For the first time in 146 years, the National Weather Service documented no snow on the ground in Chicago in January and February — a record that put a spring in the step of some but weighed down others worried about climate change.

 Because the snow measurement is taken at 6 a.m. at O'Hare International Airport, small amounts of snow that may have fallen later in the day and melted were not recorded, said Amy Seeley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. This occurred Feb. 25 when there was a trace of snow and Jan. 30 when there was 0.1 inch. The weather service has been keeping data on snow on the ground for 146 years.

 The record near-snowless start was overshadowed Tuesday by severe storms moving through the state.

 The National Weather Service forecast large hail, winds, localized flooding and tornadoes Tuesday evening. A tornado hit Ottowa on Tuesday evening, killing one person, and the weather service said its spotters had reported a number of other tornadoes.

 More stormy weather was forecast for the week, including possible snow.

 WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling said he believes the 146-year streak in Chicago is part of climate change and emphasized that it does not occur linearly, meaning that there is potential for cold winters in the future.

 Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune A woman pushes a stroller on a balmy Tuesday at Maggie Daley Park. A woman pushes a stroller on a balmy Tuesday at Maggie Daley Park. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

 "This is occurring against a backdrop of a changing climate," Skilling said. "I think the door is open to additional unusual weather events as we go forward."

 Other climate scientists say blips of weather, such as warm spells or snowless months, are too short of a time period to assign a true cause, and meteorologists point out that there are natural variances in weather over time that have nothing to do with climate change.

 Patricia Orta, 56, of Archer Heights, who was walking back from lunch Tuesday on Michigan Avenue with an umbrella on her arm, said she was enjoying the warmer weather.

 "I hope it happens more often," Orta said with a laugh. "While it lasts, this is great!"

 Skilling said Tuesday was the 73rd consecutive day that Chicago has not seen more than an inch of snow.

 He also said it is not unlikely to see snow in March.

 "Warm as it's been, we're not out of the period where it's inconceivable to have snow," Skilling said. "The rain shower in the morning could turn into snow in the afternoon."

 Typically, January and February are the snowiest months of the year, said Jim Angel, state climatologist at the University of Illinois' Illinois State Water Survey.

 "It's pretty impressive for any place in the northern part of the state to go both January and February with no snow on the ground," he said.

 Angel said warm air and ground temperatures contributed to the lack of snow accumulation, and this has affected trees, insects and animals.

 "The biggest issue is because it's been so warm all through the winter, it's really encouraging the trees and shrubs and perennials to come out a little bit too early for their own good," Angel said. "For example, we might have fruit trees that might be in dormancy right now, leaf out and their buds will start to swell and open and that makes them highly vulnerable to frost later on."

 This phenomenon occurred in 2012 and 2007 when an April frost destroyed blooming trees during a similar time period, costing orchards millions of dollars in losses for apple, peach and cherry crops, Angel said.

 "It's a real risk, not only cosmetically for things in your backyard, but it also has tremendous economic damage for fruit growers," Angel said. "It can really set an orchard back a couple years to get into this situation. The problem is there's not much they can do it about it. You can't slow down the trees. At this point, you just have to ride it out."

 Insects also have a higher likelihood of surviving and more opportunities to reproduce, Angel said. However, increased rainfall in the spring could mitigate this. And the warmer weather could affect migrating bird species.

 "Some of that timing can be very tricky," he said. "You don't want to migrate into a new area before the food sources are available."

 However, the overall effect on people is usually beneficial, with lower heating bills, fewer weather-related accidents, increased shopping and additional construction, Angel said.

 "In the past mild winters, we've seen that net benefit from the economics side, unless you're selling snow shovels," Angel said.

 Record-breaking temperatures draw Chicagoans outdoors.

 The least amount of snow in a Chicago January was in 1928 with 0.2 inches. This January had 0.5 inches. This February is tied for the least amount of snow with 1987 and 1998, with all of them having just a trace of snow, Seeley said.

 Some experts predicted another "snowpocalypse" this winter, but Skilling and other analysts predicted a warmer-than-average winter because of the warm summer and autumn in 2016.

 Orta bought a long jacket last year in preparation for a brutal winter.

 "You always try to prepare for what you think is coming because it usually does," Orta said. "This year, it's a nice surprise, but I'm not going to sell my coat yet."

 Twitter @GraceWong630

 gwong@chicagotribune.com ||||| 00:45 Stunning Ice on Lake Superior Shards of breaking ice on Lake Superior present a stunning winter view at Duluth, Minnesota.

 At a Glance Winter Storm Stella ended a record streak without an inch of snow on the ground in Chicago.

 Not a single January or February day had an inch of snow on the ground.

 That was a first in the city's records, dating back to Reconstruction. Winter Storm Stella finally ended Chicago's record-long streak without at least one inch of snow on the ground that extended back to Christmas Day.

 (MORE: Winter Storm Stella Recap )

 Stella brought light snowfall to the Windy City from March 12-13. Then lake-effect snow developed thanks to northeast winds across Lake Michigan after Stella moved east, causing major travel problems throughout the metro area into much of March 14, 2017.

 Chicago O'Hare International Airport had officially picked up 7.7 inches of snow through 7 p.m. CDT March 14 from Stella and the lake-effect snow. A snow depth of 6 inches was measured at 7 a.m. CDT Tuesday morning.

 This March snow event is on par with the heaviest of the season in Chicago, which was 7.8 inches Dec. 10-11.

 Chicago went through January and February without so much as an inch of snow on the ground for the first time in recorded history.

 Oddly enough, March 14 was the latest in the season the Windy City had 6 inches on the ground in 18 years .

 According to the National Weather Service in Romeoville, Illinois, Christmas morning was the last day O'Hare reported at least an inch of snow on the ground prior to Stella.

 (INTERACTIVE: When Spring's Last Snow Typically Falls )

 Never before in records dating to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 has an official Chicago reporting station failed to measure at least one January or February day with at least an inch of snow cover in the same winter.

 The Windy City also set a record-long winter streak without a one-inch snowfall . The last such occurrence prior to Stella was the weekend before Christmas on Dec. 17.

 The winter started impressively snowy in Chicago, with 17.7 inches of snow falling in two weeks from Dec. 4-18, more than double the average for the entire month (8 inches).

 (MORE: Winter Storm Central )

 Then, the snow essentially shut off.

 From Dec. 18 to March 11, O'Hare measured a pathetic 0.7 inches of total snowfall. Average Chicago snowfall from Dec. 19 through the beginning of March is more than 2 feet.

 Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been an incurable weather geek since a tornado narrowly missed his childhood home in Wisconsin at age 7. |||||

Write a summary.

– The arrival of March brings a weird milestone to Chicago this year: The city recorded no snow on the ground in January and February for the first time in at least 146 years, reports the Weather Channel. In fact, the last snowfall of more than an inch occurred on Dec. 17, days ahead of the official start of winter, which means the city has been virtually snow-free all season. The Chicago Tribune notes that flurries were seen on a few days, but not enough to register when the official morning tally was taken at O'Hare International Airport. It's possible the streak goes back longer, but the 146-year mark reflects the start of National Weather Service data. Forecasts called for possible snow this week. Winter wraps up on March 20.


– The young actress best known for playing Mel Gibson's daughter in The Patriot died at her home in Houston on Saturday, her mother says. Skye McCole Bartusiak was 21. "She was a kind and really beautiful girl," her mother tells CNN, explaining that while no cause of death has been determined, the epileptic seizures Bartusiak had suffered since she was a baby returned last week after disappearing for a few years. Bartusiak was found by her boyfriend in her garage apartment next to her parents' home. "We think she had a seizure and choked and nobody was there," says the mother, who performed CPR on her daughter before emergency workers arrived. "I've done CPR on that kid more than one time and it just didn't work this time." Bartusiak made her movie debut in 1999's The Cider House Rules and also appeared opposite Michael Douglas in Don't Say a Word, as well as in TV shows including 24 and CSI, reports Variety. Her last movie role was in the 2012 thriller Sick Boy. She had been working on directing and producing her first film, her mother says.

Expand this summary.

Skye McCole Bartusiak, who played the daughter of Mel Gibson in the 2000 film “The Patriot, died on Saturday. She was 21.

 The cause of death is unknown but she reportedly died in her sleep at her Texas home.

 Bartusiak appeared in several films as a child actor including “The Cider House Rules” in 1999 and “Don’t Say a Word” opposite Michael Douglas.

 She was also featured in popular TV shows such as “24,” “Lost” and “House M.D.”

 Born in Texas, the actress most recently produced and starred in several short films. ||||| Story highlights Bartusiak, 21, suffered from epileptic seizures in recent days, her mother says

 "We think she had a seizure and choked and nobody was there," her mother says

 Bartusiak played the young daughter of Mel Gibson's "Patriot" character

 Her movie acting career began when she was just 6

 Actress Skye McCole Bartusiak, who played Mel Gibson's youngest daughter in "The Patriot," died Saturday at her home in Houston, her mother said Sunday. She was 21.

 "We lost our girl," Helen McCole Bartusiak told CNN.

 While investigators have not determined a cause of death, Bartusiak had been suffering from epileptic seizures in recent days, according to her mother.

 "She was a kind and really beautiful girl," her mother said.

 Bartusiak's most visible role was as the young daughter of Mel Gibson's Revolutionary War "Patriot" character in the 2000 movie.

 Her movie acting career began when she was just 6 in 1999 with a role in "The Cider House Rules."

 She played the daughter of Michael Douglas' character in "Don't Say a Word" in 2001.

 Her last film role was the lead in "Sick Boy," a low-budget thriller released in 2012.

 Bartusiak had been preparing to produce and direct her first feature film in recent months, her mother said.

 Her boyfriend found Bartusiak sitting up in her bed in the garage apartment adjacent to her parents' Houston home, her mother said. "We think she had a seizure and choked and nobody was there."

 Her mother said she started cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her daughter before paramedics arrived. "They were working on her for 45 minutes and could not get a heartbeat," she said.

 "I've done CPR on that kid more than one time and it just didn't work this time," Bartusiak said.

 She's suffered epileptic seizures since she was a baby, although they disappeared for a few years until returning last week, her mother said.

 Bartusiak's mother spent Sunday morning looking through photos of her actress daughter for the funeral. The images include pictures with Presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush, Mel Gibson, Dennis Hopper and Michael Douglas, she said.

 "The girl has lived such an amazing life," she said. |||||


News article:

14:34 Turkish PM accuses Assad of ‘state terrorism’ (AP)

 14:00 Rebels say they shot down fighter jet over northern Syria (Reuters)

 13:38 Morsi to Assad: ‘Now is the time for change, you will not stay [in power] for long’ (DPA)

 13:18 Morsi: Israel is not interested in peace with the Palestinians (Ch. 10)

 12:38 Netanyahu cuts short security cabinet meeting, citing information leak (Haaretz)

 11:16 Islamist extremist group says Hamas arrested 20 of its members in crackdown on rocket fire (AP)

 10:18 IDF begins evacuation of Migron caravans, demolition to follow (Haaretz)

 09:04 China backs ‘political transition’ in Syria, says Chinese FM (Reuters)

 07:50 IDF Home Front Command drill to take place at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem (Army Radio)

 04:31 Congressman Howard Berman: U.S. must always stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel (Haaretz)

 03:11 Past-Romney rival Edward Moore 'Ted' Kennedy calls to support Barack Obama (Haaretz)

 01:20 Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan vows to 'flood' streets to press for democratic reforms (DPA)

 00:37 Hackers backing Syrain regime hit Al-Jazeera website (AP)

 23:07 U.S. Democrats drop 'Jerusalem as Israel's capital' from party platform (Haaretz) ||||| Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem August 12, 2012. Iran has stepped up work to develop a nuclear warhead, Israeli newspapers said on Sunday, citing officials in Netanyahu's government and leaked U.S. intelligence.

 JERUSALEMPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that most threats to Israel's security were "dwarfed" by the prospect of Iran obtaining nuclear weaponry, which local media reports charged Tehran had stepped up its efforts to achieve.

 The comments at a weekly cabinet meeting and the front-page reports in the liberal Haaretz, a frequent Netanyahu critic, and in the conservative, pro-government Israel Hayom came as Israeli debate intensified about whether to go to war against Iran - and soon - over its disputed atomic projects.

 The debate seemed to defy appeals by U.S. President Barack Obama, seeking re-election in November, to allow more time for international diplomacy. Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful and has threatened wide-ranging reprisals if attacked.

 In comments also broadcast live by Israeli media, Netanyahu said that "all the threats currently being directed against the Israeli home front are dwarfed by another threat, different in scope, different in substance."

 "Therefore I say again, that Iran must not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said.

 Netanyahu also said Israel was "investing billions in home-front defense," and holding emergency drills, alluding to a military exercise being held this week in cities across Israel to test a text message warning system against missile strikes.

 Israel's central bank has also drilled "big crisis" scenarios such as war with Iran, the bank's governor, Stanley Fischer, told an Israeli television station at the weekend.

 The cabinet adopted rules on Sunday intended to streamline decision-making, such as by setting deadlines for permitting ministers to change their minds about votes, though Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser insisted these changes were not expressly meant for "any particular type of decision."

 'BOOSTED' NUCLEAR EFFORTS

 Citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, the Haaretz daily said a new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) compiled by the Obama administration included a "last-minute update" about significant Iranian progress in the development of a nuclear warhead "far beyond the scope known" to U.N. inspectors.

 The Israel Hayom daily reported NIE findings that Iran had "boosted efforts" to advance its nuclear program, including work to develop ballistic missile warheads, and said U.S. and Israeli assessments largely tallied on this intelligence.

 Neither newspaper provided direct quotes or detailed evidence. For Haaretz, it was the second report since Thursday purporting to draw on a new NIE.

 Washington has not commented on whether such an NIE exists. But its officials say the U.S. intelligence assessment remains that the Islamic Republic is undecided on whether to build a bomb and is years away from any such nuclear capability.

 Widely reputed to have the region's sole atomic arsenal, the Jewish state sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a mortal threat and has long threatened to attack its arch-foe preemptively.

 The war talk is meant, partly, to stiffen sanctions on Tehran by conflict-wary world powers. Some commentators have speculated Netanyahu is bluffing.

 Others see a bid to win over those in the Israeli cabinet, military and public who oppose resorting to force now given the big tactical and strategic risks involved.

 Some Israeli leaders criticized the debate as too high-profile, fearing the public exposure could damage Israeli security interests. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz called it "reckless" to discuss the issue so openly in the media.

 Visiting Israel this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met unusually vocal dissent from Netanyahu over international Iran strategy. The allies have generally sought to play down their differences on the matter.

 (Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Dan Williams; Editing by Jon Hemming) |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Syria descending into civil war, the Arab Spring, instability in Egypt—the Middle East is full of uncertainties that threaten Israel, but all of them are "dwarfed" by Iran's nuclear threat, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, reports Reuters. Netanyahu's comments were broadcast live by Israel's media, and published in both right- and left-wing newspapers, as debate grows in Israel over whether the country needs to go to war with Iran. "I say again that Iran must not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said. Pressure is building in Israel to take action, especially with yesterday's disclosure that a new intelligence report presented to President Obama shows that Iran's nuclear program has made developments "far beyond the scope known" by UN inspectors, according to the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz. Washington officials would not comment on whether such a report even exists, but they maintain that Iran is undecided about its nuclear weapons program and remains years away from having nuclear capability. Some analysts think Netanyahu's talk is posturing designed to keep the pressure on for sanctions against Iran, while others see it largely as a domestic political strategy.


Article:

Four senators are wagering booze over the outcome of the NBA Finals.

 California Sens. Kamala Harris Kamala Devi HarrisWith ghosts of ’68 haunting the midterms, Trump may soften rhetoric Election Countdown: Calls to abolish ICE test Dem candidates | First round of House GOP 'Young Guns' | How Tester is handling Trump's Montana visit | Dem candidate won't back Schumer as leader | Super PACs ramp up Missouri ad buys The Hill's 12:30 Report MORE (D) and Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel FeinsteinCardiology, airplanes, HD-TV and the filibuster Amy Coney Barrett emerges as favorite on right, target for left Election Countdown: Calls to abolish ICE test Dem candidates | First round of House GOP 'Young Guns' | How Tester is handling Trump's Montana visit | Dem candidate won't back Schumer as leader | Super PACs ramp up Missouri ad buys MORE (D) are betting on the Golden State Warriors in the championship series. They're going up against Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell BrownAppeals court nominees languish in Senate as Flake demands tariff vote Democrats can kiss swing voters goodbye with progressive ballot Senate Dems ask FEMA to extend Puerto Rico shelters MORE (D) and Rob Portman Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanSens introduce bipartisan bill matching Zinke proposed maintenance backlog fix On The Money: Trump backs off investment restrictions on China | McConnell opens door to tariff legislation | Supreme Court deals blow to public-sector unions, ruling against 'fair-share' fees McConnell opens door to tariff legislation MORE (R), who are rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

 If the Warriors win, Brown and Portman will have to deliver a case of beer each – Platform Brewing Company in Brown's case and Great Lakes Brewing in Portman's – to the California senators.

 ADVERTISEMENT

 If the Cavaliers emerge victorious, the Ohio senators will receive a case of beer from Anchor Brewing from Harris and a case of California Chardonnay from Feinstein.

 The Cavs and the Warriors have met in every NBA Finals since 2015. The teams are set to face off in their first game of the Finals on Thursday night.

 The Cavs are hoping to reclaim their title, after they were vanquished by the Warriors last year. ||||| Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, bottom, is helped off the floor by forward Jeff Green (32) during the first half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland,... (Associated Press)

 Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, bottom, is helped off the floor by forward Jeff Green (32) during the first half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (Associated Press)

 OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Golden State Warriors somehow withstood LeBron James' latest brilliance on the NBA Finals stage.

 A costly blunder by J.R. Smith and a disputed foul call involving James himself sure helped.

 Stephen Curry scored 29 points and the Warriors capitalized on Smith's mistake that sent the game into overtime, overcoming a 51-point performance by James to beat Cleveland 124-114 in Game 1 on Thursday night.

 The game nearly over, James jawed with both Curry and Klay Thompson, then Tristan Thompson and Draymond Green tangled moments later and made contact. After replay review, Tristan Thompson received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection with 2.6 seconds left.

 James was in utter disbelief as regulation ended stunningly: George Hill made the first of two free throws with 4.7 seconds left after being fouled by Klay Thompson, but when Smith secured the rebound of the second, he dribbled back toward halfcourt instead of shooting, apparently thinking the Cavs had a lead.

 "He thought it was over. He thought we were up one," coach Tyronn Lue said.

 Yet Smith insisted he knew the score. Green figured Smith was simply looking for James, saying, "I would have looked for LeBron, too."

 "I just thought we were going to call a timeout. Because I got the rebound, I'm pretty sure I couldn't shoot it over KD," Smith said of Kevin Durant. "If I thought we were ahead, I would have just held on to the ball so they could foul me. Clearly that wasn't the case."

 Instead, OT.

 And why not? Both these teams were pushed to their limits in seven-game conference finals they each had to win on the road.

 "I can't talk about a situation that way because I do some dumb stuff on the court," Durant said of how the fourth quarter finished. "I don't know what was going through J.R.'s head. He made a great rebound and gave them an opportunity to win the basketball game."

 Game 2 is Sunday night back at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors have won 18 of their last 19 postseason games. In 2015, when the Golden State beat the Cavs to capture the franchise's first title in 40 years, the first two games of the series went to OT — Golden State winning the opener and Cleveland Game 2.

 James shot 19 for 32 to go with eight assists and eight rebounds in the opener of his eighth straight NBA Finals and ninth overall, as well as Cavs-Warriors Take IV. James notched his eighth 40-point game during this playoff run to tie Hall of Famer Jerry West's feat in 1965 for most in a single postseason.

 "We've got to move on," James said. "This game is over and done with. We had opportunities."

 James drove past Curry for a three-point play with 50 seconds remaining in the fourth. But James was given a foul following a review with 36.4 seconds left and Durant converted a pair of free throws to tie it at 104.

 The call had initially been a charge on 2017 finals MVP Durant and James protested the change — while KD said afterward he thought it was the right decision because "I knew he was late on the drive and I knew I had my man beat and he came over a little late."

 James called it a "huge play" and said "I knew I was outside the charge line."

 "I read that play as well as I've read any play in my career, maybe in my life," James said.

 Rules allow officials to go to replay in the final 2 minutes of regulation or in overtime to determine if a defender attempting to draw a charge was in the restricted area. When doing so, they can view if the defender was in a legal guarding position. They decided James wasn't and changed their original call.

 Lue was disgusted to lose this way, saying of the overturned call: "It's never been done, ever in the history of the game. And then tonight in the finals on the biggest stage, when our team played well, played our (butt) off, man, it ain't right."

 Lue added that the way James played, "to come up robbed, it's just not right."

 Durant struggled to find his stroke but wound up with 26 points on 8-for-22 shooting and nine rebounds.

 Golden State got a serious scare when Thompson went down after Smith slid hard into the Splash Brother's left leg at the 6:17 mark of the first quarter. Thompson lay grimacing in pain then went to the locker room with what was called a bruised left leg that needed re-taping. He returned for the start of the second quarter to huge roars from the yellow-clad sellout crowd and scored 24 points. He and Curry each connected on five 3s.

 Curry drained one of those way-out-there 3-pointers that have been hard to come by this postseason to beat the halftime buzzer and Golden State shot 13 for 36 from deep.

 Kevin Love returned from a concussion to provide a big boost for Cleveland with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

 The Warriors missed the defensive presence of 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, who was out for a fifth straight postseason game dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated ahead of Game 2.

 Everybody expects another wild one with so much talent on both sides.

 "It was a crazy game," Curry said. "... The finals, man, anything is liable to happen."

 TIP-INS

 Cavaliers: James has 109 career 30-point games in the playoffs, tying Michael Jordan for most ever. ... Cleveland held a 19-4 advantage on the offensive glass, getting seven offensive rebounds in the first half to the Warriors' none. ... James' first quarter: 4 for 4 with a 3-pointer, 12 points, three assists, a steal and turnover.

 Warriors: Curry's early three-point play gave him the free throw he needed for 379 to pass Rick Barry (378) for first place on the Warriors' career list. ... With his 293rd career 3 in the playoffs, made in the second quarter, Thompson passed Kobe Bryant (292) for sixth place on the NBA's list for postseason 3s. ... Kevon Looney started again in place of Iguodala, but coach Steve Kerr went to McGee after the break. ... Home run king Barry Bonds was in attendance.

 ___

 More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball |||||
What is a summary?

– With the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers meeting for their fourth straight NBA finals, senators from Ohio and California are keeping things interesting with a bet. California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris have bet a case of California chardonnay and a case of beer from Anchor Brewing, respectively, on the Warriors, the Hill reports. If the California team loses, the senators have promised to deliver the booze to Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman. If the Cavaliers prevail, Brown will give the Californians a case of beer from Platform Beer Company and Portman will send one from Great Lakes Brewing. The series is 1-0 for the Warriors after a 124-114 win Thursday night, the AP reports. The Cavs lost in overtime despite a 51-point performance from LeBron James.


News article:

WEYMOUTH (CBS/AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting a Weymouth police officer with the officer’s own gun and an innocent bystander could be arraigned Tuesday on murder charges.

 Emanuel Lopes, 20, will either be arraigned in his hospital bed or in court for the deaths of Weymouth officer Michael Chesna, a six-year veteran of the force, and 77-year-old Vera Adams, who was shot after the suspect spotted her through a sliding glass door.

 He was not “medically available” to be arraigned on Monday, as previously suggested, said the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.

 Police officers and others lined a procession route Monday afternoon as Chesna’s body was taken from the medical examiner’s office in Boston to a funeral home in Weymouth.

 On the sixth anniversary of Chesna becoming a police officer, he was posthumously promoted to sergeant. Hundreds attended a vigil for Chesna and Adams at Weymouth High School Monday night. His mother thanked the community for its support, saying, “Michael would be so proud.”

 Weymouth police were responding to a report of a person driving erratically Sunday morning when they discovered a crashed BMW, said Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey.

 Chesna was trying to locate the driver of the vehicle, Morrissey said, when he spotted Lopes allegedly vandalizing a home. That’s when Lopes hit Chesna in the head with a rock. Chesna fell to the ground, and Lopes took the officer’s gun and repeatedly shot him in the head and chest, Morrissey said.

 Another officer who had arrived at the scene shot Lopes in the leg. Lopes then ran off and shot Adams after he spotted her through her glass door. Police initially reported Adams was struck by crossfire, but Monday night, the Norfolk DA’s office said Lopes intentionally shot her.

 Weymouth Police Chief Richard Grimes described Chesna as a 42-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who leaves behind a wife and two young children, ages 4 and 9. Chesna was from Weymouth and graduated in 1994 from Weymouth High School. Monday was the sixth anniversary of the day he was hired to join the Weymouth force. Grimes said he had spoken to Chesna’s mother and she told him that her son joined the military “to open the doors to get in this job.”

 The department set up a fund for Chesna’s family on Monday, after receiving reports of possible scam phone calls collecting money for the family.

 Lopes was out of jail on pre-trial probation on a drug charge, according to WBZ’s I-Team. Weymouth Police said he was selling cocaine to a minor and resisted arrest when he was charged in 2017. A judge released Lopes on the condition that he submit to random drug testing. He was due back in court on July 30.

 Last year, Lopes’ mother took out a restraining order against him, citing severe mental health issues.

 The I-Team has learned that Lopes is Facebook friends with the daughter of the woman who owns the BMW Lopes crashed on Sunday. The district attorney’s office did not say that the car was stolen. Sources say Lopes uses a different name on Facebook and told officers at the time of his October arrest that he was homeless.

 (© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) ||||| The 20-year-old Brockton native accused of executing Weymouth police Officer Michael Chesna with Chesna's service weapon and then killing an innocent woman in the sanctity of her home yesterday had battled with department members and used a rock as a weapon before, according to court documents.

 The 6-foot, 3-inch Emanuel A. Lopes, 20, has been free on $500 bail since November. Lopes was arrested in Weymouth Oct. 3 on charges of dealing cocaine at a beach party for minors and resisting arrest. He was due to return to Quincy District Court July 30 for a discovery hearing.

 Lopes was listed in court papers as homeless at the time. Police noted Lopes' size in their report, adding, "We have fought with him before." Lopes attempted to evade arrest for the drug offenses by running, police said.

 After posting bail, Lopes entered the High Point addiction treatment center in Plymouth on Nov. 25 for what court papers state were "clinical stabilization services." The papers do not disclose when he left.

 The conditions of Lopes' release included remaining drug- and alcohol-free, but court records indicate he failed to appear for a random drug screening on Feb. 7.

 Following a pretrial probation violation hearing on April 25, Lopes was permitted to remain free on the same conditions.

 Lopes had also been arrested by Weymouth police Sept. 4 for allegedly throwing a rock through the bedroom window of a home where he'd been asked to leave earlier.

 Lopes was charged with property damage and released on pretrial probation.

 He is accused of picking up a large rock yesterday to disable Chesna, who was pursuing him on foot following a crash, and then murdering the 42-year-old father of two with his department-issued gun.

 Lopes remains hospitalized this morning with a gunshot wound to his leg he sustained when he allegedly exchanged gunfire with responding officers at Torrey Street and Burton Terrace.

 The woman killed during the incident was identified earlier today as Vera Adams, 77.

 Prior to entering High Point last year, he had also sought treatment at the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Bridgewater, court records state.

 Lopes, who has not yet been arraigned. is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, possessing a firearm without a license, destruction of property, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident.

 At the time of yesterday's events he was the subject of an active restraining order taken out by a woman last year with the same name as his own mother.

 Partially redacted court papers do not specify their relationship; however, the woman testified she had Lopes' name taken off a prior lease at a home they shared with her daughter because she feared him, but that he kept showing up at new apartment.

 The woman, whose abuse prevention order was issued Oct. 3, 2017, and is set to expire Sept. 28, testified, "I told him several times he couldn't stay there or visit because of his mental health/drug issues.

 "Emanuel has severe mental health issues and I am afraid of what he is capable of," she wrote in an affidavit, explaining it's why she tried to move away from him. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A police officer near Boston was killed with his own service weapon Sunday morning, CBS Boston reports. Weymouth Police Department officers were responding to a call about an erratic driver around 7:30am and found a crashed BMW. While searching for the driver, officer Michael Chesna, a married Iraq and Afghanistan veteran with two kids ages 4 and 9, found Emanuel Lopes, 20, allegedly vandalizing a home. Chesna drew his gun and ordered Lopes to stop, but, police say, Lopes threw a rock at Chesna, hitting him in the head and knocking him to the ground. Lopes then allegedly took Chesna's gun and shot him multiple times in the head and chest. Officers fired on Lopes and gave chase as he allegedly continued to shoot, CNN reports. One of Lopes' alleged shots killed Vera Adams, 77, who was sitting inside her home nearby. Lopes had been arrested in September for allegedly throwing a rock through the bedroom window of a home he'd been asked to leave; he was charged with property damage and released on pre-trial probation. He was arrested again in October on charges of dealing cocaine and resisting arrest, the Boston Herald reports; he was freed on bail in November and was due in court July 30 for those charges. He had entered an addiction treatment center sometime after posting bail in November, court papers show, but it's not clear when he left. As a condition of his probation he was required to remain free of drugs and alcohol, but he allegedly failed to appear for a random drug screening in February; at a pre-trial probation violation hearing in April, he was allowed to remain free with the same conditions. He is currently hospitalized for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg.


News article:

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Trading in all Nasdaq-listed stocks and options was halted on Thursday due to technical problems on the bourse, according to Nasdaq OMX Group (NASDAQ:NDAQ) . The exchange sent out a series of emails alerting investors that it was experiencing issues with "quote submissions." In response, the New York Stock Exchange has also stopped trading in all Nasdaq securities at the request of Nasdaq OMX. "All orders in those securities have been cancelled back to customers," said NYSE in a statement. The Nasdaq Composite index (NASDAQ:COMP) was last at 3631.17, up 31.38 points, before trading was suspended. There was no immediate word on when transactions will resume. [Updated with NYSE developments.]

 Read the full story:

 Nasdaq halts all trade in Nasdaq-listed securities

 U.S. stocks up; Nasdaq-listed trade halted ||||| Article Excerpt

 A technical glitch knocked out trading in all Nasdaq Stock Market securities for three hours Thursday afternoon, an unprecedented meltdown for a U.S. exchange that paralyzed a broad swath of markets and highlighted the fragility of the financial world's electronic backbone.

 Nasdaq officials scrambled to figure out what happened and resume trading. They shared few of their findings with trading firms or the public during regular trading hours, sowing confusion across Wall Street and leaving many investors frustrated.

 The decision to reopen trading with about 35 minutes to go before the close came after exchange officials were sure that banks ... |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Nasdaq is back in business after an apparent technical glitch brought the exchange to a rare halt this afternoon for more than three hours, reports the Wall Street Journal. The exchange hasn't fully explained what happened, but trading of all Nasdaq securities ground to a halt just after noon today, reports MarketWatch. Other exchanges quickly suspended trading of Nasdaq stocks. "All orders in those securities have been canceled back to customers," says the New York Stock Exchange in a statement. Nasdaq blamed "quote submissions" in an email to investors.


Write an article based on this summary:

– JPMorgan is staring down a lawsuit over Bear Stearns' alleged mortgage-backed securities misconduct. The National Credit Union Administration, the federal regulator that oversees credit unions, has sued the big bank, alleging that Bear Stearns misled the credit unions it sold $3.6 billion in securities to, causing many to collapse, Reuters reports. JPMorgan, which bought Bear Stearns when it was on the brink of collapse in 2008, has declined to comment. In other regulatory-actions-against-banks news, Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay Massachusetts a $5 million fine for its widely-criticized handling of Facebook's IPO. Massachusetts' Secretary of the Commonwealth said Morgan Stanley had engaged in "dishonest and unethical practices" in influencing research analysts before the offering, Bloomberg reports.

By Aruna Viswanatha

 Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. credit union regulator sued JPMorgan Securities and Bear Stearns & Co on Monday over $3.6 billion in mortgage securities the bank allegedly sold to credit unions that collapsed because of losses from the securities.

 The lawsuit by the National Credit Union Administration is its second against JPMorgan involving losses to credit unions. In June 2011 the agency sued it over some $1.4 billion in securities in which JPMorgan was the underwriter and seller. That suit is still pending.

 The actions add to a growing list of cases the largest U.S. bank is fighting over conduct by Bear Stearns, which JPMorgan acquired in 2008.

 After the New York Attorney General sued JPMorgan in October alleging that Bear Stearns deceived investors buying mortgage-backed securities in 2006 and 2007, the bank's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, lashed out at the government.

 Speaking at a Washington event, Dimon said the company lost $5 billion to $10 billion in Bear Stearns-related costs and is still paying the price for doing the Federal Reserve "a favor" by buying the teetering investment bank.

 In the Monday lawsuit, the NCUA alleged that Bear Stearns made misrepresentations in connection with the underwriting and subsequent sale of mortgage-backed securities to U.S. Central, Western Corporate, Southwest Corporate and Members United Corporate federal credit unions.

 The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Kansas, is the largest such lawsuit the regulator has filed to date.

 A JPMorgan spokeswoman declined to comment.

 In the past two years the agency has brought similar actions against Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, RBS Securities, UBS Securities, Wachovia and others.

 Most of the cases are pending, but it has settled claims against Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities and HSBC for around $170 million.

 The credit union regulator has been trying to recover losses related to the failure of five institutions that it seized in 2009 and 2010 after they ran into trouble due to the crumbling housing market.

 The wholesale credit unions have experienced more troubles than their retail counterparts because they did not face the same restrictions on permitted investments, leading to big losses during the financial crisis. ||||| Morgan Stanley’s handling of Facebook Inc.’s (FB) initial public offering, a deal that cost investors billions of dollars, broke a decade-old pledge to block investment bankers from influencing analysts, according to Massachusetts regulators, who fined the bank $5 million.

 A senior Morgan Stanley banker wrote a script that Facebook’s then-treasurer used to update research analysts on the company’s revenue outlook before the IPO, according to a settlement document with Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin. He faulted Morgan Stanley for dishonesty, ethics violations and failing to supervise employees -- the first regulatory claims to stem from the bank’s handling of the deal.

 A plunge in Facebook’s stock after it began trading in May has fueled government probes and more than 40 lawsuits, with some investors claiming the social-network company failed to disclose revised forecasts before the IPO. The small size of Morgan Stanley’s fine relative to investors’ losses shows other regulators may struggle to pin much blame on the bank, said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

 “They paid a little bit of lunch money as a fine, they’re not getting disqualified, and they agreed once again to abide by a consent order they agreed to nine years ago,” Gordon said yesterday. “Coming from Massachusetts, where they could’ve gotten hit a lot harder, if anything, this is not encouraging to attorneys general.”

 Influenced Research

 Wall Street banks including Morgan Stanley agreed in 2003 to overhaul internal controls and wall off businesses after regulators found some firms let investment bankers influence analyst research. The abuses, which resulted in analysts recommending clients buy into IPOs handled by their own firms, helped fuel an Internet stock bubble that burned investors.

 The Massachusetts consent order describes the process by which Facebook, with Morgan Stanley’s (MS) advice, put out a public filing alerting investors to negative revenue trends related to mobile advertising. Facebook’s treasurer at the time, working from a Philadelphia hotel, then called research analysts and gave them more-detailed estimates of the impact those trends would have on revenue in the second quarter and all of 2012, according to the document. The treasurer and the senior investment banker had rehearsed the conversations beforehand.

 As calls took place, “I was far down the hall so I wouldn’t hear anything,” the banker told investigators, according to the order. “I took extra precaution to do that, and sat on the floor,” he said. The banker had e-mailed another executive that night to say the treasurer “was a champ.”

 Specific Numbers

 The order finds Morgan Stanley in violation of securities law against dishonest and unethical practices, without specifying what those practices were. Galvin, in a statement announcing the settlement, criticized the firm for helping Facebook provide analysts with more-detailed information than other investors received.

 “While retail investors were left to interpret vague qualitative information” from a regulatory filing, analysts were given “specific numbers” to lower their revenue estimates, Galvin said in the statement. New York-based Morgan Stanley didn’t admit or deny Galvin’s claims in settling.

 While the consent order didn’t name the investment banker involved, it said he had been employed at Morgan Stanley since May 1995 and worked in the bank’s Menlo Park offices. Michael Grimes, the firm’s global co-head of technology investment banking who helped lead the IPO, joined Morgan Stanley in May 1995 and works in those offices, according to records with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

 Grimes and a spokesman for Galvin’s office didn’t respond to messages seeking comment on the unidentified banker described in the complaint. Mary Claire Delaney, a spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley, declined to say whether Grimes is the banker.

 Robust Compliance

 “We are pleased to have reached a settlement with Secretary Galvin and the Massachusetts Securities Division and to have put this matter behind us,” Delaney said in an e-mailed statement. “Morgan Stanley is committed to robust compliance with both the letter and the spirit of all applicable regulations and laws.”

 Ashley Zandy, a spokeswoman for Facebook, declined to comment on Morgan Stanley’s settlement.

 Citigroup Inc. was fined $2 million by Massachusetts in October after a junior analyst improperly disclosed confidential information before Facebook’s IPO.

 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also is looking at the IPO, a person familiar with the probe said in October.

 To contact the reporter on this story: Michael J. Moore in New York at mmoore55@bloomberg.net

 To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net |||||


Article:

Yahoo on Monday made good on its promise to sue Facebook, alleging in a complaint that Facebook violated 10 patents.

 The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., makes a case that Yahoo innovated on several fronts, including messaging, news feed generation, social commenting advertising display, preventing click fraud and privacy controls.

 "Facebook was not launched until 2004, 10 years after Yahoo was founded," the complaint reads. "Facebook has since grown to be one of the most widely trafficked sites on the Internet. That growth, however, has been based in a large part on Facebook's use of Yahoo's patented technology."

 The complaint also quotes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as acknowledging that "getting there first is not what it's all about." Further on, it states, "Facebook's entire social network model, which allows users to create profiles for and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo's patented social networking technology."

 Yahoo's suit, which seeks unspecified damages, comes at an awkward time for Facebook. The social networking giant is expected to launch an IPO in May to raise $5 billion. Yahoo, meanwhile, risks being seen as desperate in engaging in patent trolling as its revenues and market share continue to slip.

 The suit comes after Yahoo and Facebook were apparently unable to work out an agreement over the issue. Yahoo was in talks with Facebook over its patent claims last month, according to a report in The New York Times. At the time, Yahoo was threatening a lawsuit if Facebook didn't pay licensing fees, according to the report.

 Image courtesy of Flickr, Eric Hayes

 Complaint for Patent Infringement ||||| The Yahoo! Connected TV booth is shown during the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada in this file photo taken January 7, 2011. Yahoo Inc sued Facebook Inc on Monday over 10 patents that include methods and systems for advertising on the...

 SAN FRANCISCO Yahoo Inc sued Facebook Inc over 10 patents that include methods and systems for advertising on the Web, opening the first major legal battle among big technology companies in social media.

 The lawsuit, filed in a San Jose, California federal court on Monday, marks a major escalation of patent litigation that has already swept up the smartphone and tablet sectors and high-tech stalwarts such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

 Yahoo's patent lawsuit follows Facebook's announcement of plans for an initial public offering that could value the company at about $100 billion.

 Facebook spokesman Jonathan Thaw said Facebook learned of the lawsuit through the media.

 "We're disappointed that Yahoo, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation," he said.

 In an emailed statement, Yahoo said it is confident it will prevail.

 "Unfortunately, the matter with Facebook remains unresolved and we are compelled to seek redress in federal court," the company said in a statement.

 Yahoo, one of the Web's pioneering companies, has seen its revenues decline in recent years at a time when rivals such as Facebook and Google have thrived. In January, Yahoo appointed former PayPal President Scott Thompson as its new chief executive, replacing Carol Bartz, who was fired in September.

 Yahoo said late last month it was seeking licensing fees from Facebook over its patents and that other companies have already agreed to such licensing deals.

 IPO COMPANIES VULNERABLE

 Colleen Chien, a professor at Santa Clara Law in Silicon Valley, said companies are usually more vulnerable to patent suits when they are in the IPO process.

 "As a general proposition, when a company is about to go public, the last thing it needs is to get involved in a knock-down, drag out litigation fight," Chien said.

 "So that might make Facebook more willing to resolve its differences with Yahoo."

 Yahoo has used similar timing to its advantage in the past. Google agreed to issue shares to Yahoo nine days before Google went public in 2004 in exchange for a license to Yahoo's patents. Google later took a $201 million non-cash charge related to the transaction.

 In deciding to sue Facebook, Yahoo has retained the same law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, used by Google and other manufacturers in many Android-related smartphone patent cases. Google is a player in social media with its Google+ service.

 Quinn Emanuel also counts social gaming service Zynga Inc as a client, according to the law firm's website.

 Yahoo has not said whether it will bring patent claims against other social networking companies and a Google spokesman declined to comment on Quinn Emanuel's involvement. Zynga also declined to comment.

 In the lawsuit, Yahoo says Facebook was considered "one of the worst performing sites for advertising" prior to adapting Yahoo's ideas.

 "Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and CEO, has conceded that the design of Facebook is not novel and is based on the ideas of others," the lawsuit said.

 ONLINE ADVERTISING

 Only two of the 10 patents at issue are directly related to social networking technology. Most focus on online advertising, including methods for preventing "click fraud," as well as privacy and technology for customizing the information users see on a Web page.

 "If what Yahoo is saying is literally true, then it seems like a lot of companies would be liable," said Shubha Ghosh, a professor who specializes in intellectual property at The University of Wisconsin Law School. But he added, much would depend on whether a judge defines the patents broadly or narrowly.

 Several social networking companies, including Facebook, have seen an uptick in patent claims asserted against them as they move through the IPO process.

 However, most of those lawsuits have been filed by patent aggregators that buy up intellectual property to squeeze value from it via licensing deals and none by a large tech company such as Yahoo.

 The lawsuit is a change for Yahoo because the company has never initiated offensive patent litigation against such a large publicly traded company, according to a search of federal court dockets on legal database Westlaw, a Thomson Reuters unit.

 A classic defense for companies targeted with patent claims is to threaten a countersuit using its own patents. But Yahoo possesses far more patents than Facebook. According to a U.S. government database, Yahoo has over 3,300 patents and published patent applications, while Facebook has 160.

 The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Yahoo Inc. v. Facebook Inc., 12-cv-1212.

 (Reporting By Dan Levine and Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Andre Grenon) ||||| Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com

 Yahoo Inc. watched in recent years as Facebook Inc. stole the attention of Web users and grabbed a major share of the online-advertising market. Now it is fighting back in court.

 The faded Internet behemoth on Monday filed a suit against Facebook, alleging that the social-networking service got a "free ride" by violating 10 Yahoo patents covering technologies such as online advertising, privacy controls and messaging.

 The move by Yahoo's new chief executive, Scott Thompson, came as Facebook moves toward an initial public offering of stock this year that could value the company at $100 billion.

 Yahoo's suit follows recent ... |||||
What is a summary?

– Yahoo followed through on its threat to sue Facebook today, filing a suit accusing the social networking company of violating 10 Yahoo patents. The suit, filed by new CEO Scott Thompson, reportedly comes after months of talks between the two companies; it alleges that Facebook got a "free ride" by using patented technology covering everything from messaging to online ads. Yahoo is struggling and Facebook is about to go public; suits like this are common in such cases, an expert tells the Wall Street Journal. Another tells Reuters that the timing might make Facebook "more willing to resolve" the differences. The suit alleges that Facebook succeeded by using principles "Yahoo had its pulse on" years earlier, a former Yahoo exec says; one example is Facebook's newsfeed, which is similar to Yahoo's patent for custom data streams. "With this lawsuit Yahoo is saying they had the ideas first," the exec says. Indeed, the lawsuit quotes Mark Zuckerberg himself, Mashable reports; he once said, "Getting there first is not what it's all about." A Facebook spokesperson says the company first learned of the suit through the media.


News article:

It was the moment that temporarily stopped the discussions about medal tallies, green pools, drug cheats and world records.

 When Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino, two middle distance runners previously unknown to one another, clashed in the 5000m heats and fell to the ground, not many would have given them a second glance. After all, distance track running often involves these stumbles.

 But what happened next became one of the iconic moments of the Rio Olympics, on par with Usain Bolt's triple-triple and Michael Phelps triumphant conclusion to his enormous personal medal tally.

 D'Agostino, quicker to her feet than Hamblin, helped get her off the turf, before she shuffled her way through 4 1/2 laps to finish the race, where Hamblin was waiting for her. D'Agostino had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament, traditionally a 12-month injury.

 The two embraced at the finish line, where D'Agostino was wheeled out as she could no longer walk at all.

 Now, the International Olympic Committee has honoured the two runners by awarding them the Pierre de Coubertin medal.

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 The medal, only awarded 17 times in Olympic history, is reserved for athletes, volunteers or officials who are deemed to have demonstrated the Olympic spirit.

 "Winning this award is overwhelming," said Hamblin. "I am proud that what we did and truly believe that you can be both a competitor and kind and responsive at the same time."

 "Everyone comes here to compete but there are a lot of people who don't achieve that and the journey is really important too. That was one of those journeys and it has gone on to be one of the most important moments of my life."

 "I think it's very special for both Abbey and myself. I don't think either of us woke up and thought that that was going to be our day, or our race, or our Olympic Games. Both of us are strong competitors and we wanted to go out there and do our best on the track.

 "I was on the ground for too long to get back up and catch on to the pack. So then it becomes about finishing the race, and finishing the race well. I am so grateful to Abbey for picking me up, and I think many people would have returned the favour … Once you are on the track, there is a mutual understanding of what it takes to get there." ||||| Date 20 Aug 2016 Tags IOC News , RIO 2016

 Fair Play Awards recognise true Olympic champions in sportsmanship

 The Olympic Games are about more than the win, the medals or the record-setting performances. At their core, the Games are about the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. They are about fair play and human spirit.

 Nobody has epitomised these values more at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 than runners Abbey D’Agostino (USA) and Nikki Hamblin (NZL) and, beyond the Games, the Norwegian men’s handball team. The International Fair Play Committee (CIFP), with the support of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), presented them with Fair Play awards today at the Olympic Club in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro for two separate acts of selflessness and exemplary sportsmanship.

 The D’Agostino and Hamblin story is one of humanity and sacrifice which has already captured the hearts of people across the globe. New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin tripped and fell to the ground during the 5,000m race, accidentally bringing American D’Agostino down behind her with around 2,000m to go. The 24-year-old D’Agostino was quick to get up again, yet instead of carrying on with her race she stopped to help the stricken Hamblin to her feet, encouraging her to join her in attempting to finish the race. However, during her tumble, D’Agostino suffered an ankle injury, slowing the runner down, but Hamblin sportingly hung back to in return offer her encouragements. The two women went on to complete the race together.

 Getty Images

 Speaking of this recognition after the ceremony, 28-year-old Nikki Hamblin said: “I think it’s very special for both Abbey and myself. I don’t think either of us woke up and thought that that was going to be our day, or our race, or our Olympic Games. Both of us are strong competitors and we wanted to go out there and do our best on the track.”

 She added: “I was on the ground for too long to get back up and catch on to the pack. So then it becomes about finishing the race, and finishing the race well. I am so grateful to Abbey for picking me up, and I think many people would have returned the favour. […] Once you are on the track, there is a mutual understanding of what it takes to get there.”

 Getty Images

 The Norwegian men’s handball team was also honoured for its gracious attitude during a European championship match against Germany earlier this year, which saw them lose out on their Olympic dream. The match was tied when at the last minute the German team scored a goal. It was discovered that when the goal had been scored an extra player had come onto the field. Although the Norwegian team had every right to file a protest, after much deliberation, they finally opted not to contest the results as they felt that the additional player on the field, though illegal, did not partake in the activities that helped the German team score the final goal. Germany went on to qualify for the Olympics, while the Norwegians did not.

 “This is an honour for the Norwegian Handball Federation and for the players,” commented the President of the Norwegian Handball Federation Kaare Geir Lio. “It is also recognition for international handball, of how we want to play, and of how we want to be. We have fair play as a value and keyword in Norwegian handball in addition to respect, amongst others. And those two together are very important for us. This award is very energising and inspiring for us.”

 The trophies were presented by IOC Vice-President and Executive Board Member Nawal El Moutawakel and master of ceremonies CIFP Secretary General Sunil Sabharwal.

 Nawal El Moutawakel said: “The Olympic Games Rio 2016 have reminded all of us of the power and magic of sport. In the past weeks, the athletes have amazed us with their outstanding achievements and performances. We have seen new world records, we have seen high-level performances, we have seen personal bests and we have also seen great emotions. We have also been inspired by great moments of sportsmanship. Athletes are inspirational role models, and it is these moments of fair play that we have come together to celebrate today.” |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– One of the most touching moments of the Rio Olympics has been rewarded with this year's Fair Play Awards. American runner Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin, who helped each other finish the race after falling during a women's 5,000-meter heat, were given the awards Saturday night for what the IOC describes as "two separate acts of selflessness and exemplary sportsmanship." D'Agostino, who was accidentally brought down by Hamblin, helped the New Zealand runner to her feet. Hamblin then stayed with her fellow runner when she realized D'Agostino had injured her leg in the fall. "Winning this award is overwhelming," says Hamblin, per the Sydney Morning Herald. "I am proud [at] what we did and truly believe that you can be both a competitor and kind and responsive at the same time," she says. "Everyone comes here to compete, but there are a lot of people who don't achieve that, and the journey is really important, too." The IOC decided to allow both women to compete in the final, though D'Agostino was too injured to take part, the Guardian reports.


Summarize this article:

It came from outer space, and landed in federal court

 Photo: AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Ownership of a slice of the Fukang meteorite, smal ler than this 1-ton piece in New York, is in dispute. Ownership of a slice of the Fukang meteorite, smal ler than this 1-ton piece in New York, is in dispute. Photo: AP It came from outer space, and landed in federal court 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

 A 220-pound rock from outer space has got the earthlings fighting.

 It’s not just any rock but the famous Fukang meteorite, a sparkly slab of greenish crystals that is said to be one of the greatest space rocks ever discovered. Exactly who owns it is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed in San Francisco that reads like an Isaac Asimov sci-fi tale.

 A Novato man says it’s rightfully his. A Massachusetts couple say they paid the Novato man $425,000 for it and that it’s rightfully theirs.

 The Novato man says he canceled the sale when he found out the Massachusetts couple were running a rock museum in Maine. The Massachusetts couple say the Novato man canceled the sale because of seller’s remorse, when he figured he let the $425,000 rock go on the cheap.

 Meanwhile, a New York rock broker and two Kansas rock polishers say they’re entitled to a piece of the action, too.

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 The tale begins 4 billion years ago, give or take an eon, when the meteorite plummeted to earth and landed in the Gobi Desert of China. In 2000, it was discovered, and pieces of it began to be sold to well-heeled rock hounds, one of whom was Stephan Settgast of Novato, who said he bought a 220-pound slice of it in 2004.

 In 2014, court documents say, Settgast agreed to sell the slice to Lawrence Stifler and Mary McFadden of Brookline, Mass., who paid him $425,000 through a New York meteorite middleman.

 But after the rock polishers, Keith and Dana Jenkerson of Osawatomie, Kan., who had been hired to spiff up the meteorite for its new owners, said they thought it was worth perhaps $1 million, Settgast decided he wanted his rock back, the Massachusetts couple say.

 Settgast went to the Jenkersons’ studio and, while they were away at a rock show, entered the premises and took back the meteorite. It was a clear case of meteorite-napping, said the spurned buyers.

 Settgast maintained he was reclaiming the rock because the couple planned to put it on public display at their under-construction museum in Maine. Settgast said that violated the terms of the sale. Stifler and McFadden said a no-museum promise was never part of the deal. They say Settgast has their rock and their money, too.

 Settgast sued in federal court in February to invalidate the sale and keep the rock. Stifler and McFadden countersued in March to get their hands on the rock.

 Nobody knows what a one-of-a-kind meteorite is worth, according to Settgast’s lawyer, Curt Edmondson.

 “It’s not like it’s a Toyota,” he said.

 Edmondson denied that Settgast stole back the meteorite or planned to keep the money. He said Settgast had never formally turned over the meteorite, despite being paid for it, and was entitled to take it back because it was still his.

 “It’s not like he went to Kansas and jimmied the lock on the back door and put a 220-pound rock under his arm,” Edmondson said.

 Court documents suggest one reason the rock polishers valued the rock at $1 million is that they believed they were entitled to 5 percent of its value for their services. They were seeking $50,000 for spiffing it up, instead of the $20,000 they had been promised and eventually accepted.

 Rock hounds say rare meteorites of the Fukang variety, known as pallasites, are beautiful and valuable but not particularly scientifically significant.

 “This kind of meteorite has been studied and has little new to tell us,” said Paul Doherty, senior scientist at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. “It came from the core-mantle boundary of an asteroid. We have studied lots of meteorites of this kind. It doesn’t need to be in a museum. If it was a Martian meteorite, that would be different.”

 Settgast, Stifler and McFadden did not return calls seeking comment. A federal judge has scheduled a hearing on the dispute for June 29.

 Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF ||||| This "Fukang meteorite" in question is at the heart of a battle between Stephan Settgast of Marin County, Calif. and the Maine Mineral And Gem Museum in Maine. Date unknown.

 A gold-flecked meteorite that has traveled from the asteroid belt near Mars to the mountains of Fukang, China, and finally Marin County, California, is at the center of a vicious ownership battle being waged in federal court.

 The 227-pound iron "pallasite" meteorite is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. First discovered in Fukang, China about 15 years ago, it could be worth as much as $1 million, according to Stephen Settgast, an asteroid collecter who claims he's the rightful owner.

 He sued a museum in Maine and a New York meteorite expert in February alleging breach of contract over the sale of the meteorite. But they have now filed a counterclaim, alleging that Settgast, who is staying in Marin County, is behind a "blatant theft of a unique and precious meteorite."

 The countersuit alleges Settgast sold the meteorite for $425,000, then engaged in an "outrageous act of seller’s remorse" by stealing back the space rock for himself.

 "This isn't a typical theft," said Wayne Minckley, undersheriff in Miami County, Kansas, in a Skype interview with NBC Bay Area.

 A sheriff is involved in the out-of-this-world case because authorities aren’t yet ready to decide who stole the meteorite until the suit is settled.

 "It’s a complicated case in the mere fact that the individual who sold it to the folks in Maine is our suspect in the theft," Minckley said.

 Settgast would not speak on the record. But his attorney, Curt Edmonson of the Oregon firm, Slinde Nelson Stanford, said this is a simple business dispute gone awry.

 "Civil suits don’t use terms like ‘steal.' That’s a criminal term," he said. "We didn’t go over the top in our complaint, but they certainly went over the top in their counterclaims."

 But Settgast's story is full of holes, according to the founders of the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum — Lawrence Stifler and Mary McFadden of Brookline, Massachusetts — and meteorite expert Darryl Pitt, of New York. All three filed the counterclaim on March 29.

 In the suit, Jeff Valle, the trio's Los Angeles attorney, laid out his clients’ argument like this: Noted for his ability to spot beauty and value in meteorites, Pitt suggested to the museum founders that they buy the meteorite in question. Stifler and McFadden agreed to pay Settgast $425,000 to feature the "Fukang meteorite" in their museum, which is not yet open.

 In August 2014, Pitt brokered the deal with Settgast. The final of three payments was made in February 2015, the counterclaim contends. According to his website biography, Pitt is the purveyor of the "world's foremost collection of aesthetic iron meteorites," which he describes as "extraterrestrial objects d'art."

 Valle and Pitt have declined to be interviewed.

 Keith Jenkerson, of KD Meteorites, gives a thumbs up after nearly completing his work on the "Fukang meteorite." Date unknown.

 Photo credit: Courtesy of Maine Mineral And Gem Museum

 After the money was paid, Pitt and the museum founders waited for the meteorite to be cleaned up and prepared by Kansas duo Keith and Dana Jenkerson, of KD Meteorites. The couple's website twinkles with brightly lit stars and boasts they've been "chasing meteorites since 1990s."

 The Jenkersons took almost two years to stabilize, restore and prepare the "Fukang meteorite," the countersuit alleges, and on Jan. 10, Keith Jenkerson told Pitt this was "one of the most awesome meteorites to ever be displayed." He guessed the spiffed-up space rock to now be worth $1 million. But Pitt and the museum founders said this higher price is wildly inflated, the counterclaim states.

 Less than two weeks later, the meteorite was reported stolen.

 Pitt and the museum founders allege that Settgast, whose lawyer described him as a "world-renowned" fossil hunter who also has a ranch in Montana, went into the Jenkersons' lab on Jan. 23 and stole back the meteorite. Settgast's attorneys claim a condition of the sale was that the meteorite couldn't be shown in a public museum, a point the museum founders' say is simply not true, the counterclaim contends.

 How Settgast would have gotten the meteorite out of the lab, at the Jenkersons' home in Osawatomie, Kansas, without detection, and then to Marin County, where Settgast has been living with a relative, has not been clearly explained.

 Minckley, from the sheriff’s office, reiterated that it’s his understanding Settgast stole the meteorite from the lab. He said there was no surveillance video to document what might have happened. His office, however, is reserving a final determination on whether a crime was committed, and by whom, until a federal judge makes a ruling on who really owns the meteorite.

 As for why the sheriff’s department is letting the civil case play out first, Edmonson said: "That tells you a little bit about how they feel about the criminal action. If they don’t feel there is enough evidence for the claim of theft, then it’s not there."

 A hearing is set for June to be heard by Oakland-based U.S District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong. |||||

– The question of who owns a particular chunk of a famed meteorite is heading to federal court with the filing of a lawsuit and countersuit, SF Gate reports. It all started billions of years ago with the Fukang meteorite slammed into China's Gobi Desert. Fast-forward to the year 2000: when the meteorite was discovered and collectors began acquiring slices of it. Among them was Stephan Settgast, currently of California, who says he bought his 220-pound piece in 2004. In 2014, according to court documents, Settgast agreed to sell it to Lawrence Stifler and Mary McFadden of Massachusetts for $425,000. And then it all went bad. Settgast says the couple violated the conditions of the sale by planning to show it in their rock museum. They say not showing the meteorite was never a condition of the sale and suggest that Settgast got "seller's remorse" after learning he might have undervalued it. And, they allege, that remorse manifested in what they call the "outrageous act" of Settgast stealing back the rock from the studio of a pair of Kansas rock polishers who spent two years preparing the stone for the buyers, per NBC News. After all, the rock polishers did tell Settgast the meteorite could fetch up to $1 million (which, documents point out, would bump up their 5% fee to $50,000). How the alleged theft of the gold-flecked meteorite actually went down is unclear. Settgast filed a suit in February alleging breach of contract. Stifler, McFadden, and Darryl Pitt, the meteorite expert who brokered the deal, countersued last month. Local authorities in Kansas say they are going to hang back on pursuing Settgast for theft until a federal judge determines who owns the meteorite. "This isn't a typical theft," Miami County undersheriff tells NBC. (No one noticed this meteor the size of a large living room plowing into the earth.)


Write a summary based on this article:

The woman accused of posting a photo of a dog with its mouth wrapped in duct tape on Facebook was arrested in North Carolina.

 On Friday, Katharine F. Lemansky, who uses the name “Katie Brown” on Facebook posted the picture of her chocolate lab-mix with the caption that said “This is what happens when you don't shut up!!!"

 The woman’s post was shared hundreds of thousands of times, however it appears the post has since been taken off the Facebook page.

 Police departments and news stations were inundated with phone calls about the post.

 On Monday, Lemansky was charged with cruelty to animals by the Cary Police Department after she told police that the incident took place in North Carolina.

 “Taping the dog's muzzle shut was a terrible decision on Ms. Lemansky's part, and charging her with animal cruelty under North Carolina law was the right thing to do," Cary Police Captain Randall Rhyne said in a release on Monday.

 Police said there are no additional charges pending against Lemansky.

 "At the same time, it's important to also note that our animal control officers who physically examined both Brown and her littermate found the dogs to be very well cared for, which is why we did not and could not remove them from the owner. The dogs are current on their shots, spayed, and microchipped. They are clean and well-nourished and appear to be comfortable in their surroundings. And there were no signs of injury to Brown's muzzle, not even detectable hair loss,” Rhyne said.

 The Cary Police Department said they worked with law enforcement officials across two states.

 On Saturday, Avon police said they went to the address that she had lived at but she reportedly hasn’t lived there for some time.

 “The Avon Police Department Animal Control Office is actively investigating this case and we want to assure you that we take all cases of animal abuse very seriously,” the Avon Police Department said in a statement on Monday.

 Torrington police said the incident didn’t happen in town and that she doesn’t live there, and police in South Daytona said the woman hasn’t lived in town for over one year.

 South Daytona Police Department determined that Lemansky had not lived in their town for more than a year.

 "It's always horrific to see an animal treated that way,” Amy Harrell with CT Votes for Animals said.

 But some feel people have gone too far.

 Martha Hickey owns a dog grooming business, Doggie in the Window, in Simsbury and nasty comments were posted on her businesses Facebook page. They accuse them of animal cruelty because a woman, who works at the grooming business, is friends on Facebook with Katie Brown.

 The employee told Hickey that she hasn't talked to her in 20 years.

 “I was astonished when I looked at Facebook yesterday, looking at the postings yesterday,” Hickey said. “How people could even arrive at this."

 While Facebook can expose bad things, there's a lot we don't know.

 “All we have is a still photograph, so we don't know the back story," Harrell said. “We don't know what the context was. What was happening at the time."

 A dispatcher in Avon said one caller demanded police do more and asked the dispatcher how she would feel if her mouth was taped shut.

 Right now, police want to talk to brown and see her dog.

 Copyright 2015 WFSB (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved. ||||| The world may now rest easy.

 Police in North Carolina have charged Katharine F. Lemansky, 45, with animal cruelty after she posted a photo on Facebook of her chocolate lab-mix with its mouth taped shut with duct tape. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to 150 days in jail, a press release said.

 Officers in Cary, a town just west of Raleigh, were contacted by South Daytona police Monday afternoon and went to her home within an hour.

 The photo went viral after it was posted Friday to her Facebook page under the name "Katie Brown." It resulted in hundreds of calls, Facebook messages and emails to the South Daytona Police Department from places as far away as Australia, causing the department's email server and computers to crash.

 The Facebook page said she lived in South Daytona, but officials said she hadn't lived there in more than a year. Tips also said she lived in Connecticut.

 Lemansky later posted on Facebook that the dog's mouth was only taped for a minute.

 She told police that the incident happened in Cary. It's not clear how South Daytona police tracked her to Cary.

 "Taping the dog's muzzle shut was a terrible decision on Ms. Lemansky's part, and charging her with animal cruelty under North Carolina law was the right thing to do," said Cary police Capt. Randall Rhyne.

 Animal control officers examined the dog and its littermate and determined they were well cared for. There was no sign of injury to the dog's muzzle, Rhyne said.

 "The dogs are current on their shots, spayed and microchipped," Rhyne said. "They are clean and well-nourished and appear to be comfortable in their surroundings."

 Because animal cruelty is a misdemeanor charge, Lemansky was not arrested or taken to jail. She must appear in Wake County court on Dec. 14, police said.

 dharris@tribune.com or 407-420-5471 |||||

– A woman who attracted the wrath of animal lovers around the world with a Facebook photo of a dog with its muzzle duct-taped shut has been tracked down. Police in Cary, NC, say Katharine Lemansky, who posted under the name "Katie Brown," was charged with animal cruelty but is being allowed to keep her two dogs because they appear to be very well cared for and are clean, well-nourished, "current on their shots, spayed, and microchipped," WFSB reports. "Taping the dog's muzzle shut was a terrible decision," a police spokesman says, but animal control officers who examined the chocolate-lab mix found no sign of injury, "not even detectable hair loss." Lemansky, 45, is due in court Dec. 14 and could get up to 150 days in jail, the Orlando Sentinel reports. In South Daytona, Fla., where Lemansky used to live, police say they spoke to investigators in two other states after receiving a deluge of complaints about the photo over the weekend. A spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office tells the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the office dealt with more than 1,000 phone calls and a similar number of Facebook messages, which he tried to respond to individually. The "greatest burden fell to our extraordinarily patient dispatchers, who picked up hundreds of repetitive, emotionally charged phone calls, dealt with them appropriately, and continued to run a highly organized and efficient dispatch operation for our entire county," he says. (A Texas woman was arrested after posting photos of her neighbor's diapered dog.)


Article:

It's too soon to determine whether the current flu season, which may last until May, will lead to more pediatric deaths than usual. As of Jan. 13, there had been 30 flu-associated fatalities in children, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The actual number of pediatric deaths may be higher, since it takes a few weeks for the CDC to gather the information, and not all states report flu deaths quickly or in the same way.

 The CDC will report new data on pediatric deaths on Jan. 26.

 "Our sweet Emily Grace passed away today on Jan. 19, 2018 from the flu," the family of 6-year-old Emily Muth posted on their GoFundMe page. gofundme

 The number is likely to go up as the flu season continues, said Dr. John Williams, a professor and division chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

 "Every year in the U.S., somewhere between 100 to 300 pediatric deaths form the flu are reported," Williams said. "And that's likely an underestimate. We might have more deaths than usual this year. We don't know what's going to happen with the rest of the season. We probably haven't peaked yet."

 The best way to protect children from catching the flu is to vaccinate them, Williams said. Even if the flu vaccine doesn't prevent you from getting sick, "some protection is a lot better than no protection," he said.

 Pediatric deaths for the current flu season ( up to week of Jan. 7-13, 2018) compared to recent years. CDC

 Although the vaccine this year isn't a perfect match — its effectiveness at completely preventing the flu from one particularly severe strain has been estimated to range from 10 to 30 percent — the shot can at least lessen symptoms in those who end up getting the flu. The vaccine, which is made from two proteins culled from the surface of killed virus particles, alerts the immune system that invaders might be on the way. If a person is vaccinated at least two weeks before coming in contact with the flu, then there will be antibodies already made and waiting to do battle.

 Some 80 to 85 percent of children who died from the flu in past years were not vaccinated, said CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund.

 Plenty of vaccine available

 If a child's doctor is out of the vaccine, parents shouldn't worry: the CDC says there’s plenty of vaccine for the season.

 “Providers might not be able to get the specific brand or presentation they want and may need to select something else or may need to purchase vaccine from another source,” Nordlund said.

 So even if pediatricians can't get flu shots from their usual suppliers, they'll be able to get the vaccine through other companies.

 For some, there may be other options. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 CLEVELAND, Ohio -- This flu season shows no signs of slowing down as this week alone the Cuyahoga County Board of Health announces six additional adult flu-related deaths.

 The Cleveland Clinic states around 930 people have been hospitalized so far this season for the flu including totals from Akron General Hospital. It's the largest amount they've seen since the worst flu season in recent memory in 2014-2015.

 So far nationwide the CDC reports at least 30 children have died from the flu. The number is expected to rise as many health experts cannot yet determine if we have seen the worst of flu season.

 "It's incredible to think about a normal, healthy child who can succumb to the flu and succumb very, very quickly; that is the nature of the illness," said Dr. Susan Rehm, Vice Chair of the Department of Infectious Disease at the Cleveland Clinic.

 The CDC is still recommending vaccination as the best option to keep the flu at bay, citing it can reduce chances of getting the virus by up to 60 percent. However, Dr. Rehm cautions it can take up to two weeks to become effective. In the meantime, she has advice on symptoms you may not realize you need to watch for in your children.

 "A fever that does not go away or one that goes away for a while and comes back; anybody that has difficulty breathing or trouble staying awake those are the types of things that should lead people to seek care," said Dr. Rehm.

 **Read more information from the CDC, right here**

 For now, the mystery remains about when the widespread and deadly flu season will end and if we have seen the worst of it yet. According to Dr. Rehm, several more weeks of information is needed to determine how long it will last.

 Read more stories on the flu, here. |||||
What is a summary?

– Sobering stats out of the CDC Friday show that 37 kids have perished from the respiratory illness as of last Saturday—and the flu season is on track to be one of the worst in 15 years, the Washington Post reports. Nearly 12,000 people have required hospitalization so far, and flu activity was said to be high or even "extreme" in 39 states, as well as New York City and Puerto Rico. Health officials say the final pediatric death toll might exceed the 148 deaths recorded in the 2014-15 season. More details and developments: NBC News reports the death toll may be even higher than what's been reported, and Dr. John Williams, head of pediatric infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, notes "we probably haven't peaked yet." Although NBC adds that influenza usually isn't cause for too much alarm with prompt and proper treatment, it cites the cases of two children who died this month after experiencing "typical" cold or flu symptoms. The best way to keep your own kids safe, says Williams: Get them vaccinated. Fox 8 Cleveland lists child-specific symptoms parents should look for that might warrant a trip to the doctor, including labored breathing, finding it hard to keep from dozing off, and an unrelenting fever (or one that vanishes, only to reemerge). "It's incredible to think about a normal, healthy child who can succumb to the flu and succumb very, very quickly," a Cleveland Clinic doctor warns.


Here is a news article: Camp Cloverleaf

 Camp Cloverleaf is a traditional camp with modern conveniences, combining a relaxed camp atmosphere with today’s camping desires.

 Nestled on the banks of Lake Francis in Highlands County, its private facilities, open spaces and good fishing allow participants to play, learn, and work in a safe and enjoyable environment.

 To schedule a tour or check availability, please email Steve Cooper at cloverleaf4-h@ufl.edu or give us a call at (863) 465-4884.

 For summer camp information, please contact your local 4-H Extension Agent, or click HERE for more information about our Gator Adventures Camp, open to all youth ages 8-13.

 Camp Cloverleaf is open to the public year-round and may be reserved for a variety of uses:

 School field trips

 Church retreats

 Family reunions

 Business meetings Teacher In-service training

 Civic Organizations

 Athletic Groups

 Weddings and more….

 Camp Cloverleaf can provide a number of opportunities including:

 Conference rooms seating 15-125

 Overnight accommodations for up to 150 in climate controlled cabins

 Dining hall with climate control

 Food service by request

 Outdoor pavilion with large barbecue grill

 Campfire Circle seating 150

 Large air-conditioned auditorium stage and seats up to 150

 Waterfront facilities with canoes, kayaks, fishing and swimming

 Lighted recreational field

 Recreational equipment available by request

 Audio-Visual equipment by request (projectors, screens, and speaker system)

 Wireless Internet

 Educational, Business, Family & Church Retreats

 Camp Cloverleaf provides the perfect escape from the noise and clutter of the busy world and an opportunity to work in a relaxed atmosphere. Camp Cloverleaf is affordable and tranquil. The private facilities can accommodate group meetings, corporate retreats and team development activities. The Camp’s small meeting rooms are perfect for workshops and demonstrations. Its private beach and 2-boat dock create a safe perimeter for waterfront activities, allowing guests of all ages to enjoy the outdoors of South Central Florida.

 Environmental Education

 Programs at Camp Cloverleaf bring science to life in this living laboratory. Groups of “campers” observe, explore and interact with nature in an informal setting of experiential learning. The 4-H Environmental Education Curriculum can serve as a guide for your outdoor experiences, or you can design your own.

 Resident Director

 Steve Cooper

 E-mail: cloverleaf4-h@ufl.edu

 Phone: (863) 465-4884

 Fax: (863) 465-9357

 Assistant Resident Director

 Bill Tillett

 E-mail: Cloverleaf4-Hpd@ufl.edu

 Address

 126 Cloverleaf Rd.

 Lake Placid, FL 33852

 Like us on Facebook at 4-H Camp Cloverleaf! ||||| More than two dozen children at a summer camp in Florida fell ill and are being examined, CBS affiliate WTSP-TV reports. Officials in Highlands County say 33 kids and three adults from the Clover Leaf 4-H camp in Lake Placid started to feel nauseous.

 Some began vomiting and others suffered headaches. The victims were rushed to at least two local hospitals, according to Highlands County Public Safety Director Marc Bashoor.

 He told CBS News Radio that one person passed out, which prompted a 911 call. WTSP-TV writes that none of the cases appear to be serious.

 Bashoor explained that some children have been picked up, but about 50 kids remain at the camp.

 Final update: 33 children and 3 adults transported to 2 area hospitals. No cause determined at this time, investigation turned over to Health Dept. Last EMS units leaving scene — Highlands County Fire and Rescue (@HighlandsFL_FR) June 22, 2018

 Highlands County Fire and Rescue officials wrote that children from Charlotte, Desoto, Sarasota, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade counties are attending the camp.

 CBS News has reached out to camp officials, but they didn't immediately provide comment. ||||| At least 33 kids and three adults at Clover Leaf 4-H camp in Lake Placid, Florida, are being examined after falling ill, June 22, 2018. The cause of the disturbance is still unknown. (via Facebook) |||||
A summary of this is?

– A Florida summer camp ended up falling somewhere between Meatballs and Friday the 13th on Thursday after dozens of kids came down with a mysterious illness. It began with an urgent-sounding tweet shortly after 8pm EDT from Highlands County Fire and Rescue noting a "mass casualty incident" at Lake Placid's Camp Cloverleaf, which belongs to a Florida 4-H group. CBS News and WTSP report that the incident involved 33 kids and three adults falling ill, mainly suffering from nausea, vomiting, and headaches, though one person passing out was deemed concerning enough for a 911 call to be placed, according to Highlands County Public Safety Director Marc Bashoor. The victims were taken to area hospitals to be checked out, though none appeared seriously ill. The fire department says it still doesn't know what caused so many to get sick at once; the health department is looking into it. In the meantime, the area where most of the patients seemed to fall ill has been cordoned off, and although many children were picked up by family, about 50 or so of the 115 attendees remained, per the New York Daily News. The kids at the camp range in age from 8 to 15.


News article:

LaVar Ball downplayed reports that he is feuding with President Donald Trump in an interview on Monday, but he declined to thank the president for helping to get his son, LiAngelo Ball, home from China.

 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

 “You know where my boy is at right now because of me. Because I spent all that time and love for him,” LaVar Ball said in an interview with CNN Monday evening. “Don't come in one time and think you did something for my son.”

 "I don't have to go around saying thank you to everybody," he added.

 LiAngelo Ball and two other freshman UCLA basketball players -- Jalen Hill and Cody Riley — were arrested in China earlier this month after they reportedly shoplifted items from three different stores, including Louis Vuitton. The players were detained in their hotel in Hangzhou during the president’s 12-day Asian tour.

 "If you help, you shouldn't have to say anything," says LaVar Ball, father of UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball, adding, "Let him do his political affairs and let me handle my son, and let's just stay in our lane" https://t.co/CzyFZ2YTO1 pic.twitter.com/1XiXEg6Pl4 — CNN (@CNN) November 21, 2017

 "Just because people say things, they're supposed to be true? Like he stopped them from [serving] 10 years?" the elder Ball said Monday. "Maybe we were doing some talking with some other people before he even got there."

 “If I was going to thank someone, I would probably thank [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping]," he added.

 LaVar Ball, who said his son returned the stolen merchandise and wrote an apology letter, said he did more than Trump to get the players home safely.

 Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

 "I had some people that had boots on the ground that knew the situation when we first jumped on there," Ball said. "I keep those people in mind."

 He also downplayed reports that he and Trump were engaged in a war of words.

 “Why would I be at war with the most powerful man in the world? That's my question,” LaVar Ball said. “What do you mean take on Donald Trump? Take him on for what?”

 LaVar Ball, the father of a basketball player freed from China who also recently ran afoul of the President on Twitter, talks with @ChrisCuomo: "I don't have to go around saying thank you to everybody" https://t.co/2r5gjzKaQa https://t.co/pQmyfEjnvK — CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) November 21, 2017

 Trump indicated that he wanted recognition for his help in securing the release of the players, who he says were facing 10 years in jail, in a tweet last Wednesday.

 The three players, who admitted to shoplifting in a news conference later that day, thanked Trump for his assistance in the case, but LaVar Ball has seemed to downplay Trump's role ever since.

 Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017

 "Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!" Trump wrote in a tweet on Sunday.

 Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017

 "Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful," Trump wrote in a follow-up tweet more than five hours later. ||||| 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 ||||| 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 |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The father of one of the UCLA basketball players freed by China after shoplifting maintains that he's not in a feud with President Trump over the incident, but the president may feel differently. Trump fired off two tweets Wednesday morning critical of LaVar Ball, at times referring to Ball as an "ungrateful fool" and a "poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair." But Trump's first point was to make clear that it was he, the president, who intervened to save the three players. "It wasn’t the White House, it wasn't the State Department, it wasn't father LaVar's so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence - IT WAS ME," he wrote. Trump suggested that without his intervention, UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill, and Cody Riley would have spent five to 10 years in prison in China for shoplifting sunglasses while on a team trip. The elder Ball has downplayed Trump's role, but on Monday denied reports of a feud. “Why would I be at war with the most powerful man in the world?" he asked, per ABC News. "What do you mean take on Donald Trump? Take him on for what?" Despite the sniping, the men have something in common: reality show experience. Ball In the Family, chronicling the Ball family, streams on Facebook. (Here's what else Trump has had to say on the matter.)