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 After an exhaustive and rigorous scientific review, FDA has arrived at the decision that AquAdvantage salmon is as safe to eat as any non-genetically engineered (GE) Atlantic salmon, and also as nutritious.

 FDA’s Review of the GE Salmon

 The FDA scientists rigorously evaluated extensive data submitted by the manufacturer, AquaBounty Technologies, and other peer-reviewed data, to assess whether AquAdvantage salmon met the criteria for approval established by law; namely, safety and effectiveness. The data demonstrated that the inserted genes remained stable over several generations of fish, that food from the GE salmon is safe to eat by humans and animals, that the genetic engineering is safe for the fish, and the salmon meets the sponsor’s claim about faster growth.

 In addition, FDA assessed the environmental impacts of approving this application and found that the approval would not have a significant impact on the environment of the United States. That’s because the multiple containment measures the company will use in the land-based facilities in Panama and Canada make it extremely unlikely that the fish could escape and establish themselves in the wild.

 Labeling Food Containing Ingredients Derived from Genetically Engineered Sources

 At the same time, many consumers also want to know whether their food or any ingredients in their food is derived from genetically engineered sources. Although the law does not require food containing ingredients derived from these salmon to be labeled as GE, FDA recognizes that many consumers are interested in this information, and some food manufacturers will want to make the distinction.

 FDA is releasing two guidance documents detailing the agency’s current thinking on labeling—a draft guidance for labeling of food derived from Atlantic salmon that has or has not been genetically engineered and a final guidance for labeling of food that has or has not been derived from GE plants—to help those manufacturers who wish to voluntarily make the distinction on the labeling of their food products.

 “Both guidance documents explain FDA’s best thinking on how to make it easy for consumers to know whether a food was produced using genetic engineering or not,” says Felicia Billingslea, B.S., M.S., director of FDA’s Division of Food Labeling and Standards.

 The public is invited to provide comments on this draft guidance (see box below). Consumers can also learn more about how a food is produced by contacting the manufacturer, Billingslea says.

 How to Comment on the Draft Guidance To comment on the draft guidance on voluntary labeling indicating whether food has or has not been derived from GE Atlantic salmon: Read the Draft Guidance. Starting Tuesday, November 24, submit comments on the draft guidance on Regulations.gov. Comment Now The comment period closes January 25, 2016.

 November 19, 2015

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 This photo provided by AquaBounty Technologies shows two same-age salmon, a genetically modified salmon, rear, and a non-genetically modified salmon, foreground. (AP/AquaBounty Technologies)

 After years of review and endless controversy, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the nation's first genetically altered animal -- a salmon engineered to grow twice as fast as its natural counterpart.

 AquAdvantage, produced by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty, is an Atlantic salmon that contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish. The result is a fish that is large enough for consumption in about a year and a half, rather than the typical three years.

 Food-safety activists, environmental groups and the salmon fishing industry, not to mention lawmakers from Alaska, have long opposed the approval of the fish -- which they derisively refer to as "Frankenfish" -- and have argued that its existence could open the door to a broad range of potentially unsafe genetically modified animal foods. Knowing an FDA approval was likely, critics have in recent years won commitments from some of the nation's most recognizable chains — including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Target — to not sell the fish.

 [A new method against genetically modified salmon: Get retailers to refuse to sell it]

 The FDA said Thursday that its decision was "based on sound science and a comprehensive review," and that regulators are confident that the genetically altered fish is as safe to eat as a normal Atlantic salmon, with no discernible difference in its nutritional value. Officials noted that the agency held meetings, combed through thousands of public comments and conducted scientific and environmental assessments about the AquaBounty fish before finally approving it.

 "All of that took time," said Laura Epstein, a senior policy analyst in the FDA's center for veterinary medicine. "As with many products that are the first of their kind, we're very careful to be sure we're getting everything right."

 Salmon fishermen and environmental activists have raised concerns about the havoc that could occur if any of AquaBounty's engineered salmon made it into ocean waters and mated with wild Atlantic salmon -- a scenario they say could have unpredictable impacts and lead to the decimation of wild populations. AquaBounty has said its fish are all female and sterile, making it impossible for them to breed with other salmon, even if they somehow were to escape their land-locked production facilities. The company argues its fish actually could reduce pressure on wild fish stocks and prevent the overfishing of Atlantic salmon.

 The FDA said Thursday it will require the AquaBounty salmon to be raised only in land-based, contained tanks in two specific facilities in Canada and Panama, and that it will conduct regular inspections. The approval also doesn't allow the salmon to be bred or raised in the United States for now, though FDA officials said the company could apply to have other production sites approved in the future.

 Critics have argued that an FDA approval of AquaBounty’s salmon could open the floodgates for other genetically engineered animals, each with its own health and environmental concerns.

 "It was a flawed and irresponsible approval ... It sets a very dangerous precedent, given our federal government agencies are ill-equipped to handle genetically engineered animals," said Dana Perls, food and technology campaigner at Friends of the Earth, an international network of environmental organizations that has vehemently fought AquaBounty's efforts. "I think it is a grave mistake we will come to regret."

 [Genetically altered salmon are safe, FDA says]

 Perls said her group and others would continue to try to undermine the market for the fish. "It’s clear: People don’t want to eat it," she said. "We’re going to continue to work with grocery stores and retailers to continue to listen to consumers who don’t want to eat this under-studied, unlabeled GMO fish."

 Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has long opposed the AquaBounty fish, saying that its existence would threaten a mainstay industry of his state. He repeatedly has pushed for delays in the FDA approval process, telling the Post in a 2012 interview that he hoped such hurdles eventually would "break that company."

 "This harebrained decision goes to show that our federal agencies are incapable of using common sense," Young said in a statement Thursday. "By embarking on this science experiment, the FDA ignores fundamental risk questions related to our wild fish species and food safety."

 Others welcomed the FDA approval Thursday, none more than the company that has spent two decades developing genetically engineered salmon. "We're thrilled," AquaBounty chief executive Ron Stotish said when reached on his cell phone early Thursday. "We think this is good for science, we think it's good for aquaculture, we think it's good for consumers."

 Stotish took over at the helm in 2008 at AquaBounty, which he said now employees 21 people, and is acutely aware of the fierce opposition among many activists to the firm's genetically engineered salmon. But he said he hopes to win over critics in time.

 "We hope they understand that we understand their concerns. And we've developed a product that mitigates many of the concerns they share and we share," he said. "I hope people take the time to consider the fact that we are an environmentally sustainable product, and that this might actually be a better way to grow salmon ... We hope people consider it on its merits."

 Another issue certain to remain controversial as the genetically engineered salmon moves closer to U.S. dinner tables: Labeling.

 The FDA said Thursday that it can require additional labeling of genetically engineered foods only if "there is a material difference -- such as a different nutritional profile" between the genetically engineered food and its natural counterpart. In the case of the AquaAdvantage salmon, the FDA found no such differences. Thus, the agency won't require a special label, despite the outcry from consumer and health advocates who say that Americans should know if the salmon they are buying has been genetically altered.

 On a conference call with reporters Thursday, FDA officials were asked how consumers eventually would be able to discern between the AquaBounty salmon and any other salmon in the grocery aisle. "[Looking for] 'wild caught' salmon would be one way you could ensure you are not eating genetically engineered salmon," said Larisa Rudenko, senior adviser for biotechnology in the agency's center for veterinary medicine.

 Greg Jaffe, director of biotechnology at the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, said Thursday's approval is unlikely to impact U.S. consumers, at least in the short term. Even when AquaBounty cranks up its production to full capacity, he said, the hundreds of tons of genetically engineered salmon it could produce annually will amount to a tiny fraction of the massive market for salmon in the United States.

 "It’s not going to be on the shelf tomorrow," said Jaffe, who agrees with the FDA that the genetically engineered salmon would be perfectly safe to eat. "This is not something you have to try hard to avoid. It's actually going to be hard to find."

 This post has been updated.

 Read more:

 Who still smokes in the United States — in seven simple charts

 Why groundbreaking new cancer drugs still don’t work for most patients

 Cantaloupes to cauliflower, pineapples to plantains: FDA finalizes first federal safety rules for produce

 Nearly 60 percent of Americans — the highest rate ever — are taking prescription drugs

 7 country study on fairness: Kids everywhere can't stand getting less -- but in some places they don't like getting more

 Groundbreaking face transplant: After a firefighter was injured on duty, a deceased 26-year-old cyclist gave him his life back

 For more health news, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter here. |||||
A summary of this is?

– The FDA made history Thursday when, for the first time ever, it approved a genetically altered animal for human consumption, the Washington Post reports. After two decades of what the FDA calls "exhaustive and rigorous scientific review" the AquAdvantage salmon will be hitting supermarket seafood cases. According to ABC News, the AquAdvantage is an Atlantic salmon with a Chinook salmon growth hormone that allows it to grow all year and a gene from the eel-like ocean pout to activate that growth hormone. Basically this means the AquAdvantage will be big enough to eat in a year and a half instead of the three years required for a normal Atlantic salmon. The AquAdvantage is a "game changer"—nutritious food that's environmentally responsible, says Ron Stotish, CEO of AquaBounty, which makes the genetically altered salmon. The Post reports the approval of the AquAdvantage was opposed by everyone from food-safety activists to the salmon fishing industry. "I think it is a grave mistake we will come to regret," says one environmental group representative. Opponents call the AquAdvantage a "frankenfish" (though technically it would be a "Frankenfish's monster," but that's neither here nor there) and worry it could get loose and destroy the wild Atlantic salmon population. AquaBounty assures opponents that all its salmon are bred female and sterile, making their survival in the wild impossible (which sounds ominously familiar). According to ABC, laws don't require stores to label the AquAdvantage, and it's likely consumers won't even know they're eating it. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Target, and others have already vowed not to sell the genetically altered salmon, the Post reports.


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 Today, at 9 a.m. local time in Juneau, the state of Alaska is scheduled to release 24,199 pages of emails Sarah Palin sent and received during her half-term as governor of the Last Frontier. State workers will distribute six-box sets and hand trucks (which must be returned) to representatives of a dozen or so media outfits, including Mother Jones. Immediately, a mad dash will be on, with journalists reviewing (and scanning) these thousands of emails, searching for illuminating or entertaining information regarding the GOP’s number-one political celebrity, who remains a possible 2012 presidential contender. (Shortly after the release, Mother Jones, msnbc.com, and ProPublica will post online a searchable archive of the emails.) This saga began with a request I made almost three years ago.

 When John McCain chose Palin as his sidekick, reporters rushed to dig up what they could about the little-known chief executive of the faraway state. As part of that frenzy, I came across a local story about a citizen activist in Alaska named Andrée McLeod, who had used the state’s open-records law to request emails sent to and from two of Palin’s top aides over a period of several months in 2008. McLeod suspected that the pair had engaged in prohibited political activity during official business hours. The governor’s office handed over four large boxes of emails, portions of which McLeod used as the basis for filing an ethics complaint. But more intriguing than the documents released was the material withheld: 1,100 emails the state deemed exempt from release because they were covered by the “executive” or “deliberative process” privileges that protected communications between Palin and her aides about policy matters. The subject lines of several of the withheld emails—which were catalogued in a list given to McLeod—suggested that they were not policy-related. Several referred to one of Palin’s political foes, others to a well-known Alaskan journalist.

 Though it appeared that Palin’s administration might have abused the exemptions to hide politically inconvenient emails, I thought it was worthwhile to shoot for the moon. On September 8, 2008—ten days after McCain tapped Palin as his running mate—I filed a request with the state for “all emails sent and received by” Palin during her entire tenure as governor.

 This was the first comprehensive request for the Palin emails received by the state. In subsequent days, other media outlets submitted more-limited requests. The Associated Press and NBC News requested copies of emails sent to and from Todd Palin. Msnbc.com asked for emails between Sarah Palin and certain state employees. CNN requested emails to and from the McCain presidential campaign.

 Palin’s use of a private account was arguably improper and perhaps a violation of state guidelines. Why should news organizations and citizens have to pay extra because the governor had decided to engage in state business on a private email account?

 I wasn’t sure whether the state could process my request before the November election, when Americans would have to render judgment on the McCain-Palin ticket. That would would entail collecting and reviewing a lot of information. But the state’s initial response, outlined in a September 22 letter, was almost encouraging. The state noted that it would take eight hours of computer staff time to gather the emails and perform “security operational management,” whatever that meant. For all this, Mother Jones would have to pay a fee of $2,249.46. But there would be an additional cost for copying. The normal duplication fee, the state said, was 10 cents a page. But for this request the state had opted to use an outside vendor that charged 29 cents a page. And there was no way to tell at the start how many pages would be produced; certainly there would be thousands.

 Without knowing what the final fee would be, Mother Jones decided to proceed, and the state revised the initial fee covering the search to $590.96. That seemed a like bargain. I sent in a check. We were on our way.

 But soon, a big problem materialized. News reports revealed that Palin had used a private Yahoo email account to conduct state business. (This account was soon hacked.) I asked Palin’s office whether it would be collecting emails related to state business sent to and from this account. Linda Perez, the administrative director of the Alaska governor’s office, replied, “We are unable to access records from the nonstate email accounts as we are not the account owner or customer of the providers.”

 Regarding this Yahoo account, the state, Perez reported, could only gather emails that Palin had sent to or received from the official email accounts of other state employees, including her aides. But doing so would require searching the accounts of dozens of other state employees at a cost of $960.31 per account. Perez noted that searching through the email of all state employees would result in an exorbitant fee. But, she added, there were 68 employees within the executive offices of the governor. This meant a limited search would cost about $65,000.

 I protested. Palin’s use of a private account was arguably improper and perhaps a violation of state guidelines. Why should news organizations and citizens have to pay extra because the governor had decided to engage in state business on a private account? I requested that the fees associated with searching these 68 accounts be waived. Days later, the news emerged that Palin had used a second private account to communicate with a small circle of staff members—further complicating the effort to gather her emails.

 Palin had in effect created a challenge for the state (especially its IT workers), and the state agreed to drop all search fees. Officials returned my check for $590.96, while noting that the request still would probably end up costing between $7,000 and $13,000 in copying fees. (Mother Jones, msnbc.com, and ProPublica agreed to cover these costs, share the documents, and jointly develop the online archive.) But now the major issue was time. Recovering the emails from Palin’s various official and nonofficial accounts and then reviewing those messages would take a while. “I can’t even begin to estimate,” Perez told me, with a sigh, in October 2008.

 At this point, it was obvious there would be no Palin emails released before the election. Though the state could have gone ahead and collected and reviewed emails from her state account—which presumably would have taken less time—it insisted on making those official emails a part of the more comprehensive and time-consuming project.

 The long wait began. As the governor’s office began processing the request, every few months it asked the state attorney general for an deadline extension. And the AG (always a Republican) said yes.

 In December 2008, the state—which had lumped together most of the various media requests—told us that it had collected about 25,700 relevant messages. (It was compiling emails from the official accounts of 51 state employees, not 68.) But the state noted that it would take 33 days merely to print them out—and then the lawyers would have to start reviewing the documents to determine if any material should be withheld or redacted. The state declined to say how long the legal review would go on. At the end of January 2009, the senior assistant attorney general in charge of the review noted in a memo, “Unfortunately, we have made little progress.” He reported that his department had been unable to “batch-print the email records in the format provided” and that each email had to be opened individually and converted to a PDF file.

 Throughout the months, the state reported various glitches. For instance, at one point its techies realized that the format for state employees’ email addresses had changed during the period in question from @[department].state.ak.us to @alaska.gov. Consequently, IT staffers had to collect data from twice as many accounts as initially anticipated.

 The senior assistant attorney general in charge of the review noted in a memo, “Unfortunately, we have made little progress.”

 In February 2009, acting attorney general Richard Svobodny declared that he had designated the ongoing email review “a very high priority” for the state’s Department of Law—as he granted another extension. The following June, he noted that the department had devoted “over 4,000 hours to providing legal review and advice on public records at a cost to the state of $450,000,” and he granted another extension.

 When Palin resigned as governor in July 2009, the governor’s office asked the journalists seeking her emails if we were “still interested in the requested records.” Yes, we replied. Two weeks later, the state’s Department of Law wrote a memo reporting that it had a team of six attorneys and four paralegals and associate attorneys on the case. It claimed it had “continued to make significant progress.” Still, more extensions came and went. (In June 2010, the state did release to msnbc.com and NBC News nearly 3,000 pages of emails Todd Palin had exchanged with state officials. )

 This past December, the state reported that it had identified 26,553 pages of emails, and the lawyers had reviewed less than one-third of this trove. More time was needed. But Alaska attorney general David Sullivan demanded that the governor’s office submit a work plan that would state when the request would be finished, and a target date was set: May 31, 2011.

 Now, another six months later, the governor’s office has missed that date, but by only 10 days. Not bad, considering. The final fee ended up being a reasonable $725.00 for copying.

 But what’s coming? Or, more important, what’s not? The state has informed us that it is withholding 2,353 pages. And the released documents will contain redactions. There may be no way to tell if the suppressed material was excised legitimately. (The state, as I noted above, doesn’t have a sterling record on this front.) The lawyers who reviewed the emails and recommended deletions worked for Palin or her successor Gov. Sean Parnell, who served as Palin’s lieutenant governor. Citizens might be excused for wondering if politics (or Palin protection) was a concern among the redacters. The lawyers suggested material to block; the governor’s office rendered the final decision.

 Also, because Palin used those personal email accounts for official communications, this collection will not be comprehensive. Emails that were sent to or from her personal email to people other than those 51 state employees—even if these communications involved state business—will not be part of this batch, nor will emails that Palin sent from her personal accounts to the personal accounts of aides and other state officials. By using personal accounts for official business, Palin has been able to evade, in part, the open records rules of her state.

 Still, it is hard to envision a release of so many pages that won’t contain valuable nuggets for those who want to better understand Palin, who has been all over the news of late. For months, as other leading Republicans have been stating their intentions regarding the presidential race, Palin, who has declined to indicate whether she might enter the contest, seemed somewhat eclipsed within the political-media firmament. But she recently took steps to elevate her profile, including a stunt-like family bus tour of historic sites imbued with patriotic meaning. She quickly returned to the headlines, dominating the political news—even crowding out announced candidates. A Palin presidential reality show, at the moment, appears a greater possibility. And opposition researchers in the various GOP presidential campaigns are, no doubt, eager to peruse these records.

 So perhaps the Palin emails are arriving at an appropriate time. The request I placed during the last presidential campaign might end up affecting the current one. ||||| FRIDAY: More than 24,000 pages will be available in Juneau.

 JUNEAU -- The state of Alaska will release thousands of Sarah Palin's emails from her first two years as governor today, a disclosure that has taken on national prominence as she flirts with a run for the presidency.

 The emails were first requested during the 2008 White House race by citizens and news organizations as they vetted a vice presidential nominee whose political experience included less than one term as governor of Alaska and a term as mayor of the small town of Wasilla. The nearly three-year delay has been attributed largely to the sheer volume of the release and the flood of requests.

 The state is releasing the more than 24,000 pages of emails in paper form only and asking news organizations to pick up several boxes' worth of documents in Alaska's capital city, accessible by only air or water. Reporters from several news organizations have already begun arriving in Juneau and are making various plans to disseminate the emails to the public.

 Palin told Fox News Sunday that "every rock" that could have been kicked over to uncover things in her family has been. But she also said "a lot of those emails obviously weren't meant for public consumption" and that she expected people might seek to take some of the messages "out of context."

 But there may not be any surprises to Palin in the emails. Once the state reviewed the records, it gave Palin's attorneys an opportunity to see if they had any privacy concerns with what was being released. No emails were withheld or redacted as a result of that, said Linda Perez, the administrative director for Gov. Sean Parnell, who has been coordinating the release.

 The voluminous nature of the release, the isolation of Juneau and the limited bandwidth in the city of 30,000 people have forced media outlets to come up with creative ways to transmit the information. The Washington Post is looking for "100 organized and diligent readers" to work with reporters to "analyze, contextualize, and research the emails." The New York Times is employing a similar system.

 Msnbc.com, Mother Jones, ProPublica and are working with Crivella West Inc. to create a searchable database of the emails. (The Anchorage Daily News is partnering with ABC News to scan the paper documents and make them available to readers online.) The Associated Press also plans to scan the paper copies to make searchable files available to its members and clients.

 The state said it was not practical to provide electronic versions of the emails.

 It's not clear yet whether the 24,199 pages being released will contain any major revelations, but they will provide a fresh look at the inner-workings of her office from the time she took office in December 2006 to her ascension to vice presidential nominee in September 2008. Requests have been made for emails from her final 10 months in office. The state hasn't begun the process of reviewing those yet. Palin resigned partway through her term, in July 2009.

 Prior records requests have shed light on the Palin administration's efforts to advance a natural gas pipeline project and the role played by Palin's husband in state business.

 The email release adds another dimension to the vetting of Palin that began in 2008 and comes as she has become a prominent national political figure, attracting large crowds during a recent bus tour across the Northeast. Palin's attorney referred questions about the emails to the treasurer of her political action committee, who did not immediately respond Thursday.

 The emails were sent and received by Palin's personal and state email accounts, and the ones being released were deemed to be related to state business.

 She and top aides were known to communicate using private email accounts. Perez said Palin gave the state a CD with emails from her Yahoo account, and other employees were asked to review their private accounts for emails related to state business and to send those to their state accounts.

 Another 2,275 pages are being withheld for reasons including attorney-client, work product or executive privilege; an additional 140 pages were deemed to be "non-records," or unrelated to state business.

 Some emails may have been previously reviewed in other, earlier public records requests, such as in the Troopergate investigation, in which Palin was accused of putting pressure on public safety officials to fire her brother-in-law, an Alaska State Trooper who was going through a bitter divorce from Palin's sister.

 Clive Thomas, a longtime Palin observer who's writing a book on Alaska politics, said he's not sure what the emails will contain -- or whether their contents will affect people's perceptions of Palin.

 "I guess most people, I think, who don't like Sarah Palin are hoping there's something in there that will deliver the final sort of blow to her (politically)," he said. As for Palin's supporters, he said he doesn't think their opinion of her will be changed regardless of what comes out. |||||Summary:

– Today’s the big day: The 24,199-page, 275-pound trove of emails from the first two years of Sarah Palin’s stint as governor of Alaska is almost here. The state will release them at 9am local time (1pm ET), reports Mother Jones, which requested the emails back in 2008. Reporters began arriving in Juneau, which is only accessible by air or water, yesterday, the Anchorage Daily News reports. They will pick up six boxes’ worth of documents and a hand truck (which they have to bring back), and immediately start a mad scramble to report on what they find. Click to see how you can help the Washington Post do just that.


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Weight Watchers International Inc. reported a loss in the holiday quarter and said members continue to leave as the weight-loss company sheds more ground to apps and other gadgets that track calories.

 Chief Executive James Chambers said on Thursday that the company now expects its strategy to turn around the business—which it started last year—to take longer than expected because of a challenging start to 2015. As a result, the company disclosed plans to cut $100 million more in costs this year and forecast profit falling... ||||| Almost 60 million fitness trackers will be in use by 2018, tripling the number of the devices used this year, says a new research report from Juniper Research.

 The firm says fitness trackers like the Fitbit Charge and the Jawbone UP24 will triple to about 57 million in use in the wild worldwide by 2018, up from just 19 million this year.

 Juniper analysts expect fitness to remain the dominant segment in wearable devices until that time, pushed ahead by new fitness use cases, new biometrics measurements, and lower prices.

 But from now until 2018, the smartwatch category will be gaining steam and by 2018 will take over as the most-worn wearable device. This movement will begin in earnest with the launch of Apple’s long awaited Watch, which is expected to show up on the market in the first half of 2015. Apple reportedly expects to sell 15 million of the devices in the first year. If this happens, smartwatch sales would overwhelm fitness tracker sales far sooner that 2018, as Juniper predicts.

 Juniper believes that there are basically two types of fitness trackers — less expensive ones like the $13 Xiaomi MiBand, which will compete mainly on price, and more complex devices, such as the Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, and Samsung Gear Fit, which will offer additional features beyond fitness, such as notifications and music control.

 Fitbit will remain the leading player for fitness tracking, Juniper says, although its decision not to integrate with Apple Health may harm its market share in the short term.

 More capable devices will compete with smart watches, especially those that offer similar notification functions, like the MetaWatch M1 and Martian Notifier, Juniper believes. “However, more aesthetically minded consumers will still choose watches, as fitness-focused devices will prioritize function over form,” Juniper notes in a report. ||||| Weight Watchers shares dropped the most since their market debut more than 13 years ago, after the dieting company’s earnings forecast fell well short of analysts’ expectations.

 The company has faced declining subscriptions and revenue as consumers migrate to digital methods for counting calories and keeping in shape. Weight Watchers International Inc. on Thursday reported that quarterly revenue had declined for the eighth straight period.

 The stock fell 35 percent to $11.33 on Friday in New York, the biggest drop since the company’s initial public offering in November 2001. The shares had posted a 78 percent decline over the past three years through Thursday.

 Weight Watchers said Thursday that it would seek to cut $100 million in costs and that Lesya Lysyj, its president of North America operations, would leave the company.

 The company forecast earnings of 40 cents to 70 cents a share for this year, missing the $1.43 average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The costs associated with a plan to “resize” aren’t reflected in the guidance, the company said.

 Weight Watchers has attempted to remake its image this year with a new ad campaign and redesigned magazine introduced in January.

 “They’re struggling to keep pace,” said RJ Hottovy, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. “Its changes in marketing, product and technology haven’t connected with consumers.”

 ‘Disappointed’

 Chief Executive Officer Jim Chambers said the company’s turnaround would take longer than expected.

 “I am disappointed that we are not yet where we hoped to be and our turnaround will take longer than anticipated,” Chambers said Thursday on a conference call.

 Founded in 1961, Weight Watchers has built a system of dieting programs, food products and support centers for people seeking to slim down.

 Meanwhile, with consumers paying more attention to how many calories they are burning from exercise or everyday activities, fitness gadgets have surged in popularity, with 51.2 million American adults using applications to track their health, according to Nielsen. That is making it harder for Weight Watchers to justify subscriptions starting at $20 a month, since activity trackers can be paired with free mobile apps that make it easy to analyze caloric input and output.

 ‘Get Modern’

 “Weight Watchers really has to change what they’re offering -- they have to get modern,” said Meredith Adler, an analyst at Barclays. “People are just more digital now than they ever were.”

 New York-based Weight Watchers has embraced activity trackers. Subscribers can use FitBit, Jawbone and the company’s own ActiveLink gadget to track diets and exercise. On the call, Chambers acknowledged that the company still had work to do to remake its image and offerings.

 “I think you will see the Weight Watchers brand showing up differently going forward,” he said.

 Weight Watchers’ membership declined 15 percent in the past quarter, to 2.51 million active subscribers. While profit, excluding some charges, matched analysts’ average estimate for 7 cents a share, revenue fell short of projections. Revenue declined 10 percent to $327.8 million in the fourth quarter, compared to an average analyst estimate of $334.3 million, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Last month, Weight Watchers was among the most-shorted stocks on the New York Stock Exchange.

 Threat Downplayed

 As CEO two years ago, David Kirchhoff said he didn’t see wearable devices -- along with social media and other technologies -- as a threat. Instead, they presented a chance for the company to enhance its methods, counseling and business model, he said on an earnings conference call in February 2013.

 Three months later, on another call, Kirchhoff’s tone began to change: “In this cash-strapped environment, the sudden proliferation in popularity of free alternative offerings has created a surge of trial in these apps. The resulting impact is contributing to a challenging recruitment environment, similar to what we saw back in 2000 with the low-carb diet fad.”

 In November, the battle appeared all but lost.

 “Frankly, we were slow to innovate and add value to our products,” Weight Watchers Chief Financial Officer Nicholas Hotchkin said at an investor conference on Nov. 11. “We were particularly susceptible to the proliferation of free apps and activity monitors.”

 Corporate Deals

 The company’s best bet is to focus on providing weight-loss programs for corporations and health plans, which have been seeking ways to keep employees healthy and insurance costs low, according to Hottovy. This week, Weight Watchers announced a new partnership with health-care company Humana Inc. to offer diet programs at discounted rates on certain health insurance plans.

 “The largest growth opportunity for this company is partnering with corporations and health plans,” Hottovy said. “That’s where they’ll really have a more comprehensive offering. That’s something Weight Watchers can provide that calorie counting apps maybe can’t.” |||||

– The booming fitness-tracker trend is making it easier for people to track their activity and therefore lose weight, which is essentially what Weight Watchers has been trying to do since 1961. The company has encouraged subscribers to use devices like Fitbit and Jawbone—and even has its own ActiveLink device. But while use of such devices soar (VentureBeat in November pointed to research that estimated 19 million trackers were in use in 2014, with that number slated to triple by 2018), Weight Watchers' membership keeps falling. It sank 15% in Q4 to a hair over 2.5 million subscribers, who pay a minimum of $20 for the service; Bloomberg points out that once a user invests in a tracker, the associated tracking apps are free. In early 2013, Weight Watchers didn't seem concerned by wearable devices. It acknowledged a challenge "similar to what we saw back in 2000 with the low-carb diet fad" a few months later. Now it's taking a hit: Revenue slid 10% to $327.8 million in the fourth quarter, and as of yesterday its share price had declined 78% over three years. It expects profit of 40 cents to 70 cents per share in 2015, while analysts had estimated profit of $1.43 per share, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company has announced a deal with Humana to bring discounted diet programs to certain health insurance plans, which an analyst suggests is the company's best option, but it will also undergo cost-cutting measures, including layoffs, to save $100 million. North American President Lesya Lysyj has already been let go.


Write an article based on this summary:

– With Michelle Obama cheering them on, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and the US men's basketball team tidily put France away today in a preliminary game, reports the New York Times, in the first step to defending their gold medal. Though France is led by Tony Parker and five other NBA stars, they proved no match for Team USA and fell 98-71. "They're going to be very, very tough to beat," Parker said. Elsewhere on the first Sunday of the London Games: With London calling for its first medal, Lizzie Armitstead answered, taking a close second-place finish in the women's cycling road race, reports Sky News. American Kimberly Rhode won the gold in skeet shooting, her fifth consecutive gold in the event, becoming the first American to accomplish the feat, reports the AP. Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, made her Olympic debut in a dressage event, reports People. She'll compete tomorrow with a couple of famous cousins in attendance. American gymnast Jordyn Wieber failed to qualify for the all-around competition in a stunning turn of events, reports the AP. Heartbroken 38-year-old British marathoner Paula Radcliffe, stymied in four previous Games, pulled out of her event today with a foot injury, reports the BBC. Click through the gallery for other scenes from today's events.

Zara Phillips Makes Her Olympic Debut

 London may still be buzzing about the Queen's spectacular cameo at the Olympics Opening Ceremony on Friday, but Her Majesty's granddaughter has clearly moved on.Asked about her grandmother's dramatic entrance, Phillips told reporters with a smile, "I'm not going to answer that. This is sport!"Indeed, Sunday marked the 31-year-old's Olympic debut , competing in the Dressage portion of the equestrian three-day eventing competition. And Phillips was clearly delighted to be getting down to work.The royal beamed as she entered the arena on her horse, High Kingdom, to cheering home crowds. Among the spectators: her husband of nearly one year, Mike Tindall , who watched from the sidelines and planted a huge kiss on her lips as she dismounted in the paddock.Prince Phillip, Princess Anne, Zara's brother Peter and his wife Autumn all watched expectantly from the stands as well. Phillips, a former European and World champion, declared herself "really pleased," despite a couple of mistakes, and said that entering the arena had been "incredible.""It's an amazing feeling to be part of the Olympics and to ride for your country and just to be there," she said. "The crowds are amazing as well." Luckily for Phillips and High Kingdom, the sun came out for their go – later, the competitors were drenched by rain.She'll be back in the saddle Monday afternoon for the Cross Country event, which will be far more dramatic that Sunday's controlled dressage performances (in Cross Country, competitors tackle a course of massive jumps dotted around a three-and-a half mile course).And Phillips's cousin, Prince William , and his wife Kate will be there to cheer her on. ||||| Paula Radcliffe out of Olympics marathon with injury

 Paula Radcliffe will not compete in the marathon at the London 2012 Olympics because of a foot injury.

 The 38-year-old, who has never won an Olympic medal in four previous Games, was declared unfit after a test run this weekend.

 Radcliffe said the thought of competing at London had kept her "fighting, motivated and focused".

 In a statement, she added: "That is why it hurts so much to finally admit to myself that it isn't going to happen."

 Paula Radcliffe analysis "Paula will be absolutely heartbroken. It is unlikely she would have challenged for a medal, although she would have believed she could, but to have run in London and to have finished with her head held high after all the heartache she has had in previous Olympic marathons would have been very important to her."

 Radcliffe, who is still the women's marathon world record holder and a former world champion, has suffered with osteoarthritis in her foot during her career.

 Radcliffe added: "However hard today is, finally closing the door on that [Olympic] dream, at least I can know that I truly have tried absolutely everything.

 "Now however, is the time to accept that it is just not going to settle in time. As desperate as I was to be part of the amazing experience of the London Olympics, I don't want to be there below my best."

 UK Athletics and the British Olympic Association said they will nominate Scotland's Freya Murray as the replacement for Radcliffe, to be approved under the Late Athlete Replacement policy.

 She will join Great Britain's other participants, Claire Hallissey and Mara Yamauchi, in the race on Sunday, 5 August.

 Analysis Radcliffe, the greatest female distance runner this country has ever produced, desperately wanted to experience the unique opportunity of running an Olympic marathon in front of her home crowd

 UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee said: "This is obviously a disappointing day for Paula and our sport but it was important to her that if she made the start line it would be in the best possible shape.

 "It wasn't meant to be and she has taken the right decision to withdraw at this stage.

 "I think it is important that we don't look at Paula's career in Olympic cycles. She is undoubtedly one of the greatest female distance runners of all times and still holds the marathon world record.

 "When we look back at her career it should be in the context of what she has achieved and not what she hasn't. I wish her all the very best for her recovery."

 Radcliffe's marathon record 2002 - First in London and Chicago

 - First in London and Chicago 2003 - First in London

 - First in London 2004 - First in New York, did not finish Athens Olympics

 - First in New York, did not finish Athens Olympics 2005 - First in London and at World Championships in Helsinki

 - First in London and at World Championships in Helsinki 2007 - First in New York

 - First in New York 2008 - First in New York, 23rd at Beijing Olympics

 - First in New York, 23rd at Beijing Olympics 2009 - Fourth in New York

 - Fourth in New York 2011 - Third in Berlin

 Radcliffe has been dogged by doubts about her fitness in the build-up to London 2012, leading to a trip to Germany for specialist treatment earlier in July.

 She was rated 50-50 by Van Commenee as recently as last week.

 Radcliffe has missed out on a medal in four Olympic Games appearances between 1996 and 2008, with her best performance coming on the track at the Sydney Games in 2000, when she was fourth in the 10,000m.

 She won the marathon in the 2005 world championships in Helsinki and has won the London and New York marathons three times each.

 The Bedford club runner broke the marathon world record in the 2003 London marathon in a time of two hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds. ||||| A spectator poses for a photo under the Olympic rings inside of the Olympic Park at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 27, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Associated Press)

 A spectator poses for a photo under the Olympic rings inside of the Olympic Park at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 27, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Associated Press)

 Kimberly Rhode won the gold medal in women's skeet shooting Sunday, making her the first American to take an individual-sport medal in five consecutive Olympics.

 Rhode tied the world record and set an Olympic record with 99 points. Wei Ning of China took silver with 91 points and Danka Bartekova of Slovakia got bronze by beating Marina Belikova of Russia in a shootout after they tied with 90 points.

 Rhode won a gold medal in double trap at Atlanta as a teenager in 1996, took bronze in that event four years later at Sydney, re-claimed the gold at Athens in 2004 and won the silver in skeet at Beijing in 2008.

 In qualifying, Rhode set another Olympic record, missing only one of her 75 shots. Rhode led by four points entering the final, and the way she was connecting Sunday, there was no way she was getting caught.

 USA Shooting touted it as the biggest day in shooting history.

 Hard to argue with that.

 Rhode was a perfect 25-for-25 in each of the first two qualifying sessions, then ran her streak to 65 straight hits before her lone qualifying misfire. Several people watching on a chilly, rainy day at the Royal Artillery Barracks sighed in disbelief at the miss, which Rhode shrugged off with ease.

 When qualifying was complete, she flipped the last of the empty shells from her gun, gave a brief fist-pump, followed by a wave and a smile. Rhode thanked several well-wishers as she walked away, moments before rain started falling significantly harder.

 The field started with 17 women from 17 nations, before getting pared to six for the final later Sunday. |||||


Article:

CLOSE S. Korea's Moon willing to hold summit with Kim Jong-Un Video provided by AFP Newslook

 In this March 30, 2015, file photo, a South Korean Marine, right, and U.S. Marines aim their weapons during joint military exercises. (Photo: AP)

 LONDON — A distinguished retired South Korean general warned that a U.S. attack on North Korea would be met by well-armed soldiers fighting with religious fervor to defend their homeland.

 "I try to explain to the Americans — if we have to go into North Korea, it is not going to be like going into Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s not going to be like toppling (ex-Iraqi President Saddam) Hussein. This would be more like trying to get rid of Allah," said I.-B. Chun, referring to the Arabic word for God.

 Chun, speaking at a London think tank late Wednesday, said. "I said to my team: Can you imagine what that would look like? (North Korean leader) King Jong Un and his family is a cult in North Korea."

 The Kim dynasty has ruled North Korea since its founding in 1948. Its three leaders — first Kim Il Sung, then Kim Jong Il and now Kim Jong Un — have inspired an intense, devotional following that has kept them in power.

 In her new book, North Korea: The Country We Love to Hate, political analyst Loretta Napoleoni described the isolated nation's ruling "juche" philosophy that values self-reliance and extreme nationalism "as a modern religion, similar to Scientology, a non-transcendental doctrine with a twist of absurdity and plenty of dogmas."

 "I have had the opportunity to speak to North Korean soldiers who have defected to South Korea — and you cannot imagine how indoctrinated they are," Chun said. "These are people who have defected, and yet there is still an innate belief in their system which is close to ridiculous."

 North Korea: Is There A Military Option To Counter The Threat?

 Special guest speaker Lieutenant General (Ret.) I.-B. ChunFormer Commander, South Korea Special Warfare Command @Policy_Exchange

 #PXKoreapic.twitter.com/cA2lQ7MgkW — Elliott Franks (@elliottfranks) January 10, 2018

 More: Trump open to talks with North Korea under 'right circumstances'

 More: U.S. debates giving North Korea 'bloody nose' with preemptive strike

 More: North Korea praises 'Fire and Fury' book for foretelling 'Trump’s political demise'

 Chun, who retired 18 months ago after serving in South Korea's military for almost 40 years, rose as high as deputy commander of the First South Korean Army, a position that also involved leading the country's special forces.

 According to Chun, who lives just 35 miles from the North's border, here are some of the challenges that allied forces would face in the event of war:

 • The majority of the North's military infrastructure is deep underground, a reaction to the massive bombing by U.S. forces during the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with an armistice instead of a peace treaty.

 • Every North Korean, starting at age 14, gets 100 hours of training each year on how to shoot a weapon, fire a rocket-propelled grenade, throw a grenade, pitch a tent and other survival skills. "North Korea is militarized far beyond the (West's) imagination," Chun said.

 • While the North Korean air force is significantly outdated with about 1,000 old fighter jets, these planes would be used for kamikaze-style attacks instead of air combat. "They will load them with a lot of fuel, some bombs, and tell the pilot, 'That is your target and you need to destroy it,'" he said.

 • The regime has chemical and biological weapons, which Chun estimates at between 2,500 and 5,000 tons.

 • North Korea has artillery and rockets that directly threaten the South Korean capital Seoul, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world with a population of 25 million people.

 • The North's military has 1.3 million active members and 7.7 million reserves. It has 200,000 special forces, whose official name translates as "monkey units," a reference, Chun said, to the "doped-up disrupting role they would play" in any conflict.

 • In case of a foreign attack or invasion, North Koreans would stay loyal to Kim in the immediate term. "They have a system where five to 10 families are organized into a group, and if a single person from that group misbehaves, the entire five or 10 families go to the gulag or are executed. So everybody spies on everybody else. It is a great mechanism for keeping people under control," he said.

 Chun was also a national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in while he was running for office. Chun first gained prominence in South Korea in 1983 as a young lieutenant when he was credited with saving the life of a senior South Korean general during a terrorist bombing in Burma. Later, he became one of the most senior contact points for U.S. military commanders in South Korea.

 He gave his assessment of the threats facing Seoul and Washington amid reports, including in The Wall Street Journal, that despite an apparent easing in tensions after this week's talks between North and South Korea for the first time in two years, the Trump administration is still teetering between launching a pre-emptive strike on Pyongyang over its pursuit of nuclear weapons or holding out for diplomacy.

 "A lot of good talks are going on — a lot of good energy. I like what I'm seeing," President Trump said Wednesday. North Korea agreed to send a delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea and to hold military talks aimed at easing front-line animosities.

 Still, Chun said Pyongyang was ready for war and was "one huge barracks."

 He said North Korea's latest missile test in November indicated it has an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland, including Washington, D.C.

 "But that’s assuming it only has a 150kg warhead," Chun said. "If it had a 500kg warhead — which is what we think it would need to have nuclear capability — it probably would not reach the capital. The North Koreans do not really have that capability, and this is where the window still exists for them to cease. If they want to broker a deal with the Americans, they need to do it now."

 Chun said that over the course of his military career he became convinced "if you want peace, the only proven lesson is you must prepare for war. Yes, there is a military option for North Korea. But it’s like having a toothache and having to pull out all of your teeth. It should be the last option — and heaven forbid we have to use it."

 More: Kim Jong Un says he has complete nuclear arsenal and a button on his desk

 More: No, Trump doesn't have a button to launch nuclear weapons. But, he does have a 'football'

 CLOSE North Korea agreed Tuesday to send a delegation to next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, Seoul officials said, as the bitter rivals sat for rare talks at the border to discuss how to cooperate in Olympics and improve their long-strained ties. Time_Sports

 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2D18liw ||||| But North Korea said it would not discuss its nuclear weapons because they were aimed only at the United States and not its "brethren" in South Korea, or Russia or China, showing that a diplomatic breakthrough to the global crisis remained far off. Chun is also a former national security adviser to South Korea's President Moon Jae-in when he was running for office. He first gained prominence in 1983 when as a young lieutenant he was credited with saving the life of a senior general during a terrorist bombing in Burma. Later, he became one of the most senior contact points for US military commanders in South Korea. When asked by Fairfax Media if the first talks in two years signalled any material change, Chun said his 39 years of military experience had taught him that South Korea needed to be ready because often the only proven pathway to peace is war. "You must seek peace but at the same time prepare ourselves for the worst," he said. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have traded barbs recently, increasing tension between the two countries. Photo: AHN YOUNG-JOON

 But he said he was confident that, despite North Korea's nuclear and chemical weapons and cyber warfare capabilities, the United States would prevail. "There is no doubt in any South Korean's mind that if there's war that the alliance will win and it's just the fact that the sheer air power that the Korean and the United States - with British aircraft - that will hopefully come to our aid, can inflict on the North Koreans," he said. Ministers from North and South Korea exchange a joint press release following their first high-level talks in over two years. Photo: YONHAP "It's North Korea against the world at the moment." He said US President Donald Trump's confrontational tweets, in which he has threatened military action against North Korea, had spooked the country's leader Kim Jong-un.

 Conservative MP and chairman of the British Parliament's foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat. Photo: Latika Bourke "Right now they're a little off balance because of Mr Trump, so because of Mr Trump they're trying to figure out is he really crazy? Is he really going to do this or not? Mr Trump has put them off balance," he said. "My greatest fear is that the North Koreans are believing their own propaganda." But he said Kim's provocations, including repeated missile tests, had "awoken the average American" and given "all justification to get his arse kicked". Kim Jong-un 'like Hitler'

 Chan said Kim views himself as akin to the Swedish royal family and is not crazy but is similar in temperament to Adolf Hitler. He said the Kim dynasty had created such a cult in North Korea, where citizens are indoctrinated, that ridding the country of the family would be less like deposing the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and more like trying to remove Allah in Muslim countries. "Can you imagine what that would look like? Trying to get rid of Allah in Afghanistan or Iraq?" Australia, Britain and the US have all named North Korea as the culprit behind the global WannaCry cyber attack that crippled the British health system and infected 300,000 computers across the world. Chan said Pyongyang's ability to hack systems worldwide should not be underestimated.

 "North Korean cyber capability is right below nuclear capability in terms of threat." China prefers nuclear North to US in Asia North Korea ramped up missile launches last year and conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, prompting a US-led campaign to impose some of the strongest international sanctions yet, which Pyongyang dubbed an "act of war". The international community, including Australia, has called on China to do more to contain North Korea. But Chan said Beijing had calculated that it would prefer a nuclear-armed North Korean neighbour than an increased US presence in its neighbourhood.

 Conservative MP and chairman of the British Parliament's influential foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, said Britain, Australia and the rest of the Commonwealth had a great stake in the Korean peninsula, although he cautioned against any direct British role in "tipping the balance". Tugendhat singled out Australia's high commissioner to Britain, Alexander Downer who attended the speech. "It's very good to see you here representing the great Commonwealth," Tugendhat told Downer. "We have this enormous shared trade culture but we actually have a lot more than that too that's less noticed," he said, adding that Australia and Britain were major investors in South Korean enterprises.

 But he said this was a secondary priority compared with Britain and Australia's interests in upholding the international rules-based order. Loading With agencies Follow Latika Bourke on Facebook |||||
What is a summary?

– For anyone encouraged by North Korea's slight softening toward the South, Chun In-bum essentially dumps a bucket of cold water it. The retired South Korean general, who the Financial Times reports led his country's special forces, spoke to a London-based think tank Wednesday and outlined exactly what American forces would encounter should we decide to bloody the country's nose—or something more significant. He doesn't mince words: "I try to explain to the Americans—if we have to go into North Korea, ... it’s not going to be like toppling [Saddam) Hussein]. This would be more like trying to get rid of Allah." He describes the country as "one huge barracks" and the population as militarized far beyond the [West's] imagination. "A 14-year-old child in North Korea probably gets more than 100 hours of military training a year," the Times of London quotes Chun as saying. "By age 14, a child knows how to fire an AK47, fire an RPG, throw a grenade, pitch a tent and march 24 hours." And even things that may seem promising on their face—the North's estimated 1,000 fighter jets are aged—aren't, per Chun, who says those planes would be used kamikaze-style, USA Today reports. And there's not just the physical battlefield to contend with, per the Brisbane Times: "North Korean cyber capability is right below nuclear capability in terms of threat," says Chun. He also describes an extreme system designed to root out any dissent, whereby the country's families are grouped in units, and if one person "misbehaves, the entire five or 10 families go to the gulag or are executed. So everybody spies on everybody else."


Article:
Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| MINNEAPOLIS -- The 2014 All-Star Game was one big love poem to Derek Jeter, and National League starting pitcher Adam Wainwright did more than any other player on the premises to advance the feel-good storyline.

 As Jeter strolled toward home plate in the bottom of the first inning, Wainwright laid his glove on the mound, took a walk toward second base and joined in the wall-to-wall applause at Target Field. When Jeter finally dug his left toe in the box and got down to business, the pitcher-batter staredown turned into a test of wills.

 "He told me, 'Let's go,' and I told him no," Wainwright said later. "It's the only time I'll ever tell Derek Jeter no."

 So it was almost impossible to comprehend how Wainwright's show of respect would quickly be forgotten, a celebration would elicit controversy, and the pitcher's well-intentioned mix of candor and good humor would somehow brand him as the villain of the evening. In this age of instant information dissemination and rapid reactions, Wainwright learned the hard way that too much honesty can turn a stand-up guy into a Twitter piñata.

 Before throwing a pitch, Adam Wainwright put his glove on the rubber and stepped back to let Derek Jeter have a moment. Rob Carr/Getty Images

 Shortly after giving up an opposite-field double to Jeter, a triple to Mike Trout and a home run to Miguel Cabrera that helped propel the American League to a 5-3 victory over the National League, Wainwright inadvertently stepped in it big-time. While reflecting on Jeter's at-bat, he provided one detail too many.

 "I was going to give him a couple of pipe shots," Wainwright said. "He deserved it. I didn't know he was going to hit a double or I would have changed my mind. I thought he was going to hit something hard to the right side for a single or an out. I probably should have pitched him a little bit better."

 Chances are the negative fallout from the event will blow over relatively quickly. But this much is certain: Wainwright's biggest claim to fame in New York will no longer be freezing Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran with a curveball in the ninth inning of Game 7 in the 2006 National League Championship Series.

 Wainwright will undoubtedly be subjected to his share of criticism over the coming days. He will be accused of raining on Jeter's parade, of cheapening the Captain's moment and of undermining the integrity of the All-Star Game. He understands that better than anyone, which is why he spent the better part of 10 minutes after the game flogging himself for his bad judgment.

 He referred to himself as a "knucklehead" and an "idiot" while simultaneously expressing regret that his choice of words might have taken away from Jeter's big moment.

 "If I'm going to get taken to the slaughterhouse for saying a stupid phrase, then I deserve it," Wainwright said. "If you can't laugh at yourself when you mess up, then you're going to continue to mess up. And you know what? I messed up. But I didn't try to let him get a hit. I messed up by speaking afterward."

 For all the mixed messages and confusion that Wainwright elicited Tuesday, he probably did Major League Baseball a favor by exposing the massive problems inherent with what the All-Star Game has become in recent years. If there were any doubt, commissioner Bud Selig's "This One Counts" initiative has outlived its usefulness and needs to be put to rest before the 2015 All-Star Game in Cincinnati.

 It has been 11 years since MLB began awarding home-field advantage in the World Series to the AL or NL team based on the outcome of the All-Star Game, and Selig maintains that the system has achieved its purpose by elevating a quaint midsummer exhibition into must-see summer viewing. If raising the stakes can increase the suspense and prompt more viewers to tune in to the game, that's obviously a good thing. And as Selig is fond of saying, the old system of alternating home-field advantage between leagues from one year to the next wasn't exactly "Einstein's theory of relativity."

 After putting Derek Jeter on base, it wasn't long before Adam Wainwright had reason to regret it. Scott Rovak/USA TODAY Sports

 But as the Wainwright-Jeter flap shows, the system has way too many pitfalls and minefields to be viable anymore.

 MLB can't attach paramount importance to the All-Star Game when fans elect the starters, players have a say in the process, managers round out the rosters, and fans have yet another say in the Internet Final Vote. There are just too many constituencies to satisfy, and the voting becomes one big hash.

 If home-field advantage in the World Series is at stake, every team should not have a representative, as is the custom, and the best players need to stick around for the long haul rather than make cameos. A prime example is Trout, who would have played all nine innings Tuesday instead of exiting in the sixth inning with a double, a triple and two RBIs in three at-bats.

 And while this might seem sacrilegious, you can debate whether Jeter should have even been playing in the All-Star Game this year if it were strictly about winning. Of the 12 American League shortstops who qualify for the batting title, Jeter ranks 11th with a .647 OPS -- ahead of only Seattle's Brad Miller. Jeter deserved to be in Minneapolis for his class, fan appeal and overall body of work, and it would have been a crime for fans to miss a chance to say goodbye to him. But even a die-hard Yankees rooter might have trouble justifying Jeter batting leadoff for the AL squad if this were strictly about "This One Counts."

 Some Yankees fans will claim that Wainwright's "pipe shot" phrase was disrespectful to Jeter because it implied that The Captain couldn't have gotten a hit without a helping hand. If so, they're a lot more sensitive than Jeter, who was content to let things slide when informed of Wainwright's comments after the game.

 "If he grooved it, thank you," Jeter said. "You still have to hit it."

 That's the perspective and self-assurance of a man who has 3,408 hits and five World Series rings on his résumé and knows that he will be going to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

 The flap over Wainwright's grooved pitch reflects the changing mindset that linking World Series home-field advantage has wrought. When Chan Ho Park allegedly grooved a pitch to Cal Ripken Jr. in the Iron Man's final All-Star appearance in 2001, it was perceived as more a sign of generosity than a major breach of etiquette. But then, if Park did feed Ripken a "pipe shot," he at least had the good sense to keep quiet about it.

 Sometimes the line between showmanship and winning tends to blur at the All-Star Game. Two years ago, Justin Verlander gave up five runs in the first inning of the AL's 8-0 loss in Kansas City and admitted that he wanted to light up the radar gun.

 "I know this game means something," Verlander said at the time, "but we're here for the fans, and I know the fans don't want to see me throw 90 [mph] and hit the corners. Just let it eat and have fun."

 Wainwright's biggest sin, in contrast, was trying to balance competition, respect for a distinguished elder and his natural inclination to avoid conducting media interviews like a garden-variety baseball robot. In exchange for spreading himself too thin, he almost blew up Twitter.

 "People in New York already don't like me, so anything else I say will just fuel the fire there," Wainwright said before leaving Target Field. "I should probably hush up."

 It's a little late for that. But if Wainwright's experience at the 2014 All-Star Game can prompt MLB to take a hard look at the event and what it should be, maybe his long, emotional night in Minnesota will have been worth it. |||||Summary:

– Last night was Derek Jeter's last All Star Game, and it went beautifully, as the Yankee captain went 2-for-2 with a double. There was just one problem: That double might have been a gimme. After he left the game, Adam Wainwright said that he wasn't exactly gunning for Jeter. "I was going to give him a couple of pipe shots. He deserved it," Wainwright said. "I didn't know he was going to hit a double or I would have changed my mind. I thought he was going to hit something hard to the right side for a single or an out. I probably should have pitched him a little bit better." Jeter laughed off the comments. "If he grooved it, thank you," he said. Wainwright backed off the remarks before the game was even over, saying he was joking. "I feel terrible about this if anyone's taking any credit away from Derek Jeter," he told Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews. "It was mis-said. … I hope people realize I'm not intentionally giving up hits out there." The Cardinals ace is still sure to come under fire this week anyway, Jerry Crasnick at ESPN predicts, though he thinks Wainwright did baseball a favor "by exposing the massive problems inherent with what the All-Star Game has become in recent years. If there were any doubt, commissioner Bud Selig's 'This One Counts' initiative has outlived its usefulness."


Article:
Resources Thank the PFMC for Protecting the West Coast Ecosystem

 The Pacific coast of North America supports one of the most vibrant and diverse marine ecosystems on Earth, largely because of the presence of thick schools of small prey fish such as Pacific sardines. Unfortunately, this crucial forage fish appears to be in the midst of a severe population decline. Its absence will be felt by dozens of species of West Coast seabirds, whales, sharks, dolphins, and commercially important fish such as salmon and tuna that depend on sardines as a major food source. In addition, because sardines have been a staple of commercial purse-seine fishing on the West Coast, their decline raises the potential for fishing pressure to shift to similar, but more abundant, schooling species of forage fish.

 The Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages fishing in federal waters off California, Oregon, and Washington, should do two things to help maintain a healthy Pacific Ocean:

 Set conservative catch limits on sardines when the population is so low.

 Fulfill its September 2013 commitment to prohibit unregulated fishing on forage fish species such as sand lance, saury, and lanternfish that are not currently managed or monitored.

 Cause for concern

 Populations of forage fish along the West Coast fluctuate widely, so a species can be abundant one year and dwindle unexpectedly the next. That’s because forage fish are highly dependent on the upwelling of cold nutrient- rich waters to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, their primary food source.

 The Pacific sardine fishery, immortalized in John Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row, collapsed notoriously the 1950s. The November 2013 population estimate of 378,000 tons is the lowest in more than a decade, far below the peak of 1.5 million tons estimated in 2000 and a major decline by historical standards. Geological records of fish scales deposited off Southern California indicate that the unfished sardine population fluctuated naturally between a low of 400,000 tons to as much as 16 million tons.

 Keeping an eye on the big picture

 Forage fish account for more than one-third of the global catch of marine fish and are mostly used for industrial purposes such as feed for livestock, poultry, and farmed fish rather than being directly eaten by people. Most forage fish landed on the West Coast are exported for purposes such as bait in tuna longlining in Asia or as feed for farmed fish. In 2012, the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force, a group of eminent scientists from around the world, calculated that forage fish worldwide are worth twice as much when left in the water—about $11.3 billion—as they are when caught because of their value as food for commercially important predators.

 For further information, please visit: pewenvironment.org/pacificfish

 Write the Pacific Fishery Management Council at: pfmc.comments@noaa.gov ||||| The sardine fishing boat Eileen motored slowly through moonlit waters from San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island, its weary-eyed captain growing more desperate as the night wore on. After 12 hours and $1,000 worth of fuel, Corbin Hanson and his crew returned to port without a single fish.

 "Tonight's pretty reflective of how things have been going," Hanson said. "Not very well."

 To blame is the biggest sardine crash in generations, which has made schools of the small, silvery fish a rarity on the West Coast. The decline has prompted steep cuts in the amount fishermen are allowed to catch, and scientists say the effects are probably radiating throughout the ecosystem, starving brown pelicans, sea lions and other predators that rely on the oily, energy-rich fish for food.

 If sardines don't recover soon, experts warn, the West Coast's marine mammals, seabirds and fishermen could suffer for years.

 The reason for the drop is unclear. Sardine populations are famously volatile, but the decline is the steepest since the collapse of the sardine fishery in the mid-20th century. And their numbers are projected to keep sliding.

 One factor is a naturally occurring climate cycle known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which in recent years has brought cold, nutrient-rich water to the West Coast. While those conditions have brought a boom in some species, such as market squid, they have repelled sardines.

 If nature is responsible for the decline, history shows the fish will bounce back when ocean conditions improve. But without a full understanding of the causes, the crash is raising alarm.

 An assessment last fall found the population had dropped 72% since its last peak in 2006. Spawning has taken a dive too.

 In November, federal fishery managers slashed harvest limits by more than two-thirds, but some environmental groups have argued the catch should be halted outright.

 "We shouldn't be harvesting sardines any time the population is this low," said Geoff Shester, California program director for the conservation group Oceana, which contends that continuing to fish for them could speed their decline and arrest any recovery.

 The Pacific sardine is the ocean's quintessential boom-bust fish. It is short-lived and prolific, and its numbers are wildly unpredictable, surging up and down in decades-long cycles in response to natural shifts in the ocean environment. When conditions are poor, sardine populations plunge. When seas are favorable, they flourish in massive schools.

 It was one of those seemingly inexhaustible swells that propelled California's sardine fishery to a zenith in the 1940s. Aggressive pursuit of the species transformed Monterey into one of the world's top fishing ports.

 And then it collapsed.

 By mid-century sardines had practically vanished, and in the 1960s California established a moratorium on sardine fishing that lasted 18 years. The population rebounded in the 1980s and fishing resumed, but never at the level of its heyday.

 Since the 1940s scientists have debated how much of the collapse was caused by ocean conditions and how much by overfishing. Now, researchers are posing the same question.

 "It's a terribly difficult scientific problem," said Russ Vetter, director of the Fisheries Resources Division at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

 Separate sardine populations off Japan, Peru and Chile fluctuate in the same 50- to 70-year climate cycle but have been more heavily exploited, Vetter said. West Coast sardines are considered one of the most cautiously fished stocks in the world, a practice that could explain why their latest rebound lasted as long as it did. The West Coast's last sardine decline began in 1999, but the population shot back up by the mid-2000s.

 In recent years scientists have gained a deeper understanding of sardines' value as "forage fish," small but nutrition-packed species such as herring and market squid that form the core of the ocean food web, funneling energy upward by eating tiny plankton and being preyed on by big fish, seabirds, seals and whales.

 Now, they say, there is evidence some ocean predators are starving without sardines. Scarcity of prey is the leading theory behind the 1,600 malnourished sea lion pups that washed up along beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego in early 2013, said Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service.

 Melin's research indicates that nursing sea lion mothers could not find fatty sardines, so they fed on less nutritious market squid, rockfish and hake and produced less milk for their young in 2012. The following year their pups showed up on the coast in overwhelming numbers, stranded and emaciated. |||||Summary:

– The West Coast sardine population was down 72% since 2006 per a fall assessment—the worst crash since the mid-20th century, and one with far-reaching implications, particularly since the steep decline is expected to continue. One of those implications: Ocean predators that depend on sardines may be starving, the Los Angeles Times reports: Researchers think 1,600 malnourished sea lion pups that washed up onshore in Southern California last year were born to nursing mothers whose milk quality was compromised after they had to turn from fatty sardines to other fish; brown pelicans—which also depend on sardines for food—are also suffering. Neither species can turn to anchovies as an alternative food source, as they normally would, because their numbers are also down. Fishermen, too, are affected; they're not allowed to catch as many sardines (harvest maximums have been dramatically cut)—and they often can't find any to catch (the LA Times follows one boat that caught zero fish in a 12-hour outing). So what's going on? Sardine populations often experience wild swings, booming when conditions are good and then dropping sharply when conditions shift. After the last bad collapse, which happened after a massive boom in the 1940s, sardine fishing was halted for 18 years beginning in the 1960s, and though the population bounced back in the 1980s, it was never the same. Scientists now, as then, aren't sure how to divide the blame between ocean conditions (the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a climate cycle, has brought cold, sardine-unfriendly water to the area) and overfishing. Last month, Pew Charitable Trusts warned that dozens of species, including whales, sharks, dolphins, salmon, and tuna, could feel an impact.


News article:

"It's kind of sad. I don't think this is what Harper Lee wants." -- Monroe County Heritage Museum attorney Matt Goforth.

 MOBILE, Alabama – A rift between Monroe County’s most famous resident and its heritage museum has grown deeper with a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by author Harper Lee.

 The suit, filed last week in Mobile’s federal court, seeks an order prohibiting Monroe County Heritage Museum Inc. from using the name of Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” to promote its activities or sell merchandise.

 Mobile lawyer Clay Rankin, who represents the 87-year-old author, declined to comment.

 The suit suggests that the museum has attempted to take advantage of Lee’s declining health, becoming more “brazen” in its trademark violations. The civil complaint alleges that in the past, the museum would “grudgingly” honor Lee’s request to stop using her famous book. The suit cites an example of a cookbook that traded on a fictional character created by Lee.

 “Now, though, things are different,” the complaint states. “Ms. Lee suffered a stroke and is in ill health. The Defendant apparently believes that she lacks the desire to police her trademarks, and therefore seeks to take advantage of Ms. Lee’s condition and property.”

 Matt Goforth, an attorney for the museum, said he is not aware of a single incident in which Lee previously has asked the museum not to use the book’s name or characters. He said he believes the recent acrimony is the product of “handlers” who have gained influence over Lee’s affairs.

 “It’s kind of sad. I don’t think this is what Harper Lee wants,” he said. “The museum doesn’t like to be in this spot. We didn’t start this fight.”

 Lee’s novel was an instant success when it debuted in 1960. The book, which chronicles a lawyer’s defense of a black man accused of raping a white woman in the fictional town of Maycomb, has sold more than 30 million copies in English and has been translated into more than 25 other languages.

 The suit claims that the museum is a “substantial business” that generated more than $500,000 in revenue in 2011. Goforth describes it as a nonprofit that would be put out of business if Lee’s suit succeeds.

 Conflict between the museum and author erupted earlier this year when the museum moved to block Lee from registering her trademark. Lawyers in that case will begin taking sworn testimony and exchanging documents on Oct. 28. That dispute will be decided by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

 In May, she sued the son-in-law of her former literary agent in an attempt to re-secure her copyright on the book. She settled that in September.

 Last week’s federal lawsuit is the latest salvo in the conflict with the museum.

 “The town’s desire to capitalize upon the fame of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is unmistakable: Monroeville’s town logo features an image of a mockingbird and the cupola of the Old County Courthouse, which was the setting for the dramatic trial in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’” the complaint states.

 The suit alleges that the museum falsely proclaims its mission to be history.

 “Rather, its primary mission is to trade upon the fictional story, settings and characters that Harper Lee created in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’ and Harper Lee’s own renown as one of the nation’s most celebrated authors,” the complaint states.

 Goforth flatly denied Lee’s allegations.

 “The museum has been doing what it does, which is putting on the play, for 25 years,” said Goforth, adding that it has sold related merchandise for about 20 years. “Every single statement in this complaint is completely false or meritless, and maybe both.”

 The suit cities various examples indicating how closely the museum is tied to the book, right down to the website, tokillamockingbird.com.

 In a statement, Goforth responded that the museum has been honoring Lee’s legacy for more than two decades.

 “Unfortunately for Harper Lee, those handlers are doing nothing but squandering her money with this lawsuit. The Museum is squarely within its rights to carry out its mission as it always has,” he wrote. “Monroe County's history cannot be understood without an understanding of the history and impact of’ To Kill a Mockingbird.’ It is a part of what Monroe County is both as a county and a community.”

 The lawsuit alleges the museum’s lawyer demanded a “royalty-free” license in June as a condition for not opposing Lee’s trademark application and then pressured the Reuters news agency into changing its report that the museum was refusing to share its profits with Lee. ||||| More than 50 years have passed since Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird, her gripping novel about racial injustice in deeply segregated Alabama. Now the town where Lee was born and raised, and which served as the inspiration for her best-selling book, has once again become the scene of an unsettling legal dispute that has divided the community.

 This time Lee, who at 87 is profoundly deaf and almost totally blind, is not the author of the story but – on the surface at least – its protagonist.

 In a move which has shocked Monroeville, Lee, who resides in an assisted-living facility in the town, is bringing a lawsuit against the local museum, accusing the small, not-for-profit institution of exploiting her fame and the prestige of her Pulitzer-winning book without offering compensation. The museum is fighting back, condemning Lee’s lawsuit as “false” and “meritless” and warning that the legal action could destroy an institution that honours the author's legacy and provides an economic boost to the town.

 It is the kind of ugly public dispute that Lee, an intensely private figure who has spent her life avoiding the spotlight, might have been expected to avoid. Unsurprisingly, Monroeville has been awash with with rumour about whether Miss Nelle, as the author is known locally, was personally responsible for the decision to sue the museum.

 The answer to that question is complicated, but it appears to involve Lee’s 102-year-old sister, Alice, and a close associate, an attorney who happens to be married to a relative of Truman Capote.

 Capote is the other literary great who spent much of his childhood in Monroeville, living in a house next-door to Lee. The pair became close friends and Lee famously assisted Capote when he researched the Kansas murder that formed the basis of another classic, In Cold Blood.

 Both Lee and Capote are honoured in the Monroe County Heritage Museum, which attracts 30,000 visitors a year. Most come in April and May, when the restored 1903 courthouse, which served as a model for the To Kill a Mockingbird movie, starring Gregory Peck, becomes the backdrop for a theatrical production of Lee’s novel.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harper Lee with Gregory Peck, the star of the 1962 adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

 Lee’s only published novel is one of the great works of 20th century literature. It has sold 30 million copies and, according to her lawsuit, is on the required reading list for more than three-quarters of American high schools. The book is set in the 1930s in the fictional town of Maycomb, a place almost indistinguishable even today from Monroeville, a place of 6,500 people which adheres to Lee’s description of “an island in a patchwork sea of cotton fields and timber land”.

 The extent to which Lee’s novel is an accurate reflection of her upbringing in the town is the source of much debate – and is likely to feature in the legal case. Lee's legal complaint recognises that the book was “inspired by Ms Lee’s home” in Monroe County, but adds: “Nonetheless, the setting, plot and characters are products of Ms Lee’s imagination.”

 On 19 August, her lawyers filed a trademark application. The museum filed an opposition, prompting the lawsuit served on 15 October, which takes issue with the museum’s website and gift shop, which it accuses of “palming off its goods”, including t-shirts, coffee mugs other various trinkets with Mockingbird brands. The museum says the gift shop generates a paltry $28,000 a year, and helps employ a few “pitifully paid” people from the town.

 The lawsuit even takes a swipe at Monroeville, saying the “desire to capitalize” on the fame of Lee’s book is evident in the town’s choice of logo: a mockingbird and the cupola of the Old County Courthouse.

 Yet Lee, who stopped granting full interviews in 1964, has herself made clear that To Kill a Mockingbird was partly rooted in the Monroeville she knew. Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee, was, like the novel’s Atticus Finch, a local attorney and state senator. There are obvious streaks of Lee in the young female narrator of the story, Scout, and her close friend Dill appears at least loosely based on Capote.

 “It is and it isn’t autobiographical,” Lee told the New York Herald Tribune in 1962. “The trial, and the rape charge that bring on the trial, are made out of a composite of such cases and charges. What I did present as exactly as I could were the clime and tone, as I remembered them, of the town in which I lived. From childhood on, I did sit in the courtroom watching my father argue cases and talk to juries.”

 Harper Lee in the Monroeville courthouse. Photograph: Donald Uhrbrock/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

 For much of the last quarter of a century, Lee appears to have had an ambivalent view of the museum. Instinctively uncomfortable with anything that brings unwanted attention, she is once said to have complained about the “cottage industry” that has grown around the novel. But until now, the only time she is known to have expressed that view to the museum was in 2002, when it published a cookbook based on the character Calpurnia – an incident mentioned in the lawsuit.

 According the museum, when Lee said that she wasn’t happy, they quickly removed Calpurnia’s Cookbook from the shelves – copies are still stored in the attic.

 On the other hand, there is evidence the museum has had the tacit blessing of Lee’s family and friends. A plaque on the wall bears the name of the author’s nephew, Dr Edwin Lee, a local dentist. Some of those closest to Lee, including a lifelong friend, the Reverend Dr Thomas Lane Butts, have served on the museum’s board. And three years ago – on the 50th anniversary of the novel’s publication – Lee herself visited the museum, with the Hollywood actress Patricia Neal. When the museum sent Lee flowers, she replied with a note which read: “My dearest friends, the roses are spectacular and I love them, sincerely yours, Nelle Harper Lee.”

 Since then, Lee’s health has deteriorated. Her infirmity partly explains a second, unrelated lawsuit that the author brought earlier this year against her literary agent. In that case, Lee’s lawyers claimed Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of the writer’s long-time agent, Eugene Winick, had duped Lee into signing over the copyright on the book. The case was settled two months ago.

 Until 2011, Lee’s financial interests had long been protected by her sister, Alice, who was herself profoundly deaf, and relied upon lip-reading. Now 102, Alice Lee is, like her sister, known as a formidable character in town, having practiced law with the venerable Barnett, Bugg, Lee and Carter law firm.

 The Carter in that firm is Tonya Carter, the lawyer most people in Monroeville seem to think has been given power of attorney by Harper Lee. There is no known documentary evidence to support that suggestion, and Carter has not responded to requests for comment. But two sources close to Lee confirmed that Carter had indeed been given power of attorney by the author.

 Carter is also a well-known figure in Monroeville. She is married to Patrick Carter, a pilot who happens to be a cousin to Capote, and the couple run a restaurant, Prop and Gavel, a stone’s throw from the museum. With resentment over the lawsuit running high, some locals say they are boycotting Carter’s restaurant in protest. That may be unfair. Even if Carter does have power of attorney over Lee’s business affairs, she may still be acting on explicit instructions from Lee – or at the very least consulting with the author.

 Gregory Peck, as Atticus Finch, argues his case. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

 Legal papers submitted in the lawsuit filed against Lee's literary agent, in May, said that while the author's physical health had seriously deteriorated since a stroke in 2007, it had not affected her “mental capabilities”.

 But in a small town like Monroeville, it does not take long for ill-feeling to spread. The lawsuit, much like the fictional rape trial Lee portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird , is forcing locals to take sides.

 Stephanie Rogers, 29, the museum's executive director, talks of two “camps” emerging in Monroeville, but insists most people are behind the museum. “I haven’t heard anything else the other way,” she said. But dissenting voices can be heard, even if they are whispered. In the Courthouse Cafe, across the road, a hushed debate was recently overheard.

 “The thing about small towns like this: everybody will put a foot in if they think they can make a dollar,” a woman said. “I think it is bad that they’re acting like Harper Lee don’t exist.”

 Additional reporting by Verna Gates in Monroeville |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Harper Lee is apparently as litigious as she is reclusive. The To Kill a Mockingbird author has, in the Guardian's words, "shocked" her hometown of Monroeville, Ala., by suing its local museum. The 87-year-old's accusation: that the nonprofit is making use of her fame without compensation. The trademark infringement lawsuit, filed Oct. 15, calls out the Monroe County Heritage Museum's website and gift shop sales of Mockingbird-branded goods. The museum says that shop rakes in a measly $28,000 annually, which funds a few "pitifully paid" employees, and that it has sold such goods for two decades, reports AL.com. But the suit accuses the museum of taking advantage of the book, and cites its web URL as example: tokillamockingbird.com. Just 30,000 visitors head to the museum annually, and it warns that the suit could prove its undoing. Making the story even more contentious: Locals aren't sure if Lee is actually the driver of the suit, and the museum suspects her "handlers" are taking advantage of her declining health. More confusing still, the suit suggests the museum is exploiting her health by committing bolder trademark violations, notes AL.com. Lee is deaf and nearly blind, and currently living in an assisted-living facility in Monroeville. The Guardian doesn't exactly make clear who is believed to be the driver, but floats one name: Tonya Carter, a lawyer married to Truman Capote's cousin (a longtime friend of Lee's). Many believe Lee handed Carter power of attorney, though the Guardian could find no paper trail proving that.


Write an article based on this summary:

– A heartbreaking story out of Kentucky, where a father and his 3-year-old son died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday morning; the man's 7-year-old daughter is in critical condition. Juvenal Garcia Mora, 39, was found unresponsive inside his garage but not in his car; the children were inside the car. "It appeared to be that he had warmed the car up while it was in the garage, and trying to get the kids out the door to school and start the day," a police rep tells Fox 19. The children's mother had already left for work at the time. Relatives, concerned when Mora didn't show up at work and his daughter didn't arrive at school, went to the house and then called police. The police rep, who said the situation appears to be a "horrific accident," notes that it's a sad "reminder in the cold months to be cautious of running vehicles inside of closed, indoor areas, specifically garages," as that can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. In high concentrations, the colorless, odorless, tasteless gas can be fatal in five minutes, WLKY reports. "This could happen very, very quickly, and it did, in this case," the police rep says. (Carbon monoxide was also suspected in the deaths of six teens in a garden shed.)

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| A man and his 3-year-old son are dead and another child is in critical condition after what police believe was a tragic accident in Valley Station.

 Metro police responded to the 9900 block of Plaudit Way on Wednesday morning after a family member found the three in the family's garage.

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 Investigators believe the father turned on the car to warm it up while it was in the garage and that all three people were poisoned by carbon monoxide.

 "This could happen very, very quickly, and it did, in this case," LMPD Lt. Emily McKinley said.

 The three were found by a family member, who called 911.

 When first responders arrived, they found all three unresponsive in the closed garage.

 Juvenal Garcia Mora, 39, and Cruz Isaac Garcia, 3, were pronounced dead in the emergency room at the Medical Center Jewish Southwest. Their causes and manners of death are pending.

 Police closed down streets and escorted an ambulance carrying a 7-year-old girl to Norton Children's Hospital. The girl was last said to be in critical condition.

 McKinley said police hope the tragedy will serve as a reminder to people of the dangers of carbon monoxide.

 “I know it's the winter months and everyone wants a warm car to get into, but be cautious of the areas and make sure it's a well-ventilated area, because horrible accidents happen like this, and they happen very quickly,” she said.

 The mother of the two children was not home at the time of the incident, but police have notified her.

 McKinley said they don't have reason to believe the incident was anything other than a tragic accident, but they are still investigating the deaths.

 Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas.

 It's lighter than air and spreads quickly.

 Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning often mimic the flu -- and include headaches, nausea and dizziness.

 In high concentrations, carbon monoxide can be deadly in less than five minutes.

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