Russ McCutcheon

PEORIA, Ariz. — Ken Griffey Jr. arrived at Seattle Mariners spring training as he always does, in or out of uniform: Eager to chat about his kids, and a magnet for just about every stray person in camp.

And, yes, wisecracking up a storm. Junior is nothing if not a Hall of Fame needler. When Felix Hernandez emerged in the clubhouse wearing white Capri pants, Griffey was merciless, much to the amusement of everyone else. And Felix, too, for that matter.

Whyd you steal your Mamas pants? Griffey hollered, repeating the line a couple of times for greater comic effect.

One more year removed from his abrupt departure from the game in June 2010, Griffey has settled comfortably into retired life at age 42. Though, he says, he offered new Florida Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen — an old friend, like so many others in the game — his services for the upcoming year.

I told him Id give him 12 at-bats — 13 and we have to renegotiate. And I only want to play home games, he said. Thats when they were going after Prince (Fielder), Albert (Pujols). They had signed (Jose) Reyes, they got Mark Buehrle. And right before they signed Heath (Bell). So I called. Ozzie started laughing.

Speaking of Fielder, I asked Griffey if he tried to recruit his Orlando neighbor to the Mariners during his free agency. Griffeys answer was enlightening and shed some light on the Mariners pursuit of Fielder.

Thats what everyone thinks because he lives right by me, Griffey said. Nah. Prince is his own man. You cant jeopardize relationships. If he had asked me about it, I would have talked about it. My main thing with him was to maintain the same relationship we always had. I dont get into anybodys business financially.

Jack (Zduriencik) said, Hey, were pursuing him. I said, OK. He said, If he talks to you, youll talk to him? I said, Yeah, but Im not going to seek him out. Thats not fair to either one of us.

And, Griffey said, Prince never asked. What I gather from all that is that yes, the Mariners were interested in Fielder, and no, Fielder wasnt all that interested in them.

Griffey said he was as surprised as everyone else when Fielder signed with Detroit.

Nothing in this game surprises you any more, but I didnt think it would be Detroit, he said. I thought it would be someplace else.

Griffey was quick with the quips as he watched the Mariners play an intrasquad game, fresh off a plane flight from Florida he shared with Danica Patrick. A steady stream of well-wishers, including former teammates, team officials and media members, wandered into the Griffey vortex.

He patiently told the story of how his son, Trey, ended up accepting a football scholarship to the University of Arizona. Griffey smirked in mock irritation when it was pointed out how ironic it was that hell now be traveling frequently to Tucson when it was a running joke how he never took a Tucson trip with the Ms in spring training.

Trey, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound wide receiver at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, was recruited heavily by Washington State. But he was so enthralled by Arizona that he committed to the Wildcats before making his final trip to Pullman.

Like I told all the coaches, it was his choice where he wanted to go, Griffey said. Not wanting to have him have the remorse of, Hey, I went here because of you, Dad. I said, Weve always traveled; travelings not that big a deal. Go where you want to go to school. He picked Arizona. I couldnt be any happier. It should be fun. He picked it without any word from me.

Griffey is already going through the recruiting blitz again with his daughter, Taryn, a standout sophomore basketball player who has drawn the notice of Washington, he said — along with every top-flight hoops school in the country. Griffey casually drops names like Pat, Geno and Vivian, referring to iconic womens coaches Pat Summitt of Tennessee, Geno Auriemma of Connecticut and Vivian Stringer of Rutgers. And no wonder — Taryn led Dr. Phillips to a state title and had a game in which she went 9 for 9 on three-pointers.

The youngest Griffey, Tevin, age 9, is still playing baseball (a left-handed thrower and right-handed hitter, a la Rickey Henderson), but Griffey believes his future lies in football like older brother Trey.

But that doesnt mean the line of Griffeys in the major leagues has halted. Ken raves about the 13-year-old son of brother Craig, who played seven years in the Mariners farm system. Junior says his nephew is a right-handed pitcher who reminds him of Tom Flash Gordon.

Griffey is in his second year as a special consultant with the ballclub, and while some fans might scoff at what sounds like a figurehead role, Griffey has a lot to offer, manager Eric Wedge said. Wedge spent considerable time picking Griffeys brain last season, and did so even more intently during their whirlwind junket to Japan together last month.

He gives you a different perspective, Wedge said. Its a very interesting perspective. Obviously, he was a great player, and the way he views the game, growing up in the game, its a whole different vantage point. Thats the perspective we can gain from him.

Griffey says well see more of him this year than last. He plans to once again take trips to all the Mariners minor-league affiliates (often driving the bus hes dubbed The Mad Mobile) as well as picking up the major-league team several times through the season.

Im mainly coming back here now to get to know the guys, he said.

Griffey wont don a uniform in camp, but he expects to offer advice and counsel to players.

Well have a couple of talks, he said.

Of the 2012 Mariners, Griffey said, I think were going to surprise some people. We have some good kids. The first question I asked is, howd they come in? Everyone was real surprised how good shape guys came in.

I asked if he still had the urge to pick up a bat.

Nah. I pick up a golf club, he replied. Every now and then I go hit, because I have kids that want me to help.

With Ken Griffey Jr. these days, its all about the kids — his own, and the Mariners.

Yet commute trips today only account for about 20% of all trips.

GGW does talk an awful lot about Capital Bikeshare and the H Street streetcars, which dont strike me as meant for commuting to work, primarily. Not to mention their focus on expanding local retail, which would reduce the need to take trips to other neighborhoods for basic needs.

But end the need for me to drive to work, and the number of miles I put on my car and the time my car spends on the road goes down drastically. Not sure why this is such a controversial point.

by JustMe on Mar 2, 2012 1:09 pm

Ken Griffey Jr. arrived in Mariners camp today, watching from behind a fence near the third-base dugout as his former team played an intrasquad game. Griffey, as always, was a magnet for former teammates, the media, team personnel and well-wishers of all sorts.

This is Juniors second year in his role as a Mariner special advisor, and he says well see more of him this year than last. He plans to once again take trips to all the minor-league affiliates as well as picking up the major-league team several times through the season.

Im mainly coming back here now to get to know the guys, he said.

Griffey wont don a uniform in camp, but he expects to offer advise and counsel to players.

Well have a couple of talks, he said, saying it was good to see Ichi, Figgy, Smoaky, the Condor — references to Ichiro, Chone Figgins, Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders. Dont read that as a slight on the others, however — he had a smile (or wisecrack) and good word for just about everyone on the team.

Of the 2012 Mariners, Griffey said, I think were going surprise some people. We have some good kids. The first question I asked is, howd they come in? Everyone was real surprised how good shape guys came in.

I asked Griffey if he tried to recruit free agent Prince Fielder, who lives nearby in Orlando, to the Mariners. His answer was enlightening and shed some light on the Mariners pursuit of Fielder.

Thats what everyone thinks because he lives right by me, Griffey said. Thats what everyone thinks. Nah. Prince is his own man. You cant jeopardize relationships. If he had asked me about it, I would have talked about it. My main thing with him was to maintain the same relationship we always had. I dont get into anybodys business financially.

Jack (Zduriencik) said, Hey, were pursuing him. I said, OK. He said, If he talks to you, youll talk to him? I said, Yeah, but Im not going to seek him out. Thats not fair to either one of us.

And, Griffey said, Prince never asked. Griffey said he was as surprised as everyone else when Fielder signed with Detroit.

Nothing in this game surprises you any more, but I didnt think it would be Detroit. I thought it would be someplace else.

With Spring Break just around the corner, students who dont have plans already can find them easily and without breaking the bank.

Helen Dasher, a travel agent from Great Destinations, said students looking for a good deal for Spring Break would find one in all-inclusive trips to Cancun. These trips are most popular because of the value, she said.

When students take trips to places such as Florida, they often spend more money than they plan, Dasher said. Whereas with all-inclusive trips, they will know how much they will spend in advance.

In the long run, it really is usually less expensive, and they get a really good vacation out of it, Dasher said.

Students looking for last minute plans should look to cruises, Dasher said, because of the excellent prices. A passport is not required as long as the cruise leaves and returns to the same port. Only a birth certificate and drivers license is required.

One popular place for college students to go for Spring Break is Panama City Beach. Last year, they had 250,000 students come, said Susan Estler, vice president of marketing at the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

At 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday at Harpoon Harrys, there will be a bikini parade to try to break the world record. Beach Care Services, an organization to help the poor, unemployed, homeless and hungry of the beach community will receive $1,000 of the proceeds.

The previous record holder is Gold Coast, Australia, having 357 participants in the parade.

For the month of March, Panama City Beach will be having multiple and sometimes weekly events and all of them are affordable, Estler said.

A lot of our businesses know that students are budget conscious and have great deals put together for them, she said.

The full list of events are listed on visitpanamacitybeach.com, on the Spring Break page.

Not all students will go to warmer places for the week. Dasher said a lot of students who are 21 and older will go to Las Vegas for Spring Break.

You can usually get a good deal with airfare and hotel, and its a lot of fun and you dont have to spend a lot of money when youre there; you dont have to gamble, she said. Theres a lot of other things to do and see. Las Vegas is probably one of your more unconventional [places].

For twenty-five years, a local organization has helped Romans feel better about themselves while losing weight. And while Take Off Pounds Sensibly may not be a household name, there are many in the community who say it has helped them lead a healthier, happier life.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly is the local chapter of a national non-profit organization. It has existed in Rome since 1974.

The group offers tools and programs for healthy living and weight management.

“We’re a support group, not a weight loss system,” said Evelyn Hensley, a founding member of the Rome chapter. We don’t keep people to a specific diet. Everybody is different. Everyone’s health requirements are different.”

So what the group provides to its members is a place to find support and fellowship while learning about healthy ways to lose weight.

Group members encourage each other and offer support while try to lose weight and keep it off as well as take trips together and participate in weight-loss contests.

The 17 members of the group meet each Thursday. Meetings follow a basic agenda but the atmosphere is always one of positive reinforcement and encouragement.

Weekly meetings include private weigh-ins and professionally prepared informational chapter programs featuring up-to-date information about nutrition, exercise and healthy lifestyles. Programs provide positive reinforcement and motivation to adhere to food and exercise programs.

Members are encouraged to set weight loss goals and prizes are awarded for weight lost and kept off. But group leader Jean Garner emphasized that any accomplishment is celebrated and all setbacks are dealt with in a positive, supportive manner.

Then a program is delivered. Garner said she delivers professional tips and advice from doctors and weight-loss experts as well as healthy meal options and strategies.

“We don’t support any specific type of diet or food brand,” Garner said. “We learn about healthy ways to eat and about things we can do together to lose weight. This is a journey and we when you get to your goal you don’t want to quit.”

Hensley said the group offers her not only a healthy lifestyle, but fellowship and a sense of camaraderie as well.

“My most recent weight loss has been 37 pounds,” she said. “My sugar is down and my blood pressure is also down. But there’s more to the group than losing weight. Our fellowship is wonderful. We’re like a family. There’s a lot of closeness there. We call each other during the week and talk.”

With its support system and group accountability, TOPS has provided years of service to the Rome community.

Paulette Howell has been a member of the group for a little over a year. She said she had tried other weight loss programs and found that they were pricey and didn’t offer the fellowship she has found at TOPS

Members pay a $28 yearly membership fee to the organization and $4 each month in chapter dues.

“I like TOP.S because it’s inexpensive and the fellowship is wonderful,” Howell said. “We really are like a family. The meetings are really positive. And even when we’re away from each other, everyone is just a phone call away. So you always have that friendship and support there.

Howell said her daughter is also a member of the group which offers not only fellowship but also recipes, programs for cutting calories and eating healthy meals.”

“You’re not required to be on any particular diet,” she said. Through support and encouragement, you fell like you want to keep losing weight and keeping it off because everyone is pulling for you.”

The group will host an Open House on March 15 at Oak Hill Church of Christ from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm TOP.S is not affiliated with the church.

For additional information about TOP.S and the Rome chapter, visit online at www.tops.org

Light rail builder outlaws sponsored trips to Asia for board members

Oct. 13, 2011 by Ben Baeder

SOUTH GATE The planning agency in charge of building the light rail through South Gate, Downey and other southeast cities banned its board members from taking sponsored trips to China or other countries.

The Orangeline Development Authority (OLDA) at its meeting at South Gate City Hall on Wednesday rejected a last-minute effort by board member and Cerritos City Councilman Bruce Barrows to let outside companies, agencies or governments pay for OLDA members to visit high-speed rail projects in other countries.

The item was not on OLDAs agenda, but the board voted to allow Barrows to discuss the matter because Cerritos Mayor Carol Chen is hosting a trip to Asia in November before the next OLDA meeting.

An public agency is required by law to tell the public what will be discussed at meetings at least 72 hours before the meeting unless the item in question is an emergency, according to the states open-meeting laws, known as the Brown Act.

Barrows said foreign investors and the Chinese government have expressed interest in investing in the Orangeline project.

I had a meeting with some Chinese, he said. They’re the ones that brought it up. There’s a series of meetings they would like us to engage in in Beijing.  I want to see what another government would bring to us as far as an investment opportunity.

Huntington Park Councilman Andy Molina was the only board member to vote against taking the matter up for discussion.

He and Downey Mayor Luis Marquez led the charge against the Barrows proposal.

Molina was irritated, and he said OLDA had already decided at a past meeting that such trips exposed the agency to allegations of favoritism.

The agency is getting down to the brass tacks of station placement.

Next month, a route analyis the main document that would guide the construction of a light rail line from Los Angeles to Santa Ana is due to be released.

Molina didnt want any board members or OLDA executive director Michael Kodama out of the country.

Not only do I not want any of us going on any sponsored trips, I want to make sure our executive director is not included on the trip, because we need him here, Molina said.

Marquez said the trips could end up leading to  unsolicited bids, meaning builders and investors could end up trying to influence the board to use their companies.

While the Orangeline has always been pitched as a high-speed, magnetic levitation train, Kodama and the board are backing away from committing to the mag/lev technology, saying they instead want to consider all types of train technologies.

Wednesdays vote was linked to a new direction taken by OLDA, which has had a hard time getting anything started since the light-rail line was proposed in 2002. The board is now open to any technology and is focused on letting cities decide which type of development will work best in each community.

We are going out of our way to be technology neutral, Marquez said.

If someone wants to go on his or her own dime and say they are on the OLDA board, thats fine with me. But I dont want anybody coming in here and paying for us to take trips, he said.

Tags: Andy Molina, Carol Chen, Cerritos, China, Downey, Huntington Park, Luis Marquez, Michael Kodama, OLDA, Orangeline

Our Cat Needs to See a Vet, but Hates the Cat Carrier

CatChannel and CAT FANCY cat behaviorist Marilyn Krieger, CCBC, explains how to get a cat to like cat carriers so he can take trips to the vet.

SAN ANTONIO — The usual autumn price drop at the gas pump has stalled out with prices now averaging $3.24 a gallon, 60 cents higher than one year ago. Motorists are paying record high prices for this time of year.

Motorists hunting for relatively cheap fuel are finding it, however, on the northeast side of the city. At Internet 35 and Judson Road, regular was going for $3.11 gallon at the Exxon and $3.09 at the Sams Club.

Although prices are down 20 cents in the past month, they are still too high for Dan Simpsons liking. Filling up Wednesday for $3.19 per gallon at the Murphy USA at Loop 410 and Rigsby, he said his dollar just doesnt take him as far as it used to.

I usually take trips to different places, he said. I dont take trips any more.

The fall season is typically when gas prices do just that, but lately the drop has hit the brakes. The Energy Department attributes that to increased global demand and increased US exports of finished petroleum products like gasoline.

As Octobers go, this is a costly one at the pump. Last year at this time, regular was $2.61 a gallon, and two years ago it was $3.45 a gallon. Its even higher than 2008s $2.80 per gallon.

Diesel is now at an average $3.67 a gallon, a steep price if youre in the towing business like Roger Hernandez.

Were spending pretty much $2,000 every three days or so, he said.

And its no less a challenge for folks like Muriel Marcum of Stockdale. She spends $170 a month just to run basic errands like doctor visits and picking up groceries.

Its tough, she said.

Imagine what life would be like if you did not have a bank account and a credit or debit card. It would be much harder to pay your bills, take trips on airlines, which normally require a credit or debit card, and receive payments, just to start. The shocking thing is that more than one-quarter of all American households are unbanked or underbanked and that this number is rising, not falling, largely because of ill-thought-out financial regulation and policies.

The term unbanked refers to people who have neither checking nor savings accounts. Underbanked refers to people who have either a checking or savings account but rely on alternative services such as non-bank money orders and check cashing, payday loans, pawn shops, refund anticipation loans, etc., at least once a year. These alternative sources usually are much more costly than banking services. Banking services to lower-income people have become increasingly expensive directly because of unthinking government regulators.

Last week, headlines were filled with such items as Bank of America to charge $5 debit card fee. Other banks are testing or planning monthly debit card fees and/or checking account fees. These new fees are a direct response to an amendment by Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, to the Dodd-Frank Act, which limits debit card transaction fees to 21 cents per transaction. In many cases, that does not cover the bank’s cost.

President Obama again showed that he doesn’t understand economic and financial policy by attacking the banks for responding to the price-control legislation that he signed into law. He accused the banks of using the new financial regulations as an excuse to impose the new fees on consumers. The president, not assisted by the ever-present teleprompter, babbled, You can stop it because it – if you – if you say to the banks, ‘You don’t have some inherent right just to – you know, get a certain amount of profit .’ Karl Marx probably would have said the same thing, but in a more articulate way.

Assume you are running a business, whatever kind of business you can imagine, and suddenly the government imposes price controls on some of your products and greatly increases the cost of regulation on you and your competitors. You could do nothing and just suffer the loss of income, which probably would discourage you from trying to expand this particular business and hire new workers, or you could try to find ways around the cost of the new regulations and pass those costs on to your customers.

Politicians have been trying to impose price controls at least since the Roman Emperor Diocletian tried it in AD 301. It failed then, as it has every time since then over the past 2,000 years. Rent controls, which are price controls, ultimately result in slums and housing shortages. Those older than 40 years of age probably remember Jimmy Carter’s idiotic price controls on gasoline, which led to people waiting in lines for hours to get a small amount of gas. But the Obama administration and many in Congress (mainly, but not all, Democrats) seem to learn nothing from history or economic theory.

The biggest single increased cost driver for banks and other financial institutions is the avalanche of new government regulations. Who bears the cost of all these new regulations? The consumer. If banks try to absorb all of these costs, their profits will fall, which means their owners (stockholders) will move their capital elsewhere to more profitable industries, and thus banks will have less capital to protect themselves from loan losses and bad times and to hire new workers. It is low-income consumers who suffer the most. Regulatory costs to financial institutions are largely fixed in that the cost per account is roughly the same whether the account has $3,000 in it or $300,000. If the regulatory cost per account is $300, that means the cost for the $3,000 account is 10 percent, while the regulatory cost for the $300,000 account is just one-tenth of 1 percent.

In fact, many of the anti-money-laundering regulations, such as Know Your Customer, often have a higher cost per account for low-income people than for higher-income people. The reason is that many lower-income people are newer to the work force and have less detailed financial histories than higher-income, more established, folks, so the actual cost of due diligence is higher for lower-income people, making them less attractive customers.

As lower-income people are driven out of the banks because of ill-founded government regulation, they are forced to seek alternatives, including the use of cash, which easily can be stolen, lost or destroyed. Enlightened members of a legislative body or enlightened regulators would understand how ill-founded regulations impose great misery and risk on those least able to endure them. But the term enlightened and the president, Congress and the financial regulatory bureaucracy are rarely found in the same sentence.

What Congress should do is impose strict and independent cost-benefit requirements on all government regulatory agencies while at the same time giving those who suffer from ill-founded regulations the right to challenge those regulations – and the right to have their costs covered if they win.

The president’s team seems to be baffled by his fall in the polls. Could one reason be that almost every time he speaks, he shows an appalling economic ignorance? Perhaps he should speak less and use the time to read more of Milton Friedman and FA Hayek.

Richard W. Rahn is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth.

DeonTay McManus committed to West Virginia in June, but was up front in his intentions to take trips to other schools.

Now the time has come for the Dunbar senior wide receiver to start taking his five official visits.

“We’re setting them up this week,” Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith said Tuesday. “He is a solid commitment to West Virginia. The coaches are fine” with McManus taking visits elsewhere.

Smith said McManus plans to make trips to Alabama, Auburn, Miami, Oregon and West Virginia.

McManus, a four-star prospect and Rivals.coms No. 165 player nationally, has helped the No. 7 Poets to a 5-1 record this season. In the classroom, Smith said McManus’ GPA is up to a 2.8, putting him in good position to meet NCAA qualifying standards.

“He’s going to be ready to go,” said Smith, who added that McManus is under consideration for the Under Armour All-America Game in January.