Published on: Thursday, September 05, 2013

 By Donna Broadway

 NEW WINDSOR - If Carroll County resident, Scott Strzelczyk, has his way, whenever a Montgomery County resident crosses the border into Frederick, he or she will be crossing state lines. Strzelczyk, a legal activist, writer and radio host, launched a Facebook page in July 2013 in support of seceding or un-marrying, a term that Strzelczyk and his supporters prefer, the five western counties of Maryland: Frederick, Carroll, Garrett, Allegany and Washington into a new state called Western Maryland or West Maryland.

 “We do not have representation in this State. The state is controlled and dominated by three jurisdictions: Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Baltimore City. Annapolis could care less about the people in the five western counties. The only two things we can count on from Annapolis are: they will assault our rights and our wallets,” Strzelczyk said. “Consent of the governed means we can withdraw our consent. We have not given consent to the oppressive laws and regulations imposed by Annapolis on the five western counties.”

 Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s office declined to comment on the effort and Rep. John Delaney’s office, which represents four of the five counties named in the Western Maryland initiative in the 6th District, called the idea “utterly ridiculous.”

 The last time a state successfully seceded from another state was in 1863, when the western counties of Virginia decided to become another state instead of leaving the Union. In recent years, counties and even states have threatened secession, but none have come to fruition.

 Residents of Pima County, Ariz., wrote a proposal in 2011 to form a new state called Baja Arizona. The Washington State Legislature has considered measures to split the state into two separate entities, Western Washington and Eastern Washington, and in Weld County, Colo., several citizens have proposed a plan where Weld County and seven other counties in northeastern Colorado would secede and form a new state called North Colorado. Its reasons are similar to those of the Western Maryland supporters: the residents believe the state isn’t as concerned with the economic interests of the rural area.

 Strzelczyk cites Article I of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, which states the people have the right to alter, reform or abolish their form of government as they see fit. Article VI states that people may reform or establish a new government if their government is deemed to be perverted, endangered and ineffectual.

 If the secession is successful, Maryland would lose one congressional seat and Montgomery County may have to be reassigned to new a congressional district since the county shares the 6th District and 8th District with counties involved in the secession.

 “We’ve never heard from constituents on this idea. Not in our Hagerstown office, nor during our office hours in Cumberland and McHenry,” said Delaney Communications Director Will McDonald. “Congressman Delaney is fully committed to serving the people of Western Maryland and to giving Western Maryland and the entire 6th District a voice in Washington. What we hear from Western Maryland every day, from constituents and local officials, is that they want a member of Congress committed to working across the aisle to get things done and create jobs. Congressman Delaney knows that too many people are struggling to get by and that’s why he’s working on real solutions to real problems.”

 The five western counties have a total of 653,147 people, 2,636 square miles and 580,243 of total farm acreage. The region is home to two of the state’s top ten wealthiest counties, Frederick and Carroll, but Washington County is ranked 17th out of 24 in poverty and Garrett and Allegany are the 21st and 23rd poorest counties in Maryland. But Strzelczyk is not worried about those statistics. The next steps in the movement are public engagement.

 Currently, the Facebook page only has 2,205 likes, which is half of one percent of the 407,000 registered voters in the county. Strzelczyk and his supporters will be communicating with county commissioners, state delegates and senators, and the public at public meetings.

 For more information on the Western Maryland initiative, visit https://www.facebook.com/FreeWesternMaryland and http://sas4liberty.wordpress.com/. ||||| Scott Strzelczyk is a leader in the movement for Western Maryland's secession from the rest of the heavily Democratic state. He is seen while teaching a class on the Constitution on Aug. 29 in Cockeysville, Md. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post)

 The push by 50 western Virginia counties to secede in 1863, forming West Virginia at the height of the Civil War, was led by a charismatic store-clerk-turned-lawyer who famously urged his supporters: “Cut the knot now! Cut it now! Apply the knife.”

 West Virginia was the last state to break off from another. Now, 150 years later, a 49-year-old information technology consultant wants to apply the knife to Maryland’s five western counties. “The people are the sovereign,” says Scott Strzelczyk, leader of the fledgling Western Maryland Initiative, and the western sovereigns are fed up with Annapolis’s liberal majority, elected by the state’s other sovereigns.

 “If you think you have a long list of grievances and it’s been going on for decades, and you can’t get it resolved, ultimately this is what you have to do,” says Strzelczyk, who lives in New Windsor, a historic town of 1,400 people in Carroll County. “Otherwise you are trapped.”

 Strzelczyk’s effort is one of several across the country to separate significant portions of states from, as he puts it, “the dominant ruling class.” Nearly a dozen northern Colorado counties are the furthest along, with nonbinding referendums set for November ballots. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is making a move to join with parts of Wisconsin. Northern California counties want to form a state called Jefferson.

 Historians, political scientists and the leaders of the movements say secession efforts are being fueled by irreconcilable differences on issues such as gun control, taxes, energy policy, gay marriage and immigration — all subjects of recent legislative efforts at state and federal levels. The notion of compromise is a non-starter. With secessionists, the term “final straw” comes up a lot.

 View Graphic Maryland counties considering secession

 “You don’t have to be a student of the details to know that people are just disgusted with what goes on these days,” says Kit Wellman, a political philosopher who studies secession at Washington University in St. Louis. “These people figure they are better off on their own if they could just be with like-

 minded folks.”

 Secession is a difficult political fight to win. The U.S. Constitution allows regions to separate only with the approval of the state legislature and Congress, and over the years there have been hundreds of quixotic and unsuccessful efforts, according to Michael J. Trinklein, the author of “Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States that Never Made It.”

 In the 1950s, Northern California tried to form the state of Shasta, to protect its fresh water. The builders of Mount Rushmore also wanted it to sit in a new state: Absaroka, a reference to a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. Eastern Shore residents pushed for the state of Chesapeake in the 1970s to retain tourist tax dollars.

 Political polarization

 What’s different now is how the secession efforts illuminate a hard truth about the country: The rural-urban divide is increasingly a point of political conflict. The population boom in urban areas such as Baltimore and the Maryland suburbs near the District, the Boulder-

 Denver areas in Colorado, and in Detroit have filled state legislatures with liberal policymakers pushing progressive agendas out of sync with rural residents, who feel increasingly isolated and marginalized.

 In Maryland, the five western counties — Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and Carroll — represent just 11 percent of Maryland’s population, according to 2010 Census figures. They earn less than the people who live in more urban areas. They vote overwhelmingly for Republicans in a deeply Democratic state. Nearly 90 percent of the residents are white, compared with 51 percent elsewhere. About 60 percent were born in Maryland vs. 46 percent in other parts of the state.

 “If you don’t belong in their party,” Strzelczyk says of Democrats, “you’ll never have your views represented” in Maryland. “If we have more states,” he says, “we can all go live in states that best represent us, and then we can get along.”

 Strzelczyk concedes that he could move to another state more in line with his values, but he grew up in Maryland, his parents are here and he doesn’t want to upend his family. He launched the initiative with a Facebook page in July, trying to solicit support from other frustrated Marylanders.

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 The Facebook page has drawn more than 2,200 likes, with residents from western counties chiming in with ideas and offers to help. Suzanne Reisig Olden, a Carroll County paralegal, offered her services pro bono.

 “The state quite honestly disgusts me,” Olden said in an interview. “Those that we elect in the House of Delegates or in the Senate who are conservative are either ignored or just told to shut up. My voice does not count.” She adds: “In a new state, my vote could count, my values would be valued. So I like the idea.”

 Olden’s views are generally not the same as those that dominate Maryland’s urban centers. She is against gay marriage. She is against what she describes as “the horrible encroachment on Second Amendment rights.” She opposes abortion.

 She is fed up with taxes and was particularly galled by the “rain tax” — a stormwater management fee — approved last year.

 “Taxing the friggin’ rain?” she says. “The next thing they tax will be the air we breathe.”

 Party fatigue

 Although he grew up a Democrat, Strzelczyk became increasingly frustrated with politics in the past decade, and Barack Obama’s election in 2008 sent him over the edge.

 He spoke at tea party rallies, started helping with a weekly radio show called “Forgotten Men” and began reading up on the Constitution. He says he has read thousands of books and articles on the subject. He became fed up with Republicans, too, and now considers himself a Constitutionalist, writing essays for the Tenth Amendment Center, American Thinker and his own blog, “A Citizen’s View.”

 He wants to live in a smaller state, he says, with more “personal liberty, less government intrusion, less federal entanglements.” He wants the right to carry a gun. He would abolish the U.S. Department of Education. Although he thinks the government shouldn’t be involved with marriage, he’d put the question of gay marriage to a vote. Medical marijuana would be just fine, he says. There would be lots of liberty.

 Strzelczyk knows that breaking up is hard to do. He needs help forming a political nonprofit organization to push the measure, which is where people such as Olden could come in. He needs an official Web site. He needs to sway county commissioners to put the question to voters to get attention from lawmakers in Annapolis, who would need to pass legislation for Congress to approve. Offers are coming in.

 “I’m a finance geek, so I may be able to help,” Bryan Smith writes on Facebook.

 And then there are the matters of statehood. Would it be called Western Maryland? West Maryland? On Facebook, Chad Maroney offered this thought: “The new state should be called Augusta. That was George Washington’s name for the Appalachian region.”

 Where will the water come from? What would the state code look like? What happens to home deeds? How will the state be funded? What about the state prisons in Western Maryland? Will there be a state police force? What about the portion of state debt the region is responsible for? Where’s the capital? (To offset any shifts in U.S. Senate power, some ponder giving the District the statehood it has long desired.)

 “We are not dumb people,” Strzelczyk says. “We get that this is hard to do.”

 Hard is probably understating the challenge. Political experts and historians say the efforts at new statehood around the country will be nearly impossible to pull off, though they could spread virally through social media, attracting mainstream attention.

 “As a legal matter, it will be incredibly difficult, and it’s probably not going to happen,” says Wellman, the secession expert at Washington University. “But as a moral matter, I’m on the opposite side of insane.” He noted the country’s formation was its secession from England. “We said, ‘You’re not going to govern us.’ And there are very few people who don’t think we were entitled to do so.”

 The best case scenario, experts say, is that the threat of walking out somehow gets people back to the table. (Comparisons to marriage counseling come to mind.) In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) has said that he doesn’t agree with the secession movement there, but his public comments on the issue suggest that the efforts are at least seen as real.

 And in the end, just having their voices heard could, perhaps, soothe the situation for frustrated voters such as Olden.

 “Best case scenario: It works. Worst case: Nothing changes,” she says. “But if it doesn’t work, maybe they will finally see that the populace really is fed up.” |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Secession is all the rage these days, and the latest movement is taking shape in Maryland. The Western Maryland Initiative, a group led by Scott Strzelczyk, is looking to break off the five western counties from the rest of the state, the Washington Post reports. Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick, and Carroll counties are more rural; their residents are mostly white, earn less than their fellow Marylanders, and are largely Republicans in a very blue state. With about 650,000 residents, they make up just 11% of the state's population; that's about the size of DC, notes Think Progress. Strzelczyk envisions a state—called Western Maryland or West Maryland, reports the Sentinel—with more "personal liberty, less government intrusion." He's personally pro-gun, anti-Department of Education, and OK with medical marijuana. "If you don’t belong in [the Democratic] party, you’ll never have your views represented" in Maryland, says Strzelczyk. "If we have more states, we can all go live in states that best represent us, and then we can get along." (He doesn't want to move to another state, however.) But secession is notoriously difficult to achieve, and the Sentinel points out that the 3,000 people who have "liked" the group's Facebook page make up fewer than 1% of the area's 407,000 registered voters. Political experts say the effort isn't likely to see results, and Strzelczyk knows he has a ways to go—his effort doesn't even have a website yet. (When it comes to possible secession, Northern Colorado's attempt is currently the furthest along.)


Article:
One of the San Diego County parolees who challenged the law was convicted of a sexual assault on an adult woman in 1991. That man, who had several serious illnesses, wanted to live with a relative who was a health professional, but he couldn't because of the residency restrictions. Instead, he stayed in an alley behind the parole office. ||||| California loosens sex-offender residency rules

 gallery_thumbnails_photo|photo-2332066|article-gallery-6161963|1 Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close gallery_thumbnails_show|article-gallery-6161963|article-gallery-6161963|0 gallery_overlay_open|article-gallery-6161963|article-gallery-6161963|0 gallery_overlay_open_thumbs|article-gallery-6161963|article-gallery-6161963|0 Image 1 of 1 Earl Taylor often sleeps in the back of his truck in Fairfield, CA because he cannot live with his wife. Her home is less than 2000 feet from a school or park. Earl Taylor is one of the state's more than 2300 homeless sex offender parolees, men who legally don't have a place to live because of Prop. 83 or Jessica's Law. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Earl Taylor often sleeps in the back of his truck in Fairfield, CA... California loosens sex-offender residency rules 1 / 1 Back to Gallery gallery_thumbs_close|article-gallery-6161963|article-gallery-6161963|0 gallery_overlay_close|article-gallery-6161963|article-gallery-6161963|0

 SACRAMENTO — California will no longer bar all registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, instead applying such restrictions on a case-by-case basis, state corrections officials announced Thursday.

 The move comes after a state Supreme Court ruling this month affecting San Diego County, which found that “Jessica’s Law” was unconstitutional and did not protect the public. In 2006, California voters approved the law restricting where sex offenders could live.

 Critics of the law said such restrictions lead many sex offenders to be transients because they can’t find housing more than 2,000 feet from schools and parks in urban counties, where jobs and rehabilitation services are easier to find.

 The change is expected to leave the restrictions in place for offenders who sexually abused children, while relaxing the rules for some others.

 Although the unanimous Supreme Court ruling affected only San Diego County, where a lawsuit was filed by sex offenders, observers expected it would be applied to other densely populated counties, including San Francisco.

 “The court’s ruling is specific to San Diego County; its rationale isn’t,” said Luis Patino, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “The state attorney general’s office has advised us that applying the blanket mandatory residency restrictions would be found to be unconstitutional in every county.”

 Existing restrictions will remain in place while the corrections department reviews the cases of thousands of sex-offender parolees to decide if the residency law should still apply. That review is expected to take two months.

 High-risk sex offenders with a current or prior conviction for lewd acts on a child under 14 will still be prohibited from living within a half-mile of any K-12 school, Patino said.

 “We expect parole agents when looking at a person’s conviction history, such as sexually abusing children, they will still be placed under that restriction,” he said. “If they don’t show a propensity for sexually abusing children, then they won’t have it.”

 California has 6,000 sex offender parolees living in communities across the state who are required to register for life with police and disclose their address on a publicly searchable database, established under “Megan’s Law.”

 Loosening the restrictions on sex offenders drew criticism from George Runner, a former Republican state senator and author of Jessica’s Law.

 “To do this across the board when the Supreme Court declined to do that, this is way beyond what the court did,” Runner said. “The voters overwhelming supported this.”

 Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez |||||Summary:

– In an attempt to cut down on the number of transient sex offenders wandering around without a place to call home, California state prison officials announced yesterday they'd be relaxing rules that ban all registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will now review each parolee's case individually, and a spokesman for the CDCR says "high-risk" offenders who've been convicted of sexually abusing a child under the age of 14 still won't be allowed within a half-mile of any K-12 school. California residents had voted for the "Jessica's Law" residency legislation in 2006, but the state Supreme Court ruled March 2 that the law was unconstitutional in San Diego County, the Los Angeles Times reports. While "the court’s ruling is specific to San Diego County, its rationale isn't," explains the spokesman. Those who opposed the law have pointed out that the restrictions had kept parolees from finding a place to live in urban areas, where employment and rehab services are more plentiful, per the Chronicle. The more stringent housing rules will apply while the cases of some 6,000 California sex offenders are reviewed, which should take about two months, the paper notes.


– XLVI—the number of Sunday's Super Bowl—may be clunky, but at least it doesn't come with baggage. The NFL is preparing for the 50th Super Bowl in 2016, which will be Super Bowl L. Insiders are wary of T-shirts emblazoned with giant Ls: It could look like fans are just big losers, the Wall Street Journal notes. The "L" hand gesture is more recognizable than ever after TV's Glee adopted it in its logo. Maybe 2016 would "be a nice time to switch over to Arabic numerals," says an ad exec. The league, though, also has a few possible marketing options. The game could be held in an L city, like London or Los Angeles, where the first Super Bowl took place. The host city hasn't been announced, but a league spokesman said talks have begun on "those types of details," referring to the L. It's a challenge for the league, but Adidas—whose Reebok brand will soon be replaced by Nike as the NFL's official gear manufacturer—is excited. "L standing for loser with a Nike swoosh right above it—I love that," says a rep. (In more imminent Super Bowl news, click to watch the best Super Bowl ad you won't see in America.)

Expand this summary.

We all know commercials are produced to make money. But after watching the latest Budweiser commercial set to air during the Super Bowl, I feel like not only supporting the brand, but hugging whoever was in charge of the ad.

 In the ad, entitled "Flash Fans," the producers of Budweiser tell two Port Credit, Ontario beer-league hockey teams that they are shooting a documentary of them as they get set to play against one another.

 Instead, they fill an entire empty arena with die-hard fans covered in body paint and holding thundersticks and banners. The look on the players' faces is priceless.

 Obviously, Budweiser's main goal is to sell beer. However, there are ways to go about it that can actually be inspirational. These were two teams planning on once again playing in front of an empty arena. Instead, they experienced what the pros experience. Judging by the 4-3 overtime score, they may have played above expectations.

 Said one player, "Not that I was ever in the professional leagues anywhere. However, this is how I would imagine it would be."

 We can only imagine what it must have been for these players. To get a full crowd just once in Canada must have been a dream come true.

 With so much emphasis on the pro game, it's sometimes hard to forget that all those professional players were once like these guys, fighting to make it up to the big leagues. Even if none of these guys ever make it up to the Big Show, they play the sport because they love it, which is sometimes lost in professional sports.

 This was one of the most refreshing ads I've seen in a long time and we should all crack a cold one in Budweiser's honor. ||||| Associated Press Dallas's Leon Lett before his infamous fumble in Super Bowl XXVII (which the Cowboys won).

 Associated Press Atlanta's Chris Chandler in XXXIII

 The NFL is four years away from its 50th Super Bowl, which means it is already trying to plan around a peculiar self-inflicted marketing nuisance: How can the world's most powerful sports league get around putting a big, fat "L" on hundreds of thousands of souvenir T-shirts?

 The first thing the winning players will do when Sunday's game ends is drape themselves in celebratory gear emblazoned with the Super Bowl logo. This year, that logo consists of the Lombardi Trophy above the silver Roman numerals XLVI.

 But come 2016, the Roman numeral for Super Bowl L happens to be the lone letter that most connotes losing.

 "Wouldn't that be a nice time to switch over to Arabic numerals?" said Bob Dorfman, the executive creative director for Baker Street Advertising.

 This enormous American sporting event is the only spectacle of its kind that takes its nomenclature from the ancient Romans. Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle never could have imagined the behemoth that is the modern NFL when he resorted to these numerals in 1971 for Super Bowl V. Back then, they helped distinguish between the different calendar years of the regular season and the Super Bowl while adding an air of grandiosity to the fledgling championship.

 The NFL is four years away from its 50th Super Bowl. How can the NFL get around putting a big, fat "L" on hundreds of thousands of souvenir T-shirts? Ben Cohen joins digits. Photo: Getty Images.

 The NFL has come a long way since the days when the Super Bowl needed an injection of hype. Now the Roman numerals are "part of the mystique of the Super Bowl," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.

 Even more unlikely than the Super Bowl's ascent to the top of the annual TV ratings chart is the fact that the league is dealing with a problem that's been made infinitely worse by a show about a high-school glee club.

 Associated Press Buffalo's Scott Norwood in XXV

 In the 2003 book "Field Guide to Gestures," the "loser gesture" was referenced as forming the letter L on your forehead with your index finger and thumb. The book offered a five-step primer that ended: "Say 'loser' with derision, generally elongating the first syllable."

 The sign has perpetuated in movies and TV shows since at least the 1990s. The book traced the lineage to the 1994 movie "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," starring Jim Carrey. A year earlier, the L had a cameo in "The Sandlot," in which the bespectacled baseball player Michael "Squints" Palledorous referred to another character as an "L-7 weenie" as he formed a diamond with two Ls. Kelly Preston's character famously made the sign to Tom Cruise in 1996's "Jerry Maguire." And the poster for the 2000 movie "Loser" depicted Jason Biggs showing off the L on his own forehead while wearing a fur-trapper hat.

 Most recently, the symbol was featured in promotional materials for "Glee" and has become something like a secret handshake for "Gleeks" since the show's 2009 premiere.

 Awkward Numerals Past and future Super Bowls • IV (1970) • XXX (1996) • XXXVIII (2004) • L (2016) • LIX (2025) • C (2066) • DI (2513) • MD (3466)

 The gesture is so universal that some brand experts believe the 50th Super Bowl might emphasize those pleasingly round Arabic numerals more than the traditional Roman ones.

 "Who knows? They may not use the L," said Tony Ponturo, the CEO of Ponturo Management Group, a sports consulting firm. "I don't think they'll walk away from the L, but I have a feeling they'll figure out a way to incorporate the 50th anniversary."

 The NFL hasn't announced the host city for the 50th Super Bowl, but it has begun talks about Super Bowl L and "those types of details," McCarthy said. He added: "I'm doing that signal to my friend right now."

 Related Video

 Bigger TVs and lots of deals on new sets make staying home better than going to the game, writes Rex Crum. (Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

 SmartMoney's Jonnelle Marte on Lunch Break blitzes through the hype of the Super Bowl and points out some little-known aspects of America's favorite sporting event.

 The official Super Bowl logo has evolved over the years from a simple text logo to a graphical multicolor concoction. Last year, for the first time, the Lombardi Trophy was incorporated into the insignia. It was included again this time.

 In the next four years, the NFL may unearth new means of interpretation for the L. McCarthy dryly noted it could stand for "learning" or "love." Just as Super Bowl XL in 2006 was tailor-made for apparel, Dorfman suggested the NFL could spin Super Bowl L as the largest Super Bowl ever.

 Then there is the option of awarding Super Bowl L to a city that might integrate the Roman numeral into a logo. Colts owner Jim Irsay said this week that London remained a possibility for Super Bowl L. The site of the first Super Bowl, Los Angeles, currently lacks an NFL franchise but is considered a contender for the 2016 game. "We're well aware of where the first Super Bowl was held," McCarthy said.

 NFL Playoff Dossiers View Interactive An interactive graphic charting how the Giants and Patriots stack up.

 This won't be the first time the NFL has tackled issues pertaining to Roman numerals. In 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, a law that required schools and libraries to censor parts of the Web, even as librarians pointed to filters that blocked searches for Super Bowl XXX. There is nothing sexy-sounding about Super Bowl XLVI, but the longest sequence of Roman numerals in the game's history, XXXVIII in 2004, produced a game between the Panthers and Patriots that was arguably one of the best ever.

 One outfit that won't have to worry about the L is Reebok. The Adidas subsidiary will be replaced after this Super Bowl by Nike, which declined to comment about its future partnership with the NFL, as the official manufacturer of league apparel.

 "L standing for loser with a Nike swoosh right above it—I love that," said Blake Lundberg, general manager of Adidas' sports licensed division. |||||


– Scientists say they have the first physical evidence of a grisly truth from Jamestown: Colonists in the brutal winter of 1609 resorted to cannibalism, reports USA Today. Anthropologists studying the partial remains of a teenage girl—including her skull, jaw, and leg bone—say they bear the unmistakable marks of a cleaver and knife, reports the Washington Post. She had been, for lack of a better word, butchered. “Historians have to decide whether this type of thing happened,” says one of the Smithsonian scientists who worked on the project. “I think that it did. We didn’t see anybody eat this flesh, but it’s very strong evidence.” It's not clear whether the girl was a servant or perhaps the daughter of a colonist, or whether she was killed to be eaten or eaten after she died. Forensic scientists have re-created her face, though she will likely remain forever unidentified.

Expand this summary.

CLOSE Scientists say they've found archaeological evidence to support rumors they previously were skeptical of: that starving colonists at Jamestown, Virginia, turned to cannibalism to survive. (May 1) AP

 Marks of butchery evident on teen's remains discovered at the site.

 This August 2012 photo shows four shallow chops to an incomplete skull excavated in Jamestown, Va., by William Kelso of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. (Photo: Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian) Story Highlights During the 'starving time,' only 60 of 300 colonists survived

 Researchers: Skull shows signs of cannibalization

 Final blow split the cranium open

 WASHINGTON -- Jamestown's colonists resorted to cannibalism during the "starving time" winter of 1609-10, archaeologists confirmed Wednesday.

 In a briefing at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, archaeologist Doug Owsley presented the reconstructed skull of a 14-year-old English girl, named "Jane" by the researchers, discovered at the site of the fort and bearing the marks of butchery.

 "The skull was split in half, most likely with a lightweight ax or quite possibly, a cleaver," Owsley said at the briefing. Cut marks crisscrossing the skull and jaw of the girl indicate her flesh, tongue and brains were removed from the skull, Owsley said. Those were traditional cuts for animal butchery of the time, "all parts of the cuisine of the 17th century," he said.

 Jamestown was founded in 1607 by English colonists. The starving time was a period two years later in which 80% of the colonists died. Besieged by Powhatan Indians in their wooden fort, the settlers had been joined by new colonists late that summer, among them women and children, whose main supply ship had disappeared in a storm, leaving them without food. Only 60 of 300 people survived the winter.

 "They were so emaciated when they were rescued that they were described as resembling skeletons," says historian James Horn of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, who spoke at the briefing. Records kept by the colony's governor, George Percy, make clear references to cannibalism during the winter, Horn says. "The English would have only resorted to cannibalism under the most severe circumstances," he added.

 VIDEO: Cannibalism at Jamestown confirmed

 Owsley reported on the forensic analysis of 17th century human remains and a reconstruction of her appearance made by forensic scientists. The remains had been excavated by Jamestown archaeologists led by William Kelso of the Jamestown Recovery Project in 2012 as part of a 20-year excavation of the James Fort site. "We don't believe Jane was a lone case," Kelso said.

 This April 2013 photo shows a forensic facial reconstruction produced by StudioEIS of Brooklyn, N.Y., in consultation with William Kelso of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. (Photo: Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian)

 "This is amazingly interesting, but it also confirms stories of cannibalism from the settlers themselves," says Charles Mann, author of 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. "Things were indeed terrible during those early years," Mann says, by email.

 While not all colonial-era historians agreed that cannibalism took place at Jamestown, most modern ones generally credited the accounts (one man was executed for eating his wife) as reliable. Horn and Owsley argued the butchery marks on Jane provide stronger evidence for the practice. "No one can say with authoritative certainty exactly why this young lady was cut up, but given the context, it looks like butcher's marks," Owsley said.

 In the briefing, he identified a number of features on the skull and a shin bone that indicated that Jane was cannibalized. Four shallow chops to the forehead were attempted in a first, failed attempt to open the skull. The back of the head was then split open. The final blow split the cranium open.

 "The person doing this was not a very good, or experienced butcher," Owsley said. Chop marks on the shin bone resemble more conventional butchers' marks seen on animal bones from the time, indicating that more than one person may have been involved in cannibalizing the girl. She was doubtless one of the newly arrived settlers, though still not definitively identified. An exhibition devoted to the discovery will open this Friday at the Historic Jamestowne site, and her reconstructed face will be displayed at the Smithsonian museum.

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/18cNUHU ||||| Douglas Owsley, a physical anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution, left, and Jamestown archaeologist William Kelso unveil the reconstruction from the remains of "Jane," a 17th-century teenager from Jamestown who researchers believe may have been the victim of cannibalism at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington.

 May 1, 2013 Douglas Owsley, a physical anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution, left, and Jamestown archaeologist William Kelso unveil the reconstruction from the remains of "Jane," a 17th-century teenager from Jamestown who researchers believe may have been the victim of cannibalism at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Linda Davidson/The Washington Post

 Researchers create a reconstruction from remains of a 14-year-old girl of the Jamestown colony who may have been a victim of cannibalism.

 Researchers create a reconstruction from remains of a 14-year-old girl of the Jamestown colony that may have been a victim of cannibalism.

 Researchers create a reconstruction from remains of a 14-year-old girl of the Jamestown colony that may have been a victim of cannibalism.

 The first chops, to the forehead, did not go through the bone and are perhaps evidence of hesitancy about the task. The next set, after the body was rolled over, was more effective. One cut split the skull all the way to the base.

 “The person is truly figuring it out as they go,” said Douglas Owsley, a physical anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution.

 In the meantime, someone — perhaps with more experience — was working on a leg. The tibia bone is broken with a single blow, as one might do in butchering a cow.

 That’s one possible version of an event that took place sometime during the winter of 1609-1610 in Jamestown. What’s certain is that some members of that desperate colony resorted to cannibalism to survive.

 That cannibalism occurred during the colony’s “starving time” was never in much doubt. At least a half-dozen accounts, by people who lived through the period or spoke to colonists who did, describe occasional acts of cannibalism that winter. They include reports of corpses being exhumed and eaten, a husband killing his wife and salting her flesh (for which he was executed), and the mysterious disappearance of foraging colonists.

 This 14-year old girl was eaten. She has been reconstructed after archaeologists found her bones in Jamestown, Virginia. Her remains show that she died during the “starving time” period and bare the telltale signs of cannibalism. (The Fold/The Washington Post)

 The proof comes in the form of fragments of a skeleton of a girl, about age 14, found in a cellar full of debris in the fort on the James River that sheltered the starving colonists. The skull, lower jaw and leg bone — all that remain — have the telltale marks of an ax or cleaver and a knife.

 “Historians have to decide whether this type of thing happened,” said Owsley, who has examined thousands of skeletal remains, both archaeological and forensic. “I think that it did. We didn’t see anybody eat this flesh. But it’s very strong evidence.”

 James Horn, head of research at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and a historian on the colony, said the discovery “adds a significant confirmation to what was reported to have occurred at Jamestown.” Further, it’s the only physical evidence of cannibalism of Europeans in any New World colony, although, as with Jamestown, there are written accounts of the practice in others.

 “I tend to be sparing in the use of words like ‘unique.’ But I think this is one of those finds that literally is,” Horn said.

 About 300 people inhabited the fort in November 1609. By spring, there were only 60. The girl, most likely a maidservant but possibly the daughter of a colonist, was one of the casualties.

 Her bones were unearthed last August as part of the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological project begun in 1994. About 18 inches of fill remain in the cellar, so it’s possible more of her skeleton will be found. Enough of her skull exists, however, to imagine what she might have looked like, using CT scanning, computer graphics, sculpture materials and demographic data.

 The bones, the reconstruction of her head and the story were presented Wednesday at an event at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The remains will be displayed at the Archaearium, the museum at the Jamestown fort archaeological site, starting this weekend. A warning sign at the room’s entrance notes that human remains are on view. There are no depictions of bodies being butchered, cooked or consumed.

 The starving time nearly ended the colony, which was riven by internal dissent, under attack by Powhatan Indians and short of food almost from its founding in 1607. A resupply fleet of nine vessels had left Plymouth, England, on June 2, 1609. Aboard, including crew, were 500 people, of which perhaps three dozen were women and girls. The fleet was struck by a hurricane on July 23, 1609. One ship sank. The flagship, Sea Venture, wrecked on Bermuda. Most of the passengers and crew escaped to the island, an event that became the kernel of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Among the survivors was the colony’s incoming lieutenant governor, Thomas Gates. (The marooned fashioned two boats from the wreck’s remains and miraculously sailed into Jamestown the next May.)

 The seven other ships, scattered and damaged, sailed on. Six arrived in mid-August, with the girl, whom the researchers have named “Jane,” almost certainly on one of them. The seventh ship arrived in October.

 The new arrivals — about 300 people — proved to be as much a drain on the colony as a relief.

 The ships’ crews hoarded provisions. The summer corn crop was enough to feed only about 50 people for a year. The colony’s military leader, Capt. John Smith, sent two groups of colonists upstream and downstream to fend for themselves. He was badly wounded in what was probably an assassination attempt and in October sailed home with the ships. By then, people were already going hungry.

 The girl’s bones were found mixed with those of a horse, dogs and squirrels — testament to the extreme food sources the colonists turned to that winter. They were part of the trash collected in a fort-wide cleanup and dumped in the cellar before the arrival of the colony’s governor, Lord De La Warr, the following June.

 The cause of her death isn’t known. The tentative cuts to the front of the skull and the deeper ones to the back are close together — evidence that she was dead, not squirming, when they were made. The temporal bone was pried off to reach the brain. There are dozens of cuts to the jaw, suggesting that muscle was stripped from it.

 Could the marks have been left by animals?

 “Not a chance,” Owsley said. “I deal with this all the time. Not a chance.” In fact, he says with confidence that the dissector or dissectors were right-handed.

 Chemical analysis of the bone reveals an enriched “nitrogen profile,” evidence of lots of protein in the girl’s diet. That, in turn, suggests she was a member of a high-born family or at least lived in such a household for much of her life.

 She wouldn’t have gone to Jamestown alone. Whoever accompanied her was probably dead by the time she became food for the starving. “If she’d had a family to protect her — after death as well as before — this probably wouldn’t have happened,” Horn said.

 Learning who she was will be difficult. Complete passenger lists for the voyages don’t exist. Research into the Virginia Company’s sponsors in Plymouth might reveal a family with a girl born in 1595 or 1596 who went to America. There may be extractable DNA in the bone fragments, but at this point, there are no descendants to compare it with.

 Even the appearance that Owsley and his collaborator, Kari Bruwelheide, gave the girl is to some extent guesswork.

 They used the thickness of facial tissue seen among girls in contemporary southern England to gauge Jane’s. They gave her consensus hair — light brown — not the red or blond of other latitudes and regions. They also chose not to depict her as she undoubtedly was before death — gaunt and emaciated.

 “But I didn’t make her look like a healthy, plump teenager either,” Owsley said. “I’m putting her in her circumstances.”

 Those include dirt on her face and a thousand-yard stare, but not, alas, her name. |||||


Summarize this article:

About “Hail Mary”

 “Hail Mary” is in keeping with the Baroque themes of the Makaveli album, and also features some impressive verses by Pac’s little homies, the Outlawz (which is rare)

 This song is said to be recorded in July 8th 1996 in 30 minutes.

 The song captures 2Pac zoning out the violence and negativity surrounding him, trying to have a convo with his Spiritual Mother.

 Pac wrote his verses for this song in 15 minutes and the entire song was made in 30 minutes

 This song is as chilling as it is spiritual. Tupac released “Hail Mary” when he had repeated visions of himself dying in the imminent future.

 The music video represents Pac (as the buried Makaveli) rising from the dead to answer the prayers of a prison inmate who was wrongfully convicted of a friend’s crime. The prisoner’s prayers are answered in the form of karma.

 To see annotations on this song by the cast and author of the Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me, which tells a powerful story of today using Pac’s music, see here. ||||| (CNN) Christmas carols aren't supposed to have lyrics like "revenge is like the sweetest joy, next to getting p***y."

 But that's exactly what churchgoers in Sri Lanka saw in booklets at a carol service on December 11.

 What they expected was the words to the Hail Mary, a common Christian prayer. What they got instead was the profanity-laced lyrics to rap legend Tupac Shakur's Hail Mary.

 Andrew Choksy, who attended the Joy to the World service where the lyrics were distributed, said he recognized the Tupac song straight away.

 A Christmas Carol service in Sri Lanka has accidentally printed the lyrics of Tupac's Hail Mary, instead of the prayer.#SriLanka #lka pic.twitter.com/djhJPAWhcj — Ravindu Thimantha G. (@IamRavindu) December 25, 2016

 "A lot of people were in shock as whether it was a joke or someone would actually rap the song," he told CNN. "A few of the older ladies in front of us could not stop looking at the printed booklet."

 Read More ||||| Rapper’s lyrics appear mistakenly on programme of one of Sri Lanka’s largest services in place of Christmas prayer

 A Christmas carol service in Sri Lanka surprised churchgoers by mistakenly supplying the lyrics to the Tupac Shakur song, Hail Mary, instead of those of the traditional Christian prayer.

 Pictures of the programme from Joy to the World 2016, one of Sri Lanka’s largest carol services, were shared widely across social media over the Christmas weekend.

 It lists the opening lyrics to the Hail Mary, a 1,000-year old prayer based on passages from the Gospel of Luke, as: “Makaveli in this … Killuminati, all through your body. The blows like a twelve-gauge shotty.”

 Jithendra Antonio (@JANTONIO) OMG! #News @Pontifex @CatholicNewsSvc DoYouKnow? SriLanka Archdiocese of #Colombo used #2pac(Hail Mary-Tupac)as a Carol in a Book #LKA @CNN pic.twitter.com/YwfXQ4TfUA

 The lyrics are in fact those of a 1997 track by the rapper Tupac Shakur.

 Both renditions ask Mary, venerated as the mother of Jesus, to intercede on behalf of sinners, though Tupac’s version is more exhaustive in detailing the exact sins in question, including murder and drug-dealing.

 The pictures were taken by Andrew Choksy, a Colombo man who attended the service. “A lot of people around us were in shock as to whether it was a joke, or if someone would actually rap the song,” he said.

 “A few of the older ladies in front of us could not stop looking at the printed booklet.” He said he sent the pictures of the programme to friends, from where they spread and eventually found their way online.

 “No explanation was given [by organisers] at all,” he said. “They didn’t acknowledge it at the venue. To be honest, I don’t think many people saw the booklet at all. The people that realised were shocked at first but then took it in good humour around me,” he said.

 “To be honest, I was bursting inside.” |||||

– There are many variations of Christmas carols, but worshipers in Sri Lanka were stunned to find an R-rated version of a classic prayer in their holiday program. Andrew Choksy knew immediately the "Hail Mary" he was reading with references to female genitalia, drugs, guns, and the N-word was penned by rapper Tupac Shakur. "A lot of people were in shock as whether it was a joke or someone would actually rap the song," he tells CNN. "A few of the older ladies in front of us could not stop looking at the printed booklet. Instead of "Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with you," Tupac's version asks the Virgin Mother, "Do you wanna ride or die? I ain’t a killer, but don’t push me. Revenge is like the sweetest joy next to gettin’ p----." Pictures of the explicit lyrics went viral on social media, reports the Guardian. The mistake marred the Joy to the World service, an anti-poverty fundraiser, held earlier this month in Colombo's Nelum Pokuna Theater. A priest from the Colombo Archdiocese tells CNN a "young boy" erred by downloading the wrong version of the prayer in a booklet of Christmas carols. "When people looked at this page, they saw it before the start of the show," he says. "Two people saw it and alerted us to it." Tupac was killed in a still-unsolved Las Vegas shooting in 1996. He is due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year. (These rappers have a bigger vocabulary than Shakespeare.)


Summarize this article:

A nine-year-old boy from Los Banos has completed quite the journey on Tuesday, as he swam through the San Francisco Bay, all the way to Alcatraz Island and back.

 James Savage is hoping to be the youngest swimmer on record to make the swim. The title is currently held by a 10-year-old. It's been quite an emotion day in San Francisco, but it ended with smiles and cheers as James walked on shore, after hours in the Bay.

 James began the swim at 7:00 a.m., and it took him a little over two hours to complete the feat. He struggled for a big out in the open water, about 30 minutes into the swim. James said the waves were hitting him, and the current was too strong, making it difficult for him to fight them.

 In the end, however, with help from his coach and a promise from his father, James found his second wind, and was off.

 "I wanted to turn back and they kept yelling, 'I believe I you you can do it'," said James.

 "We kind of pushed each other. Finally got him going. Smooth sailing all the way," said Josh Weinberger, Jame's coach.

 James' father said he James completed the swim, he would receive $100, and on the water, James' father upped the offer to $200, just to get James going again. Now that this swimming feat is completed, James said his next goal is to swim the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is 8,981 feet (2,737.4 meters). ||||| Mercey Springs Elementary student James Savage fields questions from reporters after the 9-year-old Los Banos boy swam from the San Francisco Aquatic Park to Alcatraz and back Tuesday morning. Jillian Savage ||||| Just keep swimming.

 That's what helped 9-year-old James Savage brave strong currents and cold water Tuesday morning as he swam from the San Francisco shoreline to Alcatraz Island and back — a total distance of over two miles.

 James — at just 4-foot-6 and 57 pounds — was able to set a record as the youngest swimmer to make the journey to the former prison, reported NBC affiliate KSEE.

 By completing the grueling open water challenge, the fourth-grader from Los Banos, Calif., has broken a record previously held by a 10-year-old boy who completed the tiring trek last year.

 James Savage, a 9-year-old boy from Los Banos, Calif, swam through the San Francisco Bay, all the way to Alcatraz Island and back on June 14, 2016. KSEE

 James said that waves in the San Francisco Bay kept hitting him in the face 30 minutes into his swim and made him want to give up. A fleet of paddlers stayed by his side the entire time.

 "I wanted to turn back and they kept yelling, 'I believe you can do it,'" James told KSEE.

 James' coach, Josh Weinberger, was confident with all of the boy's training that he had the technique and fortitude to finish. |||||

– Nine-year-old James Savage may have a new Guinness World Record under his belt. The California boy swam from the shore of San Francisco to Alcatraz Island and back on Tuesday, becoming the youngest swimmer to complete the two-mile trip, per NBC News. A 10-year-old boy previously held the record after completing the swim last year. Savage—whose swim was streamed online—says he wanted to give up 30 minutes into the two-hour swim as the waves kept hitting him in the face. But his coach and a fellow swimmer who kayaked alongside him "kept yelling, 'I believe you can do it,'" James tells KSEE. "I was so happy for him," James' mom says. "I'm most proud of what it took for him to get here." James had previously completed one leg of the journey but trained six hours a day to complete the full swim. His dad promised him $100 when it was all over, but handed over $200 because of his son’s effort. "The waves were a lot bigger than I expected," James says. "At first, I was kind of scared." A Guinness World Records rep says there's no official world record for the swim but the group will review James' feat, per the Merced Sun Star. Meanwhile, James' next swim will be easier, but only slightly. He plans to swim the 1.7-mile length of the Golden Gate Bridge.


Article:
FILE - In this Friday, April 22, 2016 file photo, authorities set up road blocks at the intersection of Union Hill Road and Route 32 at the perimeter of a crime scene, in Pike County, Ohio. As the investigation... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Friday, April 22, 2016 file photo, authorities set up road blocks at the intersection of Union Hill Road and Route 32 at the perimeter of a crime scene, in Pike County, Ohio. As the investigation into the killings of eight family members in rural Ohio enters its fifth day, more details... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Friday, April 22, 2016 file photo, authorities set up road blocks at the intersection of Union Hill Road and Route 32 at the perimeter of a crime scene, in Pike County, Ohio. As the investigation into the killings of eight family members in rural Ohio enters its fifth day, more details... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Friday, April 22, 2016 file photo, authorities set up road blocks at the intersection of Union Hill Road and Route 32 at the perimeter of a crime scene, in Pike County, Ohio. As the investigation... (Associated Press)

 CINCINNATI (AP) — A coroner's report released Tuesday showed new details of vicious violence in the shooting deaths of eight members of a rural southern Ohio family, finding most victims were shot three to nine times each and some of them were bruised. Meanwhile, the hunt for whoever is responsible continued to expand, with more than 200 law enforcement officials involved.

 A 911 caller on Friday said the bodies of two people found in one home looked to be beaten up. Attorney General Mike DeWine has called the slayings a carefully planned and "sophisticated operation" carried out against eight members of the Rhoden family by one or more killers.

 The Hamilton County coroner said the victims — three women, four men and a 16-year-old boy — had wounds to their heads, torso and other parts of the body. Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco said one victim had a single wound, one had two wounds, and the rest had three or more. The report didn't specify which victim had which number of wounds.

 Some victims showed "signs of soft tissue bruising," her report stated. Sammarco's office declined to discuss its findings, citing the ongoing investigation. Funeral arrangements for the victims hadn't yet been announced.

 Authorities haven't suggested a motive or suspects. DeWine has said there were marijuana-growing operations found at three of the four places where bodies were found in Pike County, a rural Appalachian Mountain region roughly 80 miles east of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

 DeWine said Tuesday that investigators have received more than 300 tips and are still serving search warrants. He said 79 pieces of evidence have been sent to a state crime lab for testing and analysis, including for DNA and fingerprints.

 Ohio and Pike County authorities are leading the investigation, with help from some two dozen other agencies including other county sheriffs. The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration are also offering assistance.

 A woman who called 911 on Friday morning to report finding two of the bodies said that she saw "blood all over the house" and that the two looked like they had been badly beaten.

 The victims are 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; their cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden, and 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, whose 6-month old son with Frankie was unharmed.

 Two other children, Hanna Rhoden's 4-day-old daughter and Frankie Rhoden's 3-year-old son, also were unharmed.

 Leonard Manley, father of Dana Rhoden, told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he first learned about the marijuana operations from news reports. Manley, 64, said he's sure his daughter couldn't have been involved in anything illegal.

 "They are trying to drag my daughter through the mud, and I don't appreciate that," said Manley, whose three grandchildren — Dana's children — were also among the dead.

 Manley also found it suspicious that any assailants were able to get by his daughter's two dogs.

 "Whoever done it knows the family," Manley said. "There were two dogs there that would eat you up."

 DeWine said Monday there was also possible evidence of cockfighting at one of the properties, but he didn't know if it was relevant to the investigation.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Kantele Franko, Ann Sanner and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus and Lisa Cornwell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.

 ___

 This story has been corrected to show Hanna Rhoden's daughter was 4 days old, not 6 months. ||||| COLUMBUS, Ohio --Seven of eight relatives who were killed in their southern Ohio homes Friday had been shot multiple times, including one who was shot nine times, according to autopsy results released Tuesday.

 Some also had bruising, which matched a report from a 911 caller who said two appeared to have been beaten up.

 The Hamilton County coroner said the victims - three women, four men and a 16-year-old boy - had wounds to their heads, torso and other parts of the body. Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco's report said one victim had a single wound, one had two wounds, and the rest had three or more. The report didn't specify which victim had which number of wounds.

 Ohio's attorney general has called the deaths carefully planned slayings carried out at four locations in Piketon, a rural Appalachian Mountain region community. Mike DeWine has also said there were marijuana growing operations at three of the locations where bodies were found.

 Investigators are also looking at the possibility a Mexican drug cartel is behind the pre-planned execution of the family.

 A law enforcement source confirmed to CBS News that investigators found some 200 marijuana plants. They were inside an indoor grow operation that was found in some of the homes where the eight members of the Rhoden family were executed.

 The size of the operation, according to the source, indicates the marijuana was being grown for sale and not for personal use.

 "There is a drug problem in most areas around here," said Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader.

 Law enforcement sources estimate that the street value of the marijuana plants is nearly half a million dollars.

 But Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who is heading up the investigation, couldn't say with certainty whether that may have been a factor in the murders.

 "We have no idea. I mean you know we're running those leads out, there's many different theories," DeWine said.

 DeWine said Tuesday that investigators have received more than 300 tips and are continuing to serve search warrants in an effort to identify the killer or killers. He said 79 pieces of evidence have been sent to a state crime lab for testing and analysis.

 Authorities have said members of the Rhoden family were targeted in the slayings.

 A woman who called 911 Friday morning to report finding two of the bodies said that she saw "blood all over the house" and that the two looked like they had been badly beaten.

 The victims are 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, Dana Rhoden; their three children, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; their cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden; and 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, whose 6-month old son with Frankie was unharmed. Two other children, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old, were also unharmed.

 Leonard Manley, father of Dana Rhoden, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he first learned about the marijuana operations from news reports. Manley, 64, said he's sure his daughter couldn't have been involved in anything illegal.

 "They are trying to drag my daughter through the mud, and I don't appreciate that," said Manley, whose three grandchildren - Dana's children - were also among the dead.

 Manley also noted that the assailant was able to get by his daughter's two dogs.

 "Whoever done it knows the family," Manley said. "There were two dogs there that would eat you up."

 Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk told the Columbus Dispatch on Monday that the marijuana operations included a grow house sheltering hundreds of plants.

 "It wasn't just somebody sitting pots in the window," Junk said.

 DeWine said Monday there was also possible evidence of cockfighting at one of the properties, but he didn't know what was relevant to the investigation.

 More than a dozen counselors, clergy and psychologists arrived at the local high school on Monday to help friends and neighbors cope with their grief as they remembered the victims as loyal and caring people.

 Dana Rhoden "always wanted what was best for her kids," Scioto Valley Local School District Superintendent Todd Burkitt said.

 The youngest victim, Christopher Rhoden Jr., was a freshman at Piketon High School.

 "He was the first one that if he thought that someone wasn't being treated fairly or felt like someone wasn't being treated appropriately, he would speak up about it," Burkitt said.

 Hanna and Frankie Rhoden also had attended the school.

 While authorities have not released any details about a motive, the attorney general's office did confirm Monday that one of the victims had received a threat via Facebook. Authorities didn't elaborate.

 A Cincinnati-area businessman offered a $25,000 reward for details leading to those responsible. ||||| Rumors swirling on the street far outnumbered any official information released Monday about last week's killing of eight members of one family in Pike County, yet the trickled-out details allowed a clearer picture of the Rhodens and the murder investigation now entering its fifth day.

 PIKETON, Ohio - Rumors swirling on the street far outnumbered any official information released Monday about last week's killing of eight members of one family in Pike County, yet the trickled-out details allowed a clearer picture of the Rhodens and the murder investigation now entering its fifth day.

 The Pike County prosecutor said for the first time that the marijuana operations discovered at three of the four Rhoden property crime scenes were far from a few illicit plants growing in somebody's backyard for recreational use.

 Prosecutor Rob Junk said that one of the marijuana grow sites was indoors, and there were several hundred plants found.

 "It wasn't just somebody sitting pots in the window," he said.

 And the Ohio attorney general's office said that animals and structures on the property indicate that roosters were being bred there for cockfighting.

 >> Complete coverage

 >> Graphic: Rhoden family tree

 >> Video: Professor on call for citizens to arm themselves

 Yet Junk said law-enforcement had been familiar with the Rhodens only for other reasons. "Altercations with people, that sort of thing," he said. "Nothing like this."

 The dead who were found on Friday morning: Dana Rhoden, 37; Dana's ex-husband, Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; their children, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, Hanna Rhoden, 19, and Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20; Frankie's fiancee, Hannah Gilley, 20; Kenneth Rhoden, 44, who is Rhoden Sr.'s brother; and Gary Rhoden, 38, Rhoden Sr.'s cousin.

 The law-enforcement response into the investigation remains massive. No one has been arrested, and officials have not said that they have any particular suspects in mind.

 Also new on Monday, authorities said that all eight autopsies have been finished and that donations to help the family can be made through the Rhoden Memorial Fund at any Fifth Third Bank. No funeral arrangements have been announced.

 The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, part of the Ohio attorney general's office, still has at least 35 special agents, crime-scene investigators and analysts in Piketon to assist Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader's office.

 "This is unprecedented," Attorney General Mike DeWine said both of the ghastliness of the crime and the response to the investigation. "I don't know that in the history of the BCI that we've tackled anything of this magnitude."

 In light of the drug operations, he said the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration are aware of the situation and have offered to help.

 No one has officially offered a motive, but speculation is running rampant about how the marijuana signals some connection to a Mexican drug cartel. That is largely fueled by the fact that in 2012, BCI agents - during their annual hunt for marijuana plants - found 1,200 plants growing on a Pike County hillside. They also found abandoned camps with evidence that Mexican nationals had stayed there. At the time, DeWine said he suspected the work of a cartel.

 Authorities have not publicly addressed such a connection with this investigation, but they have said the killings - with each victim shot in the head while sleeping - were sophisticated and well-planned and that the killers covered their tracks.

 Todd Burkitt is superintendent of Scioto Valley schools, and he knew all of Dana and Christopher Rhoden's children because they had gone to school there; Christopher Rhoden Jr. was a current student at Piketon High School.

 These are the worst days of his career, Burkitt said, because his community is so troubled. He said there wasn't much education happening inside the schools Monday but mostly just an outpouring of support and love.

 He said that word of the marijuana operation at the Rhoden property doesn't change the facts in front of him.

 "You don't condone someone breaking the law, but we've had eight people murdered," Burkitt said. "No accusations or circumstances can lessen the barbaric nature of what happened here. We are all just sad."

 A reward of $25,000 is being offered for information in the case. Call 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446).

 hzachariah@dispatch.com

 @hollyzachariah

 rprice@dispatch.com

 @RitaPrice ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated By Elisha Fieldstadt and Gabe Gutierrez

 While investigators in Ohio struggled for a fifth day to find a motive and the person or people responsible for the massacre of eight members of the same family, officials said Tuesday that autopsy results revealed that some of the victims show signs of struggle before they were killed.

 The Pike County Medical Examiner said the eight victims — all part of the Rhoden family — died from gunshot wounds. One victim suffered nine gunshot wounds, and some victims showed soft tissue bruising, indicating that they fought their killer or killers, according to the medical examiner.

 Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden, Sr., 40; Christopher Rhoden, Jr., 16; Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20; Dana Rhoden, 37; Gary Rhoden, 38; Hanna Rhoden, 19; and Kenneth Rhoden, 44, of Piketon, were found dead Friday across four Pike County crime scenes.

 A 4-day-old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old survived the massacre, which authorities have described as "execution-style" and "pre-planned."

 Related: Piketon Massacre: Motive Undetermined, Despite Discovery of Marijuana 'Grow Operations'

 Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said Tuesday that investigators were looking at about 80 pieces of evidence and had received more than 300 tips, but did not say whether they have identified a suspect or suspects.

 On Sunday, DeWine said three separate marijuana "grow operations" were found during the searches of the crime scenes. Officials told NBC News on Tuesday that one of the grow operations was comprised of more than 100 marijuana plants, and the drugs were not for personal use by the grower.

 DeWine and Reader said Sunday that the county and the state as a whole have a "drug problem." A 2011 report said that the drug trafficking threat in Ohio was on the rise. More than $6 million in marijuana was seized last year, and more than 550 plants were seized from Pike County. Some Ohio counties saw less than 10 plants seized, while some had thousands seized last year.

 DeWine also said that birds in small cages were found at some of the crime scenes, which might indicate cockfighting was taking place, but the discovery was still under investigation. ||||| A coroner says seven of the eight victims in killings targeting a southern Ohio family were shot multiple times. The father of one of the victims says he had no knowledge of marijuana growing operations at three of the four crime scenes. (Published Tuesday, April 26, 2016)

 Seven of eight relatives slain in their southern Ohio homes were shot multiple times and some suffered bruising indicative of a struggle, according to autopsy results released Tuesday.

 The victims — all members of the Rhoden family — appear to have been targeted. Authorities said the carefully planned slayings were carried out at four locations in the rural community of Piketon, east of Cincinnati.

 Investigators uncovered marijuana growing operations at three of the crime scenes, according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who cautioned that it's still too early to speculate about a motive.

 "We're not ruling anything in; we're not ruling anything out," DeWine said.

 He said one of the victims received a threat on Facebook but declined to go into detail.

 Authorities also found evidence "consistent with cockfighting" at one of the properties, where birds were kept in "small, segregated cages," according to Jill Del Greco, a spokeswoman for Wine's office.

 "Whether or not cockfighting was actually happening, we don't know, but it is part of the investigation," Del Greco said.

 The victims have been identified as 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, Dana Rhoden; their three children, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; their cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden; and 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, whose 6-month old son with Frankie was unharmed. Two other children, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old, were also spared.

 The Hamilton County coroner said Tuesday the victims — three women, four men and a 16-year-old boy — suffered wounds to their heads, torsos and other areas.

 According to the autopsy report, one victim suffered a single wound, another was wounded twice, and the rest had three or more wounds. The report didn't specify which victim was which.

 A woman who called 911 Friday morning reported finding "blood all over the house" and two bodies that appeared to have been badly beaten. The coroner said "soft-tissue bruising" on some of the bodies indicated a possible struggle.

 Investigators have received more than 300 tips and are continuing to serve search warrants in an effort to identify the killer or killers, according to DeWine. He said 79 pieces of evidence have been sent to a state crime lab for testing and analysis.

 Dana Rhoden's father, 64-year-old Leonard Manley, said Monday his daughter was not involved in anything illegal.

 "They are trying to drag my daughter through the mud, and I don't appreciate that," said Manley, whose three grandchildren — Dana's children — were also among the dead.

 Manley also said the assailant was able to get by his daughter's two dogs, who were wary of strangers.

 "Whoever done it knows the family," Manley said. "There were two dogs there that would eat you up."

 A Cincinnati-area businessman offered a $25,000 reward for details leading to those responsible.

 Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York |||||Summary:

– While authorities say some of the victims of Ohio's "execution-style" killings died in their sleep, others may have put up a fight. Autopsies show some members of the Rhoden family had soft tissue bruising, suggesting they resisted their killer or killers, the Pike County Medical Examiner said Tuesday, per NBC News. A 911 caller who reported "blood all over the house" noted it looked like someone had "beat the hell out of" at least one victim. The autopsies confirmed all eight victims—three women, four men, and a 16-year-old boy—were fatally shot; one victim was shot once, one was shot twice, and the remaining victims were shot three or more times, including one person who had nine wounds. Authorities have yet to present a motive, though marijuana-growing operations were found at three of the four crime scenes. Sources say 200 plants recovered were worth about $500,000, reports CBS News. Birds were also found in "small, segregated cages," which is "consistent with cockfighting," says a rep for the Ohio attorney general, per NBC New York. A prosecutor tells the Columbus Dispatch that the family was previously known to police for "altercations with people, that sort of thing ... nothing like this." Police have received 300 tips, sent 79 pieces of evidence for analysis, and are still serving search warrants, reports the AP. (Police say the youngest victim had been threatened on Facebook.)


– President Trump escalated his Twitter war with CNN on Sunday, and in the process sparked more concern that he is advocating the use of violence against members of the media, the Hill reports. The president tweeted a modified video of a 2007 WWE wrestling match he took part in, obscuring his opponent's head with the CNN logo, which he proceeds to beat with his fists. Trump tweeted the video with the hashtags "#FraudNewsCNN" and "#FNN." A CNN spokesman called it "a sad day when the president of the United States encourages violence against reporters." But on ABC News, Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert suggested CNN and other critics were overreacting. "No one would perceive that as a threat," he said, adding that Trump is "beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to." The new video comes just a few days after Trump posted two tweets in which he talked about MSNBC's Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski "bleeding badly from a face-lift." Those tweets sparked condemnation from all over the political spectrum, with even Trump's fellow Republicans calling them unpresidential. On Saturday, however, Trump took to Twitter once again to address the backlash, writing, "My use of social media is not Presidential – it's MODERN DAY presidential," Politico reports. At a press conference Thursday, Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump "no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence," the Washington Post reports. "In fact quite the contrary."

Expand this summary.

...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no! ||||| President Trump's homeland security adviser defended the president's tweet Sunday morning showing him body-slamming and punching a person signifying CNN, saying “no one would perceive that as a threat.”

 Interested in Donald Trump? Add Donald Trump as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Donald Trump news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest

 Trump is "the most genuine president and the most nonpolitician president we’ve seen in my lifetime," Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert told ABC News' "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.

 Raddatz asked if the tweet is "the kind of communication you want ... That seems like a threat," she added.

 “Certainly not, though I think that no one would perceive that as a threat. I hope they don’t. I do think that [Trump is] beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to,” Bossert replied.

 The tweet included a GIF of a 2007 WWE incident where Trump body-slammed and repeatedly punched WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. The GIF that Trump tweeted superimposed the CNN logo on McMahon’s head.

 Bossert, who saw the tweet for the first time live on "This Week," told Raddatz, “There’s a lot of cable new shows that reach directly into hundreds of thousands of viewers and they’re really not all very fair to the president. So I’m pretty proud of the president for developing a Twitter and a social media platform where he can talk directly to the American people.”

 The homeland security adviser's defense of the tweet later drew criticism from Ana Navarro, a CNN contributor, on "This Week's" roundtable.

 “I am disappointed beyond belief by the answer that the homeland security adviser just gave," Navarro said. "What a wuss. What a wuss. You could see that he is ceding his principles. You are the homeland security adviser and you can’t stand here and say the difference between right and wrong."

 Navarro said the president's tweet "is an incitement to violence. He is going to get somebody killed in the media. Maybe that will stop him.” ||||| 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. ||||| President Donald Trump's incendiary tweets have repeatedly sparked controversy since he entered the White House, as they often did during the 2016 presidential campaign. | AP Photo Trump: My social media use is 'modern day presidential'

 President Donald Trump asserted Saturday that his social media use is "modern day presidential," less than an hour after accusing the media of trying to convince lawmakers that he should stop using Twitter.

 "My use of social media is not Presidential - it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again," he tweeted after multiple posts attacking the "fake and fraudulent news media."

 Story Continued Below

 Earlier, Trump tweeted: "The FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media - but remember, I won.... ....the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media. I had to beat #FakeNews, and did. We will continue to WIN."

 Following tweets attacking "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, some Republicans expressed concerns with Trump's Twitter habit.

 The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said those tweets were "beneath the dignity" of the presidential office. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski tweeted: "do you want to be remembered for your tweets or your accomplishments?"

 Trump's incendiary tweets have repeatedly sparked controversy since he entered the White House, as they often did during the 2016 presidential campaign.

 While on the campaign trail, Trump said he didn't want to act presidential "quite yet," but promised that he would become "so presidential."

 "At some point, I'm going to be so presidential that you people will be so bored, and I will come back as a presidential person," he told supporters at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in February 2016. ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| 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. |||||


SOCHI, Russia — When speedskating competition resumes Saturday, the U.S. team will be on the ice with a familiar but new look.

 They're hoping their results are the same: familiar, but new for these Games.

 “For the remainder of the Winter Olympic Games, Team USA speedskaters will be wearing the previously-approved Under Armour skin suits used during recent World Cup competition,” Mike Plant, president of US Speedskating, announced in a news release just before dawn Saturday in Sochi.

 US Speedskating earlier sought approval from the International Skating Union and the International Olympic Committee to revert to the World Cup suits. By ISU rules, uniforms must be consistent throughout a team, so the new Mach 39 suits are out and the old suits are in for the remainder of the Games.

 Pressure for the change built this week in the wake of a disastrous performance through six events by a team with high expectations. No U.S. speedskater has medaled, including the world's top-ranked skaters, Shani Davis and Heather Richardson.

 The suit became the leading suspect for the poor showing. The suit is unproven apart from these Games and was introduced only last month. Richardson attempted to modify her suit this week. The results matched her teammates results: out of the metal.

 US Speedskating chief executive Ted Morris earlier confirmed an application with the ISU was “in the process,” and its approval would make swapping the suits “an option.” But he said USS is evaluating everything — from athletes' training to their diets — in addition to Under Armour's suits.

 “We don't think (the suits) are having any impact. But at the same time we want to make sure when our athletes get on that start line they have confidence and are ready to go,” Morris said late Friday after meeting with staff and 17 skaters. “That's priority number one.”

 The Tribune reported Friday that federation officials were working to get clearance to race in suits that were worn during 28 World Cup medal victories. They also are from Under Armour, but the World Cup attire does not have the supposed benefits of the Mach 39's features. Many skaters brought their old suits with them to Sochi.

 “We've performed well in the World Cup suits. I won a World Cup in that suit,” skater Joey Mantia said after practice Friday when asked if he preferred the older suits. “At least there's some kind of confidence there with that.”

 The glaring lack of any Olympic medals from a program that has won 67 Winter Olympics medals — the most of any winter sport for the country — has thrown coaches into a frenzy searching for a way to salvage their Games.

 The last time the U.S. failed to medal in speedskating? Sarajevo, 1984.

 “We're scratching our heads to try to figure out a way to switch it up here with half the Games left,” Morris said.

 Davis said Friday the hoopla over the suit would not distract him. After a tuneup in the 500 meters on Monday and disappointing eighth-place finish in the 1,000 on Wednesday, the South Side native is optimistic about his chances in the 1,500, likely his final individual Olympic race.

 “Got to rebound from that 1,000. We still have it here,” Davis said Friday, smiling and smacking his chest. “So let's get it on!”

 The Mach 39 suit — developed with defense contractor Lockheed Martin — was marketed as the fastest ever in the sport. But its design and materials remained tightly guarded, revealed only after the U.S. Olympic team was set in January.

 Glenview's Brian Hansen, who finished 33rd in the 500 and ninth in the 1,000, said he was frustrated by not being able to try the suit beforehand.

 “If the entire U.S. team is underperforming compared to our potential — literally everyone — you can only look at so many factors,” he said Thursday. “Is it the suit? Is it our preparation? The suit's the easiest thing to fix.”

 Patrick Meek, who finished 20th in the 5,000, said he still believes the Mach 39 is the fastest.

 “These guys make F-16 fighter jets,” he said. “If they can invade Afghanistan and Iraq, they can build a speedskating suit.” ||||| U.S. speedskater Shani Davis during the Olympic 1,000-meter race. European Pressphoto Agency

 SOCHI, Russia—The U.S. speedskating team will drop its controversial Under Armour UA +2.48% Under Armour Inc. Cl A U.S.: NYSE $53.75 +1.30 +2.48% AFTER HOURS $53.25 -0.50 -0.93% P/E Ratio 69.81 Market Cap $11.20 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $298,981 03/17/14 Under Armour Approves Stock Sp... 02/21/14 U.S. Speedskating Renews Under... 02/18/14 Sochi Olympics: How a Big Bet ... More quote details and news » UA in Your Value Your Change Short position suits for the rest of the Sochi Olympic Games, the national federation announced in the early hours of Saturday here, after several athletes complained that the suits were compromising their performance.

 The skaters, who have struggled in Sochi, will revert to the Under Armour suits they wore during their more-successful World Cup events last fall.

 After a disastrous outcome for heavily favored U.S. men and women speedskaters, a suspect has emerged: the high-tech Under Armour racing suits the team adopted for the Winter Olympics. Joshua Robinson reports from Sochi on Lunch Break. Photo: AP.

 More Under Armour Shares Under Pressure

 "Under Armour provided U.S. Speedskating with three different suit configurations in advance of Sochi, and we have full confidence in the performance benefits of each of them," U.S. Speedskating president Mike plant said in a statement.

 The so-called Mach 39 suits, which Under Armour developed exclusively for the U.S. team in conjunction with Lockheed Martin LMT +1.30% Lockheed Martin Corp. U.S.: NYSE $159.44 +2.05 +1.30% AFTER HOURS $159.44 0.00 0.00% P/E Ratio 17.14 Market Cap $50.25 Billion Dividend Yield 3.34% Rev. per Employee $394,417 04/16/14 F-35 Fighter to Make Overseas ... 04/15/14 Taiwan Cuts Back Order for U.S... 04/03/14 SpaceX to Compete With Boeing-... More quote details and news » LMT in Your Value Your Change Short position engineers and billed as "the fastest speedskating suit in the world," had become a target of criticism this week from athletes after several U.S. medal contenders finished off the podium.

 Kevin Haley, Under Armour's senior vice president of innovation, said Thursday that the company, which has sponsored the U.S. team since 2011, was confident that its suits were fast, but that in the absence of medal-winning performances, the company would "move heaven and earth to make them better."

 Haley said late Friday the company was working hard to modify the Under Armour logo on the replacement uniforms to comply with International Olympic Committee regulations. The team said it had brought the older uniforms with them to Sochi.

 After a tense two-hour meeting of team members and staff on Friday afternoon, U.S. Speedskating submitted simultaneous appeals to the IOC and the International Skating Union to be granted the option of changing back to their old suits as early as Saturday.

 The main criticism from the skaters was that vents on the back of the suit, intended to let heat escape, were letting in air and making it harder for athletes to skate with proper form. Concerns over these design flaws were first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

 The team has had the suits since Jan. 1 and tested them in simulated race conditions during their pre-Olympics camp. But the skaters had never worn them in competition before the Games.

 An spokeswoman for the ISU said Friday that if the team wanted to switch to a suit that is identical to ones approved at the start of the skating season—and if every team member has access to one—the switch would be legal. Olympic protocol requires all members of a national speedskating team to compete in the same kind of suit.

 U.S. Speedskating executive director Ted Morris said Friday that the team members were locked in a debate over which suit to wear going forward. He said the team's members were split evenly and no final decision had been reached. "The general feeling from the athletes, it's pretty darn close to 50-50," Morris said at the time.

 Haley said the team ultimately decided to change the suits largely at the insistence of a minority of skaters on the team who are considered medal contenders.

 The uniform swap puts Under Armour in a tough spot. If the U.S. team wins medals in the old suits, "it will be embarrassing for Under Armour," said Matt Powell, an industry analyst for SportsOneSource. Baltimore-based Under Armour Inc. is primarily known for its performance apparel. Shares of the company closed at $106 late Friday, down 2.38%.

 Haley, the Under Armour executive, contested the notion that changing to the previous suits would harm the company's reputation. "They're all Under Armour suits," he said. "We just want the skaters to win."

 In his statement, Plant said U.S. Speedskating was "proud of its long-term, successful partnership with Under Armour."

 After six long-track events in Sochi, no U.S. skater has finished better than seventh. That includes gold-medal favorites Shani Davis and Heather Richardson, who dominated the World Cup circuit this season.

 "Coming off one of the stronger fall seasons, of course we were expecting to take home a bunch of medals, lots of hardware," Kip Carpenter, a coach with the U.S. team, said.

 Questions around the suit began to surface on Wednesday after Davis finished eighth in the 1,000 meters, an event he won at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics. This season, wearing the previous suit, Davis claimed the top spot in three of four World Cup events over that distance.

 Some skaters requested fixes to the Mach 39 suit from Under Armour's seamstress in Sochi. By the time Richardson competed in the women's 1,000, the controversial vent on her suit had been covered up with a rubber patch. Even with the change, she finished seventh.

 During Friday's meeting, members of the squad were focused on identifying solutions for turning around their Games. Morris said it was one part of a continuing discussion, which has also highlighted potential issues with race tactics, skate blades and a decision to train at altitude before traveling to Sochi, which sits at sea level.

 On Friday morning, several skaters refused to place the blame on the suits. Patrick Meek, who worked closely with Under Armour and Lockheed Martin throughout the development process, stood by the two companies' design. "These guys make F-16 fighter jets," Meek said. "If they can invade Afghanistan, they can build a speedskating suit."

 Carpenter, meanwhile, said he didn't believe changing the suits would solve everything. "It's ridiculous to think we're slowing down a second and a half because of a skinsuit."

 At a morning practice session Friday, Davis said he would feel confident going into Saturday's 1,500 no matter what he was wearing. "Suit or no suit, I'm going to try to go out there and try to win."

 Write to Joshua Robinson at joshua.robinson@wsj.com and Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com |||||

Write a summary.

– The US speedskating team is still without a medal after an awful start in Sochi, and the squad hopes it can turn things around by changing suits. The team has officially sought permission from the Olympic powers-that-be to ditch their fancy "Mach 39" suits made by Under Armour and revert to older suits when competition resumes tomorrow, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Mach 39 suits, never before used in competition, were supposed to have a whiz-bang design that would boost speeds, but now many think they're actually slowing the skaters down, reports the Chicago Tribune. The blame-the-suit sentiment apparently isn't unanimous among team members, but if the switch is made, all members would have to abide. The official word from US Speedskating chief Ted Morris avoids blaming Under Armour but suggests the issue is in skaters' heads: “We don’t think (the suits) are having any impact but at the same time we want to make sure when our athletes get on that start line they have confidence and are ready to go." Under Armour, meanwhile, can at least take solace in that it also makes the older suits.