Eastday-Stem cell donors reaches 3,000 mark

The number of hematopoietic stem cell donors in the Chinese mainland hit 3,000 on Friday, as the country saw a rapid increase in donors over the last four years, an official said.

Hong Junling, director of the China Marrow Donor Program, a nonprofit organization under the auspices of the Red Cross Society of China, said that 3,000 people have donated their blood cells to domestic and overseas patients through the program.

"It took 12 years for the CMDP to witness the growth of stem cell donors from the first case to the 1,000th case from 1996 to 2008, yet the number increased from 1,000 to 3,000 cases within the last four years," he said during a news conference on Friday.

Hematopoietic stem cells are routinely used to treat a series of blood diseases, including leukemia and anemia, according to a leaflet published by the program.

The organization, established in 1992, has become the world's fourth-largest databank of stem cells donors, ranking after the United States, Germany and Brazil, with more than 1.5 million candidate donors listed in its database, Hong said.

"The number of candidate donors who had their blood samples enlisted in the program is expected to reach 2 million in 2015," he said.

The 3,000th donor was Ma Yahui, a 34-year-old woman from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, who had her blood extracted on Thursday at a hospital in Beijing. She received a certificate on Friday from the program with the number "3,000".

"I thought previously that donating stem cells is quite complicated, but I found out it is very simple after my blood was extracted yesterday," she said. "It's similar to donating blood."

The donated stem cells will be transplanted to a 2-year-old boy in South Korea who has leukemia, Ma said.

"I am a mother of a 4-year-old boy, and I felt deep sympathy toward the Korean baby patient," she said. "Saving the life of other people is not so difficultwhat we should do is just reach out our arms and give a little blood to the patients."

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Eastday-Stem cell donors reaches 3,000 mark

NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Report #6 – Video

14-09-2012 14:45 A NASA's Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 1:31:45 am EDT on Aug. 6, which includes the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light. The rover will conduct a nearly two-year prime mission to investigate whether the Gale Crater region of Mars ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life. Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking rocks' elemental composition from a distance, are the first of their kind on Mars. Curiosity will use a drill and scoop, which are located at the end of its robotic arm, to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into the rover's analytical laboratory instruments.

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NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Report #6 - Video

NASA Launches Private Space Taxi Certification Program

PASADENA, Calif. -- With an eye toward breaking Russias monopoly on flying crew to the international space station by 2017, NASA has launched a two-stage certification process aimed at ensuring commercial passenger spaceships currently under development will meet the agencys safety standards, schedule and mission requirements.

NASA expects to award multiple firms a Certification Products Contract (CPC), each of which will run for 15 months and be worth up to $10 million. The program dovetails with the agencys ongoing partnerships with Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Sierra Nevada Corp., to develop privately owned space transportation systems capable of flying astronauts to the space station.

If there are other companies who can demonstrate that they can indeed meet the requirements of the request for proposals, which is that they can develop a system and have already started to do that to a certain point that is integrated, then were certainly willing and very open to anybody to put in a proposal, Commercial Crew Program manager Ed Mango told Space News at the AIAA Space 2012 conference in Pasadena, Calif.

CPCs first phase is scheduled to begin in February and run through May 30, 2014. The timing is intended to influence commercial spaceship design and operations plans early enough to meet NASAs space station mission requirements and minimize potentially costly changes and schedule delays later in the development process.

After three rounds of Space Act Agreements that leveraged U.S. government funding with private investment to stimulate development of passenger spaceships, NASA is shifting to fixed-priced, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based awards for the CPC effort. The first buy will be for data products related to an end-to-end Crew Transportation System (CTS) for an ISS design reference mission, NASA wrote in its Sept. 12 solicitation. [Now Boarding: 10 Private Spaceships Coming Soon]

That includes alternative standards, hazard reports, a verification and validation plan and a certification plan. Phase 2 includes final development, test and verification activities, including at least one and possibly more demonstration missions to the space station.

The government expects that only Phase 1 contractors will be capable of successfully competing for Phase 2, NASA wrote.

NASA intends to run its ongoing, 21-month, $1.1 billion Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) projects with Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada separately from any awards the companies may win under the Certification Products Contract.

They can work in conjunction if folks want to do that, but we, NASA, will keep those separate because one is for public purpose and one is for NASA purpose, Mango said.

The partners themselves, whomever would like to propose for that, are really going to end up making a system that can meet multiple customers hopefully, and if they would like to make one of those customers NASA then we are now telling them through CPC, Heres the requirements you gotta meet. How are you going to meet them? And if you cant meet them, lets talk about that and lets get to a baseline that we can both agree to, Mango said.

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NASA Launches Private Space Taxi Certification Program

Yellow Medicine County Circle programs looking for volunteers

Yellow Medicine County is currently looking for Volunteers for their Circle programs. We have three different types of Circles operating out of the Restorative Justice Department: Circle Sentencing, Family and Community Circle, and Circle of HOPE. The Circle Sentencing process involves members of the community participating in the actual sentencing process for youthful offenders. The Circle will meet with the youth and their support people on a regular basis typically every other week. The victim(s) may also become involved if they wish; and together, the circle, the youth, and possibly the victim, will work to establish goals that will not only rehabilitate the youth but also restore them to their community, building skills that will ensure lasting positive change. The referrals for the Family and Community Circle come directly from Family Services or the Court after a child protection report or child welfare concern has been reported. Family and Community Circle is a strength-based process to enhance the ability of families and communities to keep children and families physically and emotionally safe and unified. Acting thru the Circle, community members and family members play an equal role in encouraging and assisting families to identify and enhance their strengths while searching for solutions. Most recently, Circle of HOPE was developed in the community of Granite Falls. Circle of HOPE provides a community strength-based process to help persons in recovery (from alcoholism/addiction) make a safe and healthy transition to their community upon completion of treatment. The Circle balances support with accountability for those in recovery, helping them maintain sobriety and assist them in making amends. It is important to note that participation in all of the Circles is completely voluntary on the part of participants, whether they are children, parents, or community members. Without the commitment and volunteerism of the community, Circles would not be as successful as they are today. Many people in the community are concerned about crime and the impact it has had on our neighborhoods, schools, and businesses. The Circle Sentencing process allows citizens of the community to directly participate in attempting to reduce crime and negative juvenile behavior, help support victims, and restore youth to their communities. While it is strictly a voluntary effort, it offers the potential for a very personally enriching experience while also providing a great service to the community. If you are interested in volunteering, they are asked to please contact Sharon Hendrichs, Yellow Medicine County Restorative Justice Coordinator at 320-313-3028 or via email at: sharon.hendrichs@co.ym.mn.gov

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Yellow Medicine County Circle programs looking for volunteers

School: Boston doctor was disciplined for viewing adult pornography

From Chris Boyette, CNN

updated 10:44 PM EDT, Fri September 14, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- The Boston Children's Hospital pediatric doctor charged with receipt of child pornography was disciplined for using a school computer to access adult pornography when he was medical director at Phillips Academy boarding school, school officials said Friday.

Richard Keller, 56, who is also a pediatrics clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, was the medical director at Philips Academy for 19 years, according to John Palfrey, the head of the school.

In an e-mail to faculty, staff, students, alumni and parents on Friday, Palfrey said Keller was reprimanded in 1999 for using an academy computer to access pornography that featured adult subjects, and in 2002 was reprimanded for showing an inappropriate cartoon to students.

According to Palfrey, Keller was cited for "poor management and poor judgment," leading the Andover, Massachusetts, school to place him on administrative probation in 2009.

Palfrey went on to say that as recently as 2010, Keller sent an inappropriate voice-mail message to a colleague at the school. A claim by Keller that the school had discriminated against him was determined to be "groundless," according to Palfrey.

In April 2011, the academy informed Keller that his contract would not be renewed. The doctor resigned that month, the school said.

"We have no reason to believe that any of our students were involved in, or affected by, Dr. Keller's alleged criminal behavior," Palfrey said, adding the federal case made Thursday against Keller is unrelated to alleged misconduct at Phillips.

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School: Boston doctor was disciplined for viewing adult pornography

School: Doctor was disciplined for viewing adult pornography

From Chris Boyette, CNN

updated 10:44 PM EDT, Fri September 14, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- The Boston Children's Hospital pediatric doctor charged with receipt of child pornography was disciplined for using a school computer to access adult pornography when he was medical director at Phillips Academy boarding school, school officials said Friday.

Richard Keller, 56, who is also a pediatrics clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, was the medical director at Philips Academy for 19 years, according to John Palfrey, the head of the school.

In an e-mail to faculty, staff, students, alumni and parents on Friday, Palfrey said Keller was reprimanded in 1999 for using an academy computer to access pornography that featured adult subjects, and in 2002 was reprimanded for showing an inappropriate cartoon to students.

According to Palfrey, Keller was cited for "poor management and poor judgment," leading the Andover, Massachusetts, school to place him on administrative probation in 2009.

Palfrey went on to say that as recently as 2010, Keller sent an inappropriate voice-mail message to a colleague at the school. A claim by Keller that the school had discriminated against him was determined to be "groundless," according to Palfrey.

In April 2011, the academy informed Keller that his contract would not be renewed. The doctor resigned that month, the school said.

"We have no reason to believe that any of our students were involved in, or affected by, Dr. Keller's alleged criminal behavior," Palfrey said, adding the federal case made Thursday against Keller is unrelated to alleged misconduct at Phillips.

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School: Doctor was disciplined for viewing adult pornography

Boxing legend Ali accepts Liberty Medal

The Liberty Medal, one of Philadelphia's highest honors, is bestowed upon those of "courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe."

Past recipients include Nelson Mandela, Sandra Day O'Connor and Steven Spielberg.

Ali, 70, was honored not only for being a boxing champion but for championing religious freedom, freedom of speech and racial equality.

Speakers at the ceremony outside the Constitution Center included basketball great Dikembe Mutombo, actor Terrence Howard and Ali's daughter, boxer Laila Ali. But perhaps the most moving speech was given by Joe Louis Barrow II, son of legendary boxer Joe Louis.

"Knowing [Ali] since I was a little boy has given me a ringside seat to history," Barrow said.

Barrow spoke of how his father had volunteered to serve in World War II whereas Ali refused to serve in the Vietnam War, citing his religious beliefs.

"In different ways, you both defended the ideal of the Constitution," he said. "And time has shown you were both on the right side of history."

Barrow choked up as he recalled how on the day of his father's funeral, Ali performed a magic trick just for him.

"You put your large hand on my very small shoulder, and on that day, far away from the bright lights, you gave a scared little boy the courage to face the challenges of a lifetime," he said. "For that, I can simply say, 'Thank you. I love you.' "

Because Parkinson's disease has made it difficult for Ali to speak, his wife, Lonnie, spoke on his behalf.

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Boxing legend Ali accepts Liberty Medal

Liberty Trail to include nod to Richmond's Slave Trail

The organizer of a proposed Liberty Trail through Richmond agreed this week to incorporate several key sites from the city's Slave Trail, including Lumpkin's Jail and the African Burial Ground, after a backlash from the Richmond Slave Trail Commission.

Valentine Richmond History Center Director William J. Martin, who is spearheading the Liberty Trail project, also agreed to include the commission in the development of the trail.

Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, the commission's chairwoman, last week said the draft map of the Liberty Trail was unacceptable and called for inclusion of the Slave Trail.

"It is a part of Richmond's history," McQuinn said. "It should under no circumstances be left out."

Martin said he and other participants in the Greater Richmond Chamber's Liberty Trail project "probably moved too quickly" to create the trail.

Martin called the exclusion of all slave sites an oversight, adding that he always planned for the Slave Trail to be included on maps. In the past 20 years, Richmond has unearthed its history as one of the nation's largest slave trade markets.

When the Slave Trail Commission first saw the proposed Liberty Trail map on Sept. 6, members expressed frustration that it did not incorporate important slave-history sites and did not mention the Slave Trail. They also said they were disappointed not to have been consulted in the creation of the Liberty Trail map, which circles through the Jackson Ward Historic District and past the Maggie Walker House.

Chamber members were inspired to create the trail during the chamber's InterCity trip to Boston this year, where they toured that city's Freedom Trail. Martin said last week that the 6-mile Liberty Trail course had been intended to link 14 of Richmond's 17 National Historic Landmarks and was designed to complement the Slave Trail.

Martin said he apologized in the Wednesday meeting with McQuinn, which was also attended by City Councilwoman Cynthia I. Newbille, a commission member, and city tourism coordinator Anedra Bourne.

Newbille could not be reached for comment Thursday. Bourne, who delivered the maps to the commission, said she was not involved in planning the Liberty Trail.

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Liberty Trail to include nod to Richmond's Slave Trail

Affordable Health Care Act Explained by Dr. Amer Kaissi – Video

15-09-2012 02:59 On Sept. 11, 2012, the League of Women Voters of San Antonio hosted a discussion on Health Care Reform After the Supreme Court Decision. The factual, non-partisan talk on the strengths and weaknesses of the Affordable Care Act was led by Trinity University's Dr. Amer Kaissi.

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Affordable Health Care Act Explained by Dr. Amer Kaissi - Video

Health care law saved an estimated $2.1 billion for consumers

The health care law the Affordable Care Act has saved consumers an estimated $2.1 billion on health insurance premiums, according to a new report released today (Sept. 11) by the Department of Health and Human Services. For the first time ever, new rate review rules in the health care law prevent insurance companies in all states from raising rates with no accountability or transparency. To date, rate review has helped save an estimated $1 billion for Americans. Additionally, the laws Medical Loss Ratio (or 80/20) rule is helping deliver rebates worth $1.1 billion to nearly 13 million consumers.

The health care law is holding insurance companies accountable and saving billions of dollars for families across the country, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. Thanks to the law, our health care system is more transparent and more competitive, and thats saving Americans real money.

Beginning Sept. 1, 2011, the health care law implemented federal rate review standards. These rules ensure that, in every state, insurance companies are required to publicly submit for review and justify their actions if they want to raise rates by 10 percent or more.

To assist states in this effort, the Affordable Care Act provides states with Health Insurance Rate Review Grants to enhance their rate review programs and bring greater transparency to the process. Forty two states have used their rate review grant funds to make the rate review process stronger and more transparent.

This initiative is one of many in the health care law aimed at saving money for consumers and specifically works in conjunction with the 80/20 rule, which requires insurance companies to generally spend 80 percent of premiums on health care or provide rebates to their customers. Insurance companies that did not meet the 80/20 rule will provide nearly 13 million Americans with more than $1.1 billion in rebates this year. Americans receiving the rebate will benefit from an average rebate of $151 per household. The rate review report released today is available at: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/resources/reports/rate-review09112012a.html.

Information on how states are using their rate review grant funds is available at: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/resources/reports/rate-review09202011a.pdf

General information about rate review is available at: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/costs/rate-review/

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Health care law saved an estimated $2.1 billion for consumers

Report: Sutter Health probed

It's a fact of life in California health care the clout wielded by the state's big hospital chains.

Now California's attorney general has launched an antitrust investigation into some of the state's top hospital chains and their affiliated physicians' groups, to see if consolidation means inordinately higher prices.

Sacramento's Sutter Health and San Francisco's Dignity Health are among those getting subpoenas from Attorney General Kamala Harris, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Quoting anonymous sources, the Journal said the probe began several months ago. Lynda Gledhill, Harris' press secretary, wouldn't confirm or deny the story.

But one of the hospital chains targeted, Scripps Health of San Diego, confirmed it has received a subpoena "related to antitrust issues. We understand other health systems throughout the state have been contacted, as well."

Health care economist Joanne Spetz said it isn't surprising regulators would be looking at hospital chains in Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego, which she called "the most consolidated markets in the state."

"Sutter and Dignity really have the Sacramento and San Francisco areas pretty well locked up, particularly Sacramento," said Spetz, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. "More consolidated hospital markets have higher fees," she added.

Sutter declined to confirm if it had received a subpoena. A Dignity spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.

Patrick Johnston, president of the California Association of Health Plans, an insurers group, said Northern California hospitals are usually costlier than Southern California's.

Consolidation isn't the only factor, but "generally there is more competition in Southern California," he said.

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Report: Sutter Health probed

Prop. 37: Another example of the perils of the initiative process

Love it or hate it, the one thing you can say for sure about California's ballot initiative process is that it's the absolute worst way to craft policy dealing with complex scientific issues.

That doesn't stop advocates on one side or another from constantly trying, with the result that the public's understanding of the underlying facts plummets faster than you can say, well, "Proposition 37."

Proposition 37 is on November's ballot. The measure would require some, but not all, food sold in California and produced via genetic engineering to be labeled as such. (There are exemptions for milk, restaurant food and other products.)

Genetic engineering, or genetic modification, which involves manipulating DNA or transferring it from one species to another, is increasingly common in agriculture and food processing, and wouldn't be banned or even regulated by the measure. Genetic engineering has pluses and minuses. It can increase crop yields and pest resistance. But it can also affect the environment in negative ways pollen or seeds from genetically engineered crops can be spread by wind, birds or insects to territory where they're unwanted, for example.

Once you've said that, you've said pretty much everything that's known to be relevant to Proposition 37. The rest is baloney, of the non-genetically engineered variety.

So what does this mean for you? It means that between now and election day your airwaves are likely to be filled with steaming piles of fatuous nonsense about genetically engineered foods (which will be depicted as horrifically perilous or absolutely safe), about trial lawyers, about struggling mom-and-pop grocery stores, about the evils of multinational agribusinesses and federal regulators. You'll be presented with learned scientific and economic studies on both sides, and they'll almost certainly be misleading, incomplete or irrelevant, though they'll sound pretty danged convincing.

This will all come to you courtesy of war chests that are already in the neighborhood of $30 million, total.

Great initiative system we have here in the Golden State. As a procedure for producing rational law, it could only be designed by a mad scientist working with rogue DNA.

Let's start with the Yes on 37 campaign. It describes its bottom line as your right to know what's in your food; so what's wrong with mandating explicit labeling? That's fair as far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far. The danger in enacting rules like this is that while they sound perfectly reasonable, they distract from the need for thoughtful and effective regulation and for action at the Legislature, not the ballot box.

"All consumers should have a right to know how their food is produced," observes Gregory Jaffe, head of the biotechnology project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is no crony of the food industry. "But that includes not merely genetic engineering, but irradiated foods and those produced from cloning."

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Prop. 37: Another example of the perils of the initiative process

Pope Calls for Religious Freedom

Pope Benedict XVI appealed Saturday for religious freedom in the Middle East, calling it fundamental for stability in a region bloodied by sectarian strife.

Benedict spoke on the second day of his visit to Lebanon, a country with the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East. He arrived amid a wave of violent demonstrations over an anti-Islam film across the Muslim world.

"Let us not forget that religious freedom is a fundamental right from which many other rights stem," he said, speaking in French to government officials, foreign diplomats and religious leaders at the president palace in Mount Lebanon in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

He held up Lebanon, which is still rebuilding from a devastating 1975-1990 civil war largely fought on sectarian lines, as an example of coexistence for the region.

He said Christians and Muslims in Lebanon share the same space at times in the same family and asked, "If it is possible in families why not in entire societies?" Marriages where husband and wife are from different religious groups are not uncommon in Lebanon.

AP

He said the freedom to practice one's religion "without danger to life and liberty must be possible to everyone."

Enthusiastic crowds lined the streets and cheered along the 30-kilometer motorcade route to the palace as Benedict went by in the bullet-proof glass popemobile. Soldiers in horseback rode ahead of the car.

As the pope arrived in the presidential compound, officials released about 20 white doves.

Just hours after the pope arrived Friday, violence erupted in northern Lebanon over "Innocence of Muslims," a film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad, portraying him as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.

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Pope Calls for Religious Freedom

The takeaway: Olympia mistakes prove costly in Freedom victory

Olympia, you want to know the secret for beating Freedom next year? Score at least 40 points. Following Friday nights 38-29 victory by Freedom, coach Andy Johnson let his players in on a developing trend during his post-game speech. Last year, Johnsons birthday was on the day the Patriots played Olympia. He turned 37. That night, Freedom rallied to beat Olympia 37-28. This year, Johnson turns 38 today(Saturday). On Friday night, Freedom gave him a birthday present by rallying to beat Olympia 38-29. Next year is Johnsons 39th birthday. So Olympia, now you know what you have to do. Seriously though, Olympia (1-2) is a talented team. Ranked No. 5 in the Sentinel Super 16, but one thing that the Titans need to do is quit committing so many mistakes. Last week, the Titans fell asleep on a fake punt attempt against No. 1 Dr. Phillips and that play seemed to change the momentum in the game. Though Olympia turned the tables Friday night, running a fake punt of its own and turning it into a 55-yard touchdown run, there were too many penalties, too many miscues for the Titans to overcome. The most glaring of which: two consecutive penalties on an extra-point attempt that moved the ball inside the 1 allowing Freedom to convert a 2-point try and take the lead for good at 22-21; a slip on a squib kick that allowed Freedom to recover and go in for another touchdown; a dropped pass that surely would have been six points and a horse collar tackle penalty that set Freedom up in prime territory in what turned out to be the game-icing touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Freedom (2-1), the No. 16 team in the rankings, didnt play error free ball, either it has a fumble returned 30 yards for touchdown and a pass was intercepted in the end zone, but it played well enough to pull out the victory.

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The takeaway: Olympia mistakes prove costly in Freedom victory

Freedom twice in 42 seconds, upsets Olympia | Video

Freedom quarterback Jimmy Kealy ran for three touchdowns and the Patriots scored twice in a span of 42 seconds of the third quarter Friday night in a 38-29 upset of Olympia.

Kealy scored on runs of 2, 17 and 6 yards the final touchdown coming midway through the fourth quarter and sealing the victory.

Olympia running back John Armstrong also ran for three touchdowns

"It felt really good to get three touchdowns rushing," Kealy said. "The first two games we have been passing a lot and we threw a good bit tonight, but we thought we would be able to run. The offensive line was blocking really good."

The game turned around in that 42-second span of the third quarter.

Olympia (1-2), No. 5 in the Sentinel Super 16, held a 21-14 lead at halftime but mistakes by the Titans were costly in the third quarter.

Freedom (2-1), No. 16 in the rankings, got the 17-yard run by Kealy with 9:30 left in the third. Twice on the extra point try, Olympia was penalized, moving the ball to inside the 1. Instead of trying for the extra point a third time, Freedom coach Andy Johnson sent his offense on the field and Kealy scored the 2-point conversion, putting the Patriots up 22-21.

Then on the kickoff, the Patriots used a squib kick.

An Olympia player trying to field the ball slipped on the field and Freedom's Robin Nezius recovered at the Olympia 33. Four plays later Devin Cortese scored on a 10-yard run with 8:48 left in the third quarter.

The mistakes continued for Olympia, as receiver Joe Gallagher couldn't hang onto a pass after he got free deep and quarterback Deondre Francois' pass was tipped in the end zone and intercepted by Stephon Williams.

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Freedom twice in 42 seconds, upsets Olympia | Video