1 PM final. Namely:

 Bwog posted an article containing all the tips they've been sent in the past six days.

 Spectrum posted that in addition to more instances where the names were written on bathroom stall walls, flyers were put in toilet paper containers. Additionally, Public Safety has begun closing down the bathrooms until all traces of the names have been removed.

 Jezebel obtained photos of the flyers and posted the first description of the alleged rapists, despite campus media's best efforts to keep them anonymous.

 We have reached out to the affected parties and will update this post as events unfold.

 ---

 In its second appearance today, a list of alleged campus rapists was spotted in a 6th floor Butler women's bathroom. The list consists of the same four names as previous iterations, and was written in the same silver marker as the version found a few hours ago in a Lerner bathroom stall.

 Thus far, the lists have all been promptly removed by Facilities, as they are considered an act of graffiti.

 As of 2:27 AM, The Lion has confirmed in person that names are still in the stall.

 Additional reporting from Sean Augustine-Obi. ||||| *UPDATE 8:38pm* See an editorial statement from Bwog’s board posted tonight at 8:25pm.

 *UPDATE 3:38pm* Bwog would like to note that the following does not represent the opinion of the staff or the editorial board as a whole. We have removed the 2:47 update addressing the use of the word “legitimate” because, again, the piece only reflects the opinions of its authors and not of Bwog itself. We do apologize for failing to make this distinction clear when the piece was posted.

 In addition, we were tipped that there are “rape list flyers” in Lerner and Butler bathrooms.

 Over the past week, three pictures of a list of people who have allegedly violated the sexual assault policy have been tipped to campus media. The first list, written May 7 in a women’s stall in Hamilton, had each name in a different hand-writing and pen color, suggesting that it was written by multiple contributors, but a thorough check through all of the bathrooms in the building showed it was gone within hours. The second, written yesterday in a women’s stall in Lerner, is clearly all written in the same handwriting, as is the third, seen in Butler late last night. We have seen Facilities working diligently with the administration to take them down immediately.

 On May 7, after receiving the first list, Bwog was in communication with senior administrators, who told us that publishing the list would violate Title IX as well as FERPA. That, and the desire to be responsible and not start a witch hunt, are the reasons that the uncensored list will never be published by the media. In addition, perhaps writing this list (and publishing the work of a campus “vigilante”) is not the best way to create a safer campus environment for victims.

 We strongly encourage the prosecution through Columbia or the legal system of sexual assault perpetrators and taking all appropriate actions to “cultivate a community that is hostile to perpetrators of sexual violence,” and we acknowledge the bravery of victims and faculty to help force change from the administration by sharing their stories. We are incredibly disturbed that people think this is a legitimate way to deal with the issue.

 *Update 10:48 am:* Bwog has gotten tips, and seen for ourselves, a fourth list, written in huge letters in a women’s stall on the second floor of Butler. Public safety has taped up the door, but the bathroom is still open as of 5 minutes ago. Public safety is also taping up the women’s bathroom on the fourth floor.

 A very similar incident occurred at Brown in 1990. Brown’s administration was eventually forced to respond to lists of alleged rapists scrawled on bathroom walls.

 Tags: bathroom stall justice, sexual assault, sexual assault on campus, vigilante justice? ||||| (17 comments)

 Last Thursday, a list of alleged rapists appeared inside the stall of a Hamilton bathroom, and was subsequently removed. Now, the same list has been discovered in a Lerner bathroom stall.

 A tipster sent us the above photo of a second-floor women's bathroom stall in Lerner at 5:30, pointing out that there were multiple instances of the names in the same bathroom.

 By the time we arrived at 6:30, the bathrooms had already been scrubbed clean to remove all traces of the writing. Facilities personnel and Lerner employees were seen entering and exiting the bathroom, and when questioned, one of them admitted to having recently cleaned the stalls.

 Public safety officers stood nearby, suggesting that the writing of the names would be seen as an act of vandalism as previously mentioned. However, since students are not required to swipe their IDs to access the bathroom, only security footage would be able to identify the writers.

 Unlike the previous list, which was written in different colors and handwriting, this list appears to have been written by a single person. The series of events is reminiscent of a similar list of alleged rapists that appeared inside the stalls of various Brown University bathrooms in 1990. Brown attempted to remove each list, but like its Columbia successor, students re-copied the names faster than they could be taken down.

 Columbia University did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Daniel Held, Executive Director of Communications for Facilities, stated that the previous incident was being treated as graffiti, which connotes disciplinary and potentially legal consequences for the perpetrator.

 If you see another instance of the list, tip us photos and locations at thecolumbialion@gmail.com.

 Reporting by Sean Augustine-Obi |||||
A summary of this is?

– There's at least one graffiti vigilante on the loose at Columbia University. Over the past week, lists have been appearing in bathrooms across the school's campus, with titles like "Rapists on Campus" and "Sexual Assault Violators on Campus," according to student media reports. The first list, reported by the Lion, appeared to featured the handwriting of multiple people, though subsequent lists—featuring the same four names—appeared to be the work of one person. Yesterday the campaign reached a new level, when two more graffiti lists were found and flyers describing the alleged wrongdoers were found in multiple stalls, according to Bwog. The school has quickly scrubbed the graffiti each time it has been found—yesterday it reportedly began closing down bathrooms until it could be sure it had removed the lists. Media outlets have so far blacked out all the names when posting photos of the list—Bwog said that senior administrators had warned that publishing it would violate Title IX—but Jezebel reports that the list includes a musician, a varsity athlete, and a "prominent writer for a campus publication." That publication may have been Bwog; the site posted a statement from its editors yesterday saying that a member of its staff had indeed been accused of violating the school's Gender Based Misconduct policy, and had agreed to resign.


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– Two people are dead and one wounded after a shooting inside a mall in Melbourne, Florida, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The shooting took place about 9:30am at the food court in the Melbourne Square Mall, and police say the shooter is believed to be one of the victims. A witness tells WESH that a gunman shot two people and then killed himself. Police evacuated the mall but haven't released details yet on the victims or a motive. The survivor is in stable condition and able to talk to investigators. "We started hearing 'pop, pop,'" another witness tells MyNews13. "I figured somebody was shooting somebody. It's going on all the time now."

The Melbourne Square Mall reopened at noon Sunday, one day after a shooting in its food court that left two people dead, including the gunman, and one injured.

 Inside, candles and flowers covered the counter of the pizza restaurant that remained closed, according to media reports.

 Armed with a handgun and pockets full of ammunition, Jose Garcia-Rodriguez walked into the mall Saturday morning and shot his wife, another man, then himself, police say.

 The shooting left gunman Garcia-Rodriguez, 57, of Palm Bay and Leonardo Coppola, 36, of West Melbourne dead, said Cmdr. Vince Pryce of the Melbourne Police Department.

 Garcia Rodriguez's wife, 33-year-old Idanerys Garcia-Rodriguez, an employee in the mall's food court, survived and remains in good condition at a local hospital, Pryce said.

 Coppola, 36, of West Melbourne, owned a restaurant in the food court. He was shot as he tried to move Idanerys Garcia-Rodriguez out of harm's way, police said Sunday.

 Melbourne Police Department Leonardo Coppola was shot and killed Saturday at the Melbourne Square mall. Leonardo Coppola was shot and killed Saturday at the Melbourne Square mall. (Melbourne Police Department)

 As the 9:30 a.m. Saturday shooting unfolded, about 100 people who were in the mall rushed to hide or escape, Pryce said. It was unclear how many gunshots were fired.

 "We were still hearing shots when the first officers arrived on scene," Pryce said. "The officers quickly assembled into active shooting teams and entered the mall."

 Police made sure there was no longer a threat, then went through every store in the mall, evacuating workers and others who hid in closets for safety, Pryce said.

 Jeff Gross, an employee at Rodizio Grill, a Brazilian steakhouse in the mall, was in the back preparing food when he heard the gunshots erupt.

 Melbourne Police Department Jose Garcia Rodriguez Jose Garcia Rodriguez (Melbourne Police Department)

 "An employee came to the back, and he said, 'Somebody has a gun in the food court,'" Gross recalls. "'We've got to get out of here.'"

 They ran out of the restaurant to safety, said Gross, 22, of Melbourne.

 "It was just really scary," he said. "You always have to be prepared for stuff like that. Never leave home without saying goodbye to the people you love."

 Guns, pockets full of ammo

 When officers found the three victims, Jose Garcia-Rodriguez "had several pockets full of ammunition," Pryce said.

 Police said investigators also found three handguns at the site, along with the ammunition, thought to belong to the suspect.

 "We believe this may stem from a domestic-violence incident," Pryce said about the motive for the shooting. "The survivor is the intended victim."

 Florida Today reported that neighbors commented that the couple spent a lot of time together, that they held hands often, and that Garcia-Rodriguez often spoke highly of his wife.

 Melbourne Mayor Kathy Meehan said police told her Coppola, a co-worker of Idanerys Garcia-Rodriguez's, was killed when he grabbed for the gun from her husband.

 Police confirmed Sunday that Coppola, the operator of a food court restaurant, was attempting to move Idanerys Garcia-Rodriguez out of harm's way when he was shot.

 Meehan was at a different mall for a ribbon-cutting ceremony when she found out about the shooting.

 "We're still in shock," she said. "We're a small town. It's just hard to believe that it happened."

 The shooting drew a massive response from law enforcement. Officials from the FBI; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; West Melbourne Police Department; Palm Bay Police Department; and the mall's security staff helped clear the scene and interview witnesses.

 Members of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office bomb squad also arrived at the mall and searched a vehicle belonging to one of the people shot, Pryce said. Nothing suspicious or dangerous was found in the vehicle, he said.

 "These are the kinds of incidents that we plan for, we train for, but we hope we never have to deal with," Melbourne police Chief Steve Mimbs said.

 'You just drop everything'

 Donna Evans of Melbourne was in the food court when she heard gunfire about 20 feet to 25 feet away.

 "We had just gotten our food to sit down by Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, and you just hear the 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,' and you just drop everything, and your body just makes you run," Evans said.

 This is not the first shooting inside the Melbourne Square mall.

 Fifteen years ago, another gunman caused panic at the Melbourne Square mall when he ran through a department store with a handgun.

 Kevin Thompson had been arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior and was out on bail Oct. 17, 2000, when he heard his bond was being revoked. Thompson saw a bail bondsman approaching him in the mall parking lot and got mad at his father, who told authorities where he was, police said at the time.

 He chased his father through Dillard's with a handgun and led police into a standoff. He committed suicide six hours later.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report. glotan@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5774 ||||| Two people are dead and a woman is in "good" condition after a shooting Saturday morning at the Melbourne Square mall.

 It happened around 9:30 a.m., in the mall's food court at 1700 W. New Haven Ave.

 Police identified the suspected shooter as Jose Garcia-Rodriguez, 57, of Palm Bay. One of the victims is believed to be the shooter's wife, 33-year-old Idanerys Garcia-Rodriguez. She's listed in good condition. Police said the woman worked at the mall's food court.

 The other victim who was killed is a male, but his identity hasn't been released.

 Police said Jose shot Idanerys and the man before shooting himself. Investigators believe he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

 "This is a tragic event, and I am sending prayers to the family," Melbourne Mayor Kathy Meehan said.

 The mall was closed for the remainder of the day, but it is expected to reopen Sunday.

 "We started hearing 'pop, pop,'" said Elizabeth Tickle, who was inside the mall. "I figured somebody was shooting somebody. It's going on all the time now. (How many pop pops did you think you heard?) I think about six. It was a lot. It was a lot."

 About 100 people were inside the mall at the time gunfire broke out, police said. Gunshots were still being heard when officers arrived to the scene.

 The shooting is believed to be a domestic violence-related incident, investigators said.

 Neighbors said Jose was a "good guy" and that he was close to his wife and two teenage daughters.

 "It blows my mind," said Nick Csercse Jr., who lives next door to the family. "(Jose) was just a really good guy."

 Another neighbor, Raymond Jacobs, said: "They gave my grandson ice cream. They used to sell ice cream. They were good people. This is just shocking."

 Several agencies, including the FBI, were at the mall Saturday investigating the deadly shooting. Three firearms, all handguns, were found at the mall, police said.

 Any witnesses are asked to call the Melbourne Police Department at (321) 608-6731.

 Anyone who left their vehicle in the mall parking lot or left belongings inside the mall is asked to contact Melbourne Square mall security at (321) 952-0583. ||||| Witnesses described panic and chaos moments after police said a man opened fire inside the food court at Melbourne Square Mall Saturday.

 "They were just yelling, 'Run, people are dying, people are getting shot,'” said Brittany Brown.

 Brown was getting ready for work when she heard the shots and ran to safety.

 “I'm still kind of shaken up,' she said. "It just happened all real fast."

 Witnesses report hearing multiple shots fired about 9:30 a.m., a half hour before the mall opened.

 Police say 57-year-old Jose Garcia-Rodriguez began firing in the shopping mall, shooting his wife who worked at the food court and an unidentified man, before turning the gun on himself.

 The man was pronounced dead at the scene; Garcia-Rodriguez died at the hospital.

 Police said the shooter's 33-year-old wife is at the hospital recovering in good condition.

 Authorities said they are unsure of the motive for the shooting, but believe it stemmed from a domestic situation.

 With the mall locked down, investigators searched one of the victim's cars, looking for clues.

 Police say about a hundred people were inside at the time.

 Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, rushed to respond.

 Officers reported hearing gun shots when they arrived and officials said three handguns were recovered from the shooter, who also had a pocket full of ammunition.

 “These are the kind of incidents we plan for, we train for, but we hope we never have to deal with,” Chief Steve Mimbs said.

 No one else was injured.

 At the couple's Palm Bay home, an angel statute sits in the yard. Neighbors are stunned.

 "Now it's kind of sinking in and it's like I talk to that guy all the time," said Nick CSerce. "How could you do something like that? I just can't believe it.”

 Video from the scene | Watch news briefing |Witness accounts

 Images: Mall shooting investigation |||||


Article:
Image copyright University of Dundee

 Two children from the same family have died after contracting E. coli, Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed.

 The children, whose ages have not been released, were from the Charnwood area of Leicestershire and were treated in the past two weeks.

 PHE confirmed it was working with environmental health officers after the confirmation of two cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in two siblings.

 HUS is a complication of E. coli that affects the kidneys.

 PHE said the cases were not being treated as an outbreak and its thoughts were with the family at this "extremely difficult time".

 Dr Lauren Ahyow, consultant in communicable disease control at PHE East Midlands, said: "E. coli is an infection that causes a spectrum of illness ranging from mild through to severe bloody diarrhoea, mostly without fever.

 "Sometimes the infection can cause a condition called haemolytic uraemic syndrome which affects the kidneys and can be very serious."

 Family's movements

 She said young children and elderly people are more prone to development of complications associated with E. coli, which is a relatively rare infection.

 "E.coli can be acquired through a number of routes including contaminated food, contact with farm animals and infected water," she said.

 "PHE are working with partners to investigate further to try and determine a source of infection."

 It has not yet been been revealed how the children contracted E. coli but PHE said it was working with partners to try to find the "source of infection" and were looking at the family's movements.

 Tests are being carried out on the bacteria but it is thought it will be at least a week before the exact strain of E. coli is determined.

 A Charnwood Borough Council spokesperson confirmed its environmental health officers had taken out sample kits to the family home.

 Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. ||||| Two children from the same family have died after contracting a deadly form of E.coli, Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed as officials admitted they have no idea what led to the infection.

 There are fears of a wider outbreak as inspectors and health officers continued to investigate the course of contamination.

 The children, whose names ages have not been released, were from the Charnwood area of Leicestershire and were treated in the past two weeks.

 The siblings died after their kidneys were affected with a complication of E.coli called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The strand typically affects elderly people and young children.

 Experts at PHE warned that people can become infected with E.coli via a number of ways including contaminated food, contact with farm animals and infected water.

 Dr Lauren Ahyow, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control at PHE East Midlands said: “E. coli is an infection that causes a spectrum of illness ranging from mild through to severe bloody diarrhoea, mostly without fever.

 "Sometimes the infection can cause a condition called haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) which affects the kidneys and can be very serious. Young children and elderly people are more prone to development of complications associated with E. coli. |||||Summary:

– In a tragic turn of events, two English children from the same family have died after contracting E. coli, the BBC reports. The kids, whose names and ages haven't been released, lived in the Charnwood area of Leicestershire. They died from haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a complication of E. coli that affects the kidneys. Public Health England is reportedly searching for the "source of infection" and have taken samples from the family's home. While officials tell the BBC that they are not treating the cases as an E. coli outbreak, the Telegraph notes that there "are fears of a wider outbreak." There are hundreds of E. coli cases across the UK each year, according to the paper, but fatalities are uncommon. "People can be reassured that E. coli is a relatively rare infection, a health official says, adding that "Good hygiene for all and supervised hand hygiene for small children is essential" to prevent infections. In the US, there was a recent E. coli outbreak linked to ground beef. Colorado meatpacker Cargill Meat Solutions last month recalled more than 132,000 pounds of ground beef after one person died and 17 were sickened. And this month, JBS Tolleson recalled 6.5 million pounds of ground beef after at least 57 people in 16 states were contracted salmonella.


Article:

Another ill-advised ad lib from Jeb Bush, another opportunity for Democrats.

 Looking to curry favor with religious conservatives at the outset of a competitive primary fight, Bush on Tuesday repeated his call to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood — and then he went even further, questioning the amount of government support for women’s health programs generally.

 Story Continued Below

 The Romneyesque unforced error drew a fast and furious backlash from Democrats, causing Bush to backtrack almost immediately and to acknowledge that he “misspoke.”

 The controversial comment came as Bush started to acknowledge the importance of federal funding for some women’s health programs, and then stopped mid-sentence to qualify his remarks, asserting that he believes the current amount of funding is likely too much.

 “I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars in funding for women’s health programs,” Bush said, before continuing with his point. “If you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine organizations, community health organizations that exist, federally sponsored community health organizations to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues.

 “But abortion should not be funded by the government, any government in my mind,” he concluded.

 Bush, who told the audience that, as governor, he defunded Planned Parenthood in Florida, prefaced his comments by acknowledging that Democrats are likely to attack his comments — and the GOP’s current fight against Planned Parenthood, which gained steam after the release of several controversial videos that allegedly show organization officials talking about the sale of fetal tissue and organs.

 It didn’t take long.

 Less than an hour after Bush wrapped up his appearance before more than 13,000 members at a Southern Baptist convention in Nashville, Hillary Clinton tweeted directly at Bush: “You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong.”

 Bush would eventually fire back at Clinton with a tweet of his own, saying, “@HillaryClinton what’s absolutely, unequivocally wrong is giving taxpayer $ to an org whose practices show no regard for lives of unborn.”

 The Democratic National Committee also quickly blasted out a news release condemning Bush’s “backward ideology.”

 At an organizing event in Denver on Tuesday night, Clinton slammed Bush again over his comment.

 “He’s got no problem giving billions of dollars away to super wallet and powerful corporations but I guess women’s health just isn’t a priority for him,” she said to a crowd of 300 supporters.

 “I would like to ask him to try telling that to the mom who caught her breast cancer early because she was able to get screening in time. Was her health not worth the money?”

 As Bush knows, Democrats savaged the GOP’s 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, for his own calls during the primary to defund Planned Parenthood.

 “A few more months of this and the GOP will be wishing for a candidate with the political skills of Mitt Romney,” tweeted Dan Pfieffer, a former communications director for President Barack Obama.

 Recognizing the magnitude of the blunder, Bush quickly posted an explanation on his website.

 “With regards to women’s health funding broadly, I misspoke, as there are countless community health centers, rural clinics, and other women’s health organizations that need to be fully funded,” he said. “They provide critical services to all, but particularly low-income women who don’t have the access they need.

 “I was referring to the hard-to-fathom $500 million in federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood — an organization that was callously participating in the unthinkable practice of selling fetal organs. Democrats and Republicans agree we absolutely must defund them and redirect those funds to other women’s health organizations,” Bush concluded.

 In talking about health care and health spending, Bush opened himself up to an examination of his record as Florida governor, when he did relatively little about the rising cost of health insurance and the spiking rates of the uninsured. The number of Floridians under age 65 who lacked insurance rose from nearly 17 percent to more than 20 percent from the time he took office in 1999 to the time he left in 2007, according to Florida and Census data. During his two terms, Medicaid rolls swelled 31 percent — from 1.6 million people to 2.1 million — and cost taxpayers $14.6 billion by the time he left office. So many people were on public assistance in Florida that more than 45 percent of all births were subsidized by Medicaid.

 Bush’s record aside, the video of his Tuesday comments could be used to devastating effect in television ads against him next fall, should he become the Republican nominee.

 Considered the Republican front-runner based on his overwhelming financial advantage, Bush often tells voters that his unscripted campaign style and willingness to answer questions separates him from other candidates — and it does.

 But Tuesday’s comments mark the third occasion in recent weeks in which an inartfully phrased comment has sparked criticism from Democrats and put Bush on the defensive.

 Last month, Bush had to explain his statement that “workers need to work longer hours,” after Democrats portrayed Bush as having said that workers are lazy; and he also had to walk back a comment about “phasing out” Medicare after it was unclear whether he was referring to the specific program or more generally to ballooning entitlements.

 Just as his struggles to answer a question about the Iraq war back in May caused concern for supporters that Bush hadn’t shaken off the rust of nearly a decade away from politics, this series of gaffes may produce similar concerns just as Bush is set to take the stage for the first GOP debate in Cleveland on Thursday.

 At the outset of his interview with Russell Moore, Bush laid out his belief that religious liberties can be protected without allowing discrimination toward same-sex couples — but the example he offered showed just how thin a line there may be between the two.

 “If someone walks into a flower shop and says I’d like to buy some flowers and the owner of the flower shop says, ‘No, you’re gay, I’m not going to sell to you,’ that’s discrimination,” Bush said. “But if someone walks into a flower shop and says, ‘You’re the only florist around here that I believe can arrange the flowers for my wedding’ — a gay couple — you should not be compelled to participate in that wedding.

 “People get that.”

 Moore asked Bush about a range of topics, as he did with Marco Rubio, who appeared on stage ahead of Bush.

 On the subject of homeland security, Bush subtly distanced himself from at least one element of his brother’s controversial enhanced interrogation techniques, which Moore referred to as a “moral issue” for a president.

 “I think the law we have today is the proper one,” Bush said. “Water-boarding is no longer legal. I think we can, if we’re engaged and we’re fully engaged, we protect the homeland, we’re engaged in the world, we can use techniques that can validate our values as a country.”

 Bush also looked to portray himself as a compassionate conservative, telling Moore that he believes racism still exists, albeit “a quieter, more insidious form of it” than during the civil rights battles of the 1960s; and, when asked how he would pray for and honor Hillary Clinton, he sought to separate political disagreements from the personal animosity that often underpins them.

 “I pray for everybody in positions of leadership, for sure,” Bush said. “I think it’s important to recognize that people that you don’t agree with aren’t necessarily bad people; they just might be wrong. There should be a restoration of civility. There’s no reason to demonize people.”

 Bush also made sure to respond to Moore’s characterization of his father and Bill Clinton, two of four living former presidents, as “brothers.”

 “There’s a club of past presidents, there’s a mutual respect there. I admire that,” he said. “But Bill Clinton is not my stepbrother, just to be clear.”

 Marc Caputo contributed to this report. ||||| Story highlights The Republican presidential contender's comment came at a major gathering of evangelicals in Tennessee

 From Clinton's official account, her campaign tweeted Bush's remark and said: "You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong."

 (CNN) Jeb Bush took an off-handed jab at women's health funding and quickly found himself in the middle of a culture clash with Hillary Clinton.

 In the midst of the former Florida governor's attack on Planned Parenthood at an evangelical conference Tuesday afternoon, he said: "I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues."

 Clinton sought to make the most of his remark, knocking Bush at a Denver event Tuesday evening, saying the comment provides a window into what "Republican candidates really believe."

 "I would like to ask him, 'Gov. Bush try telling that to the mom who caught her breast cancer early because she was able to to get screening in time. Was her health not worth the money?" she said. "Tell it to the teenager who avoided an unintended pregnancy because she had access to contraception. Tell it to everyone who was protected by an HIV test."

 Shortly after Bush's initial remark, his team sought to mitigate the potential political fallout. The campaign issued a statement on Bush's behalf attempting to explain his remark -- and then, realizing that they'd sent a draft that hadn't included the words "I misspoke," followed up 25 minutes later with a second version.

 Read More ||||| Gov. Jeb Bush issued the following statement regarding his comments on federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

 “With regards to women’s health funding broadly, I misspoke, as there are countless community health centers, rural clinics, and other women’s health organizations that need to be fully funded. They provide critical services to all, but particularly low-income women who don’t have the access they need.

 “I was referring to the hard-to-fathom $500 million in federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood – an organization that was callously participating in the unthinkable practice of selling fetal organs. Democrats and Republicans agree we absolutely must defund them and redirect those funds to other women’s health organizations.”

 Dr. Rhonda Medows issued the following statement regarding Gov. Bush’s record on women’s health. She was the Secretary of AHCA for Gov. Bush in Florida. She is currently a Executive Vice President of Population Health and Providence Health Services and practiced medicine at the Mayo Clinic and is board certified in family medicine.

 “As a former Secretary of AHCA for Governor Bush, I watched his dedication to women’s health issues and services first hand. He created and championed the Mary Brogan Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Act to provide screening, diagnosis, and treatment for breast and cervical cancer, he was intent on improving the quality of care offered to women under our state health programs, and he enhanced access to vital services to women through new access points.”

 Background

 Bush Proposed Millions On Crisis Pregnancy Centers Which Received A $4 Million Launch And $2 Million A Year For The Rest Of His Tenure. “In 2005, Bush proposed spending millions on a pregnancy counseling hotline that steered women to these crisis pregnancy centers, which were opposed to abortion. After a $4 million launch, the hotline continued to get $2 million budgeted per year for these services for the rest of Bush’s tenure.” (Joshua Gillin, “Political group makes five points about Jeb Bush’s record,” PolitiFact, 6/25/15)

 Bush Signed Into Law The Mary Brogan Breast And Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Act. “Governor Jeb Bush signed the Mary Brogan Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Act into law, thus providing a treatment option to medically needy women diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer.” (American Cancer Society, Accessed On 8/4/15)

 From 2001-2007, Governor Bush invested $47M into the Mary Brogan Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. http://www.acscan.org/ovc_images/file/action/states/fl/ADVOCACY_ACCOMPLISHMENTS_-_Florida_2012.pd

 Bush Signed Into A Law An Act Establishing A “Fight Breast Cancer” License Plate Whose Proceeds Go To Funding Breast Cancer Research. “A new license plate will raise money for breast cancer research under a bill Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Monday while predicting it will become among the most popular of Florida’s specialty tags.” (Associated Press, 4/30/02)

 Governor Bush signed into law the Officer of Women’s Health Strategy position. Specifically, the law’s intent stated, “The legislature recognizes that the health care needs of women are gender-specific and that public policy must take into account the distinct characteristics of women’s health issues. Priority shall be given to improve the overall health status of women through research and education on women’s health issues.” http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/ ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. |||||
What is a summary?

– Jeb Bush, having apparently remembered that women make up half the electorate, has walked back comments he made yesterday suggesting that too much money is spent on their health. "I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues," he told a Southern Baptist convention yesterday as part of a discussion on defunding Planned Parenthood and spending the money elsewhere, reports the New York Times, which notes that the $500 million he was talking about is a small fraction of the roughly $1 trillion the federal government spends on health care every year. Bush issued a statement last night saying he "misspoke" and "there are countless community health centers, rural clinics, and other women’s health organizations that need to be fully funded." But if Bush becomes the Republican nominee, video of the remarks "could be used to devastating effect in television ads against him next fall," notes Eli Stokols at Politico. Hillary Clinton quickly attacked the remarks, tweeting "You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong," CNN reports. "He's got no problem giving billions of dollars away to super wallet and powerful corporations but I guess women’s health just isn’t a priority for him," she told an audience last night.


Summarize this article:

Photo

 In recent days, the actor Mandy Patinkin, who played the master swordsman Inigo Montoya in the classic 1987 film “The Princess Bride,” has received emails from friends alerting him to pictures on the Internet that show scenes taken from the movie with Ted Cruz’s face superimposed on top of his body.

 “They Photoshopped his face right over my face!” Mr. Patinkin said last week when reached by phone at his home in New York’s Hudson Valley. “I said, ‘How can I stop this?’”

 Mr. Cruz, the Texas senator who, according to polls, is now leading the Republican presidential field in Iowa, has long listed “The Princess Bride” as his favorite movie. As a Princeton undergraduate, he watched the movie repeatedly with his friends on the debate team and memorized a good chunk of the lines.

 In the last few weeks, Mr. Cruz, who dabbled, at times disastrously, in acting at Harvard Law School, has started reciting the lines on the campaign trail, including at an Iowa Central Community College event, where he performed a version of Mr. Patinkin’s catchphrase in the movie: “Allo, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

 As Mr. Patinkin’s inbox became cluttered with videos of Mr. Cruz acting out scenes that he, Carol Kane and Billy Crystal had made famous (“He’s doing all of Billy’s lines!” Mr. Patinkin said), the actor began wondering how much of the movie Mr. Cruz really understood.

 “I would like to be with Senator Cruz for a moment and I would like to respectfully ask him, since he quotes all the lines from ‘The Princess Bride’ and certainly all of my character, Inigo Montoya’s, lines, I would like to know why he doesn’t quote my favorite line?” That line, Mr. Patinkin said, was among the last his character utters in a movie that essentially taught that love conquers all.

 But first, some plot for the uninitiated: While working in the service of Vizzini, a comically arrogant criminal mastermind played by Wallace Shawn, Inigo is bested by the movie’s hero, the mysterious Man in Black.

 Soon after, Inigo and his fellow hired hand, played by Andre the Giant, join the Man in Black in his noble mission to rescue his true love, played by the “House of Cards” star Robin Wright, who has been forcibly engaged to the evil prince Humperdinck, who plans to strangle her on their wedding night. But Inigo’s true motive is to avenge the death of his father, slain decades earlier, by Humperdinck’s sadistic six-fingered lieutenant. He does so in the climactic rescue scene at the end of the movie, in which he magically overcomes mortal wounds to win a duel to the death.

 “After the princess flies out the window and falls into Andre the Giant’s arms,” Mr. Patinkin said, “Inigo says to the Man in Black, ‘I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.’”

 Mr. Cruz, in Mr. Patinkin’s heavily left-leaning worldview, is trafficking in the revenge business, appealing to anxious voters by saying of the Islamic State, “We will carpet-bomb them into oblivion,” and by exploiting fears about immigrants and Muslims.

 “Senator Cruz, if you’re going to say those lines, you’ve got to say the other line, too,” Mr. Patinkin said.

 Sounding increasingly vexed, he added: “This man is not putting forth ideas that are at the heart of what that movie is all about. I would love for Senator Cruz, and everyone creating fear mongering and hatred, to consider creating hope, optimism and love. Open your arms to these people, these refugees trying to get into our country, and open your hearts.”

 Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for the Cruz campaign, said in an email that the senator was “a huge fan of the film and the actors in it.”

 “Having some fun with a cult classic like ‘The Princess Bride’ should be something we can all get behind, politics aside,” she said. ||||| View photo . Ted Cruz is a man of diverse tastes (Yahoo News/original image AP)

 Love him or hate him, it’s safe to say Ted Cruz is currently the most compelling figure in U.S. politics today.

 The first-term Texas senator led the Republican charge against Obamacare that resulted in a 16-day government shutdown and ignited the passions of millions. And if political insiders are to be believed, Cruz is already gearing up to run for president in 2016.

 But for someone who has wielded so much influence in such little time, most people know very little about Cruz as a person.

 A few publications are aiming to change that. On Thursday, Cruz sat down with the Des Moines Register for a Q&A; and revealed a few facts about himself:

 His dream job: “I’d love to be the starting point guard for the Houston Rockets, and I’m confident that there is no universe in which that will ever come to pass.”

 Favorite movie: A self-described “huge movie buff,” Cruz says his favorite movie is 1987’s “The Princess Bride.” And that revelation led to a series of very obvious Internet references to the film. Fondness for this film is a true barometer of humanity and should provide a ray of sunshine into the hearts of even Cruz’s most steadfast opponents.

 Least favorite food: As much as Cruz loves movies, he hates avocados. “I despise avocado. It’s the only food I dislike, and I dislike it passionately,” he said. “Which is ironic, because I’m Cuban and my dad grew up with avocado trees in his backyard. My whole family eats avocados like crazy, but I can’t stand them.”

 Of course, Cruz should be careful to not re-create George H.W. Bush’s broccoli moment, as Texas is quickly becoming one of the larger avocado-growing states in the U.S. His comments already invoked the playful wrath of the Dallas Observer’s Liz Goulding, who wrote, “How can you understand Texas if you don't enjoy chips and guacamole on a sunny patio every once and awhile (sic), or if you've never discovered that perfect mix of avocado, lime juice, and salt at home?”

 When he was a Houston lawyer first running for the Senate in 2012, Cruz gave an interview to the Dallas Morning News in which he revealed some other personal facts.

 Worst school subject: French.

 Favorite food: While he despises avocados, Cruz says he loves beef enchiladas and Guinness stout.

 Skills: As to any “hidden talent,” Cruz said, “I love games of any sort: cards, chess, backgammon.” He especially likes playing them on his iPhone, despite not having an unlimited data plan.

 Family background: While many have pointed out that the Texas senator was actually born in Canada, very few know that he is of Cuban descent. "I do enjoy an occasional cigar. (I am Cuban after all),” he told the paper.

 Education: Cruz graduated cum laude from Princeton, magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and clerked for former Chief Justice William Rehnquist. But, really, at the end of the day Cruz just wants to see Princess Buttercup returned safely home and maybe sneak in a game or two on his iPhone before bed.

 So, there’s your basic primer on the man Slate’s John Dickerson calls a “populist egghead.” ||||| Rather than explain why he loves the movie The Princess Bride, Ted Cruz decided to just demonstrate. The Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate went ahead and acted out an entire scene from the 1987 comedy classic — complete with imitations of the characters' voices — while taping a "Candidate Cafe" segment for WMUR.

 While most of the people at the table are cracking up laughing, some, like the guy sitting to Cruz's left, don't seem to know what to think of the whole thing. "My media team is now having a heart attack," Cruz quips after wrapping up his rendition. |||||

– To Mandy Patinkin, it's inconceivable that Ted Cruz has been uttering lines from The Princess Bride along the campaign trail—and the actor, who played Inigo Montoya in the 1987 cult film, has had enough. "How can I stop this?" was Patinkin's reaction when friends started emailing him about images online that featured Cruz's face Photoshopped onto his character's body, he tells the New York Times. Cruz has long said the movie is his favorite, and he's committed a good portion of it to memory (including Patinkin's famous line: "Allo, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"). But Patinkin isn't sure Cruz understands the film's subtext: namely that, despite the film focusing partly on his character's mission for vengeance, the real meaning revolves around the movie's hero rescuing his true love. "[Cruz] is not putting forth ideas that are at the heart of what that movie is all about," Patinkin tells the Times in a tone the paper describes as "increasingly vexed." Patinkin cites one of his character's final lines in the movie as one that should stand out more to Cruz: "I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life." The 63-year-old actor's beef with Cruz is that he's too focused on that revenge, preying on voter anxiety by, as the Times puts it, "exploiting fears about immigrants and Muslims." Says Patinkin, "Open your arms to these people, these refugees trying to get into our country, and open your hearts." A spokeswoman for Cruz's campaign told the Times in an email that "having some fun with a cult classic … should be something we can all get behind, politics aside." In other words, no "as you wish" from Cruz. (Will Cruz pull out a Princess Bride quote during Tuesday night's debate?)


– The latest US Geological Survey forecast for California doesn't contain much that will reassure people worried about earthquakes—unless they find fatalism reassuring. The report says there is not only a 99% chance of a 6.7 magnitude or greater quake like the 1994 Northridge one hitting the state in the next 30 years, the chances of a mega-quake of 8 magnitude or greater are significantly higher than earlier thought, the AP reports. "California is earthquake country, and residents should live every day like it could be the day of a big one," says lead author Ned Field, a USGS geophysicist. He says that out of the state's hundreds of faults, the "locked and loaded" San Andreas Fault is still the biggest threat. Field says the odds of a mega-quake in the next three decades have risen to 7% from 4.7% since the 2008 forecast because scientists now have a better understanding of the fault system and how quakes can jump from fault to fault, the Los Angeles Times reports. In California, "it has become increasingly apparent that we are not dealing with a few [well-separated] faults, but with a vast interconnected fault system," he says. The USGS still can't predict exactly when an earthquake will hit, but it's testing an early warning system that will give authorities vital seconds to do things like shut off gas lines and slow down trains, the AP reports. (Another federal study warns that small, fracking-linked quakes in Oklahoma and Kansas are making a big one more likely.)

Expand this summary.

The next magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquake to hit California could come a little sooner than expected.

 The estimated chance of whether such a mega-earthquake would hit California in the next three decades was raised to 7% from about 4.7%, the U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday.

 An 8.0 earthquake hitting a populated area would be devastating — producing 89 times more energy than the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake in 1994. Such powerful quakes are relatively rare — scientists believe the last mega-quake to hit Southern California was a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 1857.

 Here's a look at how scientists figured out the new forecast.

 Why is the chance of a magnitude 8.0 quake greater than previously forecast?

 Scientists in recent decades have begun to realize that earthquake faults are interconnected. In fact, earthquakes can begin on one fault and jump to another. Multiple faults can rupture in a simultaneous mega-quake.

 "A simplification we made in the past were these faults were separate and isolated. In other words, they couldn't link up together into truly large earthquakes," said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Ned Field, the lead author of the report.

 But as scientists identified more faults in California, "it has become increasingly apparent that we are not dealing with a few well-separate faults, but with a vast interconnected fault system," Field said. "In fact, it has become difficult to identify where some faults end and others begin, implying many more opportunities for multi-fault ruptures."

 USGS forecast: Chances of magnitude-8 earthquake up to 7 percent USGS forecast: Chances of magnitude-8 earthquake up to 7 percent SEE MORE VIDEOS

 Have scientists observed earthquakes jumping faults before?

 Yes. All three of the largest, most recent earthquakes in California have pushed beyond fault boundaries, "jumping from one fault to another," Field said. Two hit the sparsely-populated Mojave Desert: the magnitude 7.3 Landers earthquake in 1992 and the magnitude 7.2 Hector Mine earthquake in 1999.

 More recently, the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in 2010 that was centered near the California-Mexico border on Easter Sunday jumped faults. Scientists said the Baja California quake directed tectonic stress northward, putting Southern California at a higher risk for a future quake. The original quake and aftershocks triggered movement on at least six faults, including the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults, which run close to heavily populated areas in eastern Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire.

 The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that hit off the Japanese coast in 2011 also jumped fault boundaries, "resulting in a much larger fault-rupture area and magnitude than expected, and contributing to the deadly tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster," the USGS report said.

 How often do quakes rupture along multiple faults in a simultaneous mega-quake?

 A magnitude 8.0 or greater quake in California is now expected once about every 500 years. An older forecast calculated the rate of magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquakes at about once every 600 years.

 Where are these faults located?

 Many are in the Los Angeles area, in highly urban areas. During the Whittier Narrows earthquake, a magnitude 5.9 struck on the Puente Hills thrust fault system Oct. 1, 1987. Three days later, a magnitude 5.6 aftershock hit on a different fault. That aftershock killed one person, twisted several chimneys and broke windows. Damage was reported in Whittier, Pico Rivera, Los Angeles and Alhambra.

 Which fault is ripe for the Big One?

 The southern San Andreas is "most likely to host a large earthquake," the forecast said. This section of the fault has a 19% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years centered in California's Mojave Desert.

 Why do scientists use 30 years to forecast the chance of the next big earthquake?

 It's the typical term a homeowner is paying off the mortgage on a house.

 Does the forecast help scientists predict the exact date and time the next Big One will hit?

 No. Experts say they can't predict when exactly the next big earthquake will come, but they're getting better at modeling the possibilities. Tuesday's forecast considered more than 250,000 fault-based earthquakes; the previous forecast considered about only 10,000. The latest calculations use about 300 earthquake faults; the 2007 forecast relied on 200 faults, and the original 1988 report was based on only 16.

 Why does this matter to me?

 "The message to the average citizen hasn't changed. You live in earthquake country, and you should live every day like it's the day a Big One could hit," Field said. "But what it really does help us do is refine our estimates for those designing critical facilities: hospitals, schools, bridges."

 "We are fortunate that seismic activity in California has been relatively low over the past century. But we know that tectonic forces are continually tightening the springs of the San Andreas fault system, making big quakes inevitable," Tom Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center and a coauthor of the study, said in a statement.

 ron.lin@latimes.com

 rosanna.xia@latimes.com ||||| LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scientists are virtually certain that California will be rocked by a strong earthquake in the next 30 years. Now they say the risk of a mega-quake is more likely than previously thought.

 FILE - This Jan. 17, 1994 file photo shows several trailer homes that were burned to the ground at the Oak Ridge Trailer Park in Sylmar, Calif., after a magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck southern California.... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1994 file photo, the covered body of Los Angeles Police Officer Clarence Wayne Dean, 46, lies near his motorcycle which plunged off the State Highway 14 overpass that collapsed... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Jan. 17, 1994 file photo, a Los Angeles police officer stands in front of the Northridge Meadows Apartment building, after the upper floors of the structure collapsed onto the open garages... (Associated Press)

 The chance of a magnitude-8 quake striking the state in the next three decades jumped to 7 percent from 4.7 percent, mainly because scientists took into account the possibility that several faults can shake at once, releasing seismic energy that results in greater destruction.

 While the risk of a mega-quake is higher than past estimates, it's more likely — greater than 99 percent chance — that California will be rattled by a magnitude-6.7 jolt similar in size to the 1994 Northridge disaster. The chance of a Northridge-size quake was slightly higher in Northern California than Southern California — 95 percent versus 93 percent, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Geological Survey.

 "California is earthquake country, and residents should live every day like it could be the day of a big one," USGS geophysicist and lead author Ned Field said.

 The latest seismic calculations largely mirror previous findings issued by the USGS in 2008. Back then, scientists also determined that California faced an almost certain risk of experiencing a Northridge-size quake.

 The new report included newly discovered fault zones and the possibility that a quake can jump from fault to fault. Because of this knowledge, the odds of a catastrophic quake — magnitude 8 or larger — in the next 30 years increased.

 There is a 93 percent chance of a magnitude 7 or larger occurring over the same period and a 48 percent chance of a magnitude 7.5 — similar to previous estimates.

 Thousands of quakes every year hit California, sandwiched between two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. Most are too small to be felt.

 Of the more than 300 faults that crisscross the state, the southern segment of the San Andreas Fault — which runs from central California to the Salton Sea near the U.S.-Mexico border — remains the greatest threat because it hasn't ruptured in more than three centuries.

 The report found there is a 19 percent chance in the next 30 years that a Northridge-size quake will unzip the southern section compared to a 6.4 percent chance for the northern section, partly because it last broke in 1906.

 The southern San Andreas is "ready to have an earthquake because it's really locked and loaded," Field said.

 The report is a forecast, but it is not a prediction. Experts still cannot predict exactly where or when a quake will hit anywhere in the world.

 In recent years, the USGS and several universities have been testing an early warning system designed to detect the first waves of a jolt and send out an alert before the slower-moving damaging waves. Proponents have said a few seconds of notice can allow trains to slow down, utilities to shut off gas lines and people to duck for cover. The public alert system — still in pilot phrase — needs more funding before it can be rolled out statewide.

 ___

 Contact the reporter on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia |||||


Summarize this article:

GREAT FALLS – Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, who won a hard-fought, close contest Tuesday over Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, said Wednesday it’s time for Congress to put aside partisanship and tackle the nation’s pressing problems.

 Tester, speaking in Great Falls shortly after he was declared the winner, said those problems include the federal deficit, taxes, the economy – and the tidal wave of “relentless, secretive political spending” seen in his race and many others across the nation.

 “This is larger than me,” he said in an interview. “The outside money that’s coming in (to politics) is bad for democracy.

 “We’ve got to get some transparency in this process, at a minimum ... so we know who’s footing the bill. It shouldn’t be about someone who has a ton of money, trying to buy an election.”

 Tester, 56, a farmer from Big Sandy, led by 16,000 votes over Rehberg late Wednesday, with some votes yet to be counted in Yellowstone, Silver Bow, Ravalli and Flathead counties.

 Tester had 48.5 percent of the vote, while Rehberg had nearly 45 percent. Libertarian Dan Cox of Hamilton carried a significant 6.5 percent, one of the highest showings by a Libertarian in a statewide race.

 Rehberg, 57, Montana’s sole congressman since 2001, conceded the race Wednesday morning, issuing a statement that said it had been “an honor to serve the people of Montana.”

 “The voters of our state have spoken and I respect their decision,” he said. “Senator Tester and I share an abiding love for Montana and America, a value which transcends political party or disagreements on matters of policy.”

 Tester also complimented Rehberg on a “well-fought race,” and said he knew Rehberg would agree that the nation faces big challenges that need to be addressed.

 “Despite our differences, we belong to the greatest state and the greatest nation in the world,” Tester said. “We owe thanks to Congressman Rehberg. He has spent a career in public service.”

 Rehberg, a rancher from Billings, has been a key figure in Montana politics for more than 30 years, also holding office as state representative and lieutenant governor.

 Tester said he’s hopeful Congress will start acting on plans to reduce the nation’s debt and federal deficit and reform the tax code, to make it simpler and more fair.

 “I think there is a nucleus of people back in (Washington) D.C. who are willing to do it,” he said. “The bottom line is ... when we deal with that in a common-sense way, I think it will help the economy.”

 Tester also said he’d like his wilderness/jobs bill to pass Congress, either as part of an Interior spending package this year or as a stand-alone bill next year. The measure, stalled in Congress since 2009, would create new wilderness in western Montana forests while identifying new acreage for logging.

 Yet Tester spoke most forcefully Wednesday about shining a light on the river of money spent on his contest and many others by so-called outside and “dark” money – groups that often don’t have to disclose or detail their donors or expenditures.

 Observers estimated that outside groups spent $30 million or more on the Tester-Rehberg matchup, including at least half that amount by nonprofit groups that can keep their donors secret.

 The contest was the most expensive in Montana history, as Rehberg and Tester spent about $20 million of their own campaign money, in addition to the outside cash by party and interest groups.

 Tester said groups should fully disclose their spending to influence federal elections – including the nonprofits that now keep their donors secret.

 On Tuesday, Tester sprinted to a solid lead of about 20,000 votes in early returns and never relinquished it. Cox also started out strongly, polling 5 percent to 6 percent in the first returns – a level he held throughout the vote-counting.

 While the Associated Press called the race at about 9 a.m. Wednesday, elections officials in Billings, Kalispell, Butte and Hamilton were still counting some ballots late Wednesday afternoon.

 The biggest lag occurred in Billings, where officials said the final count wouldn’t be finished until Wednesday evening. Problems with vote-counting machines and late voting by Election Day registrants delayed the count in Yellowstone County.

 Missoulian State Bureau reporter Mike Dennison can be reached at 1-800-525-4920 or at mike.dennison@lee.net. ||||| Democratic candidate Heidi Heitkamp has won the U.S. Senate race in North Dakota, defeating favored Republican congressman Rick Berg.

 Democrat Elizabeth Warren, center, waves to the crowd with her husband Bruce Mann, left, during an election night rally at the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel in Boston after Warren defeated incumbent GOP... (Associated Press)

 Flanked by family members, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., looks up as she talks about her mother, Betty Anne McCaskill, who recently passed away, while declaring victory over challenger Rep. Todd Akin,... (Associated Press)

 U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., waves to supporters after making her a victory speech in Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Madison, Wis. Baldwin defeated former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy... (Associated Press)

 Berg had been expected to win the race, and Republicans had counted on his victory in their failed attempt to take control of the Senate.

 Heitkamp won the race by fewer than 3,000 votes, and Berg could have asked for a recount.

 He conceded the race Wednesday with a qualifier: He was stepping aside barring any unforeseen circumstances with the state canvasing board that certifies the race results.

 That canvasing process is to begin Friday. It will account for late-arriving absentee ballots that were postmarked in time to be counted in the election. |||||

– The fat lady may have sung on the presidential race last night, but results are still trickling in from some of the country's closest races. So far, everything's coming up blue; Democrats have extended their Senate majority to 53, not counting the two independents expected to poll with them, after winning a pair of nail biters. In North Dakota, former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp has scored what Politico terms an "upset" win over Rep. Rick Berg to claim the last unsettled Senate seat of the election. Heitkamp won with fewer than 3,000 votes, the AP reports, a margin so small that Berg could have demanded a recount, but he instead conceded late this afternoon. Earlier, Democrat Sen. Jon Tester won an excruciatingly close re-election battle over Rep. Denny Rehberg, after a bitter campaign that dominated Montana politics for two years, the Missoulian reports. Tester likely benefited from a strong performance by Libertarian Dan Cox, who managed 6% of the vote—most of it likely at Rehberg's expense.