NLDS: Diamondbacks ace shines. Chicago’s Zambrano is as good until he’s taken out. By Bob Baum THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOENIX – Brandon Webb won the duel in the desert. Webb shut down the Chicago Cubs with his superb sinker, and the young Arizona Diamondbacks got home runs from two of their kids in a 3-1 victory Wednesday night in their NL playoff opener. Stephen Drew homered in the fourth off Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano, pulled after six innings and only 85 pitches. Right after he left, Mark Reynolds homered on the fourth pitch from reliever Carlos Marmol to break a 1-all tie in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Conor Jackson added a sacrifice fly, and the Diamondbacks got two scoreless innings from their strong bullpen. Webb, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed four hits and struck out nine over seven outstanding innings in his postseason debut. He walked three and hit a batter. “The most exciting game so far,” Webb said. “I was able to keep them off-balance. I had pretty good stuff tonight, great off-speed. Had some great strikeouts in key situations.” The Cubs, in search of their first World Series championship in 99 years, twice got the leadoff batter to second with no outs early in the game but came away empty. Game 2 is tonight, with Ted Lilly on the mound for Chicago against Doug Davis. Zambrano gave up four hits, struck out eight and walked one before he was lifted by Manager Lou Piniella in a questionable move. “He probably could have gone another inning. We’re bringing him back Sunday on three days’ rest,” Piniella said. “I took a shot with my bullpen. It didn’t work today. They’ve done it all year.” Not this time. Planning for Game 4 might have cost the Cubs in Game 1. The showdown between 18-game winners was as advertised, with Zambrano matching Webb pitch for pitch through six innings. With Zambrano gone, the Diamondbacks went ahead in the seventh. Reynolds hit Marmol’s 2-and-1 pitch just over the left-field fence for a 2-1 lead. Chris Snyder walked and went to third on Augie Ojeda’s single before Jackson came through while batting for Webb. Marmol had allowed only two runs in 25 innings after Aug. 10 for a 0.72 ERA. “His numbers are video-game numbers with the strikeouts and so forth,” Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. “Zambrano the same way.” Arizona setup man Brandon Lyon threw a perfect eighth, and closer Jose Valverde earned the save. Valverde, the NL saves leader with 47 in 54 opportunities this year, walked pinch-hitter Daryle Ward with two outs in the ninth to bring up Alfonso Soriano. He bounced into a game-ending forceout that capped an 0-for-5 night. The surprising Diamondbacks, the first team since the 1906 White Sox to have the league’s best record and worst batting average, won in a fashion typical of their 90-win regular season. They got timely hits, good defense and terrific pitching. The youngsters certainly weren’t overwhelmed by the circumstances. Drew isn’t a rookie, but is in his first full major league season. Reynolds was brought up from double-A Mobile when third baseman Chad Tracy got hurt in May. While the Diamondbacks knocked a pair out, Chicago’s RBI came on a bases-loaded infield single by Ryan Theriot to make it 1-1 with two outs in the sixth. Only three of the Diamondbacks’ starters had faced Zambrano, and Drew was not among them. His first time up he struck out looking, but he put Arizona ahead with a 432-foot drive over the pool in right-center. Sandwiched around the big hit were two defensive gems by Drew at shortstop. He made a backhand of Geovany Soto’s grounder to end the third, then he robbed Zambrano of an RBI with a leaping grab of a line drive in the fifth. After threatening twice, Chicago finally got to Webb in the sixth. Derrek Lee led off with a single, then consecutive two-out walks to Mark DeRosa and Soto – the latter on four pitches – loaded the bases. Theriot bounced one high over the head of the third baseman Reynolds. Drew fielded the ball but had no play and it was tied at 1.160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! read more

From news services Kings coach Marc Crawford sent a strong message to forward Ladislav Nagy that his play wasn’t acceptable by scratching him from Tuesday’s win over Minnesota. Don’t expect a similar message sent to Rob Blake any time soon. Despite Blake’s league-worst minus-nine rating on the season, Crawford came to his captain’s defense. “I’m going to probably come back with J-S,” Crawford said. “I think he played well last night. Let’s see if we can get him on a roll a little bit. He’s been kind of a streaky player throughout his career.” Goalie update Back to the road The Ducks will play two away games in the next seven days. First up on Saturday are the Dallas Stars, who beat Columbus, 3-2, in a shootout on Wednesday. Dallas is 3-2-2 a year after challenging the Ducks into the season’s final week for the Pacific Division title. The St. Louis Blues then host the Ducks Tuesday at the Scottrade Center, where the Ducks won once by shootout and once in overtime last season. The Blues beat Chicago Wednesday night to improve to 3-1-0. Around the league Thrashers: Bob Hartley was fired as coach of Atlanta (0-6), the only NHL team without a victory. General Manager Don Waddell will coach the team until a replacement is found. Waddell said the Thrashers were playing as if they have not recovered from losing four straight games to the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs last season.160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREGame Center: Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, 10 a.m.“That’s more of a reflection of our team’s struggle,” Crawford said. “If you really want to look at Rob’s play, he’s played quite well.” Blake is willing to take some responsibility for the team’s poor start. “Any time you’re minus, you’re not playing well,” Blake said. Jean-Sebastien Aubin is likely to get another start in the net as the Kings start a two-game road trip today at Calgary. Aubin, who signed a one-year contract in the offseason after spending last year as a backup with Toronto, was solid in his Kings debut Tuesday, allowing one questionable goal in the third period but making up for it with a pad save in the shootout. read more

A man who was given a five prison sentence after he crashed his girlfriend’s car while he was uninsured in 2016, had the sentence substituted for community service on appeal at Donegal Circuit Court.Jason Cassidy of Ardfarna, Bundoran, had pleaded guilty in the district court previously to, failing to give a sample to garaí, driving without due care and attention and driving without insurance after he crashed into a parked car at Bundoran on March 5, 2016. The Circuit court heard he initially told gardaí that there must have been something wrong with the car as it veered to his left. In the station he failed to provide a urine sample and refused to take a blood test.He has previous convictions for having no insurance, no driver’s licence, possession of drugs, possession of drugs for sale or supply, assault and road traffic matters.Barrister Peter Nolan BL, said his client had a long history of difficulty with drugs and previously used heroin but was drug free now.He said he took full responsibility for the crash and took the car to go to a friends house after a row with his girlfriend. He previously studied archaeology and the retrained as a barber but these “fell by the wayside”.He said the were only appealing the prison sentence and that all other penalties imposed in the district court, including a fine of €200 and seven year driving ban, should remain.Judge Cormac Quinn said his decision was a”close run thing” but he would substitute the two five month sentences for failing to give a sample and driving without insurance, which were to run concurrently, for two, 200 hour, community services orders.Man who crashed girlfriend’s car has jail sentence replaced by community service was last modified: March 22nd, 2017 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) read more

Labour Senator Jimmy Harte is showing some small signs of improvement.Senator Jimmy HarteThe Letterkenny politician was found unconscious with serious head injuries in Dublin on Saturday week last after the Republic of Ireland versus Latvia game.It is understood Jimmy fell close to the apartment which he owns in Dublin. He was immediately put into an induced coma.In the past couple of days the father of four has shown some hopeful signs.He has moved his hand and is also making some response to people’s voices.A spokesman for the Labour party said “Jimmy Harte remains in a stable but critical condition. “There have been some small but welcome signs of progress in the past day or so.”Jimmy was initially treated at St James Hospital but was then transferred to Beaumont Hospital which specialises in head injuries.Messages of support and goodwill have been flowing in for Jimmy and his family since his accident on November 15th. SENATOR HARTE SHOWING SMALL SIGNS OF POSSIBLE RECOVERY was last modified: November 26th, 2013 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Tags:ICUImprovementSenator Jimmy Harte read more

SANTA CLARITA – An early morning fire caused more than $2.2 million damage to a restaurant in a Santa Clarita strip mall, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said. The cause of the fire was under investigation Saturday, but it appeared to have started in the kitchen or bar area of Don Cuco Restaurant, fire officials said. The damage was estimated at $1.5 million to the building, and $750,000 to the furnishings and equipment inside, fire officials said. Firefighters were dispatched at 5:32 a.m. Saturday to the restaurant in the 27200 block of Camp Plenty Road. When they arrived, heavy flames were already coming through the roof of the single-story structure, said County Fire Inspector Ron Haralson. AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREBlues bury Kings early with four first-period goals The fire was knocked down at 6:54 a.m. There were no injuries, Haralson said. 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! read more

AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MORE160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! WHITTIER – Sheriff’s Bomb Squad members went to an empty lot in the 12000 block of Shoemaker Avenue in unincorporated Whittier on Tuesday night after the lot’s owner discovered 12 empty aircraft fuel tanks, deputies said. The owner discovered the tanks as he was preparing the property for construction. They were hidden by weeds that had grown over them. The owner thought they were military weapons and notified authorities, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Ban Nguyen. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad responded. The tanks were 12-foot-long and 30 inches in diameter and have a pointed front, said Detective Gary Spencer. “They have a military appearance,” Spencer said. “People look at them and think they’re bombs, but they are not a hazard.” Neither Spencer nor the lot’s owner had any idea how the tanks got onto the property. Hearing for bridge fire rescheduled WHITTIER – A preliminary hearing was rescheduled Wednesday for a transient accused of starting a fire that burned down the Beverly Boulevard bridge linking Pico Rivera and Montebello. Nelson Gastelum is accused of setting a fire under the bridge that spread to engulf the structure Nov. 1. Police believe Gastelum lighted the fire to keep warm. He has been charged with a felony count of recklessly causing the fire of a structure. Gastelum was ordered to return to court Dec. 19. He remains in custody at the Twin Towers jail. Arraignment set for slaying suspects NORWALK – An arraignment hearing was rescheduled Wednesday for two men charged in the shooting deaths of three men whose bodies were left inside a Mercedes-Benz in a parking lot in La Mirada. Cimarron Bell, 31, of Whittier and Briaell Lee, 23, of Los Angeles are charged in the deaths of 23-year-old Mario Larios and 22-year-old Edgar Valles, both of West Covina, and 25-year-old Fernando Pina of Mexico. Authorities allege the three were killed in Bell’s Whittier home and their bodies were wrapped in plastic sheets and abandoned in January 2004. Their arraignment was rescheduled to Jan. 20. Bell is also charged with shooting Ineka Edmonson of La Habra on Nov. 11, 2003, and leaving her body in her car at an industrial parking lot in La Mirada. Both men additionally are charged with the special circumstances of multiple murders, lying in wait and carrying out the murders intentionally for financial gain. 4 accused of rape appear in court NORWALK – Four defendants accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in a Pico Rivera park restroom this summer appeared in Norwalk Court on Wednesday and were ordered to return Dec. 22 to set a date for their preliminary hearing. Gilbert Anthony Viera, 19, of Whittier, Ricardo Gonzalez and Nathan Edward Red, both 16 of Pico Rivera, and Ruben Marquez Jr., 17, also of Pico Rivera are charged with 21 felony counts. The three juveniles are charged as adults. Arthritis resources at activity center LA MIRADA – The Arthritis Foundation will provide information about arthritis and how it can be managed at 3:30 p.m. today at the La Mirada Activity Center, 13810 La Mirada Blvd. For more information, call (562) 902-3160. From staff reports read more

In the final game of the tournament Missouri came out quick against Drake with four straight hits including two back-to-back doubles to take an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Missouri’s offense continued to add runs on the board with a four-run second inning before adding a two-run home run in the fifth. The Tiger’s final run came in the sixth as Gabby Garrison stole home. Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) moved to 6-1 on the season with the win against Creighton. She allowed just one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Drake put a third run on the scoreboard in the sixth as Kelsey Wright (Olathe, Kan.) led off the inning with a double to center field. A flyout from Roemmich allowed Wright to advance to third before a single from Johnson scored Wright. Gabbie Jonas (Omaha, Neb.) went 2-for-3 as the only player for either team to record multiple hits in the game. at Tulsa 3/8/2018 – 5 PM Drake’s offense got on the board as Ashlie Chambers (Ankeny, Iowa) led off the third inning with a single before Libby Ryan (Mount Vernon, Iowa) hit a clean bunt single that allowed pinch runner Abby Buie (Gardner, Kan.) to advance to second. Roemmich loaded the bases with a single before Johnson drew a walk to score Buie. A sacrifice fly by Alexander then brought Ryan in. Drake will play six games in four days next week, Mar. 8-11, as it closes out its tournament schedule. The Bulldogs will first travel to face Tulsa for a Thursday night matchup before action begins at the Hall of Fame Classic in Oklahoma City, Okla. At the Hall of Fame Classic, Drake will play Connecticut, No. 24/RV Oklahoma State, St. Francis, Pacific and Purdue.Print Friendly Version The Bulldogs put up eight hits on Missouri’s pitching staff including a 3-for-4 performance from Roemmich but was unable to capitalize on some additional scoring chances, leaving nine runners left on base.  Live Stats Watch Live Creighton PDF Box Score Full Schedule Roster Creighton threatened in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff double from Jayci McGill. Sam Crowley followed with a single before a sacrifice bunt allowed pinch-runner Kristin Fry to score from second. Newman worked out of the inning quickly retiring the next three batters in order. Missouri PDF Box Score Next Game: Preview In a game that closely mirrored Drake’s narrow 2-1 loss Saturday to Creighton, both teams remained scoreless through the first three innings. Macy Johnson (Winterset, Iowa) drew a one-out walk in the fourth inning before she stole second. Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) reached base on an error by Creighton third baseman Tash Coffiel which also advanced Johnson to third. Taryn Pena (Columbia, Ill.) followed with a sacrifice fly which scored Johnson. Alexander then moved into scoring position with a stolen base to second. Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) followed with a single to score Alexander and grab Drake a 2-0 lead. Story Links COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Drake University softball team closed out the Mizzou Tournament splitting a pair of games for the second-consecutive day. Drake (12-7) took a 2-1 victory over Creighton (8-6) before dropping a 10-3 game to Missouri (16-7). Nicole Timmons (Davenport, Iowa) struggled in just one inning of work. Timmons (4-4) allowed six runs (four earned) on six hits with one strikeout and one walk. Smith pitched five innings of relief where she allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and three walks. read more

 Print Friendly Version This past weekend Palumbo and Walczak went 2-0 in doubles play as Drake went 1-1 with a win over Milwaukee and a loss to Marquette. The duo beat Nicole Clarke & Loren Nelson of Milwaukee 6-3 and then defeated Lesley Foe/Alexandrina Chinikov of Marquette 6-4 to improve to 6-3 together on the season. Walczak was named the MVC Singles Player of the Week Jan. 29. Drake hosts Omaha and Iowa State Sunday, Feb. 24 for 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. matches, respectively.   ST. LOUIS – Carmen Palumbo (McLean, Va.) and Daria Walczak (Lodz, Poland) of the Drake University women’s tennis team are the Missouri Valley Conference Doubles Team of the Week, the MVC office announced Tuesday, Feb. 19. read more

PHONE company Eircom has been fined €10,500 after it admitted overcharging customers including some from Donegal.Eircom Ltd, trading as Eir, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court today to offences under the Communications Regulation Act 2002. The prosecution was in connection with complaints by five people who went industry watchdog ComReg after Eircom’s customer service teams failed to resolve their problems.The court heard that a woman who had moved from Belfast to the Glenties in Co. Donegal and opted for a landline and mobile broadband service which did not work.She was overcharged €592 and cancelled her direct debit payments after which she got disconnected.ComReg compliance analyst Una Milton agreed that the woman was upset and in an emergency she would not have been able to contact anyone.Cavan pensioner Irene McHugh, who attended the hearing, who was an existing customer had been cold-called by an Eircom sales agent last year and agreed to a fibre optic broadband plan for €65 a month.Ms Milton agreed with prosecution counsel Ronan Kennedy that a verbal contract was entered into but a day later she had second thoughts. She was concerned the payments were difficult to make and made a number of calls to cancel. She ended up paying two bills, her old account which she believed was cancelled and the new account.Ms Milton agreed with Mr Kennedy that the pensioner felt like it was “talking to a brick wall” when she dealt with the Eircom’s helplines.She ended up getting disconnected and left without a service for two weeks.The court heard that she had a personal alarm on her wrist and would not have been able to contact anyone in an emergency. The court heard she was overcharged by €148 but has since been refunded by Eircom.The third customer was overcharged by €205, told she would have to pay an early cease charge of €450 and had a debt collection agency contact her.The fourth complainant was overcharged by €31 after she changed her package and the fifth complainant had been overcharged by €149 after a discount was not implemented, Judge John Brennan heard.The court was told that the company two prior convictions for similar offences. It was fined €21,000 in 2015 and €16,500 in March this year.Refunds were granted after the customers made complaints to ComReg.Defence counsel Joe Jeffers asked the court to note Eircom had refunded them and had co-operated with the investigation. He said the company has put in place new ways of dealing with customer issues. This has seen complaints drop from 1,000 to 300 a month, he said.The court heard human error as well as system errors were responsible for the overcharging of the customers. He also issued an apology on behalf of the company which had agreed to pay prosecution costs.Judge Brennan said it was clear the measures taken after the 2015 case were not sufficient and he noted the distress caused. However, he accepted what the court had been told about the new system put in place to improve customer service.Eir fined after admitting overcharging Donegal customers was last modified: October 11th, 2017 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Tags:courtDonegal customerseir read more

Imagine a tree that can provide both nutritious food and clean water.  Moringa oleifera is such a tree.  It grows in Africa and Asia and is being looked at as a life-giving plant that can reduce bacterial contamination of water by 90 to 99.99% by filtering water with its seeds.    Science Daily has a picture of the tree’s leaves.  “A billion people across Asia, Africa, and Latin America are estimated to rely on untreated surface water sources for their daily water needs,” the article said, based on information from John Wiley & Sons Corporate Citizenship Initiative.  “Of these, some two million are thought to die from diseases caught from contaminated water every year, with the majority of these deaths occurring among children under five years of age.”  Michael Lea, a researcher at Clearinghouse, a Canadian organization dedicated to investigating and implementing low-cost water purification technologies, just published a low-cost water purification technique using seeds from the Moringa tree at Current Protocols.  By low cost he means no cost.  The trees already live where they are needed.    “Moringa tree seeds, when crushed into powder, can be used as a water-soluble extract in suspension, resulting in an effective natural clarification agent for highly turbid and untreated pathogenic surface water,” the article explained.  “As well as improving drinkability, this technique reduces water turbidity (cloudiness) making the result aesthetically as well as microbiologically more acceptable for human consumption.”    But that’s not all.  Lea said, “Not only is [the tree] drought resistant, it also yields cooking and lighting oil, soil fertilizer, as well as highly nutritious food in the form of its pods, leaves, seeds and flowers.”  He calls it “one of the world’s most useful trees.”  Lea is trying to make the procedure widely available, because children have been dying in third world countries when a solution has been growing right around them.    Lea counted other benefits, like income from cultivating the trees.  He envisions the “possibility that thousands of 21st century families could find themselves liberated from what should now be universally seen as 19th century causes of death and disease.  This is an amazing prospect, and one in which a huge amount of human potential could be released,” he said.  “This is particularly mind-boggling when you think it might all come down to one incredibly useful tree.”What a great story.  It’s a modern-day Acres of Diamonds tale that hopefully will make a real difference in the health and happiness of people suffering from unnecessary diseases in poor countries.  There’s wealth all around them – right there in trees that many probably took for granted.  Killmer’s poem Trees is rustling in the background of this article.  Visions of Eden (Genesis 2), or of the heavenly Jerusalem with trees lining the river of life bearing fruit for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2), come to mind.  Only God can make a tree of life – He did, and He will.    Moringa is undoubtedly not the only case of an undiscovered renewable resource that can benefit man.  If you are a young person interested in science, let this kind of story be your inspiration.  Don’t follow the crowd after Darwin’s fake tree of life.  That’s a deadly tree that produces Darwincense, a habit-forming drug that gives cheap highs while frying your brain.  Instead, seek to understand the world around you so that you can make it a better place and help your fellow man.Update 03/11/2010: A reader suggested a tie-in to a Biblical event: check it out in Exodus 15:22-26.(Visited 56 times, 1 visits today)FacebookTwitterPinterestSave分享0 read more