Pat Listach spent one year as the Astros' third-base coach.

Listach spent one year on the Astros' staff under manager Bo Porter, who was dismissed before the end of the season. Houston selected A.J. Hinch as its new manager last month.

Tarrik Brock, the Astros' first-base coach, was told he would not be on Hinch's staff earlier this week.

The Astros announced Friday afternoon that they have made four additions to the Major League coaching staff -- Trey Hillman as bench coach, Dave Hudgens as hitting coach, Gary Pettis as third-base coach and outfield/baserunning instructor and Rich Dauer as first-base coach and infield instructor.

Pettis served as the Rangers third-base coach, and had been a part of Texas' staff since 2007.

Hinch will not completely clear the coaching staff, however, as pitching coach Brent Strom will return for a second year.

Jamal Collier is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Listach won't return as third-base coach

October 16, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL) Wheeling Nailers WHEELING, WV- The Wheeling Nailers, proud ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens, have announced their season opening roster. The roster consists of 22 players - 14 forwards, six defensemen, and two goaltenders. There is also one player on Injured Reserve, as well as four additions pending.

At the goaltending position, the Nailers have a pair of affiliated players. Pittsburgh prospect Eric Hartzell returns to Wheeling for his second professional season, after going 18-13-2 as a rookie between the AHL and ECHL levels. He is joined in the crease by rookie Franky Palazzese, who recently signed with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Palazzese is coming off of a four-year career in the OHL, which included 27 wins as a 20-year old last season.

The Nailers' blueline features two returning players, as 2013-14 Players Player Award winner Paul Cianfrini and second-year player Myles Harvey make their way back to the Ohio Valley. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rookie Clark Seymour and Hamilton rookie David Makowski are the two affiliated players on defense, while Brendan Rempel and Zach Yuen will both suit up for their sophomore seasons in the ECHL.

Ten of the 14 forwards on the opening roster have called Wheeling home in the past, as Derek Army, Shane Bakker, Jarrett Burton, Tyler Fernandez, Sahir Gill, Chaz Johnson, Max MacKay, Patrick McGrath, Tyler Murovich, and Carter Rowney will all don the Nailers jersey in 2014-15. Joining those ten will be second-year players Riley Brace and Jeremie Malouin, as well as rookies Troy Barss and Stefano Momesso.

Wheeling will open the season with one player on Injured Reserve, as 2013-14 All-ECHL Second Team member Mike Ratchuk looks to battle his way back into the lineup when healthy.

There will be more shuffling taking place prior to Saturday's opener, as the Nailers made two trades, while agreeing to terms with another player. Wheeling acquired forward David Gilbert, as well as defensemen Justin Sefton and Ben Shutron from the Orlando Solar Bears for future considerations. They then swapped defenseman Justin Baker and newly acquired blueliner Dylan King to the Allen Americans for future considerations. Finally, the Nailers agreed to terms with defenseman Ben Blood, expecting to sign him to a contract within the next two days.

Uniform numbers will be available once all transactions have been completed.

The Wheeling Nailers will open the 2014-15 regular season on Saturday night, when they play host to the Reading Royals at 7:35. Tickets are available, but selling quickly. Get yours by calling (304) 234-GOAL.

2014-15 WHEELING NAILERS

Goalies

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Nailers Announce Season Opening Roster

Head coach Doc Rivers enters his second year after taking the club to the Western Conference semifinals, and while most of the key cogs return for the two-time defending Pacific Division champions, some big-name additions were made to the coaching staff.

Three-time NBA champion and longtime assistant Sam Cassell, as well as former NBA head coaches Lawrence Frank and Mike Woodson, join Rivers on the bench with the sole intention of instituting what he calls the "process."

It's a process that had the Clippers ever-so close to a conference finals appearance before a stunning collapse against the Thunder in Game 5 of the semis dealt a brutal blow to their title hopes.

The Clippers were ahead by seven points in the final 50 seconds on Oklahoma City's own floor but wound up losing, 105-104, in regulation. The Thunder wrapped up the series in LA two days later.

Chris Paul, whose foul on Russell Westbrook in the closing seconds led to the winning three free throws in the Game 5 collapse, remembers it all too well and vows to make amends.

"Last year we had a great opportunity, but Game 5 was horrible and it's no secret why we lost Game 5, but I think this year gives us an opportunity to get right back there," Paul said at Media Day.

Paul nonetheless had another banner campaign, leading the league in assists (10.7 apg) and adding 19.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He and fellow All-Star Blake Griffin, the forefathers of "Lob City," have evolved into more than an alley-oop waiting to happen when they joined forces three seasons ago.

The duo wound up tied for sixth in the league in total win shares with 12.2 last season.

Griffin, in particular, has developed into a much more polished scorer, particularly in his mid-range game. The high-flier finished sixth in the league in points (24.1 ppg) and was top-20 in rebounds (9.5 rpg) and field goal percentage (.528)

Veterans J.J. Redick and Matt Barnes return for another shot at an ever- elusive title, and Barnes knows the window of opportunity is closing, even on these seemingly young Clippers.

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2014-15 Los Angeles Clippers Preview

The latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine has revealed that Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemist of the Dusk Sky will be ported to PlayStation Vita as Atelier Escha & Logy Plus, continuing the series trend. The first game in the long-running Atelier franchise to feature dual protagonists and the second game in the Dusk series, Atelier Escha & Logy Plus will expand upon the story and include the downloadable content from the PlayStation 3 version of the game. New additions to the port include stronger enemies, new character costumes, and the ability to recruit Ayesha's sister Nio to the party.

Atelier Escha & Logy Plus will be released in Japan on January 22, 2015. No plans for localization have been revealed at this time. However, Atelier Ayesha Plus, the PlayStation Vita port of the first instalment in the Dusk series, will be released as a digital download in North America and Europe in January, so an announcement for the localization of this port is likely in the future.

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Atelier Escha & Logy Plus Coming to PlayStation Vita in Japan

What prompted the discovery of this e-mail was a comment by Ferry at a team meeting when, while reading a scouting report about free agent Luol Deng, he said "he's a good guy over all, but he's not perfect. He's got some African in him. And I don't say that in a bad way."

The results of this debacle are that Levenson, who voluntarily turned himself into Commissioner Adam Silver, will sell his majority shares, and Ferry is on a leave of absence.

"I will maximize my time during this leave to meet with community leaders and further educate myself and others on the extremely sensitive issues surrounding race, diversity, and inclusion," Ferry said in a statement. "I will find a way to make a positive difference in this area, and further learn from the sensitivity training that I will go through."

And Deng is playing for the Miami Heat.

This void in leadership might be a problem as the season progresses, depending on how long Ferry is gone. The team has had money to spend in the last few offseasons, but doesn't have a lot to show for it.

Atlanta has been mired in mediocrity the last few seasons. The Hawks have been good enough to make the postseason, but never good enough to advance. Same story in 2013-14 when the Hawks grabbed the eighth seed, despite finishing under .500. They gave the sinking Indiana Pacers a good run, but fell in seven games.

The Hawks didn't do much in the offseason, at least not much to garner huge headlines. They littered their bench with solid second-unit guys like Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore. The Hawks did well in the draft to get Michigan State's Adreian Payne, who could play right away if the Hawks weren't loaded up front.

There is talent in Atlanta, namely the trio of Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague and Al Horford.

The final name is interesting because some might have forgotten about him. Horford has torn both of his pectoral muscles in the last two-plus years. He played 11 games during the 2011-12 season and just 29 during the 2013-14 campaign. Horford is a two-time All-Star.

Millsap made his first All-Star squad last season and is consistently one of the most unappreciated talents in the game. Teague is emerging into that category as well.

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2014-15 Atlanta Hawks Preview

By Puneet Kollipara October 14

Welcome to Wonkbook, Wonkblogs morning policy news primer by Puneet Kollipara (@pkollipara). To subscribe by e-mail, clickhere. Send comments, criticism or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. To read more by the Wonkblog team, clickhere.Follow uson Twitter and Facebook.

Wonkbooks Number of the Day:4,204. That's the estimated Ebola death toll worldwide, per the CDC.

Wonkbooks Chart of the Day:The world just experiencedits warmest September on record.

Wonkbook's Top 4Stories:(1) Lessons from the second U.S. Ebola case; (2) Washington's worries about the global economy;(3) oil producers' pain is drivers' gain; and (4) renewed tensions in St. Louis.

CDC chief: After Dallas nurses Ebola infection, U.S. must rethink protocols."As a 26-year-old Dallas nurse lay infected in the same hospital where she treated a dying Ebola patient last week, government officials on Monday said the first transmission of the disease in the United States had revealed systemic failures in preparation that must 'substantially' change in coming days....Frieden did not detail precisely how the extensive, government-issued safety protocols in place at many facilities might need to change or in what ways hospitals need to ramp up training for front-line doctors or nurses. But his message was clear: With Ebola, there is no margin for error. The Dallas case made that certain."Amy Ellis Nutt, Mark Berman and Brady Dennis in The Washington Post.

Medical records suggest 70 staffers were involved in treating Ebola patient."The size of the medical team reflects the hospital's intense effort to save Duncan's life, but it also suggests that many other people could have been exposed to the virus during Duncan's time in an isolation unit....The medical records given to the AP offer clues, both to what happened and who was involved, but the hospital said the CDC does not have them. A CDC spokeswoman said the agency reviewed the medical records with Duncan's care team and concluded that the documents were not helpful in identifying those who interacted directly with the patient."Martha Mendoza in the Associated Press.

What happened atthe hospital in Dallas?"While biocontamination units look similar to a standard hospital room, they usually have specialized air circulation systems to remove disease particles from the facility. And, perhaps more importantly, they're staffed by doctors who have spent years training, preparing and thinking about how to stop dangerous infections from spreading....This isn't true of Texas Presbyterian. Like most American hospitals, it doesn't have a biocontamination unit. It hasn't spent years running through the drills of how to treat an Ebola patient. It began receiving additional training from the CDC, director Tom Frieden told reporters Sunday, only this week."Sarah Kliff in Vox.

Should we transfer Ebola patients to the specialty hospitals?"Emory solved its problems, but the challenges it faced could overwhelm a hospital with fewer resources. At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, mistakes in treating a patient from Liberia...have raised questions about the general level of preparedness in hospitals around the country. Medical experts have begun to suggest that it might be better to transfer patients to designated centers with special expertise in treating Ebola. Federal health officials are also beginning to consider that idea, though they emphasize that every hospital has to be able to diagnose the disease." Denise Gradyin The New York Times.

Charts:How does an American nurse contract Ebola? With directions like these. Sarah Kliff in Vox.

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Wonkblog: Wonkbook: Lessons from the second U.S. Ebola case

More U.S. cities are hiring than at any time since the Great Recession as the reviving economy and rising property taxes allow higher spending for a second straight year, according to a report released today.

One-third of cities and towns expanded their workforces this year, compared with reductions in 18 percent, according to an annual survey by the National League of Cities.

This is the first year since 2008 that job additions outpaced cuts. The gains come as 80 percent of cities said their financial position is stronger than a year ago, the most in at least 29 years.

Growth in those jobs is a good sign for the economy, said Christiana McFarland, the research director for the Washington-based league. Things are going in a positive direction.

The shift erased a drag on the nations recovery that persisted after the recession ended in 2009, as shrinking budgets prompted municipalities to fire police officers, firefighters and other employees.

Yet while local governments added 113,000 to their payrolls since March 2013, they employ 482,000 fewer people than in July 2008, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

When you pull back the layers, you still have a way to go before you see a full recovery, said McFarland. When you put it in the broader context of how far city finances sunk during the Great Recession, they still have a ways to come out.

With the economy accelerating and home prices rising, tax collections have increased. Property taxes rose 1.6 percent during 2014, adjusted for inflation, according to the survey of 354 cities conducted from April to June.

Sales taxes rose 3.6 percent this year after a jump of 4.6 percent a year earlier. Income taxes gained 0.6 percent, slowing from a 4.3 percent increase in 2013.

Cities continue to face pressure from underfunded pensions, health-care costs and the need to spend more on infrastructure. Total revenue growth failed to keep pace with rising costs and dropped by 0.5 percent in 2014 when inflation is taken into account. Spending growth rose by 1 percent on that basis, less than half the rate a year earlier, according to the report.

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Cities Hiring Most Since 2008 as Economy Eases Strains

The temperature is just over 60 degrees Tuesday morning, so the second-grader at Sul Ross Elementary school tucked her hands into the sleeves of her bright blue sweater while she trudged outside of the school building to the nurse's office.

She wasn't alone, though: Mary Jane Gray, an instructional aid in physical education classes, led the brown-haired student along the sidewalk to enter into the main building.

The second-grader had fallen ill during PE, Gray explained. She is required to be escorted by a teacher or staff member from the gym to the nurse, for Sul Ross is composed of one main structure and three separate wings. The spaces between the buildings are wide-open, so anyone can, and does, move through the school grounds.

This means no children are allowed to walk around outside by themselves -- students moving from wing-to-wing to go to the gym or to lunch must walk in a line as a class along with their teacher, and children needing to visit the front office or nurse must be lead by a staff member.

After Gray dropped off the young student at the nurse's office, a front office staffer would call her parents to have her picked up from school or escort her back to her class.

"We're not enclosed, so we never want a child to wander outside of the building," Gray said. "They're always escorted, all the time. Safety is our main concern."

The layout of Sul Ross Elementary is one of the issues that district and campus officials wish to fix in order to increase student safety. The elementary is one of two Bryan schools that would receive a new campus if the $132 million bond issue is passed by district voters in November.

With voter approval, the district plans to construct a new school building that both improves the safety and security for the students and prepares for enrollment growth in the future. The new school would cost close to $16 million, according to the district's facilities master plan.

The elementary school was constructed in 1961 and was last renovated 14 years ago, said Sul Ross principal Kristina Brunson. As of Tuesday, 316 students were enrolled, and the building has a total capacity of 360, she said.

The new elementary school would hold between 600 to 650 students as a buffer for future growth. The new building would also be encapsulated, so all of the students and staff members would be under one roof.

Excerpt from:
If passed, $132M bonds would put Sul Ross Elementary students all under one roof, repurpose Milam Elementary

Although it was built in the early 20th century, the former firehouse on North Main Street is one of Chalfonts most historic buildings.

As it redevelops the property for a new police station and public parking, borough council is committed to preserving the original 1903 portion of the structure, which once housed borough hall, the post office and the Chalfont Fire Co. The borough, which paid $465,000 for the building and grounds, took ownership Oct. 1.

Council on Tuesday night approved a $3,500 contract with Boyle Construction Management, of Allentown, to examine two options for reuse of the site and come up with cost estimates.

Both alternatives envision renovating the two-story historic section, which has rusticated concrete block walls and a peaked shingle roof, and possibly renting space to outside tenants. The first option calls demolishing two modern rear additions on both sides of a five-bay garage, which would be converted into a police station. The second option would raze all additions and construct a police station from scratch.

Council President John Engel said the consultant will examine issues affecting the original building, including a leaky roof, water infiltration, asbestos insulation, lead paint and cracked concrete blocks.

For budgetary purposes, we need to get our arms around the cost of preserving that building, he said. I believe there is a strong desire of council to preserve the historic part of the building.

Other council members indicated their support for preserving the former firehouse. The building is within Chalfonts historic district, which is both certified under the states historic preservation law and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Borough Manager Sandra Zadell said Boyles report will provide initial cost estimates for preservation, the police station and parking. The 2015 budget will allocate $140,000 for engineering and architectural work, with the expectation that construction would begin in 2016.

The borough will apply for grants to offset some of the cost, but it is too soon to tell whether the town will need to dip into its capital reserve fund or borrow money to cover expenditures, according to the manager.

We dont know the future price yet, she said.

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Chalfont contemplates plans for former firehouse

BOSTON Because of post-game interview requests, the last two players to leave the Avalanche dressing room at TD Garden on Monday were new additions Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere. Iginla, of course, played last season for the Bruins, and by now, you all know Briere was super clutch in the Avs 2-1 Columbus Day win.

Briere, whose 53 career playoff goals are tied for 45th most all-time, scored with a half-second left in regulation to give Colorado a much-needed goal and two points, their first triumph of the young seasons. It was Brieres 300th career NHL regular-season goal. The online game story that will turn into a different online/print version is here. The notebook will be in the same vicinity, as well as a look at Tuesdays opponent, the Maple Leafs in Toronto, with a spotlight on top-line center Tyler Bozak, the former Denver Pioneer.

Danny Briere:

Some observations: If Reto Berra is a problem, hes a good problem to have. At this rate, Varlys backup will make more starts than any of us anticipated a month ago. Berra has been berry, berry good since his first preseason start my pick as No. 1 star Monday. Say what you want about Nathan MacKinnon, maybe the NHLs fastest skater, playing with 30-somethings Alex Tanguay and Briere. Too much speed paired with too much age? The line produced the shift of the game Monday. The Avs have improved after every game this season, which is good because the opener, of course, was a horror show. They played much better in the second game against Minnesota and Mondays win at Boston was their best performance of the season. Defenseman Ryan Wilson missed most of the third period to an apparent concussion, after being struck in the head by a puck. I thought Wilson was hit in the midsection, because he tried to stretch or shake it off, and lined up for a defensive-zone faceoff immediately after. But he was clearly uncomfortable and, the more I think about it, he could have been completely out of it, not knowing what was going on. Zach Redmond or Nate Guenin will replace Wilson on Tuesday. The boom box was blaring in the Avs locker room after the game, always a difficult environment to record conversations but nevertheless easier to do your job.

Jarome Iginla:

Check here Tuesday for updates from Toronto.

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Clutch playoff scorer Danny Briere delivers for Avalanche in Boston