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Current (https://current.org/2021/07/michigan-radio-partners-with-neighborhood-organization-to-help-inform-coverage-of-detroit/)
Michigan Radio partners with neighborhood organization to help inform coverage of Detroit
Anna Brugmann, Former Editorial Intern | July 21, 2021
ARISE Detroit
ARISE Detroit coordinates an annual day of service with service organizations across the city. This year, Michigan Radio will sponsor the event and coordinate with ARISE on its community council.
Michigan Radio is creating a reporting position and a community council to help it tell more inclusive stories about Detroit's neighborhoods.
The Ann Arbor–based public radio network has formed a partnership with ARISE Detroit — an organization that works to empower neighborhoods to volunteer and participate in civic action — to create the 20-person Community Reporting Engagement Council. It will include two members from each of Detroit's neighborhoods as well as the neighboring towns of Hamtramck and Highland Park.
Hiring the engagement reporter and establishing the council are both small steps toward Michigan Radio's larger goals to improve its equity, diversity and inclusion, according to News Director Vincent Duffy.
Michigan Radio operates four FM stations in southern and western regions of the state's lower peninsula. The coverage area of WUOM, its flagship station in Ann Arbor, includes metropolitan Detroit. The population of the city is about 80% Black, Duffy said, and the station has a lot of work to do to improve its coverage of the community.
The organization's updated strategic plan includes several goals aimed at creating news coverage that is truly representative of Detroit's neighborhoods, he said. Objectives include diversifying news sources and staff. The plan also calls for meaningful engagement work that informs reporting that reflects the needs of the Detroit community and those working to improve it.
"The people that we cover need to have confidence that we are part of and care about their community and that we're not just there to fill the airtime," Duffy said. The community engagement reporter "will be a key part of that process," he said.
The reporter, who will join the Michigan Radio news team, will work with the council to identify stories about the city's neighborhoods and for the neighborhoods, Duffy said.
The perfect go-between
Michigan Radio has covered neighborhoods outside of Detroit's downtown business district, but the reporting was often from the perspective of public officials, Duffy said. While the city's central core has undergone a "tremendous revitalization" in the last five to 10 years, many of its residents haven't benefited equally from that economic growth, he said.
"Our reporting on neighborhoods has been somewhat episodic and not really built on relationships," Duffy said "So we kind of needed … an introduction and a pathway into that community."
"I'm talking about stories that change a community and improve the quality of life."
– Luther Keith, Executive Director of ARISE detroit
For that introduction, Michigan Radio turned to former journalist turned community organizer Luther Keith, executive director of ARISE Detroit. A former editor and columnist for The Detroit News, Keith created ARISE Detroit after he retired in 2005. The organization works to empower neighborhoods to improve their quality of life through civic action by coordinating with community groups and religious organizations on volunteer projects and local action campaigns.
ARISE Detroit has earned credibility among residents, and Keith's experience as a journalist makes him the perfect "go-between" as Michigan Radio looks to improve its neighborhood coverage, Duffy said. ARISE Detroit will work with Michigan Radio to recruit council members.
"We don't have the connections in the neighborhoods or the credibility, necessarily, to talk to all the people … and be able to convene them in the way that I think ARISE will help us do," said Michigan Radio Marketing Director Steven Chrypinski.
In addition to the partnership on the community reporting and engagement, Michigan Radio is sponsoring ARISE Detroit's Neighborhoods Day. The event, scheduled for Aug. 7, coordinates hundreds of volunteer activities across the city. Chrypinski said he hopes to deepen the station's relationships with other community organizations and sees ARISE as the starting point.
'Stories that change a community'
Keith envisions that the Community Reporting Engagement Council will emphasize coverage that features the views of people who are working on solutions, he said in an interview. Journalists often have tunnel vision in reporting on problems in communities, he said.
Keith declined to describe the types of stories that will be reported or how the council will inform those stories. He's so invested in developing community-informed coverage that he wants to leave those decisions to the council.
But he is determined that the stories should embolden and empower communities.
"What I am interested in — and what ARISE Detroit is interested in — is community transformation," Keith said. "Not a couple stories. … I'm talking about stories that change a community and improve the quality of life."
The partners aim to appoint council members this summer and convene the first quarterly meeting in September, Duffy said. Council members will receive a $50 stipend from the station to "make sure that it is in no way a hardship for them to be a part of these groups."
Both Chrypinski and Duffy said Michigan Radio could potentially launch similar engagement initiatives with other communities within its coverage area. But this partnership is focused on Detroit.
"We're hopeful that this is the concept that we can replicate elsewhere," Chrypinski said.
Thoughts on reflecting diverse views, and including them
What's really involved in the hard work of broadening public media's range of voices?


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30/04/2018 · In Task Scheduler, please right click the new folder (Test) that you create, select "Import Task …" In "Open" dialog box, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Tasks folder. At the bottom of this dialog box, change to "All files (*.*)". Then you will be able to find the original task that you want to move in the folder or subfolder. Please select that scheduled task file and click Open... The Windows Task Scheduler automates tasks by running specific actions every time a certain condition occurs such as a period of time passing or a user logging on.
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HomeNew Books (Nov-Dec 2016)
New Books (Nov-Dec 2016)
January 1, 2017 August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New BooksAlex Wells, Andrew Pyper, Christina Kovac, Christopher Golden, Claire North, David Annandale, Gregory McDonald, Ingrid Thoft, Jason Zinoman, Jen Williams, Jonathan Lethem, Joshua Reynolds, Kathleen Kent, Kim Stanley Robinson, Laura Lippman, Lee Irby, Marie Brennan, Maurice Broaddus, Michael Crichton, Norman Spinrad, Paul Cornell, Steven Savile, Suzanne Rindell, Thoraiya Dyer, Tim Walker, Warren Ellis
Featuring: David Annandale, Marie Brennan, Maurice Broaddus, Paul Cornell, Michael Crichton, Thoraiya Dyer, Warren Ellis, Christopher Golden, Lee Irby, Kathleen Kent, Christina Kovac, Jonathan Lethem, Laura Lippman, Gregory McDonald, Claire North, Andrew Pyper, Joshua Reynolds, Suzanne Rindell, Kim Stanley Robinson, Steven Savile, Norman Spinrad, Ingrid Thoft, Tim Walker, Alex Wells, Jen Williams, Jason Zinoman
David Annandale, WARDEN OF THE BLADE (Black Library)
Castellan Crowe, Brotherhood Champion of the Purifier order of the Grey Knights, bears a heavy burden – to be the warden of the dread Blade of Antwyr. Its malevolent voice is forever in his head, trying to crack his resolve, urging him to unleash a power he must never use. The toll is terrible, and how long before the incorruptible Crowe is at last defeated? His harrowing task first began at Sandava II… Under the command of Castellan Gavallan, Crowe and his brother Purifiers bring purging flame to a daemonic incursion that threatens to consume the world. What awaits them is more insidious and more powerful than they imagine, and they must reckon too with the machinations of the Blade, as it seeks to destroy its guardian and drown the galaxy in blood.
I received the limited edition of this novel from the publisher, and I must say, it's a stunning book: the production value on BL's limited editions is superb (unsurprisingly, I suppose). This and Fabius Bile, below, are the first BL special editions that I've ever seen in real life, and I am very impressed. The novel is also available as regular hardcover and eBook (for some reason, not yet via Amazon for Kindle…).
Also on CR: Interview with David Annandale (2012); Guest Post on "My Favourite Novel"; Reviews of The Carrion Anthem, The Damnation of Pythos
Review copy received from publisher
Marie Brennan, LIGHTNING IN THE BLOOD (Tor.com)
Once, there was a call — a binding — and so, a woman appeared, present in body but absent in knowledge of her past self.
Making the ultimate journey of rediscovery was not without its own pitfalls — or rewards — and now Ree, a roaming Archeron, spirit of legend and time and physically now bound to her current form, has yet to fully uncover her true identity.
Ree has spent her last innumerable seasons on the move — orbiting, in some sense, the lands of her only friend in this world, Aadet, who has become intricately involved in the new post-revolution politics of his people. Swinging back from the forests surrounding Solaike, Ree falls in with another wandering band, some refugees accompanied by their own Archeron, who seems to know much more about Ree's own origins than she ever dared to hope.
The second novel in Brennan's Varekai series, following Cold-Forged Flame. Published by Tor.com in the US and UK, on May 30th, 2017.
Also on CR: Interview with Marie Brennan (2013), Guest Post on "The Series Payoff"; Reviews of Cold-Forged Flame, A Natural History of Dragons and In Ashes Lie
Maurice Broaddus, BUFFALO SOLDIER (Tor.com)
Having stumbled onto a plot within his homeland of Jamaica, former espionage agent, Desmond Coke, finds himself caught between warring religious and political factions, all vying for control of a mysterious boy named Lij Tafari.
Wanting the boy to have a chance to live a free life, Desmond assumes responsibility for him and they flee. But a dogged enemy agent remains ever on their heels, desperate to obtain the secrets held within Lij for her employer alone.
Assassins, intrigue, and steammen stand between Desmond and Lij as they search for a place to call home in a North America that could have been.
This looks really interesting. I don't read much steampunk, but I'm intrigued. Hopefully will read this very soon. I have also done an interview with the author in the works, so check back tomorrow for that. Published by Tor.com on April 25th, 2017, it will also be available in the UK.
Paul Cornell, CHALK (Tor.com)
Paul Cornell plumbs the depths of magic and despair in Chalk, a brutal exploration of bullying in Margaret Thatcher's England.
Andrew Waggoner has always hung around with his fellow losers at school, desperately hoping each day that the school bullies — led by Drake — will pass him by in search of other prey. But one day they force him into the woods, and the bullying escalates into something more; something unforgivable; something unthinkable.
Broken, both physically and emotionally, something dies in Waggoner, and something else is born in its place.
In the hills of the West Country a chalk horse stands vigil over a site of ancient power, and there Waggoner finds in himself a reflection of rage and vengeance, a power and persona to topple those who would bring him low.
This sounds very interesting. Published by Tor.com on March 21st, 2017, it will also be available in the UK.
Also on CR: Interview with Paul Cornell (2013); Guest Post on "Stuck in the Middle with Sherlock"
Michael Crichton, DRAGON TEETH (Harper)
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate Americas western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.
Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the west to win a bet against his arch-rival, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition. But when the paranoid and secretive Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice. William is forced to join forces with Cope and soon stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions. With this extraordinary treasure, however, comes exceptional danger, and Williams newfound resilience will be tested in his struggle to protect his cache, which pits him against some of the Wests most notorious characters.
A page-turner that draws on both meticulously researched history and an exuberant imagination, Dragon Teeth is based on the rivalry between real-life paleontologists Cope and Marsh; in William Johnson readers will find an inspiring hero only Michael Crichton could have imagined. Perfectly paced and brilliantly plotted, this enormously winning adventure is destined to become another Crichton classic.
I am one of the many people who read Jurassic Park when they were very young, and have been intrigued by Crichton's novels ever since. Strangely, though, I haven't read too many of them. I'm also rather surprised how consistently new Crichton novels pop up, given that he passed away in 2008… Anyway, Dragon Teeth is published by Harper in North America and the UK, in May 2017.
Review copy received via Edelweiss
Thoraiya Dyer, CROSSROADS OF CANOPY (Tor)
At the highest level of a giant forest, thirteen kingdoms fit seamlessly together to form the great city of Canopy. Thirteen goddesses and gods rule this realm and are continuously reincarnated into human bodies. Canopy's position in the sun, however, is not without its dark side. The nation's opulence comes from the labor of slaves, and below its fruitful boughs are two other realms: Understorey and Floor, whose deprived citizens yearn for Canopy's splendor.
Unar, a determined but destitute young woman, escapes her parents' plot to sell her into slavery by being selected to serve in the Garden under the goddess Audblayin, ruler of growth and fertility. As a Gardener, she wishes to become Audblayin's next Bodyguard while also growing sympathetic towards Canopy's slaves.
When Audblayin dies, Unar sees her opportunity for glory – at the risk of descending into the unknown dangers of Understorey to look for a newborn god. In its depths, she discovers new forms of magic, lost family connections, and murmurs of a revolution that could cost Unar her chance… or grant it by destroying the home she loves.
This title first caught my attention, I confess, when the cover was revealed. That led me to the synopsis, and my curiosity was piqued. The first novel in the Titan's Forest series, it's published by Tor on January 31st, 2017.
Warren Ellis, NORMAL (FSG Originals)
Some people call it "abyss gaze." Gaze into the abyss all day and the abyss will gaze into you.
There are two types of people who think professionally about the future: Foresight strategists are civil futurists who think about geoengineering and smart cities and ways to evade Our Coming Doom; strategic forecasters are spook futurists, who think about geopolitical upheaval and drone warfare and ways to prepare clients for Our Coming Doom. The former are paid by nonprofits and charities, the latter by global security groups and corporate think tanks.
For both types, if you're good at it, and you spend your days and nights doing it, then it's something you can't do for long. Depression sets in. Mental illness festers. And if the abyss gaze takes hold there's only one place to recover: Normal Head, in the wilds of Oregon, within the secure perimeter of an experimental forest.
When Adam Dearden, a foresight strategist, arrives at Normal Head, he is desperate to unplug and be immersed in sylvan silence. But then a patient goes missing from his locked bedroom, leaving nothing but a pile of insects in his wake. A staff investigation ensues; surveillance becomes total. As the mystery of the disappeared man unravels in Warren Ellis's Normal, Adam uncovers a conspiracy that calls into question the core principles of how and why we think about the future — and the past, and the now.
This is a pretty short novel, and one I've been looking forward to for quite some time. Will read and review ASAP. Published by FSG Originals in the US and UK.
Christopher Golden, ARARAT (St. Martin's Press)
When a newly engaged couple climbs Mount Ararat in Turkey, an avalanche forces them to seek shelter inside a massive cave uncovered by the snow fall. The cave is actually an ancient, buried ship that many quickly come to believe is really Noah's Ark. But when a team of scholars, archaeologists, and filmmakers make it inside the ark for the first time, they discover an elaborate coffin in its recesses…and when they break it open, they find that the cadaver within is an ugly, misshapen thing…and it has horns. A massive blizzard blows in, trapping them in that cave thousands of meters up the side of a remote mountain…but they are not alone.
Sounds really interesting. Hopefully reading it very soon. Published in North America by St. Martin's Press, on April 18th 2017; it is due to be published in the UK by Headline, on the same day.
Also on CR: Interview with Christopher Golden (2013)
Lee Irby, UNRELIABLE (Doubleday)
The story of a charming college professor who most definitely did not — but maybe did — kill his ex-wife. Or someone else. Or no one. Irby plays with the thriller trope in unimaginably clever ways.
Edwin Stith, a failed novelist and college writing instructor in upstate New York, is returning home for the weekend to Richmond, Virginia, to celebrate his mother's wedding — to a much younger man. Edwin has a peculiar relationship with the truth. He is a liar who is brutally honest. He may or may not be sleeping with his students, he may or may not be getting fired, and he may or may not have killed his ex-wife, a lover, and his brand-new stepsister.
Stith's dysfunctional homecoming leads him deep into a morass of long-gestating secrets and dangers, of old-flames still burning strong and new passions ready to consume everything he holds dear. But family dysfunction is only eclipsed by Edwin's own, leading to profound suspense and utter hilarity. Lee Irby has crafted a sizzling modern classic of dark urges, lies, and secrets that harks back to the unsettling obsessions of Edgar Allan Poe — with a masterful ending that will have you thinking for days.
This sounded like it might be interesting. Published by Doubleday in April 2017 in the US and UK.
Kathleen Kent, THE DIME (Mulholland)
Brooklyn's toughest female detective takes on Dallas — and neither is ready for the fight.
Dallas, Texas is not for the faint of heart. Good thing for Betty Rhyzyk she's from a family of take-no-prisoners Brooklyn police detectives. But her Big Apple wisdom will only get her so far when she relocates to The Big D, where Mexican drug cartels and cult leaders, deadbeat skells and society wives all battle for sunbaked turf.
Betty is as tough as the best of them, but she's deeply shaken when her first investigation goes sideways. Battling a group of unruly subordinates, a persistent stalker, a formidable criminal organization, and an unsupportive girlfriend, the unbreakable Detective Betty Rhyzyk may be reaching her limit.
Combining the colorful pyrotechnics of Breaking Bad with the best of the gritty crime genre, The Dime is Kathleen Kent's brilliant mystery debut and the launch of a sensational new series.
This sounds pretty good, and it's been getting a fair bit of early buzz. The Dime is published by Mulholland Books in the US, in February 2017 (and is available to pre-order on import in the UK).
Christina Kovac, THE CUTAWAY (37Ink)
Enter the tangled world of corruption and cover-up as a young television producer investigates the disappearance of a beautiful Georgetown lawyer…
When brilliant TV news producer Virginia Knightly receives a disturbing "MISSING" notice on her desk related to the disappearance of a beautiful young attorney, she can't seem to shake the image from her head. Despite skepticism from her colleagues, Knightly suspects this ambitious young lawyer may be at the heart of something far more sinister, especially since she was last seen leaving an upscale restaurant after a domestic dispute. Yet, as the only woman of power at her station, Knightly quickly finds herself investigating on her own.
Risking her career, her life, and perhaps even her own sanity, Knightly dives deep into the dark underbelly of Washington, DC business and politics in an investigation that will drag her mercilessly through the inextricable webs of corruption that bind the press, the police, and politics in our nation's capital.
One of my most anticipated novels of 2017, I was very happy when I received an ARC of this at the beginning of December. I've already read the novel, but I promised the publisher that I'd hold off the review until the beginning of March. Published in North America by 37Ink, in March 2017; and in the UK by Serpent's Tail, in April 2017.
Jonathan Lethem, LUCKY ALAN (Vintage)
Jonathan Lethem's third collection of stories uncovers a father's nervous breakdown at SeaWorld in "Pending Vegan"; a foundling child rescued from the woods during a blizzard in "Traveler Home"; a political prisoner in a hole in a Brooklyn street in "Procedure in Plain Air"; and a crumbling, haunted "blog" on a seaside cliff in "The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear." Each of these locates itself in Lethem-land, which can be discovered only by visiting. As in his celebrated novels, Lethem finds the uncanny lurking in the mundane, the irrational self-defeat seeping through our upstanding pursuits, and the tragic undertow of the absurd world(s) in which we live.
Devoted fans of Lethem will recognize familiar themes: the anxiety of influence taken to reductio ad absurdum in "The King of Sentences"; a hapless, horny outsider summoning bravado in "The Porn Critic"; characters from forgotten comics stranded on a desert island in "Their Back Pages." As always in Lethem, humor and poignancy work in harmony, humans strive desperately for connection, words find themselves misaligned to deeds, and the sentences are glorious.
I still haven't read anything by Lethem. I've tried Fortress of Solitude, but I did so at a time when I really wasn't in the mood for it. I also didn't used to like anthologies too much, but since reading Richard Russo's upcoming Trajectory, I've come to the conclusion that I actually do. So, I thought Lucky Alan might be a good way to get into Lethem's writing. (I also picked up Chronic City.) I ended up reading this pretty quickly. There were moments when I thought, "Ok, I can see why he's popular," but there were also plenty of moments when I just zoned out. An interesting, if certainly imperfect collection. I appreciated the experimentalism, but also often just wanted the stories to be… well, not exactly "regular", but less-odd. Published by Vintage in North America and the UK, it's out now.
Laura Lippman, WILDE LAKE (William Morrow)
An African-American man accused of rape by a humiliated girl. A vengeful father. A courageous attorney. A worshipful daughter. Think you know this story? Think again.
Luisa "Lu" Brant is the newly elected state's attorney representing suburban Maryland — including the famous planned community of Columbia, created to be a utopia of racial and economic equality. Prosecuting a controversial case involving a disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death, the fiercely ambitious Lu is determined to avoid the traps that have destroyed other competitive, successful women. She's going to play it smart to win this case — and win big — cementing her political future.
But her intensive preparation for trial unexpectedly dredges up painful recollections of another crime—the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man's life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Justice was done. Or was it? Did the events of 1980 happen as she remembers them? She was only a child then. What details didn't she know?
As she plunges deeper into the past, Lu is forced to face a troubling reality. The legal system, the bedrock of her entire life, does not have all the answers. But what happens when she realizes that, for the first time, she doesn't want to know the whole truth?
Took me a while to get around to picking this up. Thought it looked good. Out now, published by William Morrow in North America, and Faber & Faber in the UK.
Gregory McDonald, SNATCH (Hard Case Crime)
Whether it's a Middle East oil crisis in the 1970s or the London Blitz during WWII, world events have a way of breeding trouble on the home front, too. That's how Toby Rinaldi, son of a U.N. Ambassador, wound up kidnapped on his way to a California amusement park, and how Robby Burnes, orphaned son of British nobility, wound up snatched on the snowy streets of New York City. But as Robby's famous namesake taught us, the best laid plans don't always work out as intended. Especially not when you'e a kidnapper in the hands of Gregory Mcdonald.
Published by Hard Case Crime in the US and UK, in February 2017.
Megan Miranda, THE PERFECT STRANGER (Simon & Schuster)
Confronted by a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit, failed journalist Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston when she runs into an old friend, Emmy Grey, who has just left a troubled relationship. Emmy proposes they move to rural Pennsylvania, where Leah can get a teaching position and both women can start again. But their new start is threatened when a woman with an eerie resemblance to Leah is assaulted by the lake, and Emmy disappears days later.
Determined to find Emmy, Leah cooperates with Kyle Donovan, a handsome young police officer on the case. As they investigate her friend's life for clues, Leah begins to wonder: did she ever really know Emmy at all? With no friends, family, or a digital footprint, the police begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey. Soon Leah's credibility is at stake, and she is forced to revisit her past: the article that ruined her career. To save herself, Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey — and along the way, confront her old demons, find out who she can really trust, and clear her own name.
Everyone in this rural Pennsylvanian town has something to hide — including Leah herself. How do you uncover the truth when you are busy hiding your own?
This is Miranda's follow-up to All the Missing Girls (though it's not a sequel, and features different characters). It looks really good, so I'll be reading it pretty soon. It's not out until May 2017, though, so I'll hold off on posting the review until maybe April. Published by Simon & Schuster in North America.
Claire North, THE END OF THE DAY (Redhook)
At the end of the day, Death visits everyone. Right before that, Charlie does.
You might meet him in a hospital, in a warzone, or at the scene of a traffic accident.
Then again, you might meet him at the North Pole — he gets everywhere, our Charlie.
Would you shake him by the hand, take the gift he offers, or would you pay no attention to the words he says?
Sometimes he is sent as a courtesy, sometimes as a warning. He never knows which.
Every new Claire North book is a must-read. Every single one. Unfortunately, there's no cover to share, yet. Published by Redhook in the US on April 4th, 2017; and by Orbit in the UK on April 6th, 2017.
Also on CR: Reviews of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Touch, The Gameshouse Trilogy, The Sudden Appearance of Hope
Andrew Pyper, THE ONLY CHILD (Simon & Schuster)
What if you learned your father wasn't who you thought he was? What if you learned you carried secrets deep within your blood?
Dr. Lily Dominick has seen her share of bizarre cases as a forensic psychiatrist working with some of New York's most dangerous psychotic criminals. But nothing can prepare Lily for her newest patient.
Client 46874-A is nameless. He insists that he is not human, and believes that he was not born, but created over two hundred years ago. As Lily listens to this man describe the twisted crime he's committed, she can't shake the feeling that he's come for her — especially once he reveals something she would have thought impossible: He knew her mother.
Lily was only six years old when her mother was violently killed in what investigators concluded was a bear attack. But even though she was there, even though she saw it, Lily has never been certain of what really happened that night. Now, this stranger may hold the answers to the questions she's buried deep within herself all her life. That's when he escapes.
To discover the truth — behind her client, her mother's death, herself — Lily must embark on a journey to find him that will threaten her career, her sanity, and ultimately her life.
Fusing relentless suspense with surprising emotion, The Only Child is a psychological thriller about family, identity and monstrosity that will keep you up until its last unforgettable revelation.
I have somehow managed to still not read anything by Pyper. True, I don't read a lot of horror as it is, but I have heard nothing but good things about Pyper. His latest, The Only Child, is due to be published in North America by Simon & Schuster and in the UK by Orion, in June 2017.
Joshua Reynolds, FABIUS BILE: PRIMOGENITOR (Black Library)
He is known by many names — Clonelord, Manflayer, Primogenitor. He is the epitome of deceit and perversion, and feared by man and monster alike. Once the Chief Apothecary of the Emperor's Children, the madman known as Fabius Bile possesses a knowledge of genetic manipulation second to none.
Now a renegade among renegades, he is loathed by those he once called brother, and even the most degraded of Chaos Space Marines fear his name. Exiled for his dark experiments, Bile has retreated deep into the Eye of Terror, leaving a trail of twisted abominations in his wake.
But when a former student brings word of the ultimate prize for the taking, Bile is unable to resist being drawn once more into the cauldron of war. For in seizing this prize, Fabius Bile might yet discover the one secret his has been unable to unlock… the secret which will prevent his inevitable doom.
I'm a big fan of Reynolds's BL fiction, so when I heard he was going to be writing about Fabius Bile, my interest in the series skyrocketed. I bought the eBook, but a couple of weeks later, I received a review copy of the limited edition from the publisher — it's a stunning thing, really. I started reading the eBook pretty soon after it arrived, and blitzed through it — this is entertaining, fast-paced science fiction (full review link below). It mixes the best of classic sci-fi adventure fiction with the best of modern WH40k. Published by Black Library, it's out now (also available through the UK Kindle store).
Also on CR: Reviews of End Times: The Return of Nagash, End Times: The Lord of the End Times, Fabius Bile: Primogenitor
Suzanne Rindell, THREE-MARTINI LUNCH (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
New York, 1958. Cliff Nelson, the privileged son of a New York publisher, is slumming it around Greenwich Village, enjoying booze, drugs and the idea that he's the next Jack Kerouac. Fresh-faced Eden Katz arrives in the city with one burning ambition, but she is shocked at the stumbling blocks she encounters. Miles Tillman, a publisher's messenger boy, is an aspiring writer who straddles various worlds and belongs to none.
Their choices, betrayals and passions will draw them together and change their lives for ever.
Stumbled across this one in a Toronto second hand bookstore, decided to pick it up. I never got around to reading Rindell's previous novel, The Other Typist, but this one sounded pretty interesting (it's about publishing!). Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in Canada and the US, Allison & Busby in the UK (cover above, because I like it better than the North American cover).
Kim Stanley Robinson, NEW YORK 2140 (Orbit)
The waters rose, submerging New York City.
But the residents adapted and it remained the bustling, vibrant metropolis it had always been. Though changed forever.
Every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island.
Through the eyes of the varied inhabitants of one building Kim Stanley Robinson shows us how one of our great cities will change with the rising tides.
And how we too will change.
One of my most-anticipated novels of 2017. Published by Orbit Books on March 14th (US) and 16th (UK), 2017.
Steven Savile, PARALLEL LINES (Titan)
How far would you go to provide for your child?
Adam Shaw is dying, and knows he'll leave his disabled son with nothing. His solution? Rob a bank. It's no surprise that things go wrong. What is surprising is that when another customer is accidentally shot, no one in the bank is in a hurry to hand Adam over to the police. There's the manager who's desperate to avoid an audit, the security guard with a serious grudge against the dead man, and the woman who knows exactly how bad the victim really was…
Eight people, twelve hours, one chance to cover up a murder. But it's not just the police they have to fool. When many lives intersect, the results can be explosive.
Could be interesting. Published by Titan Books on March 14th, 2017 (in the US and UK).
Norman Spinrad, THE PEOPLE'S POLICE (Tor Books)
Martin Luther Martin is a hard-working New Orleans cop, who has come up from the gangland of Alligator Swamp through hard work. When he has to serve his own eviction notice, he decides he's had enough and agrees to spearhead a police strike.
Brothel owner and entrepreneur J. B. Lafitte also finds himself in a tight spot when his whorehouse in the Garden District goes into foreclosure. Those same Fat Cats responsible for the real estate collapse after Katrina didn't differentiate between social strata or vocation.
MaryLou Boudreau, aka Mama Legba, is a television star and voodoo queen — with a difference. The loa really do ride and speak through her.
These three, disparate people are pulled together by a single moment in the television studio when Martin, hoping for publicity and support from the people against the banks, corporate fat cats, and corrupt politicians. But no one expects Papa Legba himself to answer, and his question changes everything.
"What do you offer?"
This sounds like it could be really interesting. Published by Tor Books in March 2017, it'll be available in the UK as well.
Ingrid Thoft, BRUTALITY (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Fina Ludlow isn't looking for a case independent of Ludlow and Associates, her family's personal-injury law firm, but when Liz Barone is attacked in her kitchen, Fina sees a golden opportunity. A former college soccer star at New England University, Liz has experienced a serious cognitive decline that soured the memories of her athletic glory days, and she is determined to hold someone responsible. Fina considers this an entrée into the burgeoning world of sports-injury litigation, and if her freelance work annoys her father? All the better.
Lots of people have a stake in the trouble Liz is stirring up, and the more Fina digs, the more she learns that the case transcends sports. Was Liz attacked to stop her lawsuit, or were there dangerous secrets in the seemingly innocent woman's life? Where is the line between toughness and savagery? What is the price, and ultimately, who pays it?
Fina discovers that wading into the financially lucrative and emotionally charged world of collegiate sports requires nerves of steel. As the list of suspects grows and hidden agendas are revealed, she navigates the rough waters of conflicting values and beloved traditions and begins to wonder: Is any game worth the price?
Spotted this in Indigo in Toronto, thought it sounded good, and picked it up. It's the third book in the Fina Ludlow series, following Loyalty and Identity. Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in North America, and available in the UK also via G.P. Putnam's Sons. The fourth novel in the series, Duplicity is due out later this month.
Tim Walker, SMOKE OVER MALIBU (William Heinemann)
The Hon. Lucius Kluge – honourable, lucky, clever – might be the only guy in Los Angeles who's still living in the past.
Lucky pines for the old days of the New Hollywood, before Star Wars and superheroes blew up the movies for good. He spends his days working for an antiques business, his nights boozing and brooding on his former life as an almost-successful screenwriter.
But when his ex-best friend goes AWOL and his elderly boss is assaulted during the theft of a vintage cookie jar, Lucky and his partner Raul are spurred reluctantly into something like action.
A satire of sundered friendships and frayed male egos at the Hollywood intersection of art and commerce, Smoke Over Malibu is a soft-boiled mystery, a fish-out-of-water farce, a buddy comedy, an inaction thriller, a hipster indie. It's Raymond Chandler meets Nick Hornby; it's The Big Lebowski meets Lovejoy. It is absolutely, positively not a superhero blockbuster.
This sounds really interesting. Looking forward to reading it. Published in the UK by William Heinemann, on January 26th, 2017.
Alex Wells, HUNGER MAKES THE WOLF (Angry Robot)
The strange planet known as Tanegawa's World is owned by TransRifts Inc, the company with the absolute monopoly on interstellar travel. Hob landed there ten years ago, a penniless orphan left behind by a rift ship. She was taken in by Nick Ravani and quickly became a member of his mercenary biker troop, the Ghost Wolves.
Ten years later, she discovers that the body of Nick's brother out in the dunes. Worse, his daughter is missing, taken by shady beings called the Weathermen. But there are greater mysteries to be discovered – both about Hob and the strange planet she calls home.
Sounds like it could be fun/interesting. Published by Angry Robot Books in the UK and US, in March 2017.
Jen Williams, THE NINTH RAIN (Headline)
The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces — talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.
When eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving ancient artefacts is preferable to the abomination he left behind.
But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire collapse, and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war. For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall…
This is the first in Williams's new series, The Winnowing Flame. Looks interesting. Williams's debut series, Copper Cat, was very popular, so it'll be interesting to see how this new series shapes up. Due to be published in the UK by Headline, on February 23rd, 2017.
Also on CR: Interview with Jen Williams (2014); Guest Posts on "Watership Down, or the Film that Made Me" and "Magic & its Masters"
Jason Zinoman, LETTERMAN (Harper)
The definitive story of the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman, the greatest television talk show host of all time and the signature comedic voice of a generation.
In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television. While he remains one of the most famous stars in America, he is a remote, even reclusive, figure whose career is widely misunderstood. In Letterman, Jason Zinoman, the first comedy critic in the history of the New York Times, mixes groundbreaking reporting with unprecedented access and probing critical analysis to explain the unique entertainer's titanic legacy. Moving from his early days in Indiana to his retirement, Zinoman goes behind the scenes of Letterman's television career to illuminate the origins of his revolutionary comedy, its overlooked influences, and how his work intersects with and reveals his famously eccentric personality.
Zinoman argues that Letterman had three great artistic periods, each distinct and part of his evolution. As he examines key broadcasting moments — "Stupid Pet Tricks" and other captivating segments that defined Late Night with David Letterman — he illuminates Letterman's relationship to his writers, and in particular, the show's co-creator, Merrill Markoe, with whom Letterman shared a long professional and personal connection.
To understand popular culture today, it's necessary to understand David Letterman. With this revealing biography, Zinoman offers a perceptive analysis of the man and the artist whose ironic voice and caustic meta-humor was critical to an entire generation of comedians and viewers — and whose singular style ushered in new tropes that have become clichés in comedy today.
I'm not the world's biggest Letterman fan, but I am very interested in comedy and the entertainment industry as a whole. Therefore, any book about Letterman, a giant of the American late night comedy circuit for so many years, should be of interest. Published by Harper in North America and the UK, in April 2017. (At the time of writing, the UK Kindle edition was surprisingly cheap, too…)
← Review: THE MASTER OF MANKIND by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (Black Library)
Interview with MAURICE BROADDUS →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package gnu.java.security.prng;

import gnu.java.security.Registry;
import gnu.java.security.hash.HashFactory;
import gnu.java.security.hash.IMessageDigest;

import java.util.Map;

/**
 * A simple pseudo-random number generator that relies on a hash algorithm, that
 * (a) starts its operation by hashing a seed, and then (b)
 * continuously re-hashing its output. If no hash algorithm name is specified in
 * the {@link Map} of attributes used to initialise the instance then the
 * SHA-160 algorithm is used as the underlying hash function. Also, if no
 * seed is given, an empty octet sequence is used.
 */
public class MDGenerator
    extends BasePRNG
    implements Cloneable
{
  /** Property name of underlying hash algorithm for this generator. */
  public static final String MD_NAME = "gnu.crypto.prng.md.hash.name";

  /** Property name of seed material. */
  public static final String SEEED = "gnu.crypto.prng.md.seed";

  /** The underlying hash instance. */
  private IMessageDigest md;

  /** Trivial 0-arguments constructor. */
  public MDGenerator()
  {
    super(Registry.MD_PRNG);
  }

  public void setup(Map attributes)
  {
    // find out which hash to use
    String underlyingMD = (String) attributes.get(MD_NAME);
    if (underlyingMD == null)
      {
        if (md == null)
          { // happy birthday
            // ensure we have a reliable implementation of this hash
            md = HashFactory.getInstance(Registry.SHA160_HASH);
          }
        else // a clone. reset it for reuse
          md.reset();
      }
    else // ensure we have a reliable implementation of this hash
      md = HashFactory.getInstance(underlyingMD);
    // get the seeed
    byte[] seed = (byte[]) attributes.get(SEEED);
    if (seed == null)
      seed = new byte[0];

    md.update(seed, 0, seed.length);
  }

  public void fillBlock() throws LimitReachedException
  {
    IMessageDigest mdc = (IMessageDigest) md.clone();
    buffer = mdc.digest();
    md.update(buffer, 0, buffer.length);
  }

  public void addRandomByte(final byte b)
  {
    if (md == null)
      throw new IllegalStateException("not initialized");
    md.update(b);
  }

  public void addRandomBytes(final byte[] buf, final int off, final int len)
  {
    if (md == null)
      throw new IllegalStateException("not initialized");
    md.update(buf, off, len);
  }

  public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException
  {
    MDGenerator result = (MDGenerator) super.clone();
    if (this.md != null)
      result.md = (IMessageDigest) this.md.clone();

    return result;
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Were there 18 school shootings in the US from Jan 1 to Feb 14, 2018?
CBC Radio (Canada) reported earlier this evening that the Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School "was the 18th school shooting in the U.S. since the beginning of 2018.".
On its face this seems a bit unlikely; also due to the fact that these incidents tend to be widely reported in the media, and I have only heard of one school shooting so far in 2018 (in Kentucky). However a quick Google search shows this factoid also being reported by many media outlets in the US.
How is it possible that 16 school shootings have occurred so far this year in the USA and it has largely escaped public notice?
united-states criminology safety school statistics
Stevoisiak
jkfjkf
I wonder whether the media has been explicitly stating that there's been 18 instances of a school kid "going postal", or whether they've merely said statements that could reasonably be interpreted that way. – Andrew Grimm Feb 16 '18 at 14:39
@AndrewGrimm Problem is that a reproducible original source in the question is missing. For example time.com/5159039/florida-school-shooting-parkland just talks about incidents of fired guns at schools. The question asker might simply have misunderstood the claim. – Trilarion Feb 16 '18 at 14:48
Note that the Washington Post addressed this claim as well. – JeopardyTempest Feb 16 '18 at 18:26
Because a mass shooting in the USA is like seeing a soda vending machine in Japan. It's so commonly spread that it is hardly noticeable anymore. – Andrea Lazzarotto Feb 17 '18 at 14:42
@AndrewGrimm It varies, unsurprisingly, since "the media" is not a homogenous organization. For example, the BBC says "There have been 18 school shootings this year. Is it time to arm teachers?" which naturally reads as talking about any kind of shooting in a school, whereas the Independent says "This shooting in Florida was the 18th such event in an American school this year" which very strongly implies 18th school kid going postal. – David Richerby Feb 17 '18 at 15:49
It depends on what you classify as 'school shooting' and most people would consider this number too high.
You can find an overview over 17 incidents (together with news sources) at:
everytownresearch.org
The list include all gun-related incidents near or in schools like:
A disagreement between two 16-year-old students escalated when Jonah Neal pulled out a handgun. School administrators noticed the weapon and tried to calm him; Neal then fled across campus. He was pursued by staff until he fired the gun four or five times into the air.
and also obvious accidents:
A criminal justice club student picked up a loaded gun, belonging to an advisor, which the student thought was an unloaded training weapon. She then shot at a wall target, unintentionally firing a bullet(...)
The coverage of these incidents without deaths is rather limited.
FooTheBarFooTheBar
For someone from Europe these tales of casual gun use make horrifying reading. The combination of teenage hormones and lethal weapons is a nightmare. – Michael Kay Feb 16 '18 at 13:11
For decades the US had shooting clubs in schools without incident. – Mayo Feb 16 '18 at 16:54
@Mayo Was it really without incident, or just that it wasn't as widely reported or available as it is today? Today we instantly know when a significant mass shooting happens, and can look up the other school shootings, all thanks to the internet. At the time of shooting clubs, most of these incidents wouldn't be known beyond the local level. – Kevin Fee Feb 16 '18 at 17:06
@Mayo I hear that claim a lot - especially prefixed with "In my day..." and inevitably followed-up with a relevant, but rose-tinted, anecdote about how things were better some 40-50 years ago. I can't dismiss them because they could very well be true, but where is the actual (ideally statistical) evidence that school shooting-clubs and gun-culture in decades past were safer? – Dai Feb 16 '18 at 22:56
Joined this community to upvote the answer (objective and fact-based), and just to give my perspective --- any of these two "accidents" would have had national-wide resonance here in Spain. – Rmano Feb 17 '18 at 17:11
In summary there appears to be at least 18 gun incidents in, or around, schools between 1st January and 14th February 2018. They are not all of the "mass shooting" variety one might expect from the headlines but they have certainly all involved the accidental or intentional letting off of a firearm.
I count 17, not 18 The 18th has been found (H/T @BradC)
2 were suicides
3 others involved fatalities
4 further incidents involved some injuries
The remaining 9 led to no injuries or deaths
This figure has been widely reported after the terrible incident in Florida on February 14th, 2018. That is one school shooting in 2018.
A quick rundown of others:
2nd Jan: LA teen accidentally discharges weapon – injures 4 people (How?!?)
A 12-year-old girl was booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm Thursday after a shooting at Sal Castro Middle School left four students injured, authorities said.Los Angeles police do not believe that the shooting was intentional, spokesman Josh Rubenstein said Thursday evening. - Los Angeles Times
3rd Jan: 31-year-old Michigan man commits suicide – happens to be at an elementary school
The Clinton County Sheriff's Office says a man who called 911 shot himself in the parking lot of East Olive Elementary School in St. Johns. Deputies were called to the former school just before 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. The man had called 911, stated he was suicidal and told dispatch that he had a handgun with him. A Clinton County negotiator talked to the 31-year-old man from Potterville for several hours before the man took his own life. - WILX News 10
4th Jan: Shots fired off campus in Seattle enter the building – no injuries
Shots were fired and a bullet entered a building at New Start High School near Burien Thursday afternoon. King County Sheriff's Office officials said no one was hit or injured. Officials said a round was fired from outside of the school around 1:15 p.m. into the main administrative office. The office was occupied at the time. - KIRO-TV
10th Jan: Arizona teen commits suicide at school
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday a 14-year-old boy shot himself with a family member's firearm inside an elementary school bathroom in southern Arizona. Sheriff Mark Dannels said in a news release that investigators recovered the weapon in Tuesday's shooting from the bathroom at Coronado Elementary School - azcentral.com
10th Jan: Shots fired off campus happen to hit California State University building
Authorities say a gun was fired and a bullet hit a building on a Southern California college campus, but there were no reports of any injuries. Officials at California State University, San Bernardino said the gunfire was reported at about 6 p.m. Wednesday local time. San Bernardino police say the shot most likely came from just off campus and hit a window of the visual arts building on its west side. - CBS News
10th Jan: Accidental weapon discharge at Texas school – no injuries
School officials said a bullet from an accidental discharge went through a classroom wall, came out through the other side and exited through a window. It happened at the Grayson College Criminal Justice Center on Jan. 10. - KXII News 12
15th Jan: Person in Texas drove into a school parking lot, let off some shots, and crash into a wall. No injuries
The Marshall Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred on the Wiley College campus. On Monday, January 15, at approximately 12:15 a.m., officers responded to the area of University Avenue near Wiley Avenue on reports of gunshots. Preliminary reports indicate that a black sedan entered the Strickland Hall parking lot and possibly exchanged gunfire with a person who was in the parking lot. It is believed the black sedan was occupied by two subjects. The suspects in the sedan crashed into a retaining wall, causing damage to the retaining wall and the vehicle. The vehicle left the scene prior to officers arrival. - KTBS 3
20th Jan: North Carolina university student shot and killed on campus
A Winston-Salem State University football player died after being shot at an event at Wake Forest University early Saturday morning. Najee Ali Baker, 21, was taken to a hospital and died, according to a Winston-Salem police press release. Police were called to The Barn, an event venue on the school's campus in the 1800 block of Wake Forest Drive, at about 1 a.m. after a gunshot was fired. - WTHI-TV 10
22nd Jan: Someone drives past and shoots at kids outside of a school. Injures one, not seriously
New Orleans Police are investigating a shooting outside of a Gentilly high school Monday (Jan. 22) that left one 14-year-old boy injured with a "superficial" abrasion wound. Police said someone in a dark pickup truck drove by The NET Charter High School, in the 6600 block of Franklin Avenue, and fired while a group of students were in front of the school, in the parking lot. The shooting took place about 1:30 p.m., principal Elizabeth Ostberg said. - NOLA.com
22nd Jan: In Texas a high school student opens fire in the school cafeteria injuring one
A 16-year-old boy is in custody after a shooting at a Texas high school cafeteria Monday morning that injured one student, authorities said. Just before 8 a.m. local time, police responded to reports of an active shooter at Italy High School in the town of Italy, about 50 miles south of Dallas. A 15-year-old girl was wounded in the shooting and airlifted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, according to the Ellis County Sheriff's Office. - The Washington Post
23rd Jan: Kentucky high school kid kills two at his high school
Two students were killed Tuesday and 18 other people were wounded when a 15-year-old boy armed with a handgun opened fire inside a Kentucky high school, authorities said. Terrified students ditched their backpacks and scrambled to get away, and within minutes of the shots' having been fired, sheriff's deputies were at Marshall County High School in Benton, where they disarmed the student and took him into custody, officials said. - NBC News
25th Jan: Two Alabama high school kids have a disagreement, one fires shots, nobody injured
Investigators said what started out as just a disagreement between two teenagers escalated to shots fired at Murphy High School. Mobile Police identified the student as 16-year-old Jonah Neal. Neal has been booked into Mobile County Metro Jail. - FOX10 News
31st Jan: Philadelphia Man dies outside (or near) a school after an altercation
A man has died following a shooting outside a Philadelphia high school. It happened around 3:50 p.m. Wednesday near Lincoln High School located in the 3200 block of Ryan Ave. Police say they were called out to the school for reports of a large fight and gunshots being fired in the parking lot.
31st Jan: Shots fired in a Michigan school carpark – no deaths
Shots were fired in the parking lot of Dearborn High School during a basketball game Friday night. Two individuals were involved in an altercation in the hallway, according to an email from Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent Glenn Maleyko. The individuals were not students of the school district and were reportedly "settling a score" from a previous encounter that occurred in another city. - WXYZ.com
5th Feb: Maryland high school student shot in the chest. Is "Critical" but leaves hospital a few hours later.
A teenage boy who was shot outside his high school this week was set up by an ex-girlfriend, charging documents say. Police have charged 17-year-old Zanaya Bryant and 18-year-old Anthony Hollingsworth with attempted murder and related charges in connection with the shooting. - NBC4 Washington
5th Feb: Minnesota third grader manages to pull the trigger of police officer's gun (I really shouldn't laugh at this should I?)
Nobody was injured Monday afternoon when a student at the Harmony Learning Center fired a school liaison officer's gun, Maplewood police say. The officer was sitting on a bench talking with some students about 1:45 p.m., when a third-grader pressed the trigger of the officer's holstered weapon, according to a news release issued by the Maplewood Police Department. The gun discharged through the bottom of the holster and a bullet struck the floor, the news release said. - Twin Cities
8th Feb: Gun fired in a Bronx classroom – no deaths
Police are investigating after a gunshot was fired in a Bronx school Thursday. It happened Metropolitan High School in the Longwood section around 3 p.m. Police responded to the call at 3:20 p.m. They found a bullet hole in the floor of a classroom inside the school. - ABC7
14th Feb: Florida shooting linked at the top of this answer
A former student unleashed a hail of gunfire in a Florida high school on Wednesday, killing at least 17 adults and children, authorities said. - CNN
Jamiec♦Jamiec
@BurnsBA A bias to what? It was a little bit of semi-humerous commentary on a not-very-funny subject. An attempt at lightening the mood just a very little bit. If its offensive, i'll remove it but I seriously don't get how it shows any bias – Jamiec♦ Feb 16 '18 at 14:27
"(I really shouldn't laugh at this should I?)" -- sometimes when you encounter the absurd all you can do is laugh – BurnsBA Feb 16 '18 at 14:46
Note that in the event of 3rd January, the man was on school district property that does not currently house a working school, but instead was a "closed" school. – Kevin_Kinsey Feb 16 '18 at 17:52
The Jan 3 incident was at an abandoned school. More here: washingtonpost.com/local/… – Mahmoud Al-Qudsi Feb 16 '18 at 21:32
Instead of tallying at the top how many resulted in injuries, it would be more useful to tally how many were likely intended to cause harm to students vs accidental or incidental, since that is at the crux of the implications from the claim. – Aleksandr Dubinsky Feb 19 '18 at 12:14
It all depends on your definition of "school shooting". As others have noted, if you use the definition of a firearm discharge at a school, the original statistic is correct. Parkland was the eighteenth incident of an unauthorized firearm discharge at a school in 2018. But that's not what we'd normally consider a "school shooting" in the context of Parkland or Columbine.
Axios used a different definition:
Since the Columbine High School massacre set off a nationwide moral panic in 1999, there have been 10 school shootings in which four or more people were killed. Including the death or suicide of the perpetrators, these mass shootings have resulted in 122 fatalities.
Parkland was the tenth school mass shooting in that list.
If you use a slightly different definition with their data, you can drop that down to six "school shootings" starting with Columbine. The revised definition is an event where four or more students are shot and killed at an elementary or high school, not including the perpetrator (who may or may not count as a student). This is because five of the Axios "school shootings" were universities or colleges. There were only sixty children (18 and younger; not including perpetrators) killed in those six shootings. Eleven of the victims were adults, and six of the seven perpetrators committed suicide. The other sixty fatalities were in the college shootings, including one where three instructors were killed.
Using either the Axios definition or the modification, Parkland is the only school mass shooting in 2018. The next most recent is either 2015 or 2014, depending on if universities are included.
BrythanBrythan
Actually, if you use the definition of "a firearm discharge at a school", you get between 14 and 17. The January 3 incident took place at a former school, the January 4 and January 10 incidents took place away from schools, with stray bullets striking school buildings, and the January 31 Philadelphia incident may have taken place off of school property. – Mark Mar 30 '18 at 2:19
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged united-states criminology safety school statistics .
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George Grosz was an important member of the Dada and German Expressionist movement.
His caustic and satirical pen & ink drawings of Berlin life attacked both the bourgeois society and military heirachy of the period. He fled Germany in the early 1930's, and continued to paint and draw in his new homeland of America, until returning once again to Germany in 1950, where he once again discovered his previous acerbic and savage voice through the use of collage.
His work is to be found in many major museum collections worldwide.


MAZE is a cyberpunk horror mobile game set in real time. Explore a city quarantined in its subterranean metro stations, as you follow orders from a near omnipotent AI known as LION.
- Set in real-time, learn train timetables, npc job schedules and use that knowledge to your advantage .
- View scenes in both portrait and landscape mode to see alternate perspectives.
- Explore a subterranean cyberpunk world fighting to regain control after a world ending event.
- A decision heavy game, build strong relationships with multiple characters and grow your reputation within the MAZE.
The world has been overrun by a ferocious plague.
In a desperate act major cities quarantined their citizens in subterranean metro stations.
In order to create stability and order an AI known as LION was granted authority to assign citizens with jobs, accommodation and purpose.
Those who don't abide are marked fugitives and vagrants.
The most sought after yet publicly despised job is that of a VESSEL.
They act as the psychical manifestation of LION, as such are granted freedom to roam the MAZE.
Maybe soon we'll see, who you truly could have been.


Materials: Thrift store crutches, found eucalyptus log, recycled electronics from discarded toy, motion sensor, voice recording.
Want to discover more ideas of what to do with old crutches?
that's totally wacky and totally cool! Love it.
So, that's where my walker went! Off to the Greeniarts website to find out more!


Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are designed to make walking and bicycling to school safe and accessible for children. Despite their growing popularity, few validated measures exist for assessing important outcomes such as type of student transport or pedestrian safety behaviors. This research validated the SRTS school travel survey and a pedestrian safety behavior checklist.
Fourth grade students completed a brief written survey on how they got to school that day with set responses. Test-retest reliability was obtained 3-4 hours apart. Convergent validity of the SRTS travel survey was assessed by comparison to parents' report. For the measure of pedestrian safety behavior, 10 research assistants observed 29 students at a school intersection for completion of 8 selected pedestrian safety behaviors. Reliability was determined in two ways: correlations between the research assistants' ratings to that of the Principal Investigator (PI) and intraclass correlations (ICC) across research assistant ratings.
The SRTS travel survey had high test-retest reliability (κ = 0.97, n = 96, p < 0.001) and convergent validity (κ = 0.87, n = 81, p < 0.001). The pedestrian safety behavior checklist had moderate reliability across research assistants' ratings (ICC = 0.48) and moderate correlation with the PI (r = 0.55, p =< 0.01). When two raters simultaneously used the instrument, the ICC increased to 0.65. Overall percent agreement (91%), sensitivity (85%) and specificity (83%) were acceptable.
These validated instruments can be used to assess SRTS programs. The pedestrian safety behavior checklist may benefit from further formative work.
Improving youth physical activity is an important public health goal for addressing the childhood obesity epidemic. In the US, physical activity declined across age groups among a nationally representative sample  and longitudinally among a large US cohort . Since adolescent physical activity was associated with adult physical activity , engaging youth in lifelong physical activity behaviors should promote health throughout the lifespan.
Active commuting to school, i.e. walking or bicycling to and from school, shows promise for improving youth physical activity. Reports from Australia , Germany , Scotland , Canada , England  and the US [9, 10] have linked active commuting to school with higher levels of physical activity [11–13]. Active commuting to school is an integral part of the US Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program , which promotes walking and bicycling to school safely by primary and middle school students. The concept for SRTS programs originated in Denmark in the 1970s and spread internationally . The first US programs started in New York City and Florida in 1997. SRTS programs consist of up to four elements: education, encouragement, enforcement, and engineering to promote safe walking and bicycling to school. Since most US youth attend organized school, SRTS could have large public health impact . Increasing walking and bicycling to school were objectives of US Healthy People 2010 . Evaluations of walk to school programs in Scotland  and the US [18–21] have reported success in improving active commuting to school among students from a range of socioeconomic levels and settings.
SRTS programs are widely available and gaining in popularity internationally [22, 23]. The US SRTS Program received substantial federal funding - $612 million from 2005-2009; however, few validated measures exist for assessing outcomes of Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) Programs , such as school travel and pedestrian safety. Previous school travel surveys were too lengthy for focused evaluations of active commuting to school , were developed among a rural sample only , had unclear validity for children who walked or biked to school , or have not been formally validated . We therefore sought to validate a SRTS travel survey in an urban population (Objective 1), with the goal of providing an easy to use school travel survey for general program audits, but also rigorously validated and appropriate for researchers studying SRTS programs.
While most studies on SRTS have focused on students' mode of transport to school, an equally important outcome is pedestrian safety behavior. Increasing the numbers of children walking and bicycling to school also increases children's exposure to pedestrian hazards. SRTS programs emphasize safety through its four program elements. Since linking reductions in child pedestrian injuries to behavioral interventions would require very large sample sizes, assessing children's pedestrian safety behavior provides a direct assessment of what was learned. Videotaped observations of children's pedestrian safety behaviors has been described , but may not be feasible for some investigators due to cost. Previous investigators have described observational checklists for pedestrian safety behaviors assessed in the field among children in Israel , Scotland  and the US , although they only reported inter-rater reliability without comparison to an expert. We sought to fill this gap by assessing the reliability of a pedestrian safety behavior checklist designed for field use (Objective 2), which would be useful for SRTS program researchers.
Participants were students from low-income (90-99% of students qualified for the US Federal Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program) elementary schools in the Houston Independent School District of Houston, Texas, the fourth largest US city. For Objective 1 (school travel survey validation), students were recruited from 4th grade classrooms of two schools that predominantly enrolled either African American (85%) or Hispanic (74%) students. Eligibility was restricted to 4th grade students since this study was conducted in preparation for a randomized controlled trial evaluating a walking school bus intervention among 4th grade students in the Houston Independent School District. For Objective 2 (pedestrian safety behavior checklist validation), students from one elementary school (kindergarten through 5th grade) that predominantly enrolled African American students (90%) were observed. Low-income ethnic minority participants were recruited because they are generally underrepresented in childhood obesity and injury prevention research, yet are substantially impacted by both obesity and unintentional injuries .
We adapted the publicly available SRTS travel survey from the US National Center for Safe Routes to School website . Instead of asking students to raise their hands to indicate how they traveled to school (which could have a strong social influence bias on responses), we administered a written survey [Additional file 1]. The survey obtained each child's name, parents' contact information, and asked one question, "How did you get to school today?" The students could chose among seven potential responses, "rode school bus, came by carpool, came by car, rode metro bus, walked with an adult, walked without an adult, or biked". Students were instructed to mark the one answer that best showed how they got to school. Parents were contacted on the same day by study staff and asked, "How did [child's name] get to school today?" Parents also answered questions on the child's date of birth, gender, and race/ethnicity.
The principal investigator (PI) developed a pedestrian crosswalk behavior observation checklist based on previous observation elements that had good reliability [28–31]. Specifically, we observed and scored (yes/no) the following pedestrian safety elements: crossed at a corner or crosswalk, crossed with an adult or safety patrol, stopped at the curb, looked left-right-left, kept looking while crossing, walked and did not run across the street, and followed the traffic signal (if present). We added an item to assess if the participant was a part of a walking school bus, operationally defined in this study as a group of children wearing bright reflective vests and led by an adult [Additional file 2].
We recruited 4th grade students, aged 9-11 years, to complete in their classrooms the one-question written survey, available in English and Spanish. Students could "opt-out" of the study if asked by their parents, who received an informational letter describing the study, or if they did not wish to participate in the study themselves. Study staff administered the survey by asking the students, "how did you get to school today?" in English or Spanish (as appropriate) and directing them to indicate their answer on the survey. Students also provided their full names and telephone numbers, to facilitate contact with their parents, who were asked the same question in English or Spanish along with brief demographic questions. Test-retest reliability was determined on the same day by repeating the student survey 3-4 hours later in the same classroom. Convergent validity was determined in comparison to parents' report for that day, similar to previous school travel validation studies that compared student report to parent report [26, 27].
The PI trained 10 research assistants in a 1.5 hour session to complete the pedestrian safety behavior checklist. The first 1/2 hour of training was spent discussing pedestrian safety and the checklist, while the final hour was spent in the field observing and scoring pedestrians with the PI, who also gave feedback on correct scoring. After training, the PI and research assistants unobtrusively observed child pedestrians walking toward the study school in the morning prior to classes. Children on bicycles, skateboards, scooters, or riding in strollers were excluded, since this checklist was designed to assess pedestrian safety only. Ten research assistants and the PI observed a convenience sample of 29 students chosen by the PI (about 1/2 were female) at a major school intersection. For groups of children crossing the street, the PI chose only one student for the research assistants to observe, consistent with a previous study . The PI and research assistants did not interact with the children (to avoid influencing their behaviors), thereby eliminating the possibility of collecting socio-demographic information on individual children. The PI served as the comparison because he was a board-certified pediatrician with advanced public health training in injury prevention, physical activity, and SRTS research. He also developed the pedestrian safety behavior checklist, trained the research assistants in the use of the checklist, and observed the study participants simultaneously with the research assistants. While an objective measure would have been ideal, no such standard exists for child pedestrian safety observations.
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Baylor College of Medicine and the Research Department of the Houston Independent School District.
Frequencies and percentages were used to describe participant characteristics. To assess the reliability of the children's rating of the SRTS travel survey, the percentage of agreement and the kappa test statistic for agreement assessed the reliability between the children's initial SRTS ratings and the child ratings given 3-4 hours later. Similarly, the percentage of agreement and the kappa statistic for agreement assessed the convergent validity between the children's initial SRTS survey responses and their parent's responses, which served as the comparison.
To assess systematic differences between rater values and the PI, an analysis of variance with a priori contrasts on the pairwise comparisons was used. Spearman correlation was used to determine the reliability between the raters's and the PI's total scores. The mean of each rater and the PI's score was correlated with the difference between each rater and the PI's score to evaluate whether errors from the rater was associated with the mean difference (a Bland-Altman plot) . Relative reliability, the extent to which the rater's scores were the same as the PI, was assessed using the two-way mixed intra-class correlation (ICC). Generalizability theory identified the contribution to variability from different sources (the behavior, the rater) and provided a generalizability coefficient, a form of the intra-class correlation, which incorporated the different sources of error .
To determine the probability that the rater reported that the behavior was performed, when the individual actually performed the behavior (based on comparison to the PI), the sensitivity was computed. Conversely, the specificity was computed to determine the probability of the rater reporting that the behavior was performed when the individual did not perform the behavior. All analyses were performed using SAS 9.1.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina, USA).
Ninety-nine children (aged 9-11 years) out of a total of 125 participated in the validation of the SRTS travel survey for a participation rate of 79%. Demographic information provided by parents was obtained on 82 children (Table 1). The majority of participants were Hispanic (65.9%) and non-Hispanic black (32.9%). Of the 99 children, 96 (97%) provided test-retest reliability data (Table 2), which was high (kappa = 0.97, p < 0.001) with 97.9% total agreement between test administrations. Convergent validity of children's responses to parents' responses (Table 3) was moderate (kappa = 0.52, p < 0.001, n = 82). Most disagreements were due to a discrepancy between car versus carpool responses. When car and carpool were combined into one category and excluding the one child reported metro bus case (due to the very low frequency), agreement was high (kappa = 0.87, p < 0.001). Forty-six parents (57%) used the Spanish version of the survey and 43 children (45%) used the Spanish version of the survey at least once.
*The SRTS travel survey was administered twice on the same day, 3-4 hours apart.
*Bold values represent perfect agreement. Kappa = 0.52, p < 0.001 (n = 81; excluding the child reported metro bus case). With car & carpool combined, kappa = 0.87, p < 0.001.
At the item-level, overall percent agreement (91%), sensitivity (85%), and specificity (83%) comparing the raters to the PI were acceptable (Table 4). Item #6 (kept looking) had the lowest percent agreement, sensitivity and specificity of all of the items, and was therefore dropped from the remaining analyses. Although the average pedestrian behavior scores from two raters were significantly different from the PI, the average difference was only around 0.3 units (Table 5). The average correlation for the raters compared to the PI was moderate (r = 0.55, p < 0.01) and reliability across raters was also moderate (ICC = 0.48, G-theory coefficient = 0.50). If two raters used the checklist simultaneously, the ICC increased to 0.65 and the G-coefficient increased to 0.66. There was an association between the difference between the rater and PI and the mean of the rater and PI (r = -0.53), where larger differences were associated with fewer behaviors. From the Bland-Altman plot (Figure 1), there was no distinct pattern to indicate that changes in scoring variability were related to differences between the raters and PI's score. The percent of variance of the checklist items (Table 6) was accounted for mostly by the items themselves (78.1%), which suggest that the items were distinct and distinguished among the pedestrian behaviors. The child x item interaction accounted for 11.5% of the variance and suggests that children were observed using different patterns of behaviors. The rater x item interaction accounted for only 0.4% of the variance and the child x rater interaction accounted for only 0.2% of the variance. Residual error accounted for only 9.5% of the variance in the checklist items.
Agreement, sensitivity and specificity at the item level for the pedestrian safety behavior checklist.
a. Sensitivity could not be assessed for the behaviors (#1, #5, and #8) that none of the children performed.
b. Specificity could not be assessed for the behavior (#3) that all of the children performed.
Repeated measures ANOVA with pairwise comparisons to the criterion standard for the pedestrian safety behavior checklist.
Significant difference between rater and gold standard at p < 0.05 (*) and p < 0.01(**). Pearson correlation between rater and gold standard (corr1) and between difference and mean (corr2). Overall difference F(10,250) = 2.49, p = 0.007.
Sources of variance for the pedestrian safety behavior checklist.
Bland Altman Plot of Rater Average vs. Criterion Standard for the Pedestrian Safety Behaviors Checklist.
The written SRTS travel survey was simple to administer and had high reliability and validity among elementary schoolchildren in the Houston-metro area. Child reported active commuting to school was 21%, a figure higher than previous national surveys, which reported prevalences of 13 to 14% [34, 35], likely due to differences in participant demographics and the wording of the questions used to assess active commuting to school. While other surveys have been developed or validated among middle-/high-income and rural or suburban samples of children [20, 23, 26, 27], this report is the first to validate a school travel survey in English and Spanish among a low income sample consisting of mainly Hispanic and non-Hispanic black children. This survey is suitable for use among both English and Spanish speaking urban elementary students, 9 years of age and older. Building upon the school travel survey used from the Marin County evaluation  and the survey from the National Center for SRTS , which asked students to raise their hand in response to their school travel mode, this written SRTS travel survey minimized potential peer influences on responses. This study also builds upon the study that lacked children who walked or biked to school in the validity sample . In contrast to the CLASS instrument, which was more comprehensive and assessed 30 types of physical activities including active commuting to school , this survey focused solely on active commuting thereby providing a targeted, efficient, and valid, method to assess SRTS programs.
The pedestrian safety behavior checklist showed high overall agreement at the item level between raters compared to the PI (91%) and acceptable sensitivity (85%) and specificity (83%) in field testing. This high level of agreement is similar to a previous study that used videotapes of children crossing the road and coded for specific pedestrian safety behavior . The checklist had moderate correlation compared to the PI and moderate reliability across raters. Checklist item #6, "kept looking," proved to be the most difficult to assess in the field and is reflected by having the lowest percent agreement (68%). This finding was not surprising, since item #6 required raters to observe whether or not the child was watching for traffic while crossing the street, which can be difficult due to raters having different vantage points during the observation. Thus, although this behavior is important, we recommend eliminating it from the checklist to improve reliability. Since reliability increased substantially from an ICC = 0.48 with one rater to an ICC = 0.65 with two raters, we recommend that two raters simultaneously use the pedestrian safety behavior checklist to maximize reliability. Reliability for this checklist was lower than a previous 4-item instrument (0.90) that assessed whether participants walked in the sidewalk/shoulder, stopped before entering the street, looked left-right-left before crossing, and kept looking for traffic while crossing . This difference may be due to the greater number of items on our checklist (8-items), which potentially increased the difficulty of the instrument for the raters. Generalizability theory analysis revealed that the majority of the variance (78.1%) of the checklist responses was due to the items themselves, which is desirable and indicates that the checklist successfully distinguished among pedestrian behaviors. Overall, the checklist appears to be an acceptable instrument to assess pedestrian safety behavior in the field without the need for video recording equipment. This instrument builds on previously described observational checklists for pedestrian safety behaviors that reported high reliability [29–31] by also providing comparison to the PI, the developer of the checklist.
This study has several limitations. First, the SRTS travel survey assessed only school travel on one day. However, it can be administered on several different days to assess school travel patterns over longer periods of time. The travel survey also forced students to choose only one method of travel to school that best described their mode of transport. While this made the survey easier for the students to complete, some information may be lost for children who used multiple modes of transport for substantial parts of their commute (e.g. walk to the bus stop and then ride the bus). The travel survey did not assess travel from school to home, which may differ from the journey from home to school. Given the high convergent validity and reliability of the SRTS travel survey for assessing the journey from home to school (i.e. how did you get to school today?), it seems likely that children would also give valid and reliable results for the journey from school to home (e.g. how will you/did you get home today?)- this requires confirmation. Finally, convergent validity was determined compared to parent report, which is subjective and may be prone to error. However, no valid method for objectively assessing individual students' mode of travel to school exists and comparison to parent report has been previously used by others for validating school travel surveys [26, 27].
Limitations of the pedestrian safety behavior checklist include the moderate correlations and the lack of studies relating these behaviors to injury outcomes. However, these pedestrian behaviors were drawn from previous pedestrian injury prevention studies and were generally considered fundamental injury prevention behaviors for children to learn [28–31]. Further formative work may increase the checklist's reliability, such as improving training via standardized videotaped examples and focusing on problematic items (item #6 "kept looking" and item #4 "stopped at the curb"). If percent agreement, sensitivity, and specificity do not improve despite this formative work, those items will be removed. Another limitation was the use of the PI, a subjective rater, as a comparison. An objective criterion standard would have been ideal; however, no such standard exists for observations of pedestrians behaviors. While others have previously used videotaped observations, these were beyond the scope of this study, but may be useful for future validity studies.
The written SRTS travel survey is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing school travel outcomes among English and Spanish speaking 9-11 year old elementary school students. It should prove valuable to both researchers and program evaluators seeking an efficient and rigorous method for assessing travel outcomes associated with SRTS programs. The pedestrian safety behavior checklist provides a reasonable method for assessing children's pedestrian behavior in the field, and should be used simultaneously by at least two raters to maximize reliability. Future studies should seek to improve the checklist's reliability and examine the relationship between the pedestrian safety behaviors and childhood pedestrian injuries.
We are grateful to the students, parents, principals, teachers, and staff of the participating elementary schools and the Department of Research and Accountability of the Houston Independent School District. We are also grateful to Brian D. Johnston, MD, MPH, for helpful discussions on the initial design of the pedestrian safety behavior checklist.
This research was presented, in part, at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting, May 2009, Baltimore, MD, USA and the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Annual Meeting, June 2009, Lisbon, Portugal.
This study was funded, in part, by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research Program (#63773; PI: JAM), the National Cancer Institute (1R21CA133418; PI: JAM), and the Harris County Hospital District Foundation Children's Health Fund (2008-2009; PI: JAM). The first author was supported, in part, by a career development award from the National Cancer Institute (1K07CA131178); PI: JAM). Additionally, this work is a publication of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA/ARS) Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, and was also funded with federal funds from the USDA/ARS under Cooperative Agreement No. 58-6250-6001. The funding agencies above had no role in the design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the funding agencies or Baylor College of Medicine, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement from the funding agencies or Baylor College of Medicine.
JAM led all aspects of the study and drafted the manuscript. KW analyzed and interpreted the data and revised the manuscript. TB and TAN participated in the design of the study, data analysis and interpretation, and revised the manuscript. DKU participated in the coordination of the study, data collection, and revised the manuscript. MJH participated in the design of the study, data interpretation, and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


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Groups Plan To Sue Over Agency Negligence On Desert Tortoise, Other Wildlife
Groups Plan To Sue Over Agency Negligence On Desert Tortoise, Other Wildlife | KCET
Chris Clarke was KCET's Environment Editor until July 2017. He is a veteran environmental journalist and natural history writer. He lives in Joshua Tree.
the Threatened desert tortoise | Photo: Justin Ennis/Flickr/Creative Commons License
Charging that the Bureau of Land Management has failed to fulfill its legal obligations to monitor and report on threats to the desert tortoise and other imperiled species in the California desert, a consortium of environmental groups says it plans to sue the agency for its inaction.
The plaintiffs charge that BLM has failed to track the effects of a wide range of human activities in the California desert on the tortoise, as well as on other Endangered and Threatened desert animal and plant species. For seven years, say the plaintiffs, BLM has neglected to monitor the wildlife impacts of activities from mining and grazing to off-road vehicle use on desert public lands -- a violation of the Endangered Species Act.
The BLM has also failed to file legally mandated annual reports on those species with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As a result, say the groups, the federal government lacks basic information about the status of those protected species, putting the species involved at risk.
"Seven years of impacts, absent monitoring and changes in management, could doom critically endangered species," said Terry Frewin of the Sierra Club, one of the groups planning to sue. "The BLM's abdication of legal requirements and Fish and Wildlife Service's neglect of enforcement is setting up a crisis for these species already teetering on the brink of extinction."
Groups planning to join the Sierra Club in suing the BLM are the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Desert Survivors.
In addition to the desert tortoise, species that have suffered inadequate monitoring and reporting by BLM include the peninsular bighorn sheep and the Lane Mountain milkvetch.
Annual reporting on the status of listed species, as well as on the effects of potentially destructive activity such as grazing and off-roading, is intended to provide a reality check for federal agencies charged with making sure those species aren't unduly harmed by human activity. Without that monitoring, land managers are essentially flying in the dark when it comes to predicting future impacts to the species in question.
"The Bureau of Land Management has shrugged off its duty to report impacts of grazing and off-road vehicle use on protected species on our public lands," said CBD attorney Lisa Belenky. "BLM says it's committed to conserving species and habitats in California deserts -- yet it has failed to comply with even the most basic requirements for management of desert tortoises and other rare and vulnerable wildlife."
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Uncertainty lingers about whether generic drug pricing changes in Ontario will hurt Shoppers Drug Mart Corp., but already some rivals are feeling the pain.
Loblaw Cos. Ltd., which has a wide network of pharmacies in its supermarkets, has reported a $10-million hit to its first-quarter operating profit because of the legislative reforms, which lower the price the province pays for generic drugs. Other pharmacies in Ontario are being pinched.