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Canadian wave heads to Cannes Film Festival

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Betty White heads to nation's capital to see National Zoo, indulge passion for animal watching

Question: I was wondering if it’s mandatory to have to give up my salmon heads when the volunteer fish checkers come around to measure my fish? I thought it was my choice. Gary B

Answer: Yes, it’s mandatory. The surveyors at the dock collecting heads are not volunteers; they are paid, trained and educated biologists. Anglers in possession of a salmon with a clipped adipose fin are required to relinquish the head to these Department of Fish and Game employees.

Q: There is a red-shouldered hawk that frequents my daughter’s deck in San Rafael. The hawk seems to enjoy scanning from the railing for critters it might like to eat. This bird appears to have a silver tag on its right leg just above the claw, but I can’t read the writing. I was wondering if DFG or any agencies that you know of have a tagging program for hawks? Ken M., Oakland

A: Yes, there are numerous researchers in and outside of California who capture and mark birds. Carrie Battistone, the Department of Fish and Game’s raptor biologist, says identification bands should be reported to the USGS Bird Banding Lab (BBL) at www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/. If someone sees a marked bird, such as this red-shouldered hawk, they can report it by accessing BBL’s Web site and clicking the “Report a Bird Band or Marked Bird” link. This national program allows researchers to study bird movement (dispersal and migration patterns), survival, population trends and more.

Many bands are reported when a bird is recaptured or dies. Reading the band number can be hard, but not impossible, on live birds. In addition to silver bands, researchers also use color bands which usually are easier to identify.

Q: If an area is posted “closed to fishing,” like the stretch of the Feather River between the green bridge in Oroville and the fish hatchery, is it still OK to use crayfish traps? Or are crayfish traps considered “fishing”? Al C., Oroville

A: No, you cannot use crayfish traps on a posted stretch. Lt. Sam Castillo of the DFG says this particular area is “Closed to all fishing all year.” The law is inclusive of all species and is not specific to trout and salmon. Some other no-fishing areas will allow for the take of amphibians, fresh water clams, crayfish and lampreys, but this isn’t one of them.

Q: We do not have a concealed carry permit but while camping we keep a loaded pistol in our camper for personal protection. We would prefer not to leave it in the camper while we are out on the boat fishing. Is it legal to carry a loaded pistol on a boat while fishing in the ocean? If so, does it have to be in plain sight or can it be kept in a glove box on the boat? Lisa G., Granite Bay

A: In general, you cannot possess a loaded, concealed handgun when in a public place. There is an exception for licensed anglers and hunters, who are allowed to carry a concealed firearm when engaged in hunting or fishing. A summary of firearms laws is available online at http://dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/.

Carrie Wilson is a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. Contact her at CalOutdoors@dfg.ca.gov.

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Outdoors: Losing your heads against fishing rules

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Betty White heads to Washington to see the animals

Year-to-date gold prices dropped into the red this week as fears of the eurozone falling apart gripped investors and led them to turn their backs on gold as a safe havenpartly because they were bidding up the dollar.

The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD – News), the $63.87 billion physical bullion ETF, was trading at $149.86 a share, 1.5 percent lower than at the end of last year, according to data on Google Finance.

Spot gold prices were at $1,543.50 a troy ounce Wednesday morning, their lowest since late December. The slide, around 7 percent in the past month, comes even as legendary hedge fund manager George Soros said in a regulatory filing yesterday that he tripled his GLD holdings in the first quarter, Bloomberg News said.

Gold is behaving very differently than it did last summer around the time of S’Ps downgrade of U.S. debt. Gold rose at the time to a record of around $1,900 an ounce, before the price began to crater due largely to redemptions by banks and hedge funds seeking to cover positions as worries turned to the debt-laden eurozone.

The strengthening of the dollar is a big reason gold prices are sliding, though ETF holdings are relatively stable, meaning much of the price action is being driven by the gold futures market. Gold is priced in U.S. dollars.

If the price of gold is unchanged, but the dollar appreciates, gold will then likely trade lower, said Timothy Harvey, a senior vice president at ETF Securities, an ETF firm that specializes in precious metals.

Harvey said about 400,000 ounces has been redeemed globally in the past week and that this amount represents less than half a percent of the gold held in ETF structures globally, hardly enough to affect prices significantly.

Sell-off Could Turn Sharper

If Greece does get kicked out of the eurozonea possibility some observers have dubbed a Grexitand the contagion spreads to Spain or Italy, gold could fall even further.

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Gold Heads Into The Red In 2012

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Red Poppy brings new voices to art scene

The American Beauty star last year (11) announced he was giving budding moviemakers from the U.S., South Africa, and Russia the chance to direct him in a short film.

He drew up a list of contenders and then chose one winner from each country, who were then given the chance to shoot their movie with Spacey in the lead role.

The actor has travelled to South Africa to attend the red carpet premiere of one of the films – South African Alan Shelley’s A Spirit of a Denture – and he’s adamant the project has inspired him to continue searching for talented filmmakers in far-flung lands.

Spacey told reporters in Johannesburg, “There is no doubt that as you start to look around the world, you start to look at the Asia-Pacific region, you start to look at what’s happening here, you look at what’s happening in European cinema, there’s a lot going on.

“I like the idea of going to as many places as possible and (enjoying) as many experiences as you can.”

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Kevin Spacey heads to South Africa for movie project premiere

Updated: Monday, 14 May 2012 19:14 Frankel and Excelebration cross swords for a fourth time in the Lockinge Stakes

Frankel is the star name among nine confirmations for the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

Unbeaten in nine starts to date, Henry Cecil’s colt is the world’s highest rated racehorse and while he suffered an injury scare early last month, he is all set to make his eagerly anticipated four-year-old debut this weekend.

He is set to be joined by his stablemate, regular work companion and half-brother Bullet Train.

Frankel’s biggest danger appears to hail from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle yard.

Excelebration chased home Frankel three times when trained by Marco Botti last year, winning his other three starts.

He made a fine start for his new trainer when winning last month’s Gladness Stakes at the Curragh.

O’Brien said: “He’s fine. He’s a very relaxed horse and good enough to compete.

“Marco Botti did a great job with him, but he’s a year older and has strengthened up.

“It will be interesting taking on Frankel and if you know his achilles heel, I wish you’d let me know!”

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Frankel heads Lockinge confirmations

As the injuries began to pile up for the Red Bulls, forcing coach Hans Backe to field a young, inexperienced back line for at least a month, heres what even the most optimistic fan had to be thinking:

Theyre on an elevator to the Eastern Conference basement.

Then, 22 minutes into their April 28 game against the New England Revolution at Red Bull Arena, leading scorer Thierry Henry went down with a hamstring strain and the less-than-sunny assessment had to be updated.

Make that an express elevator to the Eastern Conference basement.

Fast forward to today, with the Red Bulls sitting in first place following a four-game winning streak, and it would be easy to start an explanation with Well, a strange thing happened …

But why would it be such a strange thing?

Americans know how to play defense. We grow up playing defense in all sports, not just soccer, and the phrase defense wins championships is constantly pounded into our heads.

Heres something else. We can play goalkeeper, too, as the honor roll of Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel and Tim Howard over the past two decades can attest. So the fact that Ryan Meara, a New York kid who played at Fordham, can come into Major League Soccer and play well as a rookie shouldnt surprise anyone.

Ireland sure noticed. They wanted Meara to join their Under-21 team for European U-21 qualifying, but the Red Bulls blocked the call-up.

But back to the defense.

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On Soccer: Red Bulls rise to top of Eastern Conference with help from trio of young American defenders

Attempts to form a government in Greece collapsed on Tuesday, jolting financial markets at the prospect that leftists opposed to the terms of an EU bailout could sweep to victory in a June election and tip the euro zone deeper into crisis.

The turmoil in Athens sent shock waves around other troubled members of the 17-nation European single currency area. The euro slipped below $1.28, world stocks slid and Spanish and Italian bond yields rose above the danger level of 6 percent as investors scurried for shelter in safe haven German Bunds.

The tremors from Greece, compounding worries about Spain’s debt-laden banking system, ended any honeymoon for new French President Francois Hollande, thrusting the growing risks to the euro zone to the top of the agenda for his first ever meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin the same evening.

The leaders of the Franco-German alliance that sits at the heart of the single currency project said after their talks that both wanted Greece to remain in the euro zone and were ready to work to promote ideas for economic growth that could help achieve that – though differences remain over what can be done.

After a meeting at which both stressed a commitment to the political ideal of the euro, despite coming from opposing sides of Europe’s left-right party divide, Hollande told a news conference: “I hope that we can say to the Greeks that Europe is ready to add measures to help growth and support economic activity so that there is a return to growth in Greece.”

“On growth, the method that we agreed is putting all ideas and all proposals on the table and seeing what legal means exist to put them into effect,” added the French leader, who landed in Berlin late after lightning struck his presidential jet.

Earlier, in his inaugural address, the Socialist president called for a European pact to revive growth and temper the conservative Merkel’s preference for Europe-wide austerity, seeking to change the direction of euro zone economic policy.

“I will propose to our partners a pact that will tie the necessary reduction of our public debt to the indispensable stimulation of our economies,” Hollande declared, saying Europe needed “projects, solidarity and growth”.

GREEK CRISIS

In Athens, President Karolos Papoulias abandoned efforts to broker a compromise on a cabinet of technocrats to steer the country away from bankruptcy, nine days after an inconclusive general election. A caretaker government will now be formed pending a new vote probably in mid-June.

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Greece Heads Toward New Elections

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Greek uncertainty leaves US stocks in red

Five straight wins.

Jon Lester throws a complete game.

Still, no respect.

Just ask any Red Sox fan today “How are you doing?” You might likely get this answer, even with the team still in last place: “I’m all right, don’t nobody worry about me.”

With that tune in our heads, birthday boy Josh Beckett (he’s 32) had a 4:05 p.m. tee time at Fenway Park Tuesday. Snobs. Slobs. Golf. Dysfunction. Beckett, who was dealing Tuesday with nine strikeouts and seven shutout innings, almost single-handedly turned Fenway Park into Bushwood. So here’s a look at the 2012 Red Sox through some of the classic scenes from the original “Caddyshack.”

Rodney Dangerfield got “no respect.” Beckett has not earned any respect. But they both put family first. Sort of. And each have some questionable doctors. We begin with Beckett (portrayed by the legendary Al Czervik) showing little patience or concern while John Henry (Judge Smails) takes his time trying to set up the perfect tee shot.

Things aren’t much better on the course. Beckett continues to cause one distraction after another, whether he’s getting shelled by the Indians, whining about his 18 days off, not caring, tormenting Henry. Meanwhile, Henry’s caddy, the young, idealistic and impressionable Ben Cherington (Danny Noonan) watches helplessly. “The man is a menace,” exclaims an exasperated Henry.

How true.

After that ill-fated outing, Beckett sits down with his agents and members of Red Sox management over dinner to discuss his sore lat:

Unsatisfied with the assistance offered by Henry, Cherington talks shop and seeks life guidance from the slick and smooth Larry Lucchino (played by Ty Webb), as he carries the bag for the Red Sox president.

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Beckett takes Red Sox from Fenway to Bushwood

At 7 days old, the trio of red-cockaded woodpecker chicks — blind and writhing about in the palm of the biologist’s hand — looked impossibly fragile.

But U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Eric Spadgenske worked quickly and carefully Monday morning, fixing color-coded bracelets of pink and yellow on the spindly legs of this next generation of the endangered species.

“There they are with all their new jewelry,” Spadgenske said, showing them off before tucking them back into a coffee can and ascending the ladder to return them to the nest 22 feet up a skinny longleaf pine on an island on Lake Mitchell.

The banding expedition is part of long-term effort by Alabama Power, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to preserve the critically endangered population of about 30 birds that make their home near the reservoir on land owned by the power company, a private individual, the state Forever Wild program and John Hancock Timber Resource Group.

Nationwide, there might be 16,000 red-cockaded woodpeckers stretched across 11 southeastern states.

Intensive efforts to preserve the cluster of colonies on Lake Mitchell were launched in the aftermath of a 2004 tornado that swept through the area toppling several of the nesting trees. Spadgenske, who heads the Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife in the state, helped devise a recovery program that included installing dozens of artificial nests. It has since come to include a regular regime of prescribed burns to maintain the habitat, as well as frequent monitoring.

While Alabama Power is required to make efforts to preserve endangered species as a condition of its license to operate Mitchell Dam, Spadgenske gave the company credit for going beyond the minimum requirement.

“They’ve done a tremendous job. This is phenomenal habitat,” he said. “The efforts of the power company have really saved this population.”

Among the earliest species added to the endangered species list, the woodpecker’s decline tracks very closely with the disappearance of the tree where it prefers to make its home: the longleaf pine, Alabama’s state tree that once dominated from the coastal plain to the edges of the Appalachians. The red-cockaded is just one of 29 threatened or endangered species imperiled by the virtual disappearance of the longleaf dominated ecosystem that once covered an estimated 90 million acres. After being cut for its valuable, rot-resistant timber, most long-leaf forests were replanted with faster growing species like the loblolly pine. Longleaf was also adapted to and dependent on frequent wildfires, which are now for the most part controlled.

In those rare places where a mature canopy of mature longleaf survives and fire still burns, the forest floor is park-like savanna, where more than 600 different species of plant can occur: a host of native warm season grasses and legumes that provide ideal habitat for wild turkey, bobwhite quail, white-tailed deer and fox.

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Red-cockaded woodpecker gets care and protection in Alabama (with video and gallery)

The 15-19 Boston Red Sox are coming off their first series win at home since their first home series of the year as they welcome the 16-20 Seattle Mariners to Fenway Park. The Red Sox and Mariners will play a short two-game series on May 14 and 15 before Boston heads out on an eight-game road trip.

Boston’s lineup is enjoying a boost from its AAA reinforcements. Will Middlebrooks and Daniel Nava combined for ten hits and eight RBI in Boston’s 3-1 series against the Cleveland Indians. Also swinging a red hot bat, Dustin Pedroia rides a 14-game hitting streak into the series. The Mariners are dependent on strong pitching for success. They have the second lowest team on-base percentage in the majors and they score only 3.75 runs per game, but they boast a 3.87 team ERA. Second year third baseman Kyle Seager enters the series as Seattle’s hottest hitter with a .325 average and 25 total bases in 11 May games. He is hitting .295 with a .804 OPS on the season.

Pitching matchups:

Jon Lester (4.29 ERA, 28/18 K/BB) vs Jason Vargas (2.79 ERA, 38/13 K/BB)

The Red Sox are still waiting for Jon Lester to find his form. His last start against the Kansas City Royals was plagued by adventures in outfield defense, but he didn’t exactly compensate well. Slow starts are not uncommon for Lester who has a lifetime 3.99 ERA in April and May compared to a 3.57 mark overall. Vargas, the lone lefty in the Mariners’ rotation, has enjoyed an excellent start to the season. Through 51.2 innings, he has the lowest ERA and walk rate of his career. He has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his eight starts.

Josh Beckett (5.97 ERA, 26/11 K/BB) vs Blake Beavan (4.32 ERA, 14/4 K/BB)

Beckett’s return to the rotation against the Cleveland Indians was a complete disaster as both his command and velocity were nonexistent. Overall, both his four and two-seam fastballs are clocking in 1.5 mph lower than they did in 2011. His strikeout rate of 6.8 per nine innings is lower than that of any previous year in his career. 21 starts into his MLB career, Beavan has established himself as a strike-thrower. He has only 19 walks in 130.1 innings of work, but he gives up a ton of flyballs and struggles to miss bats. He has a groundball-to-flyball ratio of just 0.52 with a 3.78 strikeout rate.

Sources:

Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Yahoo! Sports

Baseball-Reference.com

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Red Sox Look to Build Momentum Against Mariners: Fan Preview

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5Uhet9Cbxk

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Sexy Redheads – Video

The West Ottawa boys track & field team didnt win the OK Red Conference meet Friday but turned some heads, nevertheless.

The Panthers stunned East Kentwood by winning the 4×200-meter relay in a photo finish, moving all the way up from the eighth seed.

Austin Vasquez, Cristian Ramirez, Ato Condelee and James Lacy finished in 1 minute, 31,.89 seconds, beating East Kentwood by seven hundredths of a second.

That is the first time we had all of those guys run it together, West Ottawa coach Craig Kingma said. That race was solid guts. They held off everyones anchors.

West Ottawa finished sixth in the boys meet with 49 points. East Kentwood won (190.5).

The West Ottawa girls finished seventh with 31 points. Rockford won (162).

Condelee was the lone individual conference champion for the Panthers, winning both the long jump (22 feet, 7 3/4 inches) and the high jump (6-4).

I feel pretty good, but I know I can go higher, Condelee said.

He teamed with Vasquez, Ramirez and Lacy to take third in the 4×100 relay (44.32). The four earned all-conference honors.

Ramirez took fifth in the 200 meters (23.3).

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West Ottawa boys track & field wins stunning relay at OK Red meet

Friday, May 11 2012, 1:12 pm

The following questions were asked on the California Department of Fish & Game (DFG) website:

Question: I was wondering if it’s mandatory to have to give up my salmon heads when the volunteer fish checkers come around to measure my fish? I thought it was my choice.

Answer: Yes, it’s mandatory. The surveyors at the dock collecting heads are not volunteers but are paid, trained and educated biologists, and anglers in possession of a salmon with a clipped adipose fin are required to relinquish the head to these Department of Fish and Game (DFG) employees (Fish and Game Code, section 8226).

Section 8226 reads: “(a) … any person in possession of a salmon with a missing adipose fin, the small, fleshy fin on the back of the fish between the back fin and the tail, upon request by an authorized agent or employee of the department, shall immediately relinquish the head of the salmon to the state, at no charge, for recovery of any coded-wire tag. The head may be removed by the fish owner or, if removed by the official department representative, the head shall be removed in a manner to minimize loss of salmon flesh and the salmon shall immediately be returned to the rightful owner. (b) It is unlawful to intentionally conceal, cull or release into the waters a salmon with a missing adipose fin that it is otherwise legal to possess.”

Question: My daughter has a red-shouldered hawk that frequents her deck in San Rafael. The hawk seems to enjoy scanning from the railing for critters it might like to eat. This bird appears to have a silver tag on its right leg just above the claw but I can’t read the writing. I was wondering if DFG or any agencies that you know of have a tagging program for hawks?

Answer: Yes, there are numerous researchers both in and outside of California that capture and mark birds. According to Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Raptor Biologist Carie Battistone, identification bands should be reported to the Bird Banding Lab (BBL) (www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl), administered by USGS. If someone sees a marked bird, such as this red-shouldered hawk, they can report it by accessing BBL’s website and clicking the “Report a Bird Band or Marked Bird” link. This national program allows researchers to study bird movement (dispersal and migration patterns), survival, population trends and more.

Many bands are reported when a bird is recaptured or dies. Reading the band number can be hard, but not impossible, on live birds. In addition to silver bands, researchers also use color bands which tend to be much easier to identify and report.

Question: If an area is posted “closed to fishing,” like the stretch of the Feather River between the green bridge in Oroville and the fish hatchery, is it still OK to use crayfish traps there? Or are crayfish traps considered “fishing”?

Answer: No, you cannot use crayfish traps there. According to DFG Lt. Sam Castillo, in this particular area the law says, “Closed to all fishing all year” (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 7.50(b)(68)(A)). The law is inclusive of all species and is not specific to just trout and salmon. Some other no-fishing areas will allow for the take of amphibians, fresh water clams, crayfish and lampreys under CCR Title 14, section 7.50(a)(2), but this isn’t one of them.

Continue reading here:

Losing heads while salmon fishing

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Obama to talk mortgages in Reno, Romney heads to North Carolina, plus more to watch for this weekend in politics

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'Food Truck Wars' heads for Monmouth Park

Yep, Boston has lost eight of its past 10 and is 12-19, in last place in the AL East. Its enough to make long-time Red Sox fans wear bags on their heads at Fenway. And thats what one fan did and now hes trending on Twitter, due mostly to the (false) report that he was thrown out of the stadium by the team for wearing the bag.

Meet Jon OHara, 25, known this morning as Bag Guy. The lifelong Red Sox fan from New Hampshire (who happens to be a standup comedian) became so disgusted with Bostons start to the 2012 season that he donned a paper bag for Thursdays game. His bag attire was caught on camera, and quickly hit social media. Then Bag Guy disappeared from his seat in the seventh inning, with many believing that he was tossed from the stadium by Sox security. This caused him to start trending to Twitter, at #FreeBagGuy.

OHara did several interviews following the game, and gave the real story.

I had it on until the sixth inning when someone behind me yelled out how long are you going to have that bag on your head. I said the whole game hopefully, and he said can you take it off? I paid $100 for the seat and cant see first base. I turned around and said I paid $4 and took the bag off.

Far from being mad at Bag Guy, Red Sox staff actually seemed amused.

They were all actually nice about it, OHara said of the Red Sox staff. The ushers were all laughing really hard. On the way out, they were shaking my hand and were like we hope to see you again.

So, will he see Bag Guy again at Fenway?

I probably wont for one reason. I was lucky to go to last nights game. My son is due any day, so Ill probably be taking games off to raise him, said OHara.

We may have seen the last of Bag Guy, but his legend will never die.

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Morning Mail: Red Sox fan wears bag on head, starts social media storm