Bayern Deny any Offer to Ribery from Real Madrid

Ribéry ensures only think of "to enjoy with the team and the fans" and sends a message: "If someday I have to leave Bayern I would look good with the club." "I am very happy with the managers and have no intention of letting me go. I'm happy to see me Beckenbauer advocated after the words," he added.

Real Madrid has not made any offer to Bayern Munich by Franck Ribéry, said manager of the Bavarian team, Uli Hoeneß, who said that Spanish leaders must make an offer at least 100 million euros.

The whole German seems determined to keep Ribéry, in recent days leaders Bayern have been planted and have stated that or come with more than 94 million, paid for Cristiano Ronaldo, or the French will not move the Van Gaal trained together.

UFC Betting – Florian challenges “The Prodigy” at UFC 101

The UFC 101 fight card is out, and is highlighted by what could be a classic tilt as B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn will set out to defend his lightweight title against Kenny Florian.

Penn (13-5-1) is coming off a loss to Georges St. Pierre in which he was dominated, and maybe that was enough to show him that he belongs in the lightweight division, not the welterweight. As a lightweight, Penn has enough size, and his technique is unrivalled. He can contort his limbs into seemingly impossible positions to get opponents into submissions, but with a background in boxing, he can also knock you out if need be. The only knocks on Penn are his stamina and motivation, but that shouldn’t be a problem on August 8th.

Florian (11-3) earned the No.1 contender by submitting Joe Stevenson with a rear-naked choke, which is like his specialty: five of “Ken-Flo’s” seven submissions have come via the rear-naked choke. But it’s standing up where he’ll have a slight advantage over Penn, as he has the sharpest elbows in the UFC, and he has devastating knees in the Muay Thai clinch. His last loss was six fights ago, when he lost to Sean Sherk for the vacant lightweight belt, so the nerves could be a factor that your handicapping software won’t pick up on.

Penn is the betting favorite with odds of -220, and he’ll be fired up to show he’s still the top dog after his embarrassing loss to GSP and the resulting controversy over Vaseline (Penn’s corner alleges that GSP’s corner greased him up so Penn couldn’t get a hold of him with his legs). Florian will give him a go, and as was said before, he’ll try to keep the fight on their feet. Florian is good enough on the ground, but he’s not on Penn’s level when it comes to submissions and technique. Both of these fighters can go the distance, and this is a fight that looks it could go the full 25 minutes. Penn’s conditioning is much better was a lightweight than a welterweight, and he’ll have enough in the tank to narrowly earn a decision over the gutsy Florian.

Daily sports pick: B.J. Penn.

Ortiz and Manny would have been Doped

Manny Ramírez and David Ortiz, who in 2004 helped the Boston Red Sox to cut a title drought of 86 years in the World Series, in 2003 tested positive for using performance-enhancing substances, reported yesterday by The Daily New York Times.

Ortiz and Ramirez were among the approximately 100 players in the Major Leagues who were positive on what was supposed to be a series of checks confidential, the Times said, quoting unidentified lawyers familiar with the results.

Ramirez, now with the Dodgers, was suspended for 50 games this year following a positive for a banned substance.

According to the newspaper, the new data came to light as a result of interviews with a lot of lawyers and persons related to pending litigation.

The lawyers did not identify the banned substances, the newspaper said.

The Red Sox did not comment.

Before the report published on the website of the newspaper, Ortiz did not want to comment on it, said Major League Baseball on its Web site. Michael Weiner, the union's lead counsel players not to talk about it, "added the MLB.

Baseball and was beaten by the doping case of Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez. The third basis of the New York Yankees admitted in February that he had used steroids during his three years in the Texas Rangers.

The controls were developed in 2003 following an agreement with the players association.

Coming next week

We're going to have our Virginia poll. Tuesday will be the newest numbers for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General and then Wednesday we'll have the latest on Barack Obama's popularity in the state, what impact he and Sarah Palin would have in campaigning for Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell respectively, and whether Virginians think he was born in the United States or not.

In a result making me want to bang my head against the table, the first round of calls for our Virginia poll this afternoon founds voters in the state almost evenly split on whether they thought the President was born in the US. We're polling North Carolina next week, and I am almost definitely going to throw a question on there asking people whether they think Hawaii is a state or not.

Speaking of that, we'll be finalizing the North Carolina questionnaire on Monday and if you think there are any burning questions we need to ask there might be room for one or two more.

Follow us on twitter, and have a good weekend!

Fort Pitt Museum to Receive Gift

The Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum will mark the end of a 40-year association with the museum by giving it a significant original work of art.

Donn Neil, President of Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum Commission, says it's a bittersweet occasion.

"It's sad that we're going to lose our association with the museum," he says. "Yet all of the contributions that we've made in the way of artifacts and documents are there, and we hope they remain there. And now this crowning gift of the wonderful John Buxton painting."

John Buxton, a local artist who has commissioned a historical painting at the Fort Pitt Museum before, is now going to work on a large dramatic piece on Fort Pitt and the American Revolution. Neil says it should be completed in about five years, just in time for the 250th anniversary of the historic event.

MOSPORT TO REV-UP THE EXCITEMENT FOR NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES RACE WITH DRIVERS PARTY AT HOOTERS WHITBY ON FRIDAY, AUG. 7

(BOWMANVILLE, ON – July 31, 2009) The Mosport Speedway 200, featuring the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, rolls into Canada’s fastest half-mile oval next Saturday night, but you can get revved up for the race on Friday, August 7 with the Mosport Drivers Party at Hooters Whitby (1608 Dundas St., E. at Thickson Rd.) from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

The party will feature NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers Mark Dilley, Cale Gale, Scott Steckly, Dave Thorndyke and Dave Whitlock, who will be available for autographs and pictures. All five drivers will also have their NASCAR Series cars on display and fans are invited to bring along their cameras.

The Dickies Canadian Worker of the Year display will be on hand to allow guests to nominate candidates for the Canadian Worker of the Year contest and for a chance to win some great prizes including a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 full-size pick-up truck.

Advance tickets for the Mosport Speedway 200 are just $25 until August 5 ($30 at the Gate) and parking is free. Children 12 and under are free when accompanied by a paid adult admission.

For more information about tickets, call the Mosport Hotline at 1-800-866-1072 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET) or visit online at www.mosport.com. Tickets are also available at Ticketmaster.

From Lee Bailie, Mosport

Merrittville Speedway: 17th Trevor Wilkens Memorial at Merrittville Speedway in just 3 days - will Phelps score a hat trick?

THOROLD, Ontario (July 31) – It’s been a tradition at Merrittville Speedway since 1972 – make it yours in 2009 and follow the Big Block Super DIRTcar Series to the Thorold d-shaped oval for the 17th annual Trevor Wilkens Memorial 100 presented by Hingston Metal Fabricators and Toolneeds – Monday August 3rd in just 3 days!

The last time the Big Block Super DIRTcar Series was in action in mid July at the Cayuga County Fairgrounds in Weedsport NY in the inaugural All Star 100 Weekend.

Capturing his first career Super DIRTcar Series victory just 24 earlier at the storied 3/8-miler in the ‘All-Star 50’ preliminary event, Ryan Phelps proved it was no fluke by overtaking pole-sitter Matt Sheppard past the halfway point then holding off a late-race rally by Tim Fuller to post a dramatic win in front of a capacity crowd on this landmark occasion.

“This is great, just unbelievable,” remarked Phelps, 25, as he struggled to find the words to describe easily the biggest triumph of his budding career steering the Big Red Towing no. 99 Dave Miller Auto Body/Bicknell entry in DIRTcar Racing Northeast’s premier tour for Big-Blocks in the nation. “I’m really speechless.”

“Didn’t even think I’d ever win a series race let alone two in one weekend, and then one for 20-grand plus back-to-back. I just can’t thank everybody that helped out enough. We’ve really come a long way the last couple years,” beamed Phelps, an 11th grade history teacher at Newark (NY) High School.

Will he score a hat trick on the 3rd or will his cousin Jimmy Phelps defend his Wilkens win from last season?

“Last year was only our third race at Merrittville but we’ve always been pretty fast there,” remarked Phelps, who lasted only one lap in the 2006 edition after suffering a broken rear-end, then finished sixth the following summer. “I kinda grew up at Brewerton which is tight like Merrittville, so I feel like I’m a little better there than at some of the other tracks on tour.”

Will defending Merrittville Champion Chad Brachmann pull off a Ron Smoker-esque strategy and beat the Big Blocks with his Mighty Taco # 3 and break into the win column for the first time of the season?

Current Point leader Larry Lampman has won two big events so far in 2009 – the 358 Modified Super DIRTcar Series Event and the recent Jerry Winger Memorial.

Will he score a third August 3rd for car owners Dan and Veronica Miller in his Hingston Metal Fabricators #22?

All these questions and many others will be answered this Monday August 3rd! 

Commemorating the 17th running of Merrittville Speedway’s biggest event - the days leading up to the event honors the memory of the up and coming driver of the Pete Cosco Haulage 17c 358 Modified – Trevor Wilkens - who passed away far too young from cancer in the summer of 1993.

From the first event in 1972 through to this year’s edition – a who’s who of DIRTcar Modified Racing converge annually on the Canadian showplace to take on Merrittville’s own talented field in the Civic Holiday Classic.

Almost gaining as much in tradition as the race itself is the pre-race Pasta Dinner served up by Merrittville’s Annual Banquet Hosts – Club Castropignano. For race fans and race teams alike – it’s the best deal in DIRTcar Dining.

Feast on fresh pasta and meatballs, garden salad, dinner roll and a can of Pepsi for $10 in advance.

“It just adds to much to the event,” relates (Merrittville GM) Erica Bicknell, “Thorold has a rich Italian Heritage and we’re proud to showcase the Club with an awesome dinner … race fans and race teams alike should come to the event hungry … I know I do … no one goes away hungry.”

Get your tickets at the track … via e mail – ebicknell@cogeco.net or from the Speedway Office at 905-892-8266.

Race Fans and teams alike should get their Pasta Tickets in advance as on Race Day – Tickets are $12.

Merrittville Speedway’s Trevor Wilkens Memorial 100 lap Big Block Modified Super DIRTcar Series Event Monday August 3rd – it’s unparalleled … unrivalled and unsurpassed and it’s a must see event.

The heart-pounding, high-powered, pedal-mashing entertainment includes a 25 lap Duel on the Dirt Home Track Event as Merrittville’s full fendered Hoosier Stocks continue the drive for five against the Brighton Speedway Pro Stocks and a 25 lap Stars North Mod Lite Tour Event for the Modern Corporation Open Wheel Lites.

Gates open Monday August 3rd and the Club Castropignano Pasta Dinner begins at 4 PM and runs until 6.

Adult Grandstand Tickets are $25, Students and Seniors - $20, Juniors from 8 to 12 are $10 and Children under 8 are free.

Merrittville Speedway is located in Thorold Ontario Canada – just a short drive from the International Bridges. For further information call 905-892-8266 or visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com.

From Tom Skibinski / DIRTcar

PNC Starts Slow Move to New Building

PNC is ready to open the first portion of its new 23-floor $200 million building downtown. Starting Monday, customers will be able to use the new “flagship” bank branch on the fifth avenue side of the still being completed building. Eventually the structure will host PNC corporate offices, Reed Smith law firm offices, 28 condominiums, and a hotel. PNC Director of Corporate Real Estate Gary Saulson says all of those tenants will strive for different LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System) certification that fit their specific industry or use. Bank branch employees will even be asked to be more environmentally conscious by making small personal changes such as drinking out of reusable mugs rather than disposal Styrofoam cups. Reed Smith will move in at the end of August while PNC plans to move over operations in the first quarter of 2010. Saulson says the company will immediately expand to fill the vacant space I its current buildings. The 185-room hotel will open by January and the park at the corner of 5th and Liberty will open before the G20 summit in September. Saulson says even the park will be environmentally friendly by using native plants and environmentally friendly benches and lighting. The condos are being sold and finished with the expectation that all the work will be done in the next 12 months. A “local” coffee house will take up the rest of the ground floor retail space. Saulson says he feels the building has served as a catalyst for other development downtown including the Piatt Place development, the new YMCA and the retail and residential work on Market Street.

Pirates Make 7 Trades Leading Up To Trading Deadline

Since June 3rd The Pittsburgh Pirates have made over a half a dozen trades involving 10 Pirates Players. The trades in chronological order are:

June 3rd

The Pirates traded outfielder Nate McLouth to the Atlanta Braves for outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, right handed pitcher Charlie Morton, and left-handed pitcher Jeff Locke.

At the time of the trade the Pirates promoted 2005 1st round draft pick Andrew McCutchen from class Triple-A Indianapolis.

June 30th

The Pirates traded outfielder Eric Hinske to the New York Yankees for outfielder/catcher Eric Fryer and right handed pitcher Casey Erickson.

The Pirates then promoted outfielder Garret Jones from class Triple-A Indianapolis.

Later in the day the Pirates traded outfielder Nyjer Morgan and pitcher Sean Burnet to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Lastings Milledge and right handed pitcher Joel Hanrahan.

July 22nd

The Pirates traded first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Argenis Diaz and right handed pitcher Hunter Strickland.

July 29th

The Pirates traded shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell to the Seattle Mariners for first baseman Jeff Clement, shortstop Ronny Cedeno, right handed pitchers Aaron Pribanic Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.

Later in the day the Pirates announced the trade of second baseman Freddy Sanchez to the San Fransico Giants for right handed pitcher Tim Alderson.

July 30th

The Pirates traded left handed pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to the Chicago Cubs for infielder Josh Harrison and right handed pitchers Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio.

The Major League Baseball trading deadline is July 31st at 4:00pm

PA Soldiers Losing State Stipends

The effect of the commonwealth's ongoing budget impasse is being felt as far away as Iraq. A significant number of Pennsylvania National Guard troops deployed there are state employees.
They've been getting a 500-dollar stipend from the commonwealth each month but like all other government payments, that's been halted. The last checks, until a spending plan is passed, went out a week ago.
Sergeant Robert Meghahen a corrections officer from Altoona, says he's thankful he's receiving full military pay during the impasse...

"Like right now, I know?I feel it's going to be passed by the time I get back to work. And it's not going to have that big of an adverse effect on me, the state budget, but I'm just really concerned about my friends who have kids and mortgages and stuff."

Sergeant Richard Snyder of Lebanon, who works for PennDOT, says the budget negotiations and possible layoffs leave him uneasy...

"I'm already having a hard time even though I'm making pretty good money now with my family. But I have five kids to support, so what's going to happen when we get back?"


Soldiers are regularly checking the news to keep up to speed with negotiations.
Many of them say they blame Governor Rendell for the impasse, and are angry their friends and co-workers aren't getting paychecks.
Rendell would not definitively say whether the stipends would be restored in a temporary "bridge" budget he could sign next week.

On David Ortiz, missed opportunites, and the trading deadline

A-Rod looks like the truth-teller for the ages compared to his buddy David Ortiz. For all his goofiness, Alex never pretended that he had no idea how he tested positive on a steroids test!

I found David Ortiz' postgame statement ridiculous - here's my piece on it for the The Faster Times site.

At any rate, I should be more upset over all the missed opportunites in last night's Yankees-White Sox game, from the errors to the lack of timely hitting to DeWayne Wise being the late-inning hero for the second time in a week. But hey, I'm still basking in the afterglow of the big Red Sox news.

I did enjoy the heck out of Nick Swisher's ninth-inning, game-tying homer against his own team, though. Hopefully, he'll get even more revenge against the Sox tonight.

Let's hope Brian Cashman has some good surprises in score today, as we wait for the trading deadline.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Bickering Cuts Short Conference Committee Meeting

It's not clear when the six-member legislative conference committee to discuss the state budget will meet again. The panel's second meeting in as many days was marred by more partisan sparring and no progress toward a spending plan for Pennsylvania.

The session at the Forum in Harrisburg was typified by this back-and-forth between Evans and Senate Republican Leader Dominic Pileggi, who challenged House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans' leadership of the panel...

"And if you want to have two separate sets of rules, say it plainly./Debbie, could you please begin and explain to us about education?/Representative Evans, you just completely ignored my questions and comments. Is there a particular reason for that?/I don't have an answer to you, Senator Pileggi. You wanna, Debbie, join/I just think it's highly highly improper the way this committee's being run today."

The two sides could not even agree on where to begin. Democrats on the panel say the initial focus of the panel should be on budget cuts put forth by the Republicans, while Republicans say the Democrats should lead off by talking about how they'd support their spending proposal. House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans called an end to the session, saying he wanted to meet with Governor Rendell. The governor will meet this afternoon with Evans and Pileggi.

Brian Graham Racing/ TLM Racing with Grote win at Calabogie

The BGR/TLM Racing squad arrived Thursday afternoon (July 23) to an upgraded Calabogie Motorsports Park. Friday testing showed great promise for drivers Stefan Rzadzinski in his BGR VanDiemen supported by Supertint, The ABL Group, Amsoil, and Synthetic Lubricants.ca  as well as MIkhail Goikhberg in his BGR/Amsoil VanDiemen. Stefan held 2nd quick time and Mikhail 3rd at the end of the day.

Saturday's practice saw the same order and in qualifying it was Stefan 2nd and Mikhail 4th. At the green Stefan got away well and entered the first turn off line on the dirty part of the track and simply couldn't get any grip, the car left the track and contacted heavily nose first in the turn one tire wall, a dissapointed Stefan climbed out unhurt.

Mikhail was also caught out by the lack of grip on the right hand side of the track in turn one and slid off but managed to rejoin the track, he lost some momentum but recovered well. He quickly made up the lost ground and held on for 3rd  after a good battle with Andrew Mason who finished 4th overall and won the B class. It was Mikhail's first podium of the season.

After a late night to repair Stefan's car the team once again was 2nd and 3rd in practice and then solidified that again in qualifying with Stefan once again on the front row. Eager to make up for saturday's dnf, Stefan got the jump on the polesitter and took the lead into turn one, with Mikhail slotted into 3rd, at the entry to turn one the next lap Matt White who started on pole drafted by and Stefan also found his teamate Mikhail slipping by. Mikahail was on a charge and drafted by White but unfortunetly the two came together in the next braking zone and were both out on the spot.

Stefan regained the lead and finished the lap ahead of Olivier Bonnet and rookie Nathan Block. With a lenthy yellow to pick up the cars of Mikhail and White and with lightning looming the cars were greeted with the checkered flag after a few laps behing the pace car to secure Stefan's first win.

"The team is thrilled for Stefan and his supporter's, he works very hard at this and has had his share of bad luck this season. The crash saturday was a real shame, the race shortly before ours had 50 GT cars and the dirty side of the track had virtually no grip and simply caught him out so it was the perfect way to rebound. We are equally pleased for Mikhail and his solid podium saturday and to have both our cars lead on sunday was encouraging. They both are getting faster every weekend and we are looking forward to the next event where Fabio Urbano will be back as well."

Stefan sits 2nd in the championship with Fabio 6th and Mikahil 8th.

"We really have to thank CMP for a great event and MCO for an outstanding job running the show.

Party ID and the Obama decline

Barack Obama's approval is clearly on the decline and there's been a lot of bad polling recently for Democrats related to 2009 and 2010 races but one thing that doesn't seen to be changing concurrently is the nation's party identification breakdown.

If you look at this handy chart pollster.com keeps of party id among registered and likely voters, it's basically flat since January. Overall Democrats have a 38-31 advantage over Republicans, almost unchanged from the 39/32 spread exit polls showed nationally on election day in November.

So if there's no party id shift but Dems are polling poorly, what's going on? Two things:

1) Independents aren't reacting as well to Democrats now as they were a year or six months ago, which is not surprising. They'll be back with us this time next year if there's significant progress on the economy and if not they probably won't.

2) Republicans are getting hyper partisan. We are frequently finding approval ratings of less than 15% among them for Obama and some Governors and Senators in our state by state polling. It's usually not that low.

Given the fact that there hasn't been a major shift in the partisan landscape Democrats will be fine next year if they can get their folks out and get back to the break even point with independents. Of course that might be easier said than done- sure isn't happening in New Jersey and Virginia right now.

Inside Track E-Newsletter

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ACLU Wins Lawsuit Against Port Authority

Federal Judge Terrence F. McVerry ruled yesterday that the Port Authority of Allegheny County can not refuse to accept an advertisement aimed at informing Pennsylvanians of an ex-felons right to vote. In 2006 the Port Authority rejected an ad from the Pittsburgh League of Young Voters claiming that the agency would not run noncommercial or political ads. Judge McVerry ruled that since the Port Authority is a government agency they must respect the first amendment rights of the League and that refusing to run the ads was "viewpoint discrimination."

ACLU attorney Jon Pushinsky who worked on the case said that the Authority will now have to accept payment for an ad from the League of Young Voters and pay damages to the ACLU and the League. Pushinsky also said that the ACLU will seek to petition the Port Authority for counsel fees, costs and expenses due to the lawsuit. Pushinsky added that if the Port Authority were a private business then they would have had the right to refuse to run the ad.

Happy fifth anniversary, Scott Kazmir trade

On July 30, 2004, the Mets were 49-53, seven games behind Atlanta in the NL East and 7 1/2 out of the wild card, in ninth place. What better time to trade Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano.

On July 31, 2009, the Mets are 49-52, 9 1/2 games behind Philly in the NL East and 6 1/2 out of the wild card, in eighth place.

In theory, the Mets are much better off this year than they were in 2004, since they are due to get back "four All-Stars" as I have read in a number of places. But there are some problems with that argument.

First of all, we have been hearing that the Mets are close to getting Jose Reyes back practically since he left the lineup. It is still impossible to know the truth.

Second, even if everyone does make it back, will they be at All-Star form? Very unlikely for Carlos Delgado at least. Rumors that Carlos Beltran will try to make it back, then undergo microfracture surgery in the offseason do not make his situation look promising, either. And if Billy Wagner is going to make a contribution, why is the Mets' top priority supposedly another lefty arm in the pen.

Once Reyes comes back, he probably will be at or close to top form, since he would not come back otherwise.

Still, getting Reyes back and some version of Beltran and Delgado is better than, say, getting Cliff Lee.

But will it enable the Mets to go 41-20 the rest of the way, which they will need to do to win 90 games? Not even if all those guys came back today.

To make matters worse, the Mets have a GM who is fighting for his job. The future is now for Omar Minaya. By the time his vaunted 17-year-olds make it to the majors, if they ever do, he will be long gone.

But Omar does have a long contract, and if the Mets can continue to turn it around and end up with 85 wins (going 36-25 the rest of the way seems doable), coming close to last year's 89 wins with a healthy squad, that would be pretty impressive, and Minaya and Jerry Manuel would deserve to come back.

There would still be a lot of work to be done for next year, but there will be a lot more to do if there are any panic moves made today at the deadline.

Perdue not rubbing off yet

I thought the most interesting thing in this month's Civitas poll was that despite Bev Perdue's remarkable unpopularity Democrats still lead on the generic legislative ballot 43-33, a spread that if it played out in real life I think could even increase the party's majorities in the House and Senate.

I don't think folks are real thrilled with how things are going in Raleigh, but legislative Republicans still come off as too extreme and spend too much time and overheated rhetoric on opposing bills that are well within the mainstream of public opinion in the state. They have not presented themselves as a viable alternative for most voters.

Now if things are really bad for the President and Democrats nationally, the GOP in the state can probably say whatever it wants and do well at the polls in 2010. But there have been cycles that were bad for Democrats nationally- 2004 is the most recent example- where they still stayed in control of the legislature due to Republicans having bad candidate recruitment, bad campaigns, and a bad message.

15 months out it looks like that could happen again.

DRAGS: Stratford Spectacular event continues at the Grand Bend Motorplex

GRAND BEND, ONTARIO (July 30, 2009) – The tradition continues at the Grand Bend Motorplex August 8-9. Since 1996, the drag racing community of Southwestern Ontario has teamed up with the business community in presenting some of the best in local racing, and this year’s Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals presented by Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts at the Grand Bend Motorplex promises to be a memorable show.

“The concept this year is the same as other years,” said Sam Blowes, one of the event’s organizers. “But this year it will be a bigger show.”

Started in 1996 at St. Thomas Dragway, a group of racers joined up with local businesses, providing free tickets through the businesses for a day of racing. The concept has proven very popular over the years, as merchants get behind the event in promoting the sport.

“We had no trouble in selling it,” Blowes said about the event. “With free tickets from the merchants and sponsors, the tracks went for the idea, as it brought a lot of people into the stands.”

He added that the race, which has been held at the Grand Bend Motorplex for the past 12 years, is something that everyone looks forward to, and aside from the racing, there are other auto-related activities such as car shows and cruise nights which have enhanced the weekend.

“We’re going to see (race) cars at the Grand Bend Motorplex for this show that only come out once a year,” he continued. “We’ll get upwards of 500 cars. It will be the biggest show at the track behind the IHRA Canadian Nationals. People, both racers and fans, look forward to the weekend.”

Blowes said the business community has been behind the event 100 percent providing sponsorship and free ticket packages.

Sam Blowes, who himself races a 1951 Mercury truck in Top Sportsman, said that the intent of the show will remain as it was when it started, and that is to give recognition to all drag racers.

“Racers all have the same blood,” he said, “whether they race an 18-second car or a six-second car.”

And he was appreciative of all the help that goes into an event of this magnitude.

“There’s a lot of effort that goes into this, and it couldn’t be done without the local sponsors.”

And for 2009, the show will the biggest in the event’s history.

To be held at the Grand Bend Motorplex August 8-9, the Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals, the eighth-mile racing event will feature the Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA), www.PMRA.ca, a four car Alcohol Funny Car Match Race, a Jet Truck, a Supercharged V8 Drag Bike, the Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts, www.Quick32.ca, the Grand Bend Motorplex Top Dragster and Top Sportsman Series, plus great racing action in the Thunder series and Junior Dragster programs.

Other auto-related activities such as car shows and cruise nights will also be held, along with a fireworks display.

Complimentary spectator event tickets are available at Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts locations across Ontario, at businesses in Stratford, or by contacting the Quick 32 Sportsman Series or the Pro Modified Racing Association.

General parking is $20 per car load, and weekend camping is available.

For information about the Stratford Spectacular Hot August National presented by Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts at the Grand Bend Motorplex, call (519) 238-7223 or visit www.grandbendmotorplex.com.

From Bruce F. Mehlenbacher

ACT Tour Twin State 100 postponed to Sunday

Claremont, NH – The American Canadian Tour Twin State 100 at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH has been postponed until Sunday, August 2. The gates will open at 11am and post time is set for 5pm. The Twin State 100 is the ninth event on the ACT Tour's 13 race schedule.

Brian Hoar of Williston, VT will attempt to close the gap between him and current point leader Scott Payea. The margin currently stands at 22 points and time is running out with only five races remaining. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Randy Potter and Brent Dragon are all in the top five and can't be counted out of the title hunt.

The Twin State 100 will be the seventeenth qualifying race for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September, 19. Thirteen drivers have already qualified and a possible fourteenth will be named after tomorrow's, August 1, Série ACT Castrol Montmagny 250 in Montmagny, QC.

From ACT

The Effient Launch: Cracking the Door to Primary-Care Marketing

So will personalized medicine be the death of primary care? Maybe not. Maybe just the opposite.

In this edition of the IN VIVO Blog Podcast, Mike McCaughan, our editor-in-chief, gives a decidedly positive (albeit counterintuitive) spin to what some of us in the editorial group thought was a pretty obviously bad piece of news: Effient’s black-boxed approval last July 10.

Yes, Effient (prasugrel) had beaten the competitor, Sanofi/Bristol-Myers’ Plavix, in Lilly’s head-to-head pivotal trial (fewer heart attacks and strokes for Effient’s users, though more bleeding) but still, we wondered, would Lilly – which depends on Effient to get it past the Zyprexa cliff – be able to build much competitive momentum against Plavix while dragging along its black-box warning about bleeding? And even if it manages to gain that momentum, won’t it be stopped dead in its commercial tracks when Plavix goes generic in 2011?

Mike’s notion: that the black-box warning and mandated two-year REMS requirement create the basis for primary-care marketing success – thanks to pharmacogenetics. Not because the data suggests the right population to get Effient – but because it argues that a third of the population getting Plavix get no benefit from it (an argument the FDA evidently agreed with because it added it to Plavix’s label). Lilly reps thus get an FDA-mandated foot-in-the-door to talk to docs about Effient’s risks (and Plavix’s deficiencies)…and, within two years, face a generic with no marketing effort behind it that they will argue doesn’t work in a third of a very high-risk population.

So click below to hear Mike’s full explanation (or you can access the podcast via iTunes).








Image from Flickr user twenty questions and used under a Creative Commons license.

DVD Review - Diagnosis: Death (2009)

Diagnosis: Death, 2009.

Directed by Jason Stutter.
Starring Raybon Kan, Jessica Grace Smith, Suze Tye and Rhys Darby.


SYNOPSIS:

Locked in a medical facility over a weekend as guinea pigs for a drug trial, two cancer patients discover that the clinic may pose more harm than good.


Diagnosis: Death is a low-budget horror comedy from New Zealand and features the trio of stars from Flight of the Conchords – Bret McKenzie, Jermaine Clement, and Rhys Darby – albeit in supporting roles. The film's tone is similar to that of Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s early efforts such as Bad Taste (1987) and Braindead (1992), and features visual effects from Jackson regular and Academy Award winner Christian Rivers, who is set to make his directorial debut in the upcoming remake of The Dambusters.

Having previously worked with director Jason Stutter in the 2002 comedy Tongan Ninja, Raybon Kan stars as English teacher Andre Chang (in addition to writing and producing), who is given the unfortunate news that he is suffering from a rare and incurable cancer. With a maximum of twelve weeks left to live (or possibly six, but any longer than twelve and his doctor will offer a refund), Andre’s only hope is to attend a drugs trial for a radical new treatment, where he meets fellow patient Juliet (newcomer Jessica Grace Smith), a teenage girl also looking to find a miracle cure for her illness.

The couple are introduced to the cold and authoritarian Nurse Bates (Suze Tye), who informs them that the drug may induce possible side effects including paranoia and hallucinations. With the trial underway, Andre and Juliet begin to witness strange happenings around the clinic before learning from Dr. Cruise (McKenzie) that the centre used to be a mental institute. Not only that, but the very mental institute where Juliet’s favourite author happened to murder her child before committing suicide. At first they believe the visions to be caused by the drugs, but as the weird events continue they come to suspect that the hospital may actually be hiding a dark secret and set about to unravel the mystery.

Although Diagnosis: Death is billed as a spoof there is a genuine mystery to explore, and the film also examines the developing relationship between Andre and Juliet in the face of their own mortality. As both writer and star, Kan is comfortable delivering the material and his humour is very natural and subtle, while Bret McKenzie also provides a number of laughs in his role as Dr. Cruise, particularly during the scene where he administers a suppository to Andre. Although this Flight of the Conchords association is bound to be the main selling point of the movie, fans of the show may be a little disappointed by their lack of screen time, with Clement’s role in particular very limited. However it should hopefully allow the film to reach a wider audience, which it certainly deserves.

Diagnosis Death is released on DVD on 3rd August 2009. View the trailer here.

Gary Collinson

KENNINGTON PUTS CASTROL/MAHINDRA TRACTOR DODGE ON THE PODIUM

July 30, 2009. Following some disappointment in Edmonton DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge team looked to bounce back during round number seven of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series at Auto Clearing Speedway and wrap up the western swing with some momentum. With a solid team effort Kennington claimed a third place finish and helped tighten up the championship points standings.

Once again Kennington had the Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge among the front runners during afternoon practice and posted an impressive run during qualifying and would start the 250 lap feature third. “I could have been a little better I think” said Kennington. “There was a bit of speedy dry on the back straight that I hit and it upset the car just enough or we might have been right up front” he added.

As the race began Kennington took his usual approach of feeling out the car and the competition while running comfortably up front. “The Casrol/Mahindra car was pretty good at the beginning” said Kennington. “We’re trying a whole bunch of things right now trying to get better, we know what to do to be fast, but we want to make sure we can be fast for the whole race” he added.

Kennington continued to work to maintain a position near the front of the field through the midway point of the race. Just past halfway during a caution period the #17 Castrol/Mahindra Tractor team made their scheduled pit stop and elected to take on fuel and put four tires on the car. “We kind of got snookered at Vernon and I didn’t want to get caught without fresh tires” said the driver.

With fresh rubber the handling was much improved and Kennington would take the #17 Castrol/Mahindra Dodge to the front of the field on lap 184. Though eventually he would be passed by two other cars Kennington was able to maintain a quick pace and bring the car home with a third place podium finish. His fifth top-five finish of the season. “We’ll take it” said Kennington. “It was a good points day we did make a few gains and I’m pleased about that”.

While Kennington thought he had a car capable of winning after his scheduled service for tires and fuel there were some minor adjustments that could have made the difference. ”We’ve still got some work to do, but we’re getting there. We lead a few laps and now we’re going to take these notes that we’ve got and work on some things for the next race. It’s such a fine line with these cars, everybody is so even and we just need to make that little bit of improvement and we’ll be there”.

After seven races Kennington sits fourth in the overall championship standings.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to Ontario for round number eight on the Mosport oval track, Saturday August 8th. This years schedule includes events at Trois Riveres and at the NASCAR weekend in Montreal. All thirteen races will again be broadcast on TSN. To cast your vote for DJ Kennington as the mot popular NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver click here and for more on DJ Kennington log onto http://www.djkennington.com/

Photo: DJ Kennington taking the Castrol/Mahindra Tractors Dodge on it’s qualifying run

Photo Credit: Todd Lewis

BEAUCHAMP PICKS UP TOP-TEN IN MOPAR PARTS DODGE

July 30, 2009. Ron Beauchamp Jr. and the #60 Mopar Parts Dodge Avenger team were looking to continue their strong season as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series wrapped up its three race western swing with a stop at Auto Clearing Speedway in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. While Beauchamp did show how strong the car can be during qualifying and practice, it proved to be a handful during the 250 lap race.

The #60 Mopar Parts Dodge performed flawlessly during practice and Beauchamp would post the fourth quickest qualifying time and earn a starting position on the outside of row number two. “We were a little bit free but I think everybody was” said Ron Jr. after qualifying but I was pretty happy with the car and thought we’d be okay for the race” he added.

When the green flag dropped on the main event Beauchamp knew immediately he had his hands full with a difficult race car. “I’m not really sure what happened, but the car was really loose at the start of the race” said Beauchamp. “I was doing my best to stay up with the front group but I got a bit high through corners three and four and went back a few spots. We knew that we’d have to make changes” he added.

At the first opportunity during a caution period Beauchamp brought the #60 Mopar Parts Dodge to pit road and the team made handling adjustments. A second stop would get the car much more to the liking of the driver. “I just told Chris Couvillion what the car was doing and the guys did a good job making the changes, and we were much better” said the driver.

During a scheduled pit stop later for tires and fuel the tight pit road at Auto Clearing Speedway proved difficult to handle and a number of cars including the #60 Mopar Parts Dodge went a lap down. But that didn’t deter Ron Beauchamp Jr. He set about racing his way back to the front and taking as many positions as possible in the last part of the race. “I was trying to do it the old fashioned way” smiled the driver, it’s too bad that a bunch of guys got caught on pit road, I thought we were okay and I really had to stand on the brakes to stop when I was instructed to but the car was much better late in the race and I was able to run down some guys”

Beauchamp would complete the race and record a seventh place finish. Quite an accomplishment after the way things started. We missed the set up a little bit I guess” said the driver. “But everybody worked hard to make the changes we needed and get a top-ten finish, this was a real team effort” he added.

After seven races Ron Beauchamp Jr. remains third in the overall championship standings.

The 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series comes back to Ontario for round number eight on Saturday August 8th on the Mosport Oval. Team Mopar will participate in all thirteen events that take place on ovals, road courses and temporary street circuits. You can follow the action all year long with the television broadcasts on TSN. For more information about Team Mopar and Ron Beauchamp Jr. at http://www.beauchampmotorsports.com/ and don’t forget to vote for Ron Jr. as the series most popular driver. Click here to cast your vote.

Photo caption: Ron Beauchamp Jr. in the Mopar Parts Dodge takes off on his qualifying lap at Auto Clearing Speedway.

Photo Credit: Todd Lewis

HANSSEN FIGHTS TO THE FINISH IN PRIME CHAMP DODGE

July 30, 2009. Driver of the Prime Champ Dodge Joey Hanssen has experienced the highs and lows of being a rookie driver in the NASCAR Canadian Tire series. Round number seven at Auto Clearing Speedway in Saskatoon would be one of the tougher nights for the eighteen year old driver.

During practice Hanssen set about learning another brand new race track and for the first time experienced an oval with high banking which is very different from earlier events. “It’s tough going to a new track every week but that’s part of the learning process” said the driver. “I was driving it too soft into the corners at first instead of attacking the way you should on a track like this”.

Hanssen would start the Prime Champ Dodge from the fifteenth position in the 250 lap feature event and immediately look to gain positions “The start was really good” said Hanssen. “We climbed up into the top-ten I think and I was running really good, I was faster than the gusy around me so I was climbing up” he added.

Not afraid to mix it up with stock car veterans Hanssen continue to nose the Prime Champ Dodge forward and is often the case on a one third mile oval track there was some contact with another competitor.
“It’s too bad, we got a little bump from the #69 car and bent the toe and cut the right front tire, when the tire blew I hit the wall a bit so I had to pit” said the disappointed Prime Champ Dodge pilot.

The Prime Champ team quickly made the change and sent Hanssen back into the battle however the problems for the #40 car were more severe. After only a few more laps the right front tire was down again forcing Hanssen once again to pit lane. “Turns out when we bent the toe that the tire was rubbing on sway bar” said the driver.

Once again the Prime Champ Dodge team changed tires and also made quick repairs to prevent the tire from blowing but left the driver with a difficult car to drive. “The guys fixed the problem and the car was tough to drive. I could handle it” said the driver “but it wasn’t ideal” he concluded.

Hanssen would bring the Prime Champ Dodge home nineteenth but was disappointed with how events played out. “I could still pass some cars, if we hadn’t gone down a couple laps earlier we could have been a top-ten car for sure” said the driver.

The 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to Ontario for round number eight on Saturday August 8th as they challenge the Mosport Oval track that night. This years schedule will consist of thirteen races on ovals, road courses and temporary street circuits from coast to coast in Canada. All thirteen races will be seen on TSN. By clicking the link here you can cast your vote for Joey Hanssen as the NASCAR Canadian Tire series most popular driver.

Photo caption: Joey Hanssen in the Prime Champ Dodge prepares for qualifying at Auto Clearing Speedway.

Photo Credit: Todd Lewis

About Prime Champ: Prime Champ is one of Europe’s largest environmentally friendly producers of all natural mushrooms with no pesticides used at any stage of the production process. Prime Champ supplies large retailers, discounters and industrial food services in the UK, Germany and Netherlands.

NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES: Mosport Speedway Preview

(BOWMANVILLE, ON – July 30, 2009)  The cars and stars of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will make their second appearance of the season at Mosport, this time at the Speedway, when our nation’s premiere stock car championship takes on Canada's fastest half-mile oval in the Mosport Speedway 200 on Saturday, August 8.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series features many of Canada's best stock car drivers, including current points leader and 2007 Series titlist Andrew Ranger, (winner of the 2009 Dickies 200 at Mosport International Raceway) defending series champion Scott Steckly and NASCAR Nationwide competitor , D.J. Kennington. Among the other veteran racers who will be on the starting grid is five-time Mosport Speedway champion Don Thomson, Jr. and previous Speedway winners, Dave Whitlock and Kerry Micks, last year’s race winner.

Kevin Harvick Inc. development driver Cale Gale, a 24-year old Mobile, Alabama native, will make his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series debut in The Mosport Speedway 200 behind the wheel of the No. 13 Rheem Chevrolet for Farwell Racing Inc. Gale – who tested at Mosport Speedway last week - has competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for a team co-owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick, and is scheduled to drive in four additional NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races after Mosport.

In addition to exciting racing action, the Speedway has lined up some great off-track attractions. The Canadian Tire Fast Track Tour will be on hand to entertain and educate race fans. You can test your NASCAR/ Canadian Tire knowledge and learn more about Canada's rich racing history, and see if you've got what it takes on the PlayStation simulator.

Dickies Canada will also be back at the Speedway with its Canadian Worker of the Year display. Be sure to stop by the Dickies Canada trailer to nominate yourself or a friend for the Canadian Worker of the Year contest for a chance to win some great prizes including a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 full-size pick-up truck. Entries can also be submitted online at www.canadianworkeroftheyear.ca.  

The gates open at 1:30 p.m. and time trials are set for 5:00 p.m. Fans will also want to make sure to bring their Sharpies and cameras for the driver autograph session that will get underway at 5:45 p.m. on the front straight. The Mosport Speedway 200, a 200 lap, 100 mile race, gets underway at 7:00 p.m.

Advance tickets are just $25 until August 5 ($30 at the Gate), youths 13-16 are $15, children 12 and under are free when accompanied by a paid adult admission and parking is free.

For more information about tickets, call the Mosport Hotline at 1-800-866-1072 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET) or visit online at www.mosport.com. Tickets are also available at Ticketmaster.

Photo: Chris Coughlin/NASCAR // For Further Information: Lee Bailie, Mosport, (905) 995-8313 (cell.) or email lee@mosport.com

It's steroid schadenfreude in Yankeeland

The news that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez failed the 2003 steroids test makes this the most exciting day in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry for me since the Yanks swooped in and signed Mark Teixeira. And I make no apologies for feeling that way.

Sorry, I'm not going to pretend I think this is a sad day for baseball. I have written for a piece for The Faster Times called "Steroids: The Real Juice Behind Reversing the Curse of the Bambino" - with some of my thoughts on the issue.

As I've said a zillion times over the years, Sox fans should have thought about the very real possibility that the steroids scandal would hit their team. Especially when it came to David Ortiz. But instead, too many Boston fans - not all, but a good bunch - acted like their team's hands were clean on the issue. Too bad, so sad.

Oh, and so much for FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal's self-righteousness on the issue, criticizing anybody who wondered if Ortiz was chemically enhanced.

The thing that gets me the most on this test failure - and that goes for A-Rod too - is that these players knew the test was coming, and they still failed. What hubris.

Wondering if Curt Schilling still wants the entire list of 103 names to come out?

One other note - Jon and I will still be squawking, but we're going to be writing in other outlets as well. I have another piece coming up soon on BaseballReflections.com. Go here to read my article for them about the first half of the Yankees' season.


What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Signs, Ads, Web. Bayer Helps Promote Region

Bayer Corp says it will do its part to help promote the region during the G20 summit in several ways. Bayer has already committed $35,000 to the Allegheny Conference to help build a good image of the city but it is also launching the website Bayerg20Pittsburgh.com that will serve as a source of information for international media on the region and its businesses. Company spokesperson Bryan Iams says as the media contact for a German Company with its US headquarters in the Pittsburgh region, he is already fielding calls from international media. He says they want to know how long Bayer has been in Pittsburgh, why it calls Pittsburgh home and what he sees in Pittsburgh’s future. He says he is always proud to tout the region’s great universities, strong work ethic, low cost of living and high quality of life. Bayer will also be the first to display a welcome to Pittsburgh sign being designed by the Allegheny Conference. It will be placed near Bayer’s 150-foot sign along the parkway west and will be of a similar scale. The Allegheny Conference is still determining the message the sign will carry and its design. The design will eventually be made available free of charge to any company that wants to display it but those companies will have to print and erect the signs at their own expense. Iams says Bayer will also have a special G20 ad at the Airport and special messages on the company's Mt. Washington sign.

More on Corzine and Obama

The poll we released yesterday showed that only 18% of New Jersey voters were more likely to vote for Jon Corzine because of Barack Obama campaigning for him, while 32% said they were less likely to do so.

On the surface that may seem like Obama's potential positive impact is limited. But our poll also found that Corzine was lagging with blacks and Hispanics, two groups Obama continues to be very popular with both in the state and nationally.

So a more pertinent way to look at Obama's impact may be to consider his impact on minority swing voters- those either undecided or open to changing their minds between now and the election.

Those folks make up about 10% of the electorate, and right now support Corzine only 34-28. At the same time they approve of Obama's job performance by a 73/12 margin and 33% of them say his help makes them more inclined to support Corzine with just 4% saying it makes them less likely to do so.

Obama's not coming to New Jersey to win over conservative Republicans- he's coming to both win over these folks and increase the quantity of them who head out to the polls. And it appears Corzine may be able to get at least some traction with these folks by playing the Obama card- although we'll have to see come October whether the President's popular enough that's something Corzine wants to splash on tv or target more specifically with direct mail.

Conference On Worker Owned Companies To Be Held At Duquesne University

On July 31st through August 2nd The Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy will be holding their 5th annual biennial gathering. This years meeting will be titled "Democracy Works: Worker Cooperatives, Labor Solidarity, and Sustainability." The focus of the conference will be finding ways to spur worker-owned business cooperatives.

Mary Hoyer, lead organizer of the conference, says that cooperative business ventures are better for local economies because larger numbers of people are able to share in a company's profits.

Speakers at the event will discuss how employee-owned companies have been affected by and responded to events in the history of capitalism that have caused downturn in economies.

The event will be held at Duquesne University.

Polling in Virginia

About a month ago we showed Barack Obama's approval down to 48% in Virginia. That was before his numbers started really declining in most national polls and at the time came as quite a surprise given the 52% he received there last November.

Then last week SurveyUSA released its monthly round of state level approval polling, and while they found him down everywhere it was particularly pronounced in Virginia, where he dropped all the way too 44%.

Both our poll and that SurveyUSA poll showed a party identification breakdown for the state of D+1, which I think is reasonable. Two polls don't make a firm conclusion, but is there any reason folks can think of why Obama would be doing worse in Virginia relative to his performance last year than other places?

A separate Virginia poll SUSA put out yesterday showed Bob McDonnell up 15 points on Creigh Deeds, but was criticized because those sampled reported having voted for John McCain by nine points, quite different than Obama's six point victory in the state last fall.

Although I doubt the electorate there this fall will be that Republican leaning, it is worth noting that we have found very little interest in the election from black and young voters who were so pivotal to Democratic success in the state last fall. So I would not be shocked if those who turn out this year split evenly or had some lean toward McCain last year. We're going to ask that on our poll of the state this weekend.

Speaking of which, we pretty much have the poll written but if anybody has interesting question ideas I'm open to them.

Hey Ya! David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez Test Positive for Steroids!

Time to do the Snoopy Dance! I will have more to say shortly about the big news that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez reportedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. I'm writing a piece up right now. But in the meantime, let me just do the Snoopy Dance and enjoy the news!

Credit Union Freezes Payless Payday Program

The Pittsburgh-based ACBA Federal Credit Union suspended its Payless Paydays loan program almost as quickly as it was initiated because of the overwhelming response by state employees in Allegheny County.
Under the Payless Paydays program, state employees could receive no-interest loans equal to the amount of their regular paycheck. CFO and Assistant Manager of the program, Linda Iddings says the credit union will remain committed to those who applied before July 24. Loans must be paid back within 60 days of approval of a state budget, or can be paid back over the period of a year with low-interest.
The five employees of the credit union, including Iddings, initially set out to give state employees “what they deserve.” Due to Pennsylvania’s budget stalemate, most state employees have received partial or no paychecks the last two paydays. Most will get nothing in their pay envelope tomorrow. Iddings says, “there are a lot of great state employees out there, and if nothing else, they deserve respect. That includes being paid for good days of work.”
Though the program has been suspended, Iddings says it is only temporary until either the credit union employees can financially, physically and emotionally get themselves together, or until the legislature and governor come up with a budget plan. She says ACBA cannot continue to borrow money from the corporate credit union, and with thousands of potential loan requests tomorrow, the program had to be put on hold.

Duquesne Lessens Carbon Emissions

Duquesne University has announced results of its second greenhouse gas emissions inventory, which says the school has reduced students’ individual carbon footprints by more than thirteen percent in 2008. 4.0 metric tons of emissions are released by each student annually, down from 4.6 per student in 2006. Native Energy of Vermont says the average American household emits 10.8 metric tons per year.

Duquesne professor and principal investigator of the study Stanley Kabala says compared with other schools of similar size and location, Duquesne is looking good. He says figures of those schools range from four metric tons of carbon released per year to over ten metric tons emitted annually.

Kabala says the decrease in emissions was in large part due to the university’s reliance on renewable energy generated on campus. Other contributing factors include regular maintenance of heating and cooling systems and sealing windows and doors of school facilities. Kabala says off-campus transportation to ball games and other extracurricular activities account for a large part of the university’s emissions. He says more energy saving ideas, like a shuttle bus to the South Side and on-campus solar panels, are up for consideration.

City-County Merger Study shows No Economic Development Benefits

While local leaders like Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl support a city-county merger because of increased economic development, a recent study by a Ball State researcher says there aren’t such benefits.

Dagney Faulk, research director at Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research, says statistics from three consolidated areas that merged in the mid 1990s show no signs of increased economic development, although supporters often use that aspect as a primary argument. She says the study focused on the change of total employment and the change in the number of businesses established before and after a merger, and there were not any visible differences.

However, Faulk says this doesn’t mean there aren’t any benefits, citing increased accountability, lower cost of government and increased citizens’ satisfaction.

Beaver County To Close Juvenile Center

Beaver County is closing its juvenile detention center because of the costs to the county to operate the facility. Currently the county budgets $2.1 million annually for the centers operations. Before making the decision to close the facility the county had explored renovating the building but decided that it was cost prohibitive. Children being housed in the facility will be sent to Steubenville, Ohio. The children who are in the facility because of the need for safe shelter will be sent to three Pennsylvania based facilities. Employees of the center who are facing termination will be given a severance package and the county's junior probation officers will move into office space at the county courthouse.

Politics of Sotomayor

Richard Burr's opposing the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, and it's not going to do him any political damage.

There are a couple basic reasons for that. The first is that there's not a meaningful Hispanic vote in North Carolina yet. The second that is that most voters are paying little to no attention to the confirmation process- this is not exactly something that was going to show up in a tv ad (at least an effective one!) no matter how Burr voted.

The biggest reason though is he did what was expected- voted the conservative Republican Party line as he has on pretty much everything for the last four years. He's not going to get whacked for this issue more than he would on any other issue.

I don't think there's really any help or hurt for Republicans who oppose Sotomayor- that's just seen as the party line. But there may be some advantage in going outside the box and supporting her. Just look at Chris Christie in New Jersey- he said she should be confirmed and now has a 50-33 lead with Hispanics in our most recent poll even as 67% of them approve of Barack Obama's job performance. We'll see if that bump is real or temporary but either way it's an eye opener.

If Burr had supported Sotomayor he would have had good material for a mailer to suburban independents and Democrats showing that he was willing to be more than an obstructionist . But ultimately this is not going to play a role next year.

State Workers Not Getting Paid

Phil Pierre of Morningside is a law clerk for Commonwealth Court in The Pennsylvania Judiciary. He has worked there for ten years.

He got his last paycheck at the beginning of the month. It was seventy percent of what it should have been. Since then, he has not been paid. None of his colleagues, including the judge he works for, have gotten a paycheck. Morale is low, he says.

This is a regular occurrence, he said, since the budget is never passed on time, but it has never lasted as long as this. He has canceled a summer vacation, shut down his cable television, put off certain payments and borrowed money from family members.

The workers do get paid retroactively.

The state fiscal year starts on July 1st but the budget was not completed in time. It is still not done.

Governor Ed Rendell has said if a new budget is not in by Monday he will ask the House to approve the Senate-passed budget and send it to him. He'll then veto most of it except funds for "general government operations." This will allow the state's 77,000 workers who have been paid partially or not at all to receive their back pay.

Pierre says he makes considerably less than he could in the private sector and is considering looking for a new job.

'Double Down' Jason Sides Doubles Up at Ohsweken

The second night of World of Outlaws competition at Ohsweken Speedway produced a familiar face in victory lane. Jason Sides piloted his #7s to the win in the 30 lap A-Main on Wednesday evening. The win was the second in three starts at the 'Big O' as Sides was the inaugural winner of the event in July of 2007.

Full details and results available at http://www.ohswekenspeedway.com

Budget Conference Panel Off to Slow Start

A legislative conference committee holds its second meeting today as it works toward a new budget for Pennsylvania. The 6-member panel met yesterday for the first time, but made no measurable progress...failing to agree on a total spending figure, on whether the panel should have a chairman, and even on which budget bill to use as a starting point.
Yet another friction point emerged when House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans said the conference committee's work should focus on spending and not revenue.

"What I sense as the mission of this conference committee is to try to reconcile the investment priorities we sent over to the Senate, which the Senate didn't agree with, and the Senate amended it, and then we non-concur, you insist on your amendments. And nowhere was there anything discussed about taxes."

Republicans including Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman countered that revenue projections are needed in order to set a spending amount.

"It would be sort of silly to say...here's $35 billion worth of investments, we love them all, these are all great, they do wonderful things. Well jeez, we only have $27 billion to pay for it. Now what are we gonna do?"

As the committee met, Governor Rendell told reporters he may ask the state House as soon as Monday to send him the budget passed by the Republican-controlled Senate.
He says he'd ratify the portions related to core government functions, then line item veto the rest of it.

"The reason that I am lining out every line other than those that are essential to government operations is simply because I don't want anybody to think that this is a potential final budget. It isn't."

But it would, he says, allow state workers to start getting paid again starting a week from tomorrow.

Panel Proposed to Focus On Cost-Cutting

A pair of Republican lawmakers are calling for a bipartisan cost-cutting commission to look at ways to trim state spending in Pennsylvania.
Senator David Argall of Schuylkill County says the proposal would lead to the appointment of a panel from the public and private sectors to go through the budget line-by-line, agency-by-agency. He says it's a way to better control costs and avoid future tax increases...

"The goal right now is to get it up and running and if it indeed provides the kind of cost savings that we believe are available, if it proves itself again, I wouldn't be surprised that it would be sticking around for quite a while."

Argall says by ensuring the majority of the commission will be from the private sector, a completely different perspective may be brought to the process and more unnecessary spending will be eliminated.
Republican Representative Julie Harhart of Northampton County plans to introduce a similar measure in the House.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Steckly battles adversity to win in Saskatoon

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Wednesday July 29, 2009):  Scott Steckly and his No. 22 Racing Team experienced the highs and the lows in Saskatoon at the Velocity Prairie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science 250.  He started off by putting his Canadian Tire/Tow Truck in a Box Dodge Avenger up near the top of the practice charts only to blow the motor at the end of the session.  His Canadian Tire team quickly went to work and by the time driver introductions started the Steckly crew had the car ready to race.

Due to missing the qualifying and autograph session, Steckly was immediately sent to the back of the field to start the race.  This resulted in the 18th starting position out of 19 in attendance.  When the green flag flew Steckly immediately started his march to the front of the pack.  By lap 50 258-1.jpghe was up to seventh and by lap 100 he was on the back bumper of leader Don Thomson Jr.  Slightly after the half way flag, he would make a great move to get by Thomson only to have him return the favour a few laps later.

The two would battle for several laps and eventually Steckly would drop back to fifth when he pitted for tires and fuel.  But they were not to be denied and on lap 213 of the 250 lap race he passed Thomson for the final time.  “I have to thank everyone for their hard work today, my crew did a great job of getting the motor changed and D.J. Kennington for helping us out with the motor,” said a smiling Steckly after the race.  “I also want to thank Canadian Tire and Tow Truck in a Box who were in attendance tonight as well as all of our other sponsors.”  When asked how he did it he was quick to reply, “great teamwork, great racetrack, great sponsors and a terrific handling car.”

Don Thomson Jr. finished second after leading the most laps with D. J. Kennington,  Jason Hathaway and Anthony Simone rounding out the top five. The Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 will be broadcast on TSN on Saturday August 22 at midnight E.S.T.

Steckly and his team now head home to Milverton, Ontario after the three race Western swing in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, where they will prepare for Mosport Speedway on Saturday August 8th.  For more information on this event visit www.mosport.com. For more information on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series please visit www.nascar.ca.

Visit NASCAR Home Tracks at http://www.nascar.com/news/features/mpd.poll.canadian.tire.series/index.html to vote for your favourite NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver. You can vote once a day from now until the season ends on September 26, 2009.

About 22 Racing: Scott Steckly and the No. 22 Racing Team are supported by a large group of sponsors including:  Canadian Tire, Tow Truck in a Box, Motomaster, Exide, Erb Transport, Mobil Super, AW Millwrights, Marks Work Warehouse, Reefer Sales and Twin City Graphics.

Scott Steckly and his 22 Racing Team are a familiar face in top level stock car racing in Canada. Steckly in his second season with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2008 went on to win 4 events, place 2nd in four more and overall post 9 top five finishes on their way to claiming the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Championship.  The team is based out of the small town of Milverton, ON just outside of Stratford, ON. 

About Canadian Tire: Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC.a, CTC) operates more than 1,200 general merchandise and apparel retail stores, gas bars and car washes in an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retail, financial services and petroleum. More than 57,000 Canadians work across the Canadian Tire organization from coast-to-coast. Canadian Tire Retail and its Associate Dealers together form one of Canada's best-known and most successful retailers with 475 stores in communities nationwide. Canadian Tire stores offer a unique mix of products and services through the leadership of three specialty stores under one roof - Automotive, Sports and Leisure, and Home Products.

From Linda Jones / Wide Open Motorsports Solutions

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Simone fifth in Velocity Prairie Thunder 250

Saskatoon, SK, Wednesday July 29, 2009:  Anthony Simone driving the No. 95 Crown Modular, United Lumber Monte Carlo finished the Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 in fifth place.  This was event number seven in the 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series tour of thirteen.  With the three race Western Canada swing now wrapped up Simone posted sixth, tenth and fifth place finishes.

Simone who races out of Bradford, Ontario was in the top ten during practice and a little slip in time trials put them back to eleventh quickest for the start of the 250 lap event. 

The handling on the Simone entry was off early in the race and he fell back a few positions before the caution came out and he was able to head to pit road for adjustments.  After the team made the changes Simone steadily worked his way back to the lead front.  After the midway point in the race the No. 95 Crown Modular, United Lumber driver came back down pit road for tires and when all stops had been completed only six cars were being scored on the lead lap with Simone being shown in second.  While the car was handling better it was no match for the front three of Steckly, Thomson and Kennington. ``The car started out lose but we came in for an adjustment early and that helped a lot,`` said Simone after the race.  ``My crew did a great job on our stops and I really like the track and hope we come back again next year.``

Finish 1. Scott Steckly  2.  Don Thomson Jr.  3. D. J. Kennington  4.  Jason Hathaway

The Simone Autosport Team are unofficially being shown in fifth in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series points with six of the 13 races remaining. The Canadian Tire 100 will be broadcast on TSN on Saturday August 22 at midnight EST.

Next up for Anthony and his team is at Mosport Speedway on Saturday August 8th.  For more information on tickets, schedule an directions please visit www.mosport.com. Simone Autosport would like to thank all of their sponsors including:  Bell, Sign-A-Rama of Newmarket, Grisdale Racing Products, Avery Graphics, Wix Filters and Castrol.

For more information on Anthony Simone please visit www.simone-autosport.com.

From Linda Jones / Wide Open Motorsport Solutions

Mr. DIRTcar Title Contenders Heat Up On Championship Trails... kicks off at Merrittville

Hot August Nights Set Stage For Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series

Weedsport, NY – July 30, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director

The 2009 Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series begins its stretch run for teams contending for the elusive overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels titles in Big-Block Modified, 358-Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock classes.

A half-dozen shows highlight the month of August for Big-Block Super DIRTcar Series point chasers on both sides of the border, with Pro Stockers getting back on track in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. 358-Modified and Sportsman Series travelers have the month open to prepare for their upcoming autumn assault.

Merrittville (Ont.) Speedway leads off the agenda with the 17th Trevor Wilkens Memorial on Monday, August 3 before returning stateside for back-to-back Super Series shootouts at Brewerton Speedway and Canandaigua Speedway, Aug. 7-8.

Can-Am Motorsports Park hosts the premier Big-Block tour in the Northeast on Friday, August 21 before Cornwall Motor Speedway runs Aug. 23 (rescheduled from July 12) and Lebanon Valley Speedway stages its second Series special of the season on Aug. 27 in the final 100-lapper of the month.

The region’s top Pro Stock chauffeurs make their second annual appearance at Autodrome Drummond on Saturday, August 22 before joining their open-wheel counterparts at Cornwall on Aug. 23 to complete the big DIRTcar doubleheader.

Overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Champions will be determined by tabulating points earned in the Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds and the Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series for 358-Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock teams along with bonuses collected in each divisional DIRTcar Regional Racing Series.

To gain access to DIRTcar Racing Series headline stories during the upcoming season, log into http://www.dirtcar.com and select ‘Series’ at the top then choose Mr. DIRTcar Series (#7) and hit ‘GO’ on right. Specific information about the Big-Block Super DIRTcar Series can be found at www.superdirtcarseries.com. Bookmark each selection for quick review at a later time.

Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series Schedule of Events: AUGUST

DAY-DATE    TRACK/LOCATION                                                 CLASS

Mon-Aug 3    Merrittville Speedway/Thorold,ONT                      MOD

Fri-Aug 7       Brewerton Speedway/Brewerton,NY                   MOD

Sat-Aug 8      Canandaigua Speedway/Canandaigua,NY      MOD

Fri-Aug 21     Can-Am Motorsports Park/LaFargeville,NY        MOD

Sat-Aug 22    Autdrome Drummond/Drummondville,QUE      PRO

Sun-Aug 23  Cornwall Motor Speedway/Cornwall,ONT          MOD,PRO

Thr-Aug 27    Lebanon Valley Speedway/West Lebanon,NY  MOD