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by R.L. Nave June 8, 2012

A Utah private-prison firm will take over running the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility and two other Mississippi prisons from The GEO Group. Management & Training Corporation, based in Ogden, Utah, will also assume management of East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs.

The 10-year deal between MTC and the Mississippi Department of Corrections is worth $430 million, the Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday. Neither MTC nor MDOC officials have returned our calls for comment at this time. With the Mississippi additions, MTC runs 22 state and federal prisons in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and, now, Mississippi. MTC is also the nation's largest contractor with the federal Labor Department's Job Corps program, operating 19 Job Corps sites across 16 states.

The announcement raised eyebrows in prisoner-rights advocacy circles, which say private prison companies have a poor track record in the state.

Gail Tyree, a Soros Justice Fellow and an organizer against private prisons across the South, said she was disappointed to hear the news that a different private firm would be getting the contracts.

"Looking at their history, private prisons are giving Mississippi a black eye," Tyree told the Jackson Free Press.

As evidence, Tyree points to the beleaguered Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Leake County. Opened in 2000, Walnut Grove housed youth between 13 and 22 who were tried and convicted as adults. In Nov. 2010, civil-rights attorney Robert B. McDuff and lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center and American Civil Liberties Union sued MDOC Commissioner Christopher Epps, other state officials and the prison's Boca Raton, Fla.-based operator, The GEO Group, on behalf of incarcerated young men who alleged ongoing negligence and abuse.

In February 2012, the parties reached a settlement. Under the federal court decree, MDOC agreed to move the boys from Walnut Grove to a facility that would operate on principles of juvenile justice rather than standards of the adult prison system. The decree required Mississippi to offer an array of educational and rehabilitation programs and prohibited the state from putting children in its custody in solitary confinement.

Subsequently, GEO and MDOC agreed to terminate all the company's contracts with the state. Around the same time, MDOC and Corrections Corporation of America, agreed to terminate CCA's contract to manage the Delta Correctional Center in Greenwood. CCA, which ran three state prisons and one federal facility in Mississippi, said it could no longer manage the prison more efficiently than the state could.

Read more from the original source:
Utah Firm to Manage Three State Prisons

by Connie Cone Sexton - Jun. 8, 2012 09:04 AM The Republic | azcentral.com

A study room, training lab and Workforce Literacy Center are some of the new additions to the remodeled Ocotillo Library.

The Phoenix branch, which was closed for about nine months, reopened in April but its official grand opening is set for 9 a.m. Saturday at the location, 102 W. Southern Ave.

The $1.65 million renovation was funded in part by a one-time 2008-09 Community Development Block Grant stimulus award given to the city as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Other changes at the branch include a "First Five Years" space for children and more computer stations.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Councilman Michael Nowakowski and City Librarian Rita Hamilton will oversee Saturday's celebration. The 9 a.m. ribbon cutting will be followed by music and family activities, including a story time at 9:30 a.m. with the mayor and his wife.

Ocotillo librarian Maria Dominguez said the Workforce Literacy Center will assist job seekers with workforce needs by serving as an "ACCESS Point" in partnership with the city-run Phoenix Workforce Connection, which offers help for job seekers. The center helps people with resume writing, interviewing skills and computer use to English as a second language.

Having the center will help meet the needs of the community, Dominguez said. "A lot of their needs were employment necessities," she said. Many people told her they had never filled out a resume before, never knew how to look for a job, never knew how to interview for a job.

Dominguez is excited about the grand reopening, especially because she doesn't think everyone in the neighborhood realizes the library is running again.

"It's been a slow start but now, it's word of mouth, people are talking to people" about being open again.

Original post:
Phoenix's Ocotillo Library to celebrate reopening

Luke Kuechly is known for his sideline-to-sideline range and ability to play the pass and run with equal effectiveness. (Getty Images)

With NFL training camps just around the corner, were taking a team-by-team look at how the offseason played out and what you can expect in 2012. Click here to read them all.

We obviously didnt know it at the time, but the Panthers Week 1 28-21 loss to the Cardinals last year would serve as a pretty good microcosm of the first season of the Cam Newton/Ron Rivera era.

Newton, you may remember, dazzled with a then-rookie-record 422 passing yards in the game, his first as a pro (a record hed go on to top the next week). But the Panthers lost the game in the second half, thanks in part to an 89-yard punt return touchdown by Patrick Peterson.

Thats the story of the 2011 Panthers: some highlight plays, thanks almost entirely to Newton, but not enough especially in the second half to overcome terrible special teams and run defense units. Still, the team improved by four wins from its 2010 edition, and Newtons quick takeover of the NFL gave fans hope that playoff contention would come sooner than expected as well.

2011 Record: 6-10 (third place, NFC South) Key Additions: RB Mike Tolbert, G Mike Pollak, G Amini Silatolu, LB Luke Kuechly Key Subtractions: TE Jeremy Shockey, WR Legedu Naanee, G Travelle Wharton Team Strengths: QB, RB, LB Team Weaknesses: OL, DL, DB

Three Things to Watch:

1. Can the defense improve despite limited upgrades?: The Panthers had two clear-cut spots of need coming into the offseason: defensive tackle and in the secondary. And yet, they added no significant free agents at either position. Then, the Panthers opted to draft Luke Kuechly at ninth overall, despite Stephon Gilmore, Fletcher Cox and Dontari Poe, among others, still being available. The team did get great value in picking cornerback Josh Norman in the fifth round. He will grow into a worthy contributor, but wont make enough of a difference right away to help the Panthers pass defense in 2012.

In fairness, Kuechlys three-down prowess will help a defense that finished 28th overall, as well as 32nd in both pass and run defense efficiency, according to Football Outsiders, and many would argue that he was the best player available at the pick. Still, the lack of attention paid to the aforementioned weaknesses, especially at defensive tackle, could come back to haunt the Panthers. The team is hoping that Ron Edwards return after missing all of 2011 to injury, along with improvement from 2011 rookies Terrell McClain and Sione Fua, will be enough to solidify the middle of the line.

2. Will the offense strike a better balance?: Alex Smith was misguided to call out Cam Newton, and the unit took a huge leap in 2011 thanks to Newtons addition. While he surprised us all right away with how well he could throw the ball at the NFL level, Newtons greatest contribution to the Panthers in 2011 was on the ground. His 706 yards were third on the team (just 130 yards behind team-leader DeAngelo Williams), and helped the Panthers lead the league in rushing efficiency, again according to Pro Football Outsiders.

More here:
Offseason Breakdown: Carolina Panthers

June 4, 2012 - Northwoods League (Northwoods) Wisconsin Woodchucks WAUSAU- With the additions of Oklahoma States Gabe Green, and Virginia Tech's Brendon Hayden, the Wisconsin Woodchucks looked to pick up another win on Monday night at home to put them at .500 for the season.

However, the Woodchucks ran into trouble early with pitcher, Rich McCaffrey on the mound, giving up a lead-off homerun to right field in the top of the first inning.

To begin the second inning the Loggers, with runners on the corners, capitalized on a sacrifice squeeze attempt, and brought the runner at third, home to score again giving the Loggers and early 2-0 lead.

The Loggers carried big bats on Monday, with a two run homer coming in the 4th inning of play to straight centerfield. For the night, the Loggers had 11 hits on the night.

On the defensive side, the Woodchucks dominated with newcomer Brendon Hayden, who also went 3-5 and had a RBI. However, the "Chucks did commit one error.

In the bottom of the 5th, the Woodchucks brought the life back into the game with a two out, three run inning, which brought the lead from 4 to only one. The Chucks were not done however. Coming in the bottom of the 6th a one run inning to tie the game up at four.

In the 8th inning, the "Chucks finally broke the game open, and took the lead with a deep hit to right field by Gabe Green who was 2-4, with 2 RBI on the night.

Going into the top of the 9th, the "Chucks managed a one run lead, and on a 2-2 pitch, with two gone, allowed a pass ball that allowed a Logger run to tie, forcing the Woodchucks to play another inning.

In the bottom of the 9th the Woodchucks got off to a ball-burning start, with Brian Smith sending a deep fly ball to center field. His double put the winning run on with Chaves Numata at the plate. With a 2-2 count, and one out gone, Numata put the lumber on the ball, and in walk off fashion ended the La Crosse Loggers.

The Wisconsin Woodchucks will see the Loggers again tomorrow at home for another round of great baseball action.

Read more from the original source:
Woodchucks Win in Walk off Fashion over La Crosse Loggers

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 04, 2012

NYC-based PIRA Energy Group believes that a weakening economic growth outlook is undermining 2H12 oil balances. In the U.S., the refinery maintenance season is winding down, while turnarounds in Japan are increasing. Specifically, PIRAs analysis of the oil market fundamentals has revealed the following:

*European Financial Crisis is undermining the economic growth outlook: The crisis is causing 2H12 oil balances to look weaker than forecast last month. A peek at 2013 global oil balances shows increased OPEC spare capacity, assuming Iranian supplies return to market.

*Atlantic Basin Product Cracks and Refining Margins Outlook Firmer Year over Year: The outlook for Atlantic Basin product cracks and refining margins is still stronger than last year, as regional refinery closures have tightened product balances. However, refinery restarts, new capacity additions globally, and concerns over demand will soften the outlook for some products.

*U.S. Refiners Gearing Up for Busier Season: Crude runs have significantly increased since early April and are set to increase further in the weeks ahead, as refinery maintenance continues its seasonal decline while demand seasonally rises. For the week ending May 25, overall commercial stocks built as the inventory decline in the four major products was not enough to offset the inventory build in crude and other products.

*Japanese Turnarounds Continue Increasing: For the week ending May 26, Japanese crude runs posted a sharp decline as turnarounds continued to ramp up. Crude runs hit the lowest level since last year at this time. Crude stocks ballooned as the implied import rate was high.

*Propane Stocks to Build: In the U.S., the impact of higher feedstock requirements in June will be mitigated by higher output from fractionators returning from maintenance. Large builds in propane stocks are expected to continue in June, In Europe, the prospect of a Norwegian strike and spec issues for a major buyer provided short-term support in the front of the market.

*Ethanol Prices Plunge in May: In May, U.S. ethanol prices plunged to the lowest level since September 2010, due to sharply lower corn and oil prices, increased ethanol production, and high inventories. Cash manufacturing margins were mostly poor. Margins were helped by strong DDG co-product prices, which were near record highs. Ethanol consumption reached an all-time record as the peak driving season is approaching and ethanol-blended gasoline penetration was about 95%. However, consumption growth is limited by the E10 blend wall.

*U.S. Ethanol-Blended Gasoline Output Hits Record High: In the week ending May 25, the output of ethanol-blended gasoline rose to a record 8.586 MMB/D from 8.431 MMB/D the prior week as gasoline production increased and ethanol blends made up a higher percentage of the total pool. Ethanol production fell to 902 MB/D from a 13-week high of 919 MB/D during the prior week. Stocks built by 110 thousand barrels to 21.5 million barrels, due in part to 77 thousand barrels of imports received in PADD I.

The information above is part of PIRA Energy Group's weekly Energy Market Recap, which alerts readers to PIRAs current analysis of energy markets around the world as well as the key economic and political factors driving those markets.

Go here to read the rest:
PIRA Energy Group’s Global Oil Market Update for the Week Ending June 4

IU says it will finally paint this house at Second and Lincoln Streets this summer. The house, which has been deteriorating for years, is part of the Wylie House property.

One corner of Bloomington is about to take a step back in time when a mid-19th-century barn moves in behind the Wylie House Annex at 317 E. Second St. and the Annex itself -- a 1930s arts and crafts house -- disappears from the site. The barn will be taken apart on its site on Mt. Carmel Road and reassembled with additions, among them a new basement. On the outside and part of the inside, it will still look like the old three-story barn built in the 1860s. Wylie House Director Jo Burgess expects the work to be completed within a year. The Annex, rated in the city's historical survey as a property contributing to the historic character of the East Second Street Historic District, will then be demolished and the site landscaped to evoke the time when the Wylie House was part of a 20-acre farm. Burgess said the barn/education center will enable the Wylie House Museum to expand programming -- workshops, lectures, classes, group meetings -- and host weddings and receptions. It will be called the Morton C. Bradley Education Center, named for the Wylie family descendant who left the bequest funding construction.

Continue reading here:
Changes afoot at the Wylie House

The second year of the Dexter Area Historical Society's commemoration of the Civil War at Gordon Hall promises a much more robust presentation with several exciting additions.

For example, the Confederacy will be represented this year alongside the Union forces.

This year CompanyA is bringing Bledsoe's battery and enough men for seven regiments, up from four last year. There are no skirmishes planned between the two forces this year, but Confederate historical information will be provided within Gordon Hall and those who attended the event last year will notice several other Confederate additions.

"Last year we had a big room dedicated to Union history, and this year Don Cartwright (a Company A re-enactor and expert) will have an 8-foot table in one of the smaller rooms to provide the Confederate point of view," organizer Donna Fisher said.

Fisher spearheaded the inception of Civil War Days and now has two years worth of planning and logistics management for the three-day program under her belt.

On Friday the event will begin with the Towne Band performing a free concert on the lawn of Gordon Hall. Music will include typical 1860s music played with era-appropriate instruments. The music will be accompanied by an entertaining and informative narrative to kick off the grand learning experience that is Civil War Days.

On Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln will arrive in Dexter on horse-drawn carriage so he can address the crowd before participating in the Lincoln dinner and press conference, the proceeds of which will go to paying down the mortgage that the DAHS&M have from buying Gordon Hall from the University of Michigan.

There were 30 tickets to the dinner still available as of Monday evening.

Throughout the day visitors will be able to visit the various re-enactor encampments on the Gordon Hall property to see with their own eyes the way that people lived in 1860 both in civilian life and military life.

Renowned Civil War history documentarian Jeffrey O'Den will join the likes of historian John Gibny and Sons of Union Veterans' Bill McAfee in order to add authenticity and depth to the event. Continued...

Continue reading here:
DEXTER: Civil War Days returns to Dexter for 'Year 2' this weekend

Ser Jorahs face grew thoughtful as their horses trod together down the godsway. When I first went into exile, I looked at the Dothraki and saw half-naked barbarians, as wild as their horses. If you had asked me then, Princess, I should have told you that a thousand good knights would have no trouble putting to flight a hundred times as many Dothraki.

George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Epic fantasy sprawling stories full of swords, castles, magic, kings and lots and lots of white people is slowly finding its way into Americas cultural mainstream. In the age of the anemic box office, Peter Jacksons films of J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy remain a gold standard of blockbusterdom and his forthcoming version of The Hobbit will almost certainly follow suit. Newer writers like Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss have sold hundreds of thousands of their door-stopper tomes of wizardry and courtly intrigue. And tonight, countless viewers will be glued to their sets for the return of what is arguably the hottest show on television, Game of Thrones, HBOs adaptation of George R.R. Martins A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels.

This is all a bit odd for those of us who grew up with maybe even got beaten up for an obsession with these sorts of books. Accustomed to being mocked for our profoundly uncool fixations, many fantasy nerds, myself among them, have an almost nurtured notion that our love of the fantastic and the pseudo-medieval is something that the rest of the world Just. Doesnt. Get.

But now, as our beloved genre finds its way into normal peoples hearts and minds, fantasy fans are increasingly confronted with an inversion of this notion a question that I, as an Arab-American fantasy fanatic, have been wrangling with for years: If the mainstream doesnt get fantasy, just how well does epic fantasy, with its lily-white heroes, get the multicultural real world of 21st-century America? As some of the most popular works in the genres history works that shed any pretension of being childrens fare A Song of Ice and Fire and its wonderful TV spawn are particularly useful springboards for this question.

When it comes to inherited conventions regarding race in epic fantasy, Game of Thrones is, in a sense, standing on the shoulders of dwarfs. The Lord of the Rings is the most obvious predecessor to Martins work, and its not hard to find subtle rhetorical responses to Tolkien in his books. When Time magazine dubbed Martin the American Tolkien, it highlighted not only Martins rather astonishing genius in world-building and narrative scope, but also the ideological baggage that all of us writing in the genre have inherited from our shared progenitor.

And its heavy baggage indeed, however much we love Tolkiens creation. His half-sublimated wranglings with race are more complex and fraught than either his shrillest detractors or his most fawning defenders would have us believe. But there is some irreducible ugliness in his masterpiece that really cant be convincingly redeemed. The men of the global East and global South (black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues) are monstrous and evil, naturally and culturally inclined to bow to Sauron, and to make war on the good men of the North and West. The bestial visages of orcs bear a striking resemblance to racist caricatures of African and Asian facial features. Above all, to be dark-skinned in Middle Earth is to be part of a savage horde whether orcish or human rather than to be a true individual.

The savage hordes described by Tolkien have been imported by his dozens of imitators over the years, becoming a mainstay of fantasy in books, movies and video games. Its a convention that Martin both takes up and departs from in depicting the Mongol-inspired Dothraki. As a people en masse, the Dothraki value only their horses, treating life cheaply, and reveling in violence:

Across the road, a girl no older than Dany was sobbing in a high thin voice as a rider shoved her over a pile of corpses, facedown, and thrust himself inside her. Other riders dismounted to take their turns. That was the sort of deliverance the Dothraki brought the Lamb Men.

The HBO production which has been so remarkable on so many fronts has exacerbated this hard-R-rated cartoonishness, bringing out some of the novels more unfortunate tendencies. The shows depiction of the Dothraki has been positively cringe-inducing. In the novels, Martins quasi-Mongol warrior culture is depicted in a problematically essentialist, but still complex fashion. But HBO has nudged Martins creation fully into racial caricature by casting a seemingly random variety of colored people, and apparently raiding productions of both Hair and Braveheart to clothe them.

View post:
“Game of Thrones’” overstuffed finale

When George W. Bush ran for president in 2000, there was never any question about who his political maestro was: Karl Rove, the man later dubbed Bushs brain.

Mitt Romney, well into his second, more successful presidential run, still has no Rove-like figure an all-seeing adviser engineering the entire, increasingly sprawling, political apparatus. But aides and insiders say there is someone very much in charge and that would be, for better or worse, Mitt Romney.

Romneyworld consists of a set of interlocking circles, created during his time in business and in government, tied together by a campaign manager with a clear mandate over the operation but with the candidate himself at the center. According to the basic presidential political playbook, thats risky; staffers always say their boss is in charge but also always worry about a candidate whos too immersed in the nitty-gritty details. Nomination narratives are full of cautionary tales about candidates who couldnt see the proverbial strategic forest because they obsessed over every decision, creating a leadership vacuum.

(Also on POLITICO: Romney's man with the plan)

But the CEO-structure of Romneys campaign reflects a central belief set by campaign manager Matt Rhoades and adhered to by others that staff should not be the focus of attention and it reflects the management style that has made Romney successful in the past.

(Romney) likes a pretty horizontal organization where theres a number of different inputs into him, said former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent, a Romney ally and surrogate. He fields information so quickly and he has such a strong frame of reference that he knows what questions he wants to ask.

You have a group of people there that are mature, collaborative, [theres] very little personality conflict and turf-fighting and the like. said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has become a key Romney surrogate. He credited Romney, saying the way the campaign functions reflects the personal approach of the former Massachusetts governor.

I think its remarkable because the campaign is really high-functioning, and part of the reason its so high-functioning is because Mitt has assembled a group of seasoned [operatives], he added, saying they have experience coming to a team conclusion and executing it as a team.

Gov. Romney has put together a very strong campaign organization that shows he is ready to take on the Chicago-style politics of the Obama campaign, said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

One advantage Romney has enjoyed is continuity. The core of his 2008 staff remains largely the same. And the various groups now linked together under Romney 2012 Inc. have, at different points in Romneys life, worked together, eliminating some of the tensions that crop up with new additions when primary candidates become their partys nominee.

Originally posted here:
Romney's top political adviser: Romney

June 2, 2012 - Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) Brockton Rox Brockton, Mass. - With the 2012 season less than a week away, the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) made some final additions to their roster with the signings of Jones County Junior College sophomore pitcher Vito Perna (Laurel, MS), North Carolina Central University junior pitcher Michael Romano (Spotsylvania, VA), and University of Maryland freshman outfielder A.J. Lardo (Baldwin, MD).

Perna, who is expected to be selected in the upcoming 2012 MLB Draft, joins the Rox for the summer of 2012 after spending two seasons at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss. This past season, the towering right-hander went 10-1 for the Bobcats with one save and a 2.03 ERA, while striking out 68 batters in 75.1 innings of work. The Laurel, Miss. native excelled as an infielder as well, hitting .358 (68-for-190) at the dish with 10 doubles, seven homers, 52 RBI, 18 walks, three stolen bases, and 32 runs scored. His success helped the Bobcats clinch their third straight Mississippi Association of Community & Junior College (MACJC) South Division title.

As a freshman in 2011, Perna earned First Team All-MACJC and First Team All-Region honors, while helping Jones County Junior College clinch the 2011 MACJC State Championship, as well as its first-ever Region 23 Championship. The Bobcats eventually finished as the runner-up in the 2011 NJCAA Division II College World Series after falling to Western Oklahoma State University in the title game.

Romano appeared in 15 games for the Division I Eagles of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) as junior in 2012. He made seven starts for North Carolina Central University, finishing with a 3-3 record to go along with one save and a 5.24 ERA through 56.2 innings of work. The southpaw fanned 31 batters while walking just 15. A native of Spotsylvania, Va., Romano transferred from Essex Junior College where he finished with a 3.60 ERA and 10 strikeouts through 20 innings pitched in 2011. Prior to that, Romano attended Riverbend High School, where he helped his team reach the Regional Semifinals in 2007 and was named Second Team All-Region along the way.

Lardo redshirted for the Division I Terrapins of the Atlantic Coast Conference as a freshman in 2012. Before his time with the University of Maryland, the Baldwin, Md. native attended high school at Loyola Blakefield in Towson, MD, where he hit .495 as a senior. Lardo was named Baltimore Sun All-Met team in 2011, while also being named to First Team All-Region in 2011 as an outfielder. He earned Louisville Slugger All-American honors and was also named to the Preseason All-State team in 2010.

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Rox Add Three More for Summer of 2012