Russ McCutcheon

1 of 7. The park train is pictured at the abandoned amusement park Spreepark during a summer party at the park in Berlin July 16, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

Justin.tv live video game streaming network spin-off TwitchTV unveiled its Partner Program Wednesday morning, which provides competitive gameplay streams, an ad network and revenue sharing opportunities to competitive game players.

Revenue opportunities for those participating in the Partner Program are provided in the form of pre-roll advertising, mid-roll commercial breaks, and channel subscriptions, the company said.

The Partner Program provides a way for our broadcasters to turn their passion for gaming into a profession, Justin.tv co-founder and CTO Emmett Shear, who serves as TwitchTVs GM.

We are dedicated to connecting people around the games they love, and this is one more piece of that puzzle.

TwitchTV launched during E3 last month to capitalize on a growing number of competitive gameplay viewers. The site already claims over 3.2 million unique users per month, with 4.5 hours of video viewed per viewer.

The news closely follows the announcement that IGN Entertainment has created a dedicated sector of its business to professional gaming and eSports.

More information about the new Partner Program is available here.

As he approaches his 70th birthday on Thursday, Riccardo Muti is entering a phase of his international career in which consolidation is the keynote. After a half-century in music, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director feels the time has come to focus on priorities.

Which means the Neapolitan maestro is narrowing his musical family to a handful of orchestras with which he enjoys close working relationships the CSO, the Vienna and Berlin philharmonics and his Luigi Cherubini youth orchestra in Italy. In future seasons, he says, he will limit his operatic conducting to staged performances in Rome and concert opera in Chicago.

LAKEWOOD Two years does not a dynasty make.

But in his final two years as head of the citys public schools, Joseph Madak saw the seeds of his first run as superintendent (1995-2004) blossom into better academic opportunity for students.

In an interview with the Sun Post-Herald as he winds down in his tenure as superintendent, Madak recalled one of his fondest memories: the opening of the renovated west wing of the high school in the fall of 2009.

The people were so grateful for the obvious improvements. I didnt have anything to do with it, but I was involved with a lot of the planning when I was here from 95 to 04. I credit (Treasurer) Rick Berdine with this, significantly, he said.

We had turn-of-the-century, 1930s buildings that had become instructionally obsolete. When people began to see what we were talking about, in the buildings that emerged, they became very excited about what Lakewood schools could do for their kids.

The outgoing academic chief also worries about the districts financial health.

My biggest concern, as this recession continues and absent the resources we need to support our programs, is that we could be forced to give up some of the very good things we do for our kids. We have a difficult three or four years ahead of us, financially, and the big challenge for the leadership will be to maintain the financial underpinning we need to support Lakewood students, he said.

Madak, who loves to read about history and politics, shouldnt want for things to do in his golden years. The former music teacher said he is looking forward to hearing the Cleveland Orchestra, which makes occasional appearances in California.

If theyd move to California on a permanent basis, Id love that, he joked. I also love to travel. Ive done a lot of that and Id like to do a whole lot more.

For some years Madak has taught online courses in school finance, instructional supervision and school law for the University of Dayton, and he plans to keep on teaching.

Regarding his successor, Madak said, I think a lot of Jeff Patterson. Hes a capable superintendent and hell do a good job for Lakewood. My advice to him is to continue to stay in touch with the staff and the community, to be aware of what their needs are, and to continue working with the board of education to make those things a reality.

We need to better appreciate and more highly value the many good things this school district and this community have to offer. Its easy, in a place like Lakewood, to take those things for granted. We have working relationships with our administrators, with our classified employees and with our teachers that are far better than most school districts have, he said.

The success of the Lakewood schools and the regard our community has for us that shows up in the polling that we do and in the tax issues we put on the ballot comes from the communitys and the parents perception of the quality of the day-to-day learning experience in our schools.

To the parents I would say, This is a great community; this is a great school district. You need to continue to be involved in your childs education, to be involved in the parent organizations in your school, and we need to keep working together for the education of your kids, Madak added.

The 67-year-old has a daughter and two grandchildren near Sacramento, Calif.; a son and granddaughter in Columbus, Ohio; and a son in Philadelphia. Madak and his wife will become full-time residents of California in August.
Mahoney is a freelancer from Fairview Park. Contact him at word.maker@hotmail.com.

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From unruly retrievers to pampered pugs, Victoria Stilwell has seen them all. But what about the owners who live with them? IT?S ME OR THE DOGfollows world-renowned British dog trainer Stilwell as she tries to restore harmony in homes where pets are running riot and the family is in the dog house. Airing weeknights at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT, beginning Tuesday, August 2, this new Animal Planet series goes behind each bite, growl and bark as all kinds of different families seemingly crumble under the pressure to turn man?s best ?fiend? into man?s best ?friend.? Stilwell finds herself in the middle of family spats ? playing the role of therapist or referee to tame these chaotic households before it is too late?and, it?s not just the dogs that need help!

Journeying across the Atlantic, Stilwell brings her unique approach with dogs to American families whose homes have been destroyed and relationships stretched to the breaking point. Through 20 episodes of IT?S ME OR THE DOG, Stilwell comes to the aid of a family whose 11-month-old Mastiff puppy has boundary issues; newlyweds with a territorial Jack Russell Terrier; and a household terrorized by a Toy Poodle with a hatred of men. Through observation, interviews and secret filming with a ?pet cam?, Stilwell uses her expertise to help the animals and their owners, restoring harmony to their home.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Animal Planet Canada on Twitter: http://twitter.com/animalplanetca

Description
Graham Windham, an award winning child welfare agency and one of NYs most dynamic non profit organizations serving children and families seeks a qualified professional for our Family Permanency Planning Services/TFBH Department in the Bronx. Provides and coordinates excellent quality care and healing to the children in Graham Windhams TFBH program, and ensure that every one of the children on the caseload is living in a nurturing, safe, and permanent family as quickly as possible. Creates, with families, service plans for families and children that are inclusive of stakeholders input; build on client strengths; that are realistic, culturally competent, provide meaningful assistance, attend to the childs mental and behavioral health, and are accordance with City, State and Federal Regulations. Ensures that children are safe and well cared for in the foster home through development and maintenance of positive working relationships with the child and foster parents, regular contact with child/foster parent, monitoring of the childs behavior plan, and immediate response to early signs of disruption. Participates in staff meetings, seminars, and training. Maintains and applies a current knowledge of internal and external regulations and policies applicable to foster care.

Qualifications:
o Genuine Love for working with children, teens, families and foster families.

o BA and BS in Human Services, Social work or related field.

o Two (2) Years minimum child welfare experience with at least one (1) year of direct foster care experience.

o Ability to manage multiple deadlines, remain calm and composed under stress, manage crisis situations.

o Computer literacy including Microsoft Word, spreadsheets and CONNECTIONS

o Clear and concise oral written communication skills.

o Familiarity with ACS, OCFS, OMRDD, DYCD and other relevant municipal and state agencies.

o Willingness to travel in within the 5 boroughs of New York City Long Island Westchester County.

o Ability to work with diverse populations (including LGBTQ) and cultures, process information and respond appropriately.

o Bilingual Preferred

Email/Share This Opportunity:

MUFON 501C3 Texas Should Allow Members to Vote Like Civitan Intl

There are many things in this world that I do not have time to investigate. Being that my childhood roots are in Texas and being that I had much of my contact with UFOs in Texas I feel that I am one who has enjoyed the historic implications that MUFON has had on my life by simply being in existence.

If MUFON would allow for a democratic vote in these United States of America once again as it was prior to 1982, should be and could be then I personally feel this would be something I too would once again join. I was told that MUFONdoesnt really support Contactees or those who feel they are Abductees. That is a shame. So I took Stans advice and began opening up my own CHAPTER of life for all and hoped we could make something of a new non profit or I could use my old name from 1990 World Information Network linked to my name as TJ Morris Organization since people seem to find my name on Facebook as TJ Morris amp; Friends. Whatever works to get the word out that alien civiilizations exist and we are in the shift and uplift of the psychic awakening phase of our humanoid sentient intelligent being species.

I have visited the MUFON website and it is very nice. One of many now on the Internet and World Wide Web. The whole world is changing and we are changing with it. I want more time than I have presently to share with my four daughters and grandchildren, and husband however the extended family that I have calls on me. We are the world and I have experienced my vulnerabilities on this planet and I now share them as my experiences. I hope this allows others to dig deeper into their own life and to welcome time spent with me. We are all here to share love and light as spiritual intellectuals is one way to see life. I am not a preacher but I am an energy healer. People say they love being with me because of the healing they get. This has been told me most all my life meaning they like the energy inside of my essence I suppose. I dont try to find meaning in all ambiguity these days. I do like to light up others ambient life though. I use to be invited to all types of events because people wanted me to come so others would come to their gala events. We all have a purpose I suppose on earth and I am told mine is as a gatherer and promoter of energy gathering. It was Stanton Friedman who encouraged me to assist others like me who were contactees and abuctees with fellowship. Stan talked to me on the landline phone on several occasions in 2006-7. He and George Filer both agreed to assist me and me them with our websites. We three are somehow connected as the OLD GUYS. I am more of a writer, where George is a collector of photos, and Stan well Stan is more of a speaker than author although he is a nuclear physicist which sounds great. I on the other hand was trained as a speaker and on television from an early age but prefer to write now from home. I consult others though but am also a known business consultant. Now I am called a social entrepreneur because I assist others to network their personal websites online. Most my friends are well known authors and speakers in life. People always ask who influenced me and my answer is who hasnt. I enjoyed a book called Celestine Prophecies during my years as a psychic medium. I helped others with their own organization of life who truly desired an outside sources help and assistance. I never liked the term psychic medium still dont today probably due to my Christian upbringing. Like I have said before, I cant change who I am or my upbringing but I can change the tag words in my life and in my virtual life in the web and akashic field.

A good idea would be to model MUFON to the 501C3 Nonprofit Civitan International headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. I was once founding President of the Ohio County Civitan Club in 2005 and was sent to train in Nashville, TN. I was given guidance and training along with books of how our meetings were to be held and how we elected our Board of Directors for each chapter in each town or city. I still have my organizational books which even have a diagram for seating and where to place the flag of the USA. We had a gavel and we used Roberts Rules of Order. It was a great system.

I have been a Corporate President, entrepreneur, and Goodwill Ambassador. I enjoy my life and soon will be retirement age. Being that I spent most of my professional life in business and security and investigations and training others, it would be nice to share in the future with others who enjoy meeting once a month. I would possibly begin a group for MUFON as I did for Civitan International here where I live if I thought that it was ran properly and with member voting rights.

This could possibly be what is holding back MUFON from not being the proper fund raiser and fellowship organization if could be for Contactees and Investigators such as myself. I am now a paranormal writer and my roots of inner spirit belong to who I have become based on my contact experiences and UFO sightings in life. I have always wanted to share times in fellowship with others of kindred spirit and found a mutual respect from the Bowling Green local chapter director in Kentucky in 2008-9. I would like to think that there would be a reason to meet others who are like me and have had contact and sightings. I would like to know others who are investigators with a past interest in UFOS and USOS.

I enjoy the contact I have with the founder and creator of the UFO Digest.com and I mainly enjoy the contact from my readers of my articles which lets others know they are welcome to become friends on Facebook and to read my websites of my personal stories, views, and opinions of an experienced contactee. We may not have much time as body-mind-spirits in this birth-life-death experience and what we have is very precious to all of us.

IF I am going to take the time and money to support a monthly meeting and fund raising events for charity as a nonprofit there are thousands to choose from in this world. We in Civitan Club paid our dues monthly about $15 to run our local chapter. We created Fund raisers and helped the local community. We shared our energy with fund raisers and had dinners and pot luck. We welcomed and coached new members in a buddy system.

We can have more training for members of MUFON and there are those around the world who are law enforcement, community service leaders, prior government service, Homeland Security, and other volunteers who have been business people who may now be semi-retired and/or retired that would like to lend a helping hand to those who are younger that would like to join in a membership drive and fund raiser to begin local chapters in towns around the USA and the world for MUFON. The Reorganization is timely and needed for MUFON to be respected and to grow into something similar as a nonprofit fellowship organization with members who have similar likes and interests in UFOS and Contactees.

The timing for reorganization would assist the ET UFO Community of which I am a known paranormal writer and ET UFO Contactee Experiencer. I admit that my past life experiences, near death experiences, out of body experiences, and extraordinary serendipity life experiences add color to my stories of ET contact and UFO sightings throughout my lifetime. I believe in the positive affirmations of life and the higher spiritual guidance that this type of interests can offer others for the raising of awareness in knowledge and seeking of wisdom for future life!

How we elect local chapters to be created and who shall become those voted on to run each chapter could be elected annually. The local chapter can run their own bank account with all monies from charity fund raisers to support the local community and those who have had sightings and want to share their experiences, photos, videos and then pass them on into copies of the local investigations into the main office for historical purposes and recording in a main archive server stored in computers.

We can organize this into something wonderful for the future of humanity on this planet! If others are willing to become democratic in all the local elections as well as the National and International levels. It is time to take Exopolitics into account and to have International Exopolitical Meetings which are already happening around the world and are very popular globally!

One concern I have is the scalping and ticket pricing in order to pay the speakers at some of these various seminars, events, and expositions that are spin offs of the ET UFO Community. We now have so many hybrids that have actually grown from the knowledge that people are truly interested in UFOS and are having more sightings world wide.

This is a worldwide information network movement that I too began called World Information Network (WIN) back in 1990 in Hawaii when I began Psychic Network Nonprofit Organization in Honolulu. There are ways to share ones own energy as synergy and spirit with others that becomes contagious and addictive to those who want to grow and glean from the excitement of others who are on the verge of new thoughts and discoveries.

I would be glad to meet with MUFON KENTUCKY DIRECTORS to share the LOCAL STATE CHARTER and Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws with the intent of beginning the International Organization with a NEW WEBSITE if there is interest? Let the KENTUCKY STATE DIRECTOR and my LOCAL CLOSEST CHAPTER IS BOWLING GREEN let me know if they are inline with MUFON and want to incorporate – I did know the local MEETING Organizer and if he is still around we are compatible for setting up the new organization charter, articles of incorporation and by-laws. I was willing to do this before but there was some outside influences from a corporation that was causing some internal friction at the time of my interest in the local MUFON. I decided to wait it out to become involved once again. I went to some of the meetings in Texas and some MUFON investigators from New York came to some of my PSYCHIC AWAKENING classes in Hawaii in 1990-1993.

Just about the time I was signed up and sent in my dues to MUFON I was told they did not receive in on computer. Also, the local MUFON Chapter Bowling Green Director was on the phone at the time and I sent it in twice. I took this as a sign that there were Supreme Beings Guidance having me to wait!

I then learned that the person on the phone was going to be a PAID INVESTIGATOR on the STAR TEAM for BIGELOW. I was not going to be a volunteer with paid members. Something seemed NOT RIGHT since I was getting involved at the time and all of a sudden there was some new corporation involvement with wanting our investigation reports. We were discussing revising the investigative manual and that a NEW one would be REVISED. Then there was some information filtering back to me about MUFON and members being fired and then some trouble with the CEO. I decided I BEST WAIT to JOIN! It was not the same energy I knew of in TEXAS!

I wanted to join to encourage others and to promote the cause and interest. I am a natural born leader and promoter of the ET UFO COMMUNITY. I am now actively emotional invested as my whole being is known internationally as an ET UFO Contactee and Psychic Awakening Founder. I paid for a copy of my original Psychic Awakening CLASSES from the old days in TEXAS! This had some of our old ways from the sixties and seventies at the time MUFON was just getting started. We had some brainiac type of ESP UFO contactees learning how to channel their messages which came out like Ascended Masters ESP connections. We were all perplexed how to proceed with what to do with organizing the future which in my case turned out to be Psychic Awakening Classes in HAWAII which was former MU tectonic economics.

We have another thread of history with some who were in the spiritual intellectual schools and the ancient mystery schools of light. It is my understanding that some of our Houston Members were involved with the writing of the Chick Soup of the Soul books which have a large following. There are many famous people that came to be known in the New Age Movement on this planet.

Some are still alive as authors and entrepreneurs to day. I was always an observer of how the energy would play out for the future. I knew someday I would have to make my own story known as how my own energy and essence played a role in the enhancement. Many of us were called Star People and we related to Brad and Francie Steiger just to mention one one book of theirs. Also, we read Ruth Montgomery books such as Aliens Among Us. WE have a long history of authors who helped shape the future of humanity. I am now working in the present time to assist all who want to know more through books, tapes, CD, video, and Webinars. There are at least two companies pursuing my involvement as a consultant. One is out of California and the other out of Texas. I am told a well known prominent business entrepreneur is interested in our future as well. In other words, there are many who are wanting to be involved in what we are creating and are biding their own time until we become organized for the future.

I gave a copy to the BOWLING GREEN MUFON Director to HAVE TO REVISE for MUFON FUTURE PSYCHIC AWAKENING CLASSES! We were going to begin having GREAT MEETINGS OF THE MINDS OF KINDRED SPIRITS who were interested in learning more about how ESP and UFOs can work together!

People at the few MUFON meetings I attended did not require money which I was willing to share at least $5 a month for meeting and refreshments which we had at the library. We thought of having a big fund raiser and including gaming and went so far as to have meetings at the University of Kentucky Exposition Hall personnel for a big symposium and even a gala event in costumes. We were going to add in Psychics and Eco-Expo and Whole Life Expo Showcases with exhibitors. We were going to being in Kentucky and Tennessee in Pigeon Forge and add all that wanted to promote their BOOKS. We have a rather large hotel that wants to be our venue once we get the world annual events organized. I have been in contact with expo leaders in special interest groups for years. Many want to offer us their alliance and services for the future of our creative process. In other words they want to be involved as either products or services. We in WIN and/or ET UFO WIN can share the marketing and promotions at our monthly meetings. We have to see who all we shall link to our common ET UFO Community Cause and Directory. The directory alone as a WEBSITE will be a major time issue for those who will enter the information for our data base.

I talked to Stan Friedman and later Steven Bassett who both said they would participate as paid speakers if we got it going! I was waiting on MUFON KENTUCKY to get their ACT together but there was some opposition for HEADQUARTERS. Then one of the paying members who was to become an Investigator with the Bowling Green Directors coaching for the test said he didnt think we could do anything without James Carrions personal approval of which I began a GET TO KNOW JAMES campaign on emails and later Facebook contact. We fizzled that out in a hurry due to his dismissal or leaving January 2010. So, as the world goes, all that could have been accomplished was NOT!

I now wonder if this was going to be why BIGELOW wanted to know more about our future growth and investigative reports for MUFON?

When the Bowling Green Director told me of some secret involvements of new paid investigators and that I could take the test to be revised I was curious but had a weird feeling inside of me. It felt like I was going to be USED in way that others would be profiteering off of what I wanted to give freely to the UFO Community as a NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. I wanted to train investigators to use their own ESP and INTUITION with attracting more UFOS and to understand their reasoning for the visits here.

I was willing to begin the next phase of discovery through MUFON!

Now I am in a holding pattern waiting to see what the local KENTUCKY MUFON wants to PLAN AND DO for FUND RAISERS and TRAINING PERSONNEL!

I am into assisting others as a guide for Lightworkers, Truthseekers, and Investigators with an interest in Research!

I believe in art, culture, education, science, technology, and folklife (Archaeology). We can use all of these topics in MUFON.

I miss being around others who are of kindred spirit and see the future of those who share their spirits as entrepreneurs. I once was very happy to participate in People Synergistically Involved a s PSI and paid thousands of dollars to attend large meetings with others. We held classes of personal discovery that were not as intense as Werner Erhards EST and were much more enlightening about how the MIND and SPIRIT worked for POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS.

We can share the future by assisting create a community for others that want to know what being more awakened and aware in a spiritual sense offers others who will participate in the future with more UFO sightings. I personally have willed this to happen.
I know this is part of the future for us all with an accepted world date participation of 12-21-12 of which we can all agree to raise awareness that extraterrestrials exist and that we have proof on earth and in space.

IF MUFON wants to share the future in a bigger way then make sure that it is similar to that of Civitan International with a FUND RAISING CAUSE of sharing this SPIRIT of AWAKENED AWARENESS! You can take that to the bank! You can even USE MY NAME if it helps!

People us my name all the time like I have endorsed certain aspects of their websites and they even copy my articles and dont give my name as the author writer. I have seen this on many UFO websites as if the creators are signed ADMIN which I do on some of my websites instead of putting my name as a BY LINE.

Therefore if I wanted to share MUFON as I have done in public relations in the past as a writer, to share the Mutual UFO Network cause then I would have to believe in it!

As long as there are not members who can vote and share in how the FUND RAISERS money are collected and spent then I will not become a member! I believe this is what is needed in order to have MUFON become a great organization of the future. Or it could become extinct over time due to the awakened awareness that people have no say as to how the money is collected and spent or who are the elected leaders.

We dont like to think we have no say on collected monies as taxes or charity given money and no vote. This is why the United States was founded. We want to share our thoughts and points of view and to believe we have a say in how our commonwealth monies are spent and we want to elect our leaders!

This is a DEMOCRACY! IF MUFON is not willing to become that which the original Article 8 was to be accepted then the entire association can be dissolved and a new charter written with paying members dues shown how spent!

I will be glad to share a corporate charter if others want to participate in a similar international organization! We can begin ANEW!

When the MEMBERS decide to REFORM and have HONEST ELECTIONS for the BOARDS at the local, regional, state, and national levels like there should be then I shall begin once again to write articles to support and promote the RIGHT MUFON ORGANIZATION!

I have to believe in something before I will endorse it and write about it in my articles. Writers and Bloggers can all assist MUFON or other organizations and websites. We can all agree to share our interests on FACEBOOK now without being members of MUFON.

One has to want to meet in person and share training and education and the art of what we can create together in the ET UFO COMMUNITY!

There are ways to share in life interests with others. Inspiring people to attend meetings and share in raising money to keep up a community with similar interests is time consuming and yet can be fun!

Monthly Meetings are a way to meet people that live nearby or at least within a 100 mile radius. Due to NO group meetings people will drive up to a days time to attend a worthwhile meeting on a weekend they are not working. We are about 100 miles from Louisville and 100 miles from Nashville where I live.

I am in a Tri-State area perfectly situated in the Heartland. I am located strategically between Fort Campbell and Fort Knox the gold reserve. I am located where we have had UFO sightings and Edgar Cayce had a stronghold here in Kentucky. The two energies are compatible for MUFON!

People dont want to pay enormous amounts to attend a once a year exposition or symposium if they do not believe that the members are allowed to vote on who will become the annual leaders for each level as a democratic organization should have.

However, I personally believe that there is some of my essence and energy that is attached to kindred spirits of others through the same interest in the discovery, investigation, research, and documentation of bonafide historical information.

Information appeals to me and speaks to me to write down what we are experiencing now for not only those who are alive now on planet earth but for those who shall come after us as our star children. There is a historic path that we have left for others as the Baby Boomer generation who began this desire for Open Disclosure of UFOS and ET!

I am here and acting as a magnet for right now. I am a good anchor for the energy to be shared and we want to glorify it with synergy and allow others to receive our magnetic energy from what we know and experience even the extraordinary paranormal interested parts of us! That is the fun part!

Love and Light as a ET UFO Contactee Author/Historian/Social Entrepreneur. TJ

Theresa Janette Thurmond Morris,Author/Entrepreneur consultant Includes paranormal experiences that include Extraterrestrials, OBE, NDE, ECE, and TJ is a well known professional psychic medium since 1990. Read Roswell Co

SALEM — It’s the height of festival season and for many kids that means thrills — as in the Zipper, the Sizzler or the Tilt-A-Whirl.

But who’s making sure those traveling rides are properly maintained, set up and operated?

In Oregon, the answer is no one.

Even worse, regulators say, a state permit affixed to each ride gives the false appearance of oversight.

To get the permit, ride operators submit a form each year showing that the ride has had a private inspection and is insured, and pay a $28 fee.

That’s it.

Unlike many other states, Oregon doesn’t independently verify the information on the form.

It doesn’t require those contracted ride inspectors to be nationally certified.

It doesn’t enforce safety rules or investigate or track accidents.

It also doesn’t require ride operators to be certified, although they must be at least 18 years old.

Earlier this year, state officials asked lawmakers to either fund a comprehensive oversight program or remove the state from regulation altogether, making it clear to riders that there is no government oversight.

The current regulatory structure “creates an appearance, but not the reality, of comprehensive oversight of amusement rides,” Pat Allen, acting administrator of the state Building Codes Division, told lawmakers.

“The building codes seal that a parent sees on an amusement ride may imply that we provide more safety oversight and regulation than we actually do,” Allen said.

The legislation — House Bills 2088 and 2089 — was supported by the Carnival Guild, which represents Oregon’s largest amusement ride operators.

“Amusement rides operating in the state need to be regulated,” Carnival Guild president Ron Burback said.

Burback also is president of Portland-based Funtastic Rides, which operates the carnival at the Oregon State Fair.

“We need a venue we can call out and say, ‘There’s an illegal operator here.’ They don’t have that,” he said.

The House Business and Labor Committee chose to move the bill that would increase permit fees to fund comprehensive oversight.

“The state came forth and said, ‘We’re just collecting this money and putting a stamp on it.’ The industry supported it completely,” said committee co-chairman Rep. Mike Schaufler, D-Happy Valley. “We were convinced there was a need for more safety regulations and inspection resources.”

However, the bill died in the Joint Ways and Means Committee.

Rep. Peter Buckley, co-chairman of Ways and Means, said a majority of the committee refused to pass any legislation that would raise fees during a recession.

“It was not just this bill. It was any number of bills. Fee increases were denied, even if they were requested by industry,” said Buckley, D-Ashland. “We simply couldn’t get it through that barrier.”

Burback, the Carnival Guild president, said most ride owners do a good job of self-regulating.

He’s most concerned about inflatable amusement rides, which have exploded in popularity over the past decade and are exempt from regulation in Oregon. “They’re extremely dangerous,” he said.

A spate of accidents involving inflatable rides, such as slides and bounce houses, has prompted calls for tighter regulation around the country.

Last month, a YouTube video of a gust of wind sending three inflatables flying into a crowd of people in New York went viral. Thirteen people were hurt in the accident, one seriously.

In Salem, five people waiting to ride down an inflatable slide shaped like the Titanic ended up hospitalized after the slide tipped over during the 2003 Bite of Salem.

Salem Police said they thought improper anchoring of the slide caused it to blow over in the wind.

Oregon’s failed legislation would have brought inflatables under state oversight.

The legislation also would have required reporting and tracking amusement ride accidents, which is not currently done in Oregon.

Nationwide, amusement ride regulations vary wildly.

“Like a crazy quilt,” said James Barber, spokesman for the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials. “There are marked differences between states.”

Some states, such as California, have comprehensive state ride inspection and accident investigation programs, according to Saferparks Inc., a California nonprofit organization that works to improve the safety of amusement park rides and attractions.

Oregon is among 11 states that basically leave oversight to the private sector.

Other states, such as Idaho, fall in between, with partial government oversight.

And, Saferparks says, six states — Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming — have no amusement ride regulations at all.

“Amusement rides operating in the state need to be regulated. We need a venue we can call out and say, ‘There’s an illegal operator here.’ They don’t have that.”

Ron Burback

Carnival Guild president

Google Labs was known as a place where engineers have been allowed to exercise a little creative freedom. Some Google engineers spent the 20 percent of their time that gets allotted to innovation tinkering on these projects.Working in the Labs fits in with one of the top three reasons Google gives for working at the company:

o Work and play are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to code and pass the puck at the same time.

o Innovation is our bloodline. Even the best technology can be improved. We see endless opportunity to create even more relevant, more useful, and faster products for our users. Google is the technology leader in organizing the world’s information.

o Boldly go where no one has gone before. There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve. Your creative ideas matter here and are worth exploring. You’ll have the opportunity to develop innovative new products that millions of people will find useful.

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Columbia, SC –

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environtal Control (DHEC) tells WJBF News Channel 6 an Aiken County woman is under the care of a physician after being bitten by a bat that tested positive for rabies.

The lady thought she was picking up a leaf out of a College Acres swimming pool, said Sue Ferguson, of DHECs Bureau of Environmental Health. It turns out it was a bat that then bit the lady on the finger.

In cases like this, people know when they have been bitten by a bat, Ferguson said. However, bats have small teeth that may leave marks not easily seen, and some situations require that you seek medical advice even in the absence of an obvious bite wound. For example, if you awaken and find a bat in your room or if you see a bat in the room of an unattended child, or near a mentally impaired or intoxicated person, seek medical advice and have the bat tested.

According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most of the recent human rabies cases in the US have been caused by rabies virus from bats.

Ferguson said once the rabies virus reaches the brain, the disease is fatal to humans and animals, so the woman is receiving preventive inoculations. According to Ferguson, anyone bitten, scratched or otherwise exposed to the saliva of a rabid animal must undergo immediate measures to stop the virus from reaching the brain.

To reduce the risk of getting rabies, it is also recommended that people avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild, Ferguson said. About 400 South Carolinians must undergo preventive treatment for rabies every year, with most exposures from being bitten or scratched by a rabid or suspected rabid animal. Wild animals carry the disease most often, but domestic pets can contract rabies as well.

Therefore, to protect both the pets and their owners, residents should vaccinate their pets regularly against the disease. State law requires that all pets be vaccinated against rabies.

If you think you have been exposed to the rabies virus through a bite, scratch or the saliva of a possibly infected animal, immediately wash the affected area with plenty of soap and water, she said. Then be sure to get medical attention and report the incident to DHEC.

This is the sixth confirmed rabid animal in Aiken County in 2011. Last year, there were no rabid animals confirmed in the county. In 2010, there were 106 confirmed cases of rabies in animals in South Carolina. So far this year, there have been 55 confirmed cases in animals in the state.

For more information about rabies, see DHECs webpage, or contact DHECs Aiken County Environmental Health Office (803) 642-1637. The national Centers for Disease Control and Preventions webpage about rabies can be found here.