Thursday's Highlights - Los Angeles Times

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FROM SEED TO PLATE: Two college graduates (Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis) plant an acre of corn and follow it all the way to the dinner table on "Independent Lens," 9 p.m. on KCET.

Check: Joy and Randy decide to continue crossing items off Earl's list while he remains in a coma on "My Name Is Earl" (8 p.m. NBC).

Veritas: Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) learns the truth about Veritas, which leads to a confrontation with Clark (Tom Welling) that leaves someone dead on "Smallville" (8 p.m. CW).

Heroic: Liz's ex-boyfriend becomes a celebrity after jumping in front of a train to save a stranger who fell on the tracks on "30 Rock" (8:30 p.m. NBC).

Don't try this at home: After the severed head of a teenage boy is found on a road, investigators discover the victim and another boy were racing go-karts on the highway on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9 p.m. CBS).

Free parking: Kevin and Andy (Brian Baumgartner, Ed Helms) try to reclaim parking spaces stolen from the company by other tenants in the office park on "The Office" (9 p.m. NBC).

Complications: Eli's surgery could leave him in a vegetative state for the rest of his life on the season finale of "Eli Stone" (10 p.m. ABC).

Wild: "Into America's West With Jeff Corwin" (10 p.m. Travel) visits the Grand Canyon and the wilds of Arizona.

Gunfighter: John Wayne was dying of cancer in 1976 when he starred in his final film, "The Shootist" (8 p.m. AMC).

Hockey: Western Conference quarterfinals: The Ducks visit the Dallas Stars (5 p.m. FS Prime).

Soccer: The Columbus Crew visits the D.C. United (5 p.m. ESPN2).

Baseball: The Kansas City Royals visit the Angels (7 p.m. FSN).

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Mills leads Roadrunners to sweep - Today's Sunbeam - NJ.com

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The Woodstown High School graduate belted a two-run homer in support of her 11-4 Game 1 win, then went 4-for-4 with a double, homer and seven RBIs in the nightcap as the Roadrunners completed the sweep with a 23-1 victory behind a no-hitter from Erica Knorr (Delsea).

Mills knocked home two runs with a single in her first at-bat of the second game, then added a three-run homer in GCC's 12-run first inning. Kelly Jenkins (Kingsway) and Erin Clifford (Schalick) each doubled twice in the win. Knorr improved to 15-2, walking two and striking out four.

Mills gave up five hits and three earned runs to win the first game with three walks and three strikeouts. Shannon Kelly (Gloucester Catholic) was 3-for-4 with a double and five runs scored, and Danielle DePasquale finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

GCC is now 24-5 on the season.

Center fielder Garrett Mull recorded three hits and four RBIs to lead Rowan University over Widener, 12-5, in a non-league game.

Mull had a double and three runs scored in the victory. Paul Urbanovich went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Designated hitter Tom Homstrom (Pitman) added two hits and two RBIs.

DeSales ripped 22 hits against four Rutgers-Camden pitchers, including four each by Andrew Feher and Greg Treat in an 18-8 win over the Scarlet Raptors in non-league action.

The Rowan University women's lacrosse team won, 14-13, over 16th-ranked Stevens Tech.

Attack Caitlin Meseroll led Rowan with five goals. Attack Lauren Crennan totaled three goals and two assists, while midfielder Carly Welsh recorded the tying goal and the game-winner.

• More Stories© 2008 Today's Sunbeam. Used with permission.

I want to be in the real game' - San Diego Union Tribune

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Tift Merritt strolls toward New York's Hudson River in her quiet West Village neighborhood. Having moved here just a few months earlier, the North Carolina singer-songwriter is a newcomer to this tree-lined street with a century-old bohemian heritage.

Generations of artists and performers have gravitated to New York, some to live in a cultural mecca. Others come with larger-than-life dreams, the 8 million-to-1 chance of being discovered, for reinvention or escape.

Merritt's reasons were more pragmatic than dreamy. With her third album, “Another Country� (Fantasy Records), a national tour that brings her to Anthology in San Diego's Little Italy tomorrow night, and a new monthly public-radio show, New York simply made more sense than North Carolina, her home base since childhood.

There's the irresistible confluence of only-in-New York energy. Merritt had barely arrived when she found herself on the “I'm Not There� Bob Dylan tribute concert at the Beacon Theatre in November with Joe Henry, My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo and other alternative-rock stars.

Of course, Merritt got plenty of love from her old hometown, especially after she earned a Grammy nomination for “Tambourine,� her 2004 album. She advanced from selling out local clubs to such prestigious engagements as opening the North Carolina Museum of Art's summer concert season and performing with the North Carolina Symphony.

When: Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m.

Behind the scenes, however, were struggles with her label, her manager and the industry itself. She abandoned music, went to Paris and finally found herself in the place she needed to be.

At a small cafe near her studio apartment, Merritt settles in over coffee and croissants and talks about the decline that began, as all declines do, at the top. Her Grammy nomination, for country album of the year, felt like validation and fuel for a commercial breakthrough. But the breakthrough never came.

From a distance of 2-½ years, she can see the honor's downside. “Tambourine� (on Lost Highway Records) didn't sound Nashville enough for country radio. Yet with Grammy branding it country, other formats ignored it. Sales stalled at 68,000 copies – 11,000 more than 2002's “Bramble Rose,� but well short of expectations.

But Paris turned out to be what she needed to rediscover her voice as a writer.

Most of the songs on “Another Country� emerged during several stays in Paris. The lyrics sound like the musings of someone in crisis, with song after song about loneliness, longing, trying to connect. “Broken,� the first single, concludes with a murmuring coda that could be the theme for the project: I think I will break but I mend. The title track likens love to a faraway country because sometimes you have to go a long way to find what you're looking for.

Nearly all the news about “Another Country� has been good, including a four-star rave review in Paste magazine. Whether the album gets any further than “Tambourine� or “Bramble Rose� is still up to the fates. But Merritt is ready to do her part.

Along with recording “Another Country,� Merritt and Zeke Hutchins, her business partner as well as drummer and boyfriend, struck new deals with Fantasy/Concord Records – label home to John Fogerty – and manager David Newgarden, whose clients include Guided by Voices, Cibo Matto and other rock acts. Newgarden says he hesitated to take on Merritt until he learned that she wanted to move away from country music.

Merritt was somewhat miscast as a country singer, and “Another Country� should move her into the “pop� category for good.

Merritt recorded the album in Los Angeles with “Tambourine� producer George Drakoulias and the core of her regular band: Hutchins, bassist Jay Brown and keyboardist Danny Eisenberg. If “Tambourine� was Merritt's “Dusty in Memphis� blue-eyed-soul move, “Another Country� would sound at home in Laurel Canyon, somewhere between Carole King and Bonnie Raitt.

A move to Los Angeles would have made sense, given the album's West Coast laid-back vibe. But Merritt decided New York was a better fit.

She doesn't know how long her New York sojourn will last, in part because she'll be on the road most of this year. She thinks about children, and she'd like to go back to Paris and live there awhile, too.

Whatever her mailing address, there's little doubt about where home remains.

Home Imp.

Grammar Grater: Working Hard...Or Hardly Working? - Gather.com

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"I feel bad."

"I feel badly."

Today we discuss this common pitfall when writing or speaking, and we've brought in a special guest to help us understand it.

Catherine Winter is an editor for the American RadioWorks documentary unit at American Public Media. She also holds the distinct honor of having been called in to settle a heated debate in the Minnesota Public Radio newsroom over "I feel bad" versus "I feel badly."

the ugly stepsister.

"In those cases," Winter says, "you've got blue and hopeless and ugly and those are the adjectives."

The words fast, deeply and hopelessly are the adverbs.

Nevertheless, there are many people who think "I feel badly" is correct. Winter offers two possible explanations for this confusion.

First, she thinks many people got it drilled into them in grammar school that they must use an adverb after a verb. "In many instances that's correct," Winter explains, "but we have this set of verbs that some authorities would call linking verbs that tend to refer to perception. So you wouldn't say 'I feel badly' any more than you would say, 'This tastes bitterly.' You have these verbs of perception like seems or thinks or feels or looks or appears that take an adjective, not an adverb. I think a huge part of the confusion arises there."

The second source of confusion has to do with parallel structures. "The opposite of well is badly," Winter says. "If I do something well, I might do something badly. But well is also an adjective: you can feel well or you can say all is well, and the opposite of that is bad, not badly. So people tend to get confused."

According to Winter, a big reason people say "I feel badly" is because they're simply trying really hard to be right. "This is actually an example of a fascinating phenomenon called hypercorrection," she says. "It's where if somebody corrects you for an error in one circumstance, you then over-generalize and apply that correction where it doesn't actually belong."

Winter explains that at some point in that person's life, it's likely he or she said, "Jenny and me are going to the store." Someone else, likely a parent or a teacher, corrected that person, saying, "Jenny and I." This creates a false belief that whenever that circumstance arises, it's imperative to use I instead of me.

"You see it in other circumstances, too," Winter says. "People will say 'seldomly' because they think all adverbs have to have -ly in them."

We asked Winter if saying "I feel badly" rather than "I feel bad" is a serious error.

"I think 'I feel badly' is arguably a more serious error than many things people call errors," Winter says. "There really is no circumstance in which that's the appropriate language to use."

She compares language choices to one's clothing choices, describing how sometimes it's appropriate to wear a t-shirt and at other times it's better to wear a tie. She extends this to speech by saying in some circumstances, it's all right to say "gonna" but and in others one ought to say "going to."

"But there is no circumstance in which it's all right to say 'I feel badly'," Winter says. "By analogy, that's sort of like not just neglecting to wear a tie-but wearing a tie on your foot."

Finally, we asked Winter if there was anything speakers and writers can do to avoid this error. "You are going to run into people who think you're wrong when you say 'I feel bad' even though I'm here to tell you you're not, you're right," she advises. "So it might be the best thing to just write around it and say, 'I regret that' or 'That made me unhappy' or 'I feel hopeless' or something like that and just avoid having anybody think you're wrong."

Special thanks to The Morning Show's Jim Ed Poole for providing the voice of Clancy the Dog.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Music from this Episode: "I Want Someone Badly" by Shudder to Think, featuring Jeff Buckley; "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown.

Ooh... good catch, Barbara. The word poorly is one of those words that is an adverb (i.e. done in a poor way) but it's also an adjective that means unwell.

So the nice thing about "I feel poorly" is that it's good either way. As is typical with language, there are always exceptions to rules.

Barbara, some authorities cite that use of "myself" as another example of hypercorrection. Folks are so confused about whether "I" or "me" is right that they try to get around it by saying "myself" instead. But you're right that most usage mavens reject "Myself and Officer Smith are responding to a call."

Deborah, I agree you're safest just skipping the whole "I feel bad" "I feel badly" problem and saying more precisely what you mean: I feel sad. I'm really sorry. I'm in an agony of regret. I have an earache.

"But there is no circumstance in which it's all right to say 'I

Goldcliff Acquires Large Platinum-Gold Land Position - Market Wire (press release)

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 17, 2008) - George W. Sanders, President of Goldcliff Resource Corporation (TSX VENTURE:GCN), is pleased to report that Company has acquired a large platinum-gold land position in the Princeton mining region in south-central British Columbia. The Tulameen claims are 100%-owned by the Company and consist of one contiguous block that totals 45,245 hectares (111,755 acres). Located in the historical Princeton mining region, the Goldcliff claim area is situated between the Tulameen platinum district and the Copper Mountain district. The Tulameen platinum district was an important historic producer of placer platinum (20,000 ounces) and the Copper Mountain district was a significant producer of copper and gold (168 million tonnes).

The Goldcliff claims cover several of the historic placer producing platinum-gold creeks, copper-gold showings and outcrops of intrusive and country rocks that are favourable for mineral deposits in the Princeton mining region. The Tulameen platinum district, which contains several lode platinum occurrences (Minfile), has a reported historic placer platinum production of 20,000 ounces platinum. The potential economic platinum values associated with the lode occurrences range from 2.5 to 16.0 grams platinum per tonne. The Copper Mountain district has a historic production of 168 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 0.46% copper and 0.14 grams per tonne gold.

The modern data base has enhanced the exploration potential of Goldcliff's claims in the Princeton mining region with respect to platinum, gold and copper. Readily accessed by road, the Goldcliff claims are ideally positioned for exploration in the Princeton mining region.

From 1889 to 1936, the Tulameen platinum district was recognized as the most important producer of placer platinum and gold in North America. Several of the creeks in the Princeton mining region had 20,000 ounces of reported platinum production. The Goldcliff claims cover the majority of the creeks that produced placer platinum and gold.

Referred to as the Tulameen Complex, the lode platinum occurrences in the Tulameen platinum district are associated with ultramafic-mafic intrusive rocks. The Tulameen Complex contains several lode platinum occurrences that have platinum values ranging from 2.5 to 16.0 grams platinum per tonne. The placer platinum deposits in the creeks are the result of the de-gradation and erosion of the lode platinum occurrences in the Tulameen Complex.

The Tulameen claims cover an area of 45,000 hectares of geology that is favourable for the exploration of platinum, palladium, gold and copper deposits. The claims have extensive overburden. The Tulameen platinum district is located to the northwest and the Copper Mountain copper-gold porphyry-deposits are located to the southeast of the claim block. In the Tulameen platinum district, the Tulameen Complex containing the lode platinum occurrences is partially exposed. There are similar Tulameen Complex rocks that occur on Goldcliff's claims.

The Tulameen Complex of ultramafic-mafic intrusive rocks is classified as an Uralian-Alaskan-type complex. The Uralian-Alaskan complexes are a major contributor of platinum group metals (PGM) in the world (Google).

In the Tulameen district, the platinum metal is a mineral alloy that was identified in 1974 as tulameenite (BC Geology). Tulameenite occurs in other Uralian-Alaskan complexes in the world that are associated with platinum production. Tulameenite is a ferronickelplatinum alloy with a mineralogical composition of Pt-Fe-Cu-(Ni).

Globally, the Uralian-Alaskan complexes are a significant source of platinum group metals (PGM). In Alaska, the Goodnews Bay Complex had 647,500 ounces of platinum recovered from its placers. The Salt Chuck lode mine produced 661,771 ounces of platinum and palladium as a by-product of copper ore from the Salt Chuck Complex.

In Russia, the Ural region is a significant placer and lode producer of PGM from a Uralian-Alaskan complex. The placer deposits were discovered in the Ural Mountains in 1823 and have been producing PGM continuously up to the present. The historic PGM production from placer and lode deposits is not well documented but is considered significant. In the late 1980s, lode deposits reached peak platinum production of around 4.0 million ounces of palladium and 1.0 million ounces of platinum. In 2005, the lode deposits reported production of 751,000 ounces of platinum and 3,133 million ounces of palladium in the Ural region (Google).

The other important producers of PGM in the world are in South Africa (Bushveld Complex) and in the USA (Stillwater Complex). The South Africa grades of PGM metal are typically between 3 and 6 grams per tonne. The USA grades of PG

Giant turtle thought to be extinct in the wild found - TransWorldNews (press release)

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A rare giant turtle once believed to be extinct in the wild has been discovered in northern Vietnam, say researchers with the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Scientists from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Asian Turtle Program reported the discovery of the only known wild specimen of a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle living in a lake just west of Hanoi.

The discovery gives researchers hope for the survival of the species, previously thought to be extinct in the wild. Three other known Swinhoe's soft-shell turtles (Rafetus swinhoei) remain in captivity. Two of the rare giant turtles are in Chinese zoos, and one is in the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi.

As the largest freshwater turtle in the world, the Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle can weigh up to 300 pounds and measure up to 3 feet in length with some living to more than 100 years old.

In 2003, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo began efforts to preserve and protect Asian turtles after reports of increased killings by hunters who captured them for food or to make traditional medicines from their bones. Development and pollution also led to loss of nesting habitats along rivers, zoo officials said.

Exiting Middleboro town official blasts "dodo bird" benefits ... - Wicked Local Middleborough

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Kevin J. Cook, chairman of the Personnel Board, had harsh words for town employees as he announced his resignation effective March 23 in a letter to selectmen.

Cook also said over the past year the Personnel Board has worked on a handbook “that would provide the town with policies it doesn't have and are required to bring the town in compliance with federal and state regulations.�� The handbook will be presented to selectmen in the near future, Cook added.

During the meeting selectmen refrained from commenting on Cook's statement but voted unanimously to send a letter thanking him for his service to the town.

Selectmen are seeking applicants to fill the vacancy on the Personnel Board left by Cook's resignation. Interested residents are asked to submit an application to the selectmen at the town hall by April 14. Selectmen prefer applicants who have a background in either personnel or human resources.

Prior to the meeting, Brunelle noted that Selectmen Wayne C. Perkins, who served on the board for nine years and six of them as chairman, was attending his final meeting. Town elections are held on Saturday and Perkins is not seeking reelection to the board. Perkins will continue to serve on the search committee for a new town manager and was recently appointed to the Historical Commission.

Selectmen approved a request by Health Officer Jeanne Spalding to rescind the local Board of Health Massage Regulations and associated fees as the state has passed legislation to oversee and license massage facilities and practitioners.

Spalding said the town has issued 15 massage licenses. Establishments are charged a $200 license fee which will be reimbursed and individuals are charged a lesser fee, said Spalding.

Selectmen noted that Monday was the deadline to submit warrant articles and they received 47 articles for the annual town meeting and eight for the special town meeting. Selectmen will review the articles on Monday in preparation for the April 28 public hearing on the warrant articles.

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E Street Band mamber Danny Federici dies at 58 - The Associated Press

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The keyboard player's stylish work helped define the band's sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising."

Federici had battled melanoma for three years. He had taken a leave of absence in November during the band's current tour. He returned to play portions of a show in Indianapolis in March.

The Biggest Loser: ‘I am a whole new woman' - MSNBC

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April 16: Ali Vincent, who shed 112 pounds to become the first-ever female winner of weight-loss competition "The Biggest Loser," visits TODAY with trainer Jillian Michaels to share her inspiring story.

Ali Vincent reveals a new formula to the world, after winning season five of NBC's “The Biggest Loser� on Tuesday night. The hairdresser from Mesa, Ariz., lost more than half her body weight, but gained a whole new perspective on life.

Vincent, 32, started the show tipping the scales at 234 pounds and ended it weighing 122 pounds. Although her overall weight loss of 112 pounds was less than second-place Roger Schultz (164 pounds), “The Biggest Loser� winner is determined by weight-loss percentage.

She decided to try out for “The Biggest Loser� with her mother, Bette-Sue Burkland. Despite some early success, Vincent and her mom were voted off the show in the fourth episode.

Vincent, however, remained undaunted.

Fortunately for Vincent, the show, in an unforeseen twist, was bringing her back.

Even better for her, she lost 33 more pounds on her own — while no longer a contestant for the show.

And Vincent was in for the long haul.

Vincent pocketed $250,000 for her losing ways. After taking a red-eye flight from California to New York, one of the first things she saw was a copy of USA Today with a “Got Milk?� ad featuring her chiseled self.

Vincent hopes her dramatic weight loss will put her in a better position to achieve her goal of becoming a platform artist for a large corporation. Until then, she is enjoying her role as an inspirational figure for those looking to lose weight.

See the amazing transformations and pounds shed by the season five contestants.

History is made on "Biggest Loser," with Ali becoming the first female contestant to ever win this weight-loss TV show. While she took home the title and the $250,000 prize. Bernie of the Biggest Loser Club team won $100,000 for losing the most weight of all the eliminated players.

Image: U.S. actress Hudson and actor McConaughey.

Kate and Matt laugh like “Fools,� Brittany Snow goes to “Prom,� Miss USA is crowned and more.

Report links Travis Ford to Oklahoma State - SI.com

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STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma State had no announcement planned Wednesday amid conflicting reports that Massachusetts' Travis Ford was expected to take the job as the Cowboys' basketball coach.

Spokesman Mike Noteware said Oklahoma State had no plans for a news conference despite a report from ESPN that had unnamed sources indicating that Ford intended to meet with his players at UMass in the afternoon regarding the position in Stillwater.

"Right now, he's still here, still our coach at UMass," Massachusetts assistant athletic director Jason Yellin said.

Ford, 38, turned down a job offer from Big East school Providence and had also previously been linked to an opening at LSU that was eventually filled when Trent Johnson left Stanford to take it. UMass athletic director John McCutcheon announced last week that Ford intended to stay with the Minutemen, but he did not discuss terms of Ford's new contract.

A former player at Kentucky, Ford led UMass to a 25-11 record this season and an appearance in the NIT championship game, where it lost to Ohio State. He is 62-35 in three seasons at Massachusetts.

Ford previously took over a losing program at Eastern Kentucky and guided it to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 26 years.

Kansas coach Bill Self turned down the Cowboys last week, instead signing an extension to remain with the national champion Jayhawks.