Singer Michelle Shocked sits in at canceled show

Alternative folk singer Michelle Shocked sits outside Moe?s Alley nightclub in Santa Cruz Calif., and strums her guitar on Thursday, March 28, 2013. After her show was canceled when she made an anti-gay slur earlier this month. Shocked had her face covered and her mouth taped shut. She dressed in a white disposable safety suit and invited people to write on it. (AP Photo

Alternative folk singer Michelle Shocked sits outside Moe?s Alley nightclub in Santa Cruz Calif., and strums her guitar on Thursday, March 28, 2013. After her show was canceled when she made an anti-gay slur earlier this month. Shocked had her face covered and her mouth taped shut. She dressed in a white disposable safety suit and invited people to write on it. (AP Photo

Alternative folk singer Michelle Shocked sits outside Moe?s Alley nightclub in Santa Cruz Calif., and strums her guitar on Thursday, March 28, 2013. After her show was canceled when she made an anti-gay slur earlier this month. Shocked had her face covered and her mouth taped shut. She dressed in a white disposable safety suit and invited people to write on it. (AP Photo

Alternative folk singer Michelle Shocked stands reading the signs outside Moe?s Alley nightclub in Santa Cruz Calif., on Thursday, March 28, 2013. After her show was canceled following making an anti-gay slur earlier this month. Shocked had her face covered and her mouth taped shut. She dressed in a white disposable safety suit and invited people to write on it. (AP Photo/Thomas Mendoza)

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) ? Her show had been cancelled, but that didn't stop alternative folk and rock singer Michelle Shocked from showing up at a Santa Cruz nightclub where she staged a sit-in with tape across her mouth that read "Silenced By Fear."

Moe's Alley was one of several nightclubs that cancelled Shocked's gigs after she made what were considered anti-gay comments during a rambling outburst at a show earlier this month.

On Thursday evening, Moe's Alley owner Bill Welch had replaced her with two local bands that support gay rights, Beaver Fever and Frootie Flavors.

"We will not be bashing Michelle Shocked," he said. "Rather, we will celebrate music, diversity and send some healing Santa Cruz energy her way."

Sitting on the ground outside the venue and strumming her guitar, Shocked was largely ignored and refused to speak. She pointed to a sign inviting people to pick up a Sharpie marker and write on the white disposable safety suit she was wearing.

Earlier this week in an email to The Associated Press and other media, Shocked apologized and said her comments during the San Francisco show were misinterpreted.

"Of course the fault for that is completely my own, and I cannot and do not blame anyone for defending the gay community," she wrote.

On Thursday night, she posted signs that read "Does speech scare you that much?" and on her back she had scrawled "Gimme Wit, Not Spit."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-29-US-People-Michelle-Shocked/id-a961389b64b8424fa6fe2132244c6ae5

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Austrian police chase herd of cattle through town

VIENNA (AP) ? Austrian police and firefighters have taken on the role of urban cowboys in a two-day round-up of a herd of cattle that broke out of a fenced-off pasture and decided to go into town.

A police statement says the 43 steers defied attempts by police and volunteer firefighters to recapture them after wandering off Thursday and heading toward the Upper Austrian town of Freistadt. After being chased away from the railway station, they endangered motorists by stampeding onto a two-lane highway before running into a town suburb.

Two firefighters who tried to stop them were injured and needed hospital treatment.

The statement says 18 of the animals remain on the loose Friday. The rest have been corralled or tranquilized.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/austrian-police-chase-herd-cattle-town-120729765.html

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How pap smears could detect ovarian, uterine cancer | MNN ...

Pap smear tests, which screen for cervical cancer, may help identify ovarian and uterine cancer as well, a new study suggests.

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That's because the cervical fluid collected during a Pap smear can contain cells, including cancer cells, that have been shed from the ovaries or endometrium (the lining of the uterus). During the study, researchers developed a test to look for genetic markers of ovarian and endometrial cancers that were present in the cervical fluid. (The new test requires cervical fluid from a Pap smear, but analyzes it in a different way than does the test for cervical cancer.)

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Among women already known to have these cancers, the test correctly identified 100 percent of endometrial cancers, and 41 percent of ovarian cancers. Fourteen healthy women also had the test, and none were identify as having cancer.

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Currently, there are no recommended screening tests for ovarian or endometrial cancer. Proposed screening tests for these cancers, such as a blood test for ovarian cancer, often turn up false positive results, meaning they identify "red flags" that turn out not to be cancer.

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The new test, or one like it, might one day be used to screen for ovarian and endometrial cancer, but the researchers stress much more work needs to be done before this could happen. Researchers need to study the test in a much larger group of women, and investigate whether or not it can find cancer in its earliest stages.

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In the United States, about 15,000 women die from ovarian cancer and 8,000 die from endometrial cancer each year. Symptoms of ovarian cancer are vague, and women with the disease are often not diagnosed until the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. [See 5 Things Women Should Know About Ovarian Cancer.] ??Endometrial cancer is typically diagnosed early when symptoms such as vaginal bleeding occur.

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During a Pap smear, doctors use a brush to collect samples of cells from the cervix, which are then studied under a microscope for signs of cancer. Recently, researchers have started testing cervical samples for DNA from human papillomavirus, or HPV, a virus that can cause cervical cancer.

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Using a method similar to HPV testing, the new test looks for DNA from ovarian and endometrial cancer cells. To create the test, the researchers identified genes that are frequently mutated in ovarian and endometrial cancer. The test, known as PapGene, screens for these abnormal genes.

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The researchers tested PapGene on Pap smear samples from 22 women with ovarian cancer and 24 women with endometrial cancer. The test identified all 24 endometrial cancers, and nine out of 22 ovarian cancers.

The cost of PapGene could be similar to that for HPV testing, which is about $100, the researchers said.

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A few changes might improve the ability of PapGene to detect ovarian cancer, such as inserting the cervical brush deeper into the cervical canal during a Pap smear, or finding more genetic markers of the disease, said study researcher Dr. Chetan Bettegowda, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University.

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But it could be that the biology of ovarian cancer may not always lend itself to this type of testing. "Perhaps only a proportion of ovarian cancers would have cells or DNA that are shed in sufficient quantities for detection [in the cervix]," Dr. Shannon Westin, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.

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The study and editorial are published today (Jan. 9) in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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Pass it on: A new test looks for genetic markers of ovarian and endometrial cancers in samples collected from Pap smears.

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Related on MyHealthNewsDaily and MNN:

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This story was originally written for MyHealthNewsDaily and is republished with permission here. Copyright 2013 MyHealthNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company.

Source: http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/how-pap-smears-could-detect-ovarian-uterine-cancer

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Molecule's structure reveals new therapeutic opportunities for rare diabetes

Mar. 13, 2013 ? Researchers have determined the complete three-dimensional structure of a protein called HNF-4?. HNF-4? controls gene expression in the liver and pancreas, switching genes on or off as needed. People with mature onset diabetes of the young (MODY1), a rare form of the disease, have inherited mutations in the HNF-4? protein. This first-ever look at HNF-4?'s full structure, published today in Nature, uncovers new information about how it functions. The study also reveals new pockets in the protein that could be targeted with therapeutic drugs aimed at alleviating MODY1.

"Previous structural studies of HNF-4? and related nuclear receptors only revealed smaller, isolated fragments of these proteins," said Fraydoon Rastinejad, Ph.D., professor in Sanford-Burnham's Diabetes and Obesity Research Center, located at the Institute's Lake Nona campus in Orlando, Fla., and senior author of the study. "Because those studies looked only at separate pieces of HNF-4?, many people suspected there was no coordination between different regions of the protein. But we showed those assumptions are incorrect. HNF-4?'s domains are highly organized in a way that has implications for our understanding of MODY1 and the development of treatments for the disease."

Implications for MODY1

Rastinejad's study helps explain why inherited genetic mutations that alter HNF-4? protein structure can be so damaging. The mutations that lead to MODY1 usually occur within a very small, specific region of the HNF-4? protein that's separate from the DNA-binding region. Rastinejad and his team found that, despite their distant location, the mutations telegraph a signal to the DNA-binding region, causing HNF-4? to malfunction and thus MODY1 to develop.

The team also discovered new pockets in the HNF-4? protein that could be targeted with therapeutic drugs. Like other nuclear receptors, HNF-4? has a pocket that binds natural signaling molecules or could be targeted with synthetic drugs. But this new study revealed several other pockets in other regions of the protein. And because they also found cross-communication among different regions on the protein, the team believes that a drug binding a distant pocket could still influence DNA binding.

"We're now working with our colleagues in Sanford-Burnham's Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics to screen a large chemical library -- a collection of around 300,000 compounds -- to find molecules that bind to these newly discovered HNF-4? sites," Rastinejad said. "We're looking for molecules that restore DNA binding in MODY1 patients. This way, even if we can't fix the mutation, we can still send a molecule to rescue the receptor's ability to tightly bind DNA."

More about HNF-4?

HNF-4? is a special type of protein called a nuclear receptor. It sits on the DNA in a cell, controlling thousands of genes by switching them on or off in response to outside signals. Nuclear receptors make good drug targets because one region is bound to DNA, while a pocket sits open on another part of the protein, just waiting to hold a signaling molecule. Therapeutic drugs can also be made to fit these pockets, switching the nuclear receptor on or off to alter gene expression.

Until this latest study, many researchers believed that most nuclear receptors are organized like beads on a string. Each bead (protein domain) has a function, but the string itself is just loose. Rastinejad and his team showed that the opposite is true. HNF-4?'s domains are organized and coordinated -- a domain that receives a signal can actually transmit it to a distant site on the protein. According to Rastinejad, the domains are interconnected, talking to one another.

HNF-4? is found mostly in liver and pancreatic cells, where it turns on genes needed by those organs and keeps other, unnecessary genes off. HNF-4? helps control carbohydrate metabolism, glucose regulation, insulin production, and many other important processes. In other words, HNF-4? is what makes a liver a liver and a pancreas a pancreas.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. The original article was written by Heather Buschman.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Vikas Chandra, Pengxiang Huang, Nalini Potluri, Dalei Wu, Youngchang Kim, Fraydoon Rastinejad. Multidomain integration in the structure of the HNF-4? nuclear receptor complex. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature11966

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/6xyCDKD4kuM/130313142602.htm

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Anemia drug does not improve health of anemic heart failure patients, study shows

Mar. 10, 2013 ? Researchers from Cleveland Clinic and Sweden-based Sahlgrenska University Hospital have found that a commonly used drug to treat anemia in heart failure patients -darbepoetin alfa -- does not improve patients' health, nor does it reduce their risk of death from heart failure.

Results of the international study were presented at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting in San Francisco on March 10 and published simultaneously online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Initiated in 2006, the RED-HF (Reduction of Events With Darbepoetin Alfa in Heart Failure) trial involved 2,278 anemic heart failure patients at 453 sites in 33 countries. Patients were randomly given either darbepoetin alfa or placebo. In the darbepoetin alfa group, 50.7 percent of the patients experienced death from any cause or hospitalization for worsening heart failure. In the placebo group, 49.5 percent of the patients experienced similar clinical outcomes. The trial was funded by Amgen, the maker of darbepoetin alfa (trade name: Aranesp).

"This landmark study provides answers to caregivers who treat patients with heart failure complicated by anemia," said James Young, M.D., cardiologist and Chair of the Cleveland Clinic Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute, and co-investigator of the RED-HF trial. "Our findings do not support the use of darbepoetin alfa to treat anemic heart failure patients."

Anemia, the lack of red blood cells, is a common and serious problem in people who suffer from heart failure. It can lead to worse quality of life, higher rates of hospitalization and death. Treatment options have focused on correcting anemia with the use of intravenous iron or drugs that stimulate red blood cells.

"The benefits of erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs) such as darbepoetin alfa to treat patients with heart failure and anemia have been questioned due to contradictory research findings," said Karl Swedberg, M.D., Ph.D., a senior professor at the Sweden-based Department of Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital and co-investigator of the RED-HF trial. "Our study results show that the use of darbepoetin alfa to stimulate the production of red blood cells is an ineffective treatment for patients with heart failure and anemia."

According to the study, researchers found that darbepoetin alfa treatment led to an early and sustained increase in hemoglobin compared with placebo. However, darbepoetin alfa treatment did not reduce the risk of death from any cause or hospitalization from heart failure. Findings suggest that hemoglobin is a marker of poor prognosis in heart failure, rather than a therapeutic target. There were no new safety findings identified in the study. However, researchers observed an increased risk of thrombosis in the darbepoetin alfa group.

Researchers note that further research is needed to identify treatment options for this patient population.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cleveland Clinic, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Karl Swedberg, James B. Young, Inder S. Anand, Sunfa Cheng, Akshay S. Desai, Rafael Diaz, Aldo P. Maggioni, John J.V. McMurray, Christopher O'Connor, Marc A. Pfeffer, Scott D. Solomon, Yan Sun, Michal Tendera, Dirk J. van Veldhuisen. Treatment of Anemia with Darbepoetin Alfa in Systolic Heart Failure. New England Journal of Medicine, 2013; : 130310164504007 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1214865

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/O5UNS2lx9C8/130311091539.htm

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Obama friend or foe? McCain charts his course

FILE - In this March 7, 2013 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republican McCain is a walking contradiction, assailing President Barack Obama over Libya and Syria one minute, cooperating with him the next on immigration and the budget. As friend or foe, the five-term Arizona senator _ his party?s presidential candidate in 2008 _ is giving Washington whiplash. He insists he's consistent. Whatever the issue, McCain is involved in nearly every hot topic. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this March 7, 2013 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republican McCain is a walking contradiction, assailing President Barack Obama over Libya and Syria one minute, cooperating with him the next on immigration and the budget. As friend or foe, the five-term Arizona senator _ his party?s presidential candidate in 2008 _ is giving Washington whiplash. He insists he's consistent. Whatever the issue, McCain is involved in nearly every hot topic. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., second from right, speaks with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, as he arrives for the start of his confirmation hearing to become the next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, center seated, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. is at left. Republican McCain is a walking contradiction, assailing President Barack Obama over Libya and Syria one minute, cooperating with him the next on immigration and the budget. As friend or foe, the five-term Arizona senator _ his party?s presidential candidate in 2008 _ is giving Washington whiplash. He insists he's consistent. Whatever the issue, McCain is involved in nearly every hot topic. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., second from right, speaks with committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, as he arrives for the start of his confirmation hearing to become the next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, center seated, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. is at left. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2013 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., confer during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Republican McCain is a walking contradiction, assailing President Barack Obama over Libya and Syria one minute, cooperating with him the next on immigration and the budget. As friend or foe, the five-term Arizona senator _ his party?s presidential candidate in 2008 _ is giving Washington whiplash. He insists he's consistent. Whatever the issue, McCain is involved in nearly every hot topic. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Senate Armed Services Committee members, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. confer on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, at the start of the committee's hearing on the appointments of military leaders. The two Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense. While Democrats hold a 55-45 edge in the Senate and have the numbers to confirm Hagel on a majority vote, they need the support of five Republicans to clear the way for an up-or-down vote on him. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2008 file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., points to the crowd during a rally in Henderson, Nev. FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., second from right, speaks with Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, as he arrives for the start of his confirmation hearing to become the next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, center seated, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. is at left. Republican McCain is a walking contradiction, assailing President Barack Obama over Libya and Syria one minute, cooperating with him the next on immigration and the budget. As friend or foe, the five-term Arizona senator _ his party?s presidential candidate in 2008 _ is giving Washington whiplash. He insists he's consistent. Whatever the issue, McCain is involved in nearly every hot topic. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican Sen. John McCain is a walking contradiction, antagonizing President Barack Obama over foreign policy one minute, cooperating with the Democrat the next on immigration and the budget.

So who is the real McCain?

There's the national security expert pounding the Obama administration with words like "cover-up" and "incompetence" over the deadly assault in Libya last September, snarling about the administration's lack of backbone on Syria and ripping into Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel over the Iraq war.

But there's also the Arizona lawmaker reviving his past bipartisan effort on immigration by reaching out to Obama, the man who beat him for the presidency in 2008, as well as several Senate Democrats. Frustrated with the endless cycle of fiscal crises, McCain recently was part of a small group of GOP senators to talk budget at a dinner with the president.

In the first months of the year, McCain as friend or foe has given Washington whiplash. The swings seem even more pronounced as the 76-year-old lawmaker, perhaps in his last term, relishes more independence while Obama, also unencumbered electorally, pursues an ambitious second-term agenda.

The white-haired, fast-moving McCain ? presidential candidate in 2000 and 2008, and congressman and senator for some three decades ? insists that he has been consistent all along, working with any president while being outspoken when he has differences with the nation's leader. Short-hand interpretations, McCain says, miss the mark of a man who doesn't suffer fools gladly.

"I will always do what I think is right whether it be Republican or Democrat president," McCain said in a recent interview in his Capitol Hill office.

He quickly adds: "When I disagreed with George Bush on what was happening in Iraq and said (Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld ought to be fired and advocated a surge and voted against Medicare part D, it was the brave maverick standing up against George Bush. When I disagree with Barack Obama on Syria, Libya and other issues, it's the grumpy old man, angry old man."

McCain said that description is the furthest from the truth.

"The last thing I am is bitter and angry. ...I've had the most full life. I would compare my life to anybody that I've ever known and it's been one of great good fortune and I'm grateful every day," said McCain.

He later ticks off a lifetime of near-death experiences ? surviving the July 1967 fire and explosion on the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors, flying into power lines in Spain, the October 1967 shoot down of his Navy aircraft and fall into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi and 5? years in a North Vietnamese prison.

Whether confrontational or conciliatory, one thing is clear: McCain is ubiquitous, front and center on nearly every issue.

He's challenged some members of Obama's national security team ? U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Hagel ? while delivering a full-throated endorsement of his friend, Secretary of State John Kerry. He's tangled with the tea party wing of the Republican Party over cuts to defense spending and the administration's use of drones in the war on terror. He's called for an overhaul of the nation's immigration system with a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants. He's a mainstay on the Sunday talk shows.

"He's easily bored," joked Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., McCain's ever-present friend and ally.

Former McCain aides, always loyal to the boss, point to a confluence of issues this year that have always been the senator's expertise, from national security to immigration. Democrats observe that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the GOP's No. 2, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, face the constraints of re-election races next year and the need to protect their right flank from a tea party challenge.

That creates an opening for McCain, the Senate GOP's version of a free agent.

"His independence gives him more credibility really within the caucus and I think outside the caucus," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. "Plus he's no shrinking violet, so he doesn't mind saying what he thinks."

McCain is a throwback to another Arizona Republican who pursued the presidency in 1964, suffered a bitter rejection and then returned to the Senate to compile a list of accomplishments. Fittingly, McCain's office is a testament to a unique political symmetry with Barry Goldwater.

McCain uses Goldwater's desk and in the back corner of his office is a series of black-and-white photographs of Navajo Indians that Goldwater took in the 1930s. Other photos and documents are a reminder of McCain's work with Democrats, particularly the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

It's that type of bipartisanship that's in vogue again.

McCain is involved in negotiations with a group of eight Republicans and Democrats on immigration, including Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio and Graham, and describes himself as "guardedly optimistic" about working out a deal. He and Graham met with Obama at the White House two weeks ago.

"He's willing to give us a shot at it," McCain said of Obama. "I think he wants a bipartisan solution the same way Bush wanted Kennedy and I to come forward."

Political divisions within the Republican ranks scuttled McCain-Kennedy efforts on immigration in 2005 and then again in 2007 in the lead-up to the presidential election. Even McCain, pressured by the GOP presidential primaries, spent more time talking border security than citizenship.

This year, after Hispanics overwhelmingly backed Obama and Democrats in the 2012 election, the GOP recognized it had a major problem.

"As far as Republicans are concerned I think there's a growing realization that the only way we can get on a level playing field for our Hispanic constituents is to get this done," McCain said.

He said he had a middle-of-the-night thought about the bill's name.

"If we ever pass this immigration reform, we should name it after Ted. He certainly devoted a hell a lot of his blood and sweat," McCain said.

On a crowded wall in a room outside his office, McCain finds a framed cover from National Review with a photograph of himself and Kennedy from past immigration fights and a personal note from the Democrat. He fondly remembers Kennedy's style, which sounds a lot like McCain's.

"Do I fight? Do I enjoy it in the arena? Hell yeah, but that doesn't mean that I'm angry. It means that I like to go in and do battle with them. My favorite was Ted Kennedy. We would go face to face. One time we were right at each other, and then walked off the floor and Ted said, 'we did pretty good, didn't we?'"

How much longer McCain keeps fighting in the Senate is uncertain. He is up for re-election in 2016 when he'll be 80 years old and says he does not want to overstay. His mother Roberta turned 101 last month and McCain jokes that based on her standards, he's just getting started.

"What I would do in a couple of years is go around, talk to people, the usual machinations," he said of a possible re-election bid, quickly adding: "I do not want to stay too long as I've seen some former colleagues."

Many of the old gang is gone. Kennedy died in 2009. McCain's best buddy, Joe Lieberman, retired from the Senate last year. McCain still talks about how the Democrat-turned-independent might have been his running mate in 2008 if it weren't for his support for abortion rights that never would have been accepted by the Republican Party.

"I miss him every day," McCain says.

___

Donna Cassata can be followed on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/DonnaCassataAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-11-McCain's%20Moment/id-3d3d9fe083354fb39b2834390490f226

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'Sinkhole Season' Underway Across Florida

SEFFNER, Fla. -- As crews entombed a man who was swallowed by a sinkhole near Tampa, the earth opened up again just a few miles away. On Tuesday, in a neighboring county, officials investigated reports of a home cracking, perhaps due to another sinkhole.

Across Florida this time of year, it's the start of what's unofficially considered the "sinkhole season," State Geologist Jonathan Arthur said. It coincides with the beginning of the state's rainy season and usually lasts until the end of summer.

"Florida is famous for bugs, alligators, pythons, hurricanes and now sinkholes," said Larry McKinnon, a Hillsborough sheriff's office spokesman. "I think our salvation is that for most of the time, our weather is picture-perfect."

But it's also the weather ? along with man-made factors ? that exacerbate sinkholes, experts said.

Arthur said February is usually when the state is at its driest, but it's also the start of the rainy season. Acidic rain can, over time, eat away the limestone and natural caverns that lie under much of the state, causing sinkholes. Both extremely dry weather and very wet weather can trigger sinkholes, he said.

"An extensive drought can cause soil and sediment over a cavity to be extremely dry and collapse," said Arthur.

On the other hand, following Tropical Storm Debby in 2012, dozens of sinkholes formed in counties north of Tampa because of the rain.

In Hillsborough County, an area particularly susceptible to sinkholes, 37-year-old Jeff Bush was killed last week when a hole opened up underneath his bedroom. Engineering experts have said it is too dangerous to retrieve Bush's body, so they demolished the home and filled the hole with gravel.

Hillsborough County is in a moderate drought, but engineers and county officials don't know exactly why the sinkhole formed in Seffner, and said they will likely never know.

The county has had 1.56 inches of rainfall since Jan. 1; it usually averages about 5.41 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

In Pinellas County, about 30 miles away from Seffner, fire-rescue workers in the community of Palm Harbor said they asked two people to evacuate a home after the residents reported "extensive cracking on the interior and exterior of the home." A county building inspector said the home was safe to live in, but the homeowner was seeking an engineer's opinion.

Arthur said he looked at 50 years of data and found that there is usually an uptick of reported sinkholes in February, with an increase until about July, when activity tapers off. December and January have typically low sinkhole activity.

Florida tracks naturally-occurring sinkholes and other ground collapses following a busted water main, development and groundwater pumping for crops.

In 2010, strawberry farmers in eastern Hillsborough County pumped water from the aquifer onto their crops during cold weather so that the water would freeze on the crops, creating a layer of ice that protects the berries.

So much water was pumped that more than 65 sinkholes opened in the area and wells went dry.

"When they take water out of the ground it's like taking air out of a balloon," said Bill Fernandez, a Florida sinkhole repair expert. "When you suck water out of the ground, you change the hydrostatic pressure underground and that's what can cause sinkholes."

Arthur added that moving a lot of dirt around for development can also trigger sinkholes. On Sunday in Largo, a failure in a pipe in a mall's stormwater control system under the parking lot caused the ground to collapse.

"There are a lot of variables," said Arthur. "Sinkholes are naturally occurring. Regardless of human activity they would occur."

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/sinkhole-season-underway-_n_2848466.html

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No. 3 Duke hammers North Carolina 69-53

Duke's Seth Curry (30) reacts following a basket against North Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Duke's Seth Curry (30) reacts following a basket against North Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

North Carolina's Reggie Bullock, right, guards Duke's Ryan Kelly (34) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

North Carolina's P.J. Hairston (15) drives to the basket with Reggie Bullock (35) against Duke's Seth Curry (30) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

North Carolina's Desmond Hubert (14) shoots as Duke's Josh Hairston (15) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Duke's Seth Curry (30) reacts following a basket against North Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) ? Seth Curry kept burying shots against helpless North Carolina defenders to give No. 3 Duke a big lead, then Mason Plumlee dominated inside to keep the Blue Devils in complete control against their fiercest rival.

This performance was about more than just beating up the Tar Heels. It was the Blue Devils showing they're determined to play their best in March.

Curry hit his first seven shots during Duke's torrid start, helping the Blue Devils cruise to a 69-53 victory Saturday night in a game that was never in doubt.

Curry finished with 20 points, while Plumlee had his best performance in a month with 23 points and 13 rebounds. That duo provided Duke (27-4, 14-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) all the punch it needed to earn a season sweep of the Tar Heels.

"You want to be playing at your best going into the tournament and you can't afford a loss at this point in the season where you're questioning your lineups and what your identity is," Plumlee said. "It was the kind of win we needed going into tournament time."

Duke scored the game's first 14 points, never let UNC (22-9, 12-6) closer than nine and led by 25 points after halftime. The Blue Devils shot 55 percent, including 18 for 26 (69 percent) in a first half that silenced a once-rowdy Smith Center crowd and overwhelmed the once-surging Tar Heels.

If Saturday night was any indication, Duke is ready for next week's ACC tournament in Greensboro and beyond.

Curry and the Blue Devils came out with a shooting display that ran North Carolina right out of the Dean Dome by halftime. Not to mention it turned the latest renewal of the famed rivalry into a colossal dud.

Curry made one 3, hit a scooping layup and banked in a runner during Duke's 6-for-6 start that helped the Blue Devils to a football-esque 14-0 lead.

At one point, he even hit one as he fell backward to the floor, the kind of play that eliminates any doubt about whose night it's going to be.

"Guys set screens for me and I was able to create some space to get shots off, keep the defense off balance, and I was feeling good to start the game," Curry said. "I wanted to come in and set the tone for my team that we could win in this environment."

After Curry made his seventh straight shot, UNC coach Roy Williams practically wandered out near midcourt to shout at his players as they ran down on offense.

"He just toyed with us," Williams said. "He was in complete control on the offensive end."

Curry finished 8 for 13 and Plumlee took over inside by making 10 of 15 shots against the Tar Heels' undersized frontline.

"Seth's performance in the first half, he just the best player on the court," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "In the second half, we had the best player on the court in Mason."

In each of the past two seasons, Duke had won the first meeting only to have UNC win the second to clinch the ACC regular-season title.

That story line was off the table this time. Miami took care of that by beating Clemson for the outright title earlier Saturday. Duke ? which is integrating senior Ryan Kelly back into the lineup after a two-month absence due to a foot injury ? had already clinched the No. 2 seed for the ACC tournament. North Carolina State's loss at Florida State meant the Tar Heels would be the No. 3 seed but could still tie Duke for second in the standings.

Instead, it turned into a reversal of last year's finale at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Tar Heels jumped all over the Blue Devils early in a blowout win.

It was the first "Senior Night" loss for Williams as a head coach, both at Kansas and at North Carolina.

UNC had gone 6-1 since going to a four-guard lineup in that first meeting, but the Tar Heels looked rattled once the Blue Devils charged in front and never recovered.

"I wasn't concerned about the score, but I was really concerned about the look on our face," Williams said. "I felt like every shot we took we were hesitant or tight ... but I didn't like the way we looked on every shot we took. We never got out of that hole."

James Michael McAdoo finished with 15 points to lead the Tar Heels despite playing with a bulging disk in his back, but the rest of his teammates did little to help him. The Tar Heels all too often settled for jumpers and didn't seem interested in attacking the rim on the way to shooting just 34 percent.

That included missing their first 11 3-point tries and finishing 1 for 14 from behind the arc, an area where they had thrived since Williams inserted 6-foot-5 sophomore P.J. Hairston into the starting lineup at the 4-spot.

Hairston finished with 14 points on 4-for-12 shooting and hit the Tar Heels' only 3 to cut the deficit to 63-49 at the 5-minute mark. But Quinn Cook answered with two driving baskets, the second a hanging shot that dropped through as the shot clock expired and took back any fleeting momentum North Carolina had built.

Cook scored 12 and completely outplayed UNC freshman point guard Marcus Paige, who regressed from his recent strong play with four points on 1-for-6 shooting and five turnovers.

"We did keep fighting, and we never gave in," Hairston said. "We still played offense and still tried to make shots, and we still tried to do different things on the defensive end to slow them down. They were just making everything they put up."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-10-BKC-T25-Duke-North-Carolina/id-49003b5d7d934a0d95140b85521b9307

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Cat sanctuary to reopen after lion attack

San Francisco (Reuters) - The California wildlife sanctuary where an African lion attacked and killed a 24-year-old worker this week is set to reopen to the public on Sunday.

The Cat Haven preserve, which has been shut since the attack on Wednesday, will resume regular operations, including offering guided tours to visitors, Cat Haven officials said.

"It is important that we attend to (the animals') health and well-being, and we believe returning to a state of normal operations is a part of that process," Cat Haven founder Dale Anderson said in a statement.

Dianna Hanson, a 24-year-old intern who had been working at the park since January, was attacked while cleaning an empty cat enclosure.

A 4-year-old male lion named Cous Cous escaped from his feeding pen, apparently by pushing open an improperly secured gate, and pounced on Hanson, fracturing her neck and killing her instantly, according to Fresno County Coroner David Hadden.

Sheriff's deputies later shot and killed the lion, which weighed at least 400 pounds (181 kgs), after they failed to coax him away from Hanson's body.

Cous Cous and his mate, Pely, were Barbary lions, a species from the region between Morocco and Egypt that is extinct in the wild. He had been handled by humans since he was weeks old.

A necropsy, the animal form of an autopsy, was performed on Thursday to determine whether health issues, such as a neurological disorder or a disease like rabies, could have contributed to the attack.

An initial examination found the lion healthy, but full test results are expected to take weeks, said Janice Mackey, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Cat Haven, a 100-acre (16-hectare) sanctuary in Dunlap, California, run by the group Project Survival and located about 40 miles east of Fresno, is still home to 29 large cats.

State and local agencies are investigating whether Cat Haven violated any safety procedures that could have safeguarded against such an attack.

Anderson said the sanctuary is cooperating with the investigation and cautioned that, until law enforcement releases its findings, "anything reported about the accident is purely speculative."

Hanson earned a biology degree in 2011 from Western Washington University and last year she spent six months in Kenya working on a wild feline reserve.

Her family says they see the incident as a tragic accident.

"We know that first and foremost, Dianna would want the work that Cat Haven is doing to continue," her mother, Donna Hanson, said in a statement.

The Hanson family has set up a fund in Dianna's honor that will benefit her favorite charitable organizations, including Cat Haven.

(Editing by Edith Honan and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/california-cat-sanctuary-reopen-following-deadly-lion-attack-194133989.html

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