Last Ones Left in Treece, Kan., a Toxic Town
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Equipment Donations, BTF Grant to Support Houston Parks and Recreation Department Youth Programs
HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros are teaming up with the Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) and Academy Sports + Outdoors to host an equipment collection drive during the Astros-Rangers game on Sunday, May 20. Academy Sports + Outdoors has already donated more than 200 gloves. Fans are invited to make their contributions to benefit the Houston Park and Recreation Department?s (HPARD) free youth baseball and softball programs. Fans are encouraged to bring new and used equipment, which will be accepted at Minute Maid Park entrance gates.
BTF will award a $5,000 grant to HPARD in conjunction with the equipment drive. The grant will be given in the name of Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez for his commitment to youth baseball and softball. Prior to the game, Martinez and Meghan Chisholm, BTF senior grant coordinator will present a ceremonial check to HPARD during an on-field ceremony.
This year marks the eighth season the Baseball Tomorrow Fund has worked with MLB Clubs to collect equipment and to facilitate the creation of new programs. Last year, more than 15,000 pieces of equipment and over $300,000 were donated to youth baseball and softball organizations in Major League markets. To date, nearly 100,000 pieces of equipment and approximately $1,250,000 in cash donations has benefited organizations in need.
?As we celebrate the eighth season of the initiative, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund would like to thank all of the Clubs, players and fans that have contributed to its success,? said Cathy Bradley, Executive Director of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund. ?Every single contribution helped grow baseball and softball in our communities and we look forward to greater success in 2012 and beyond.?

The Baseball Tomorrow Fund is a joint initiative between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association designed to promote the growth of youth baseball and softball throughout the world by awarding grants to support field renovation and construction projects, equipment and uniform purchases, coaches training material and other selected program expenses. Since its formation by MLB and the MLBPA in 1999, BTF has awarded more than 600 grants totaling more than $22 million to non-profit and tax-exempt organizations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia. Approximately 300,000 youth players have benefited from programs and facilities supported by the fund. For more information, visit baseballtomorrowfund.com and follow BTF on Facebook, Twitter and MLBlogs.
Additional Contact:
Meghan Chisholm, Baseball Tomorrow Fund, 212-931-7786
Allan Rojas, Academy Sports + Outdoors, 281-253-3354
CONTACT:
Astros Media Relations
713.259.8900

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Many training techniques have been introduced nowadays claiming that their specific method is the best pick that assures marked results. With just following steps, you?ll be able to see progress right away. Of course you need to buy their own published fitness training books and DVD's in order to get instructions and guidelines. You have to do a lot of weight lifting and some tough workouts everyday as instructed expecting improvements straightaway, only to realize you just wasted your time whilst leaving your goals unmet.
Maybe you are uncertain of your own routines and daily workouts, and are looking for a worthy and well-researched advice from an expert that will surely satisfy your health needs and goals. The best thing you need to do is to look for your own personal trainer. Personal training involves one to one coaching and supervision to help you achieve goals.
Training methods and techniques set are basically based on your body composition, mechanism, motivational level and objectives. Your personal trainer will assess you in every training session and will record improvements and instruct you towards achieving your expected ends. But you need to be very careful when it comes to choosing your own personal trainer. It has no difference with the situation stated above as many shrewd people can disguise as an expert trainer.Finding some wellness centers and clubs in your place that is offering one to one personal training program is the first thing you need to do. Once you meet some personal trainers, you can ask them about their references or the previous clients they handled as this is important in order for you to get the real background of the trainer.? If the trainer refuse to give references, then it is wise to go look for another personal trainer. Another thing you must look for in a personal trainer is the reputation of the organization he or she is connected with. Reputable organizations require personal trainers have certificates which serve as a proof of having knowledge and skills in the field. Personal Trainer Baggot Street has this kind of requirement to ensure excellence in service. Personal Training Baggot Street also offers not only trainings and workouts, but they also made available one to one medical service and therapy. It is important though not required that your personal trainer have at least knowledge in some specific health issue. Just in case the client has a heart problem for example, the personal trainer could at least know how to handle the situation and can make some adjustments withhis instructions. Personal Trainer Baggot Street has advanced medical researches, and trainers usually work together with doctors when handling a client.
When looking for a personal trainer, it is important to ask their training philosophies and methods. In this case, you?ll be able to identify how he handles and motivates his clients. Personal Trainer d4 has an objective of improving the overall health quality of their clients through regular exercise, sound relationship, and socialization with group fitness class whilst Personal Training Baggot Street and Personal Fitness Training Together are focus on one to one relationship training. You have to decide which philosophy is most fitted for you when choosing a personal trainer.
You also need to be aware of the average rate, though payments also differ depending upon the kind of service package offered, session schedules, and location. Of course physically fit personal trainer is a must as they?re the ones that should model fitness first. And in order to have a successful one to one personal training, you have to choose someone whom you feel comfortable with since you'll be choosing someone who will assist you in achieving specific goals. Certified personal trainers perceive their clients as unique individuals; therefore, you can be sure that the training method and instructions given to you are purposely made to address your personal needs and to help you reach your desired goals and objectives.
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In Partnership with the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Fox Audience Strategy Will Showcase Annual NAHYP Award Winners
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Fox Audience Strategy, the department that identifies programming and operational opportunities that reflect diverse perspectives across all of The Fox Group's entertainment platforms, announced today a new, two-year media sponsorship of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards (NAHYP), the nation's highest honor for excellence in after-school youth programs. The NAHYP awards are held annually by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), a nonpartisan, cultural advisory committee dedicated to promoting and celebrating the arts and humanities. As the official media sponsor of the 2012 and 2013 NAYHP awards, Fox Audience Strategy will work with the PCAH to showcase the ground-breaking work of individuals and community-based organizations across the country that are harnessing the power of the arts and humanities to engage and educate young people.
"The arts, humanities and creativity are at the core of what we do every day at Fox's entertainment businesses - it drives our executives and content," said Nicole Bernard, Senior Vice President of Fox Audience Strategy. "We are excited about the opportunity to showcase these organizations that so positively impact youth and to further raise awareness of the transformative power of creative education through art, music, storytelling and mentoring programs."
The media sponsorship of the NAHYP marks the first major initiative of the Fox Audience Strategy community engagement platform, which seeks to help drive creative education and strengthen the connection between Fox's content and key audiences. Under the partnership, Fox Audience Strategy will leverage its vast creative resources and multiple distribution platforms to produce a PSA highlighting the work of PCAH, provide NAHYP winners with tailored media training, create a "Teacher for a Day" program, and provide local affiliates with access to the finalists and awardees to amplify the stories of their transformative work in local arts and humanities programs.
"The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards is a signature initiative of the President's Committee," said PCAH Co-Chairman George Stevens, Jr. "We are so pleased that Fox Audience Strategy group shares our commitment to celebrating these outstanding organizations and the work they do to help young people across the country build bridges to success in school and in life."
"NAHYP's award-winning programs offer high-quality instruction on weekends, afternoons, and vacations, providing safe and creative havens for young people in the hours when they are often the most vulnerable," said actress and PCAH member Kerry Washington, who hosts the Awards reception preceding the White House ceremony. "Witnessing the impact on students, year after year, is one of my favorite things about the program, and we're so grateful that this partnership will help expand that message to wider audiences."
About The Fox Audience Strategy Group
Fox Audience Strategy is a recently formed department at The Fox Group designed to identify programming and operational opportunities that reflect diverse perspectives and therefore drive ratings and revenue.
About PCAH
Created in 1982 under President Reagan, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) is an advisory committee to the White House on cultural issues. The PCAH works directly with the three primary cultural agencies--the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services--as well as other federal partners and the private sector, to address policy questions in the arts and humanities, to initiate and support key programs in those disciplines and to recognize excellence in the field. Its core areas of focus are arts and humanities education, cultural exchange and creative economy.
About NAHYP
The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program recognizes and supports excellence in programs that open new pathways to learning, self-discovery and achievement. Each year, the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards recognize 12 outstanding programs in the United States, from a wide range of urban and rural settings.
The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award is a signature initiative of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to showcase cultural excellence and enhance the availability of out-of-school arts and humanities programs to children and young people.
Contact:
Su-Lin Nichols, Brunswick Group
(202) 393-7337
snichols@brunswickgroup.com
Jody Arlington, President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities
(202) 316-4316
jodyarlington@mac.com
SOURCE Fox Audience Strategy
Fox Audience Strategy
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Profile: intent
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BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stocks were mostly higher Thursday as markets adjusted to Greece's possible exit from the euro common currency and traders hunted for bargains after sharp selling in recent days.
Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.6 percent to 8,849.38 after the country posted better-than-expected growth figures for the first quarter. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7 percent to 19,396.96 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.7 percent to 1,853.70.
Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China also rose. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 percent to 4,158.90, dragged down by financial stocks.
Greece called a new round of elections for June 17 after coalition talks to form a government fell apart. The president said depositors were pulling hundreds of millions of euros out of banks, weakening the country's strained financial system.
The developments fueled fears that Greece would exit the euro currency and shake global markets. In elections earlier this month, Greek voters punished parties that supported tough austerity measures needed to secure international bailout money.
But analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said the scheduling of new Greek elections suggested "a reduction in near-term uncertainties" that could lead to some relief for volatile markets.
Additional support for markets came from investors looking for stocks at reduced prices.
"After falling almost 2,000 points in the last two days, the (Hong Kong) market is seriously oversold. It represents very good value for anybody who wants to go bottom-fishing," said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings. "So it is bargain-hunting that helps stabilize the market today."
Positive news on the U.S. economy also underpinned sentiment in Asia. Construction of homes in April rose 2.6 percent from March, and U.S. factory production increased 0.6 percent in April, helped by a gain in auto production.
Some Japanese stocks saw big gains amid news that the country's economy grew at an annualized 4.1 percent for the January-March quarter thanks to a rebound in consumer spending.
Sharp Corp. jumped 4.3 percent and Mazda Motor Corp. shot up 4.7 percent. Steel company JFE Holdings added 4.2 percent.
In the U.S. on Wednesday, stock markets fell on worries over Greece. The Dow closed down 0.3 percent at 12,598.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 0.4 percent at 1,324.80. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.7 percent to 2,874.04.
Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 42 cents to $93.23 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract fell by $1.17 to finish at a seven-month low of $92.81 per barrel in New York.
In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2740 from $1.2725 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar fell to 80.25 yen from 80.29 yen.
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It is the classic quandary for many empty, or soon-to-be empty nesters across the country: what to do with the big family home once the adult children have finally flown the coop?
Is the answer to stay in it, sell it, or rent it out?
Now that the first of the baby-boomers are of official retirement age, the property and finance industries are dealing with more retirees and impending retirees than ever before. Experts are certain on one thing ? there is no one right or wrong answer.
Personal circumstances, market movements (including real estate and share markets) and individual lifestyle choices are different for everyone.
Baby-boomers have taken a hit on their savings and super investments in recent years, but one silver lining for many is that the family home has been paid off and is now worth a whole lot more than it was a generation ago. Deciding on what to do with the empty nest will take a lot of homework, but here are a few ideas to make your home work for you.
Reversing gears
Reverse mortgages allow eligible homeowners to borrow up to a certain per cent of the value of their property, or investment property, and then repay the debt from its sale when they move out or pass away. Repayments can also be made at any time.
Belinda Williamson from Mortgage Choice says the group has a list of handy tips for anyone considering a reverse mortgage.
First, it is a good idea to discuss with family members the decision to take out a reverse mortgage, especially the beneficiaries of your estate, because a reverse mortgage will affect their inheritance.
The next step Mortgage Choice advises is to seek financial advice from an accountant to determine if a reverse mortgage meets your financial needs and desires, as well as a solicitor to satisfy any legal queries.
And anyone who may be on the borderline of receiving a pension should check in with Centrelink to assess any impacts a reverse mortgage could have on benefits.
Williamson also says getting help from a mortgage broker will help empty nesters find out how much they could borrow and to wade through the maze of products available.
Another option for empty nesters is to use the equity built up in the family home
to kick-start a property investment portfolio, renovate, or just to indulge a little.
?Depending on your financial circumstances, and the advice you receive from your accountant and/or financial planner, your home equity can be used for a wide range of purposes,? she says.
Room at the inn
In a recent survey by PRDnationwide, almost one in three homeowners would consider renting their spare room to help pay the mortgage. For empty nesters, renting out rooms in the big family home could not only fill the gap left by the kids moving out, it could bring in extra cash.
PRDnationwide?s research director, Aaron Maskrey, says the survey results were not surprising given the tough economic times.
?Renting out a spare room to generate extra cash could reduce the likelihood of suffering mortgage stress.
?Getting on to the property ladder is increasingly difficult for thousands of first-time buyers in Australia and, increasingly, homeowners are making unused space earn its keep,? Maskrey says, adding that finding a lodger has become easier with a range of websites advertising rooms to rent and flatmates.
Ian Agnew, NSW and ACT general manager of Archicentre, the building advisory service for the Australian Institute of Architects, says rethinking home design could be the answer to our metropolitan housing crisis.
He says for older Australians looking for a way to fund their retirement, purpose-built or redesigned properties could provide a healthy source of income.
?By designing a home with two separate entries and facilities for cooking, laundry and bathroom areas, plus private outdoor spaces, a new homebuyer can build in a rental return to help pay for the new home, which in the future can be expanded at a later time into a full-size home by a simple renovation that joins both zones,? he says.
He says it is taking the idea of the ?granny flat? and taking it one step further because it provides an alternative option for baby boomers who want to downsize without actually leaving their home.
Move out and up
Kevin Young, founder and director of The Investors Club, which helps investors build property investment portfolios, says selling the family home to downsize might not be the best option for empty nesters today.
Stagnating property prices in many suburban areas and a tight rental market in our cities mean renting out the family home and leasing a smaller, more convenient property could be the best bet.
Young says empty nesters can trade in the lawnmower and pool equipment for a ?lock up and leave? lifestyle in an apartment or villa.
?By not selling, you have a regular rental income and by renting a home elsewhere you avoid paying stamp duty and can change your mind after a year and try somewhere else if you want to,? he says.
?This method gives you flexibility and the chance to become a SKIN ? that?s someone spending kids? inheritance now,? Young says.
Whatever the decision, Young says it is imperative that these empty nesters put a plan into action.
?Too many people wait until a year or two after retirement to decide about their future. You?ve got to set yourself up before you retire because, while you?re still working, that?s when banks will still throw money at you, and you can set up a line of credit,? he says.
Source: realestate.com.au
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FILE - In a Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 file photo, Walter Lee, right, manager of Nuclear Emergency Preparedness leads the evaluation as the Tennessee Valley Authority conducts an emergency preparedness drill in the Central Emergency Control Center in Chattanooga, Tenn. The drill involved a simulated explosion releasing a small amount of radiation at TVA's Watt's Bar Unit 1 power plant near Spring City, Tenn., between Chattanooga and Knoxville. In changes which went into effect on December 2011, the U.S. government is allowing communities within 50 miles of nuclear power plants to practice less often for major accidents and is recommending that far fewer people who live nearby be evacuated immediately. Under new emergency planning rules, federal regulators also are ending a requirement that emergency personnel always practice for a release of radiation. (AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press, Dan Henry)
FILE - In a Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 file photo, Walter Lee, right, manager of Nuclear Emergency Preparedness leads the evaluation as the Tennessee Valley Authority conducts an emergency preparedness drill in the Central Emergency Control Center in Chattanooga, Tenn. The drill involved a simulated explosion releasing a small amount of radiation at TVA's Watt's Bar Unit 1 power plant near Spring City, Tenn., between Chattanooga and Knoxville. In changes which went into effect on December 2011, the U.S. government is allowing communities within 50 miles of nuclear power plants to practice less often for major accidents and is recommending that far fewer people who live nearby be evacuated immediately. Under new emergency planning rules, federal regulators also are ending a requirement that emergency personnel always practice for a release of radiation. (AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press, Dan Henry)
FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, disaster response team members Ben Olson, left, and Charles Benefield work inside a decontamination tent set up outside Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, during a state-wide drill for a nuclear disaster. The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is about 50 miles west of the center of Phoenix. In changes which went into effect on December 2011, the U.S. government is allowing communities within 50 miles of nuclear power plants to practice less often for major accidents and is recommending that far fewer people who live nearby be evacuated immediately. Under new emergency planning rules, federal regulators also are ending a requirement that emergency personnel always practice for a release of radiation. (AP Photo/East Valley Tribune, Tim Hacker)
FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, disaster response team members set up a decontamination tent outside Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, during a state-wide drill for a nuclear disaster. The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is about 50 miles west of the center of Phoenix. In changes which went into effect on December 2011, the U.S. government is allowing communities within 50 miles of nuclear power plants to practice less often for major accidents and is recommending that far fewer people who live nearby be evacuated immediately. Under new emergency planning rules, federal regulators also are ending a requirement that emergency personnel always practice for a release of radiation. (AP Photo/East Valley Tribune, Tim Hacker)
FILE - In this Tuesday, May 10, 2011 file photo, Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commision, left, talks with protesters outside the gate of the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, N.Y. Jaczko took a tour of the nuclear power plant then stopped to talk with protesters concerned over the safety of the facility. In changes which went into effect on December 2011, the U.S. government is allowing communities within 50 miles of nuclear power plants to practice less often for major accidents and is recommending that far fewer people who live nearby be evacuated immediately. Under new emergency planning rules, federal regulators also are ending a requirement that emergency personnel always practice for a release of radiation. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
This Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 picture shows reactor containment domes of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y. above the homes just north of the town of Verplanck, N.Y. as seen from the Stony Point Historic Site. In changes which went into effect on December 2011, the U.S. government is allowing communities within 50 miles of nuclear power plants to practice less often for major accidents and is recommending that far fewer people who live nearby be evacuated immediately. Under new emergency planning rules, federal regulators also are ending a requirement that emergency personnel always practice for a release of radiation. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Without fanfare, the nation's nuclear power regulators have overhauled community emergency planning for the first time in more than three decades, requiring fewer exercises for major accidents and recommending that fewer people be evacuated right away.
Nuclear watchdogs voiced surprise and dismay over the quietly adopted revamp ? the first since the program began after Three Mile Island in 1979. Several said they were unaware of the changes until now, though they took effect in December.
At least four years in the works, the changes appear to clash with more recent lessons of last year's reactor crisis in Japan. A mandate that local responders always run practice exercises for a radiation release has been eliminated ? a move viewed as downright bizarre by some emergency planners.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which run the program together, have added one new exercise: More than a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, state and community police will now take part in exercises that prepare for a possible assault on their local plant.
Still, some emergency officials say this new exercise doesn't go far enough.
These changes, while documented in obscure federal publications, went into effect with hardly any notice by the general public.
Michael Mariotte, director of the anti-nuclear group Nuclear Information and Resource Service, normally tracks such rules very carefully. This time, he learned of them from an Associated Press reporter.
"Unless there are public interest groups out there pointing to the things these agencies are doing, they generally prefer to be operating in quiet, especially if it's likely to be controversial," he said. "A typical American does not read the Federal Register."
The Web archives of FEMA and the NRC show no news releases on the changes during December 2011 and January 2012. The revisions took effect Dec. 23, at the peak of the holiday season when Americans tend to focus on last-minute gift shopping and social gatherings.
An AP investigative series in June exposed weaknesses in the U.S. emergency planning program. The stories detailed how many nuclear reactors are now operating beyond their design life under rules that have been relaxed to account for deteriorating safety margins. The series also documented dramatic population growth around nuclear power plants and limitations in the scope of emergency exercises. For example, local authorities assemble at command centers where they test communications, but they do not deploy around the community, reroute traffic or evacuate anyone as in a real emergency.
The latest changes, especially relaxed exercise plans for 50-mile emergency zones, are being flayed by some local planners and activists who say the widespread contamination in Japan from last year's Fukushima nuclear accident screams out for stronger planning in the United States, not weaker rules.
FEMA officials say the revised standards introduce more variability into planning exercises and will help keep responders on their toes. The nuclear power industry has praised the changes on similar grounds.
Onsite security forces at nuclear power plants have practiced defending against make-believe assaults since 1991 and increased the frequency of these drills after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The new exercises for community responders took years to consider and adopt with prolonged industry and government consultations that led to repeated drafts. The NRC made many changes requested by the industry in copious comments.
Federal personnel will now evaluate if state and local authorities have enough resources to handle a simultaneous security threat and radiation release. Their ability to communicate with onsite security officials during an attack also will be evaluated during exercises.
But community planners wonder why local forces won't have to practice repelling an attack along with plant security guards ? something federal emergency planners acknowledge could be necessary in a real assault.
They said state and local police are more likely to be needed for tasks like escorting damage control teams than for confronting the attackers.
"We're assuming these guys don't want to escape, or else they wouldn't have showed up," said Randy Sullivan, a health physicist who works on emergency preparedness at the NRC. "A dragnet and security sweep is less important than saving equipment that is important to core damage."
None of the revisions has been questioned more than the new requirement that some planning exercises incorporate a reassuring premise: that little or no harmful radiation is released. Federal regulators say that conducting a wider variety of accident scenarios makes the exercises less predictable.
However, many state and local emergency officials say such exercises make no sense in a program designed to protect the population from radiation released by a nuclear accident.
"We have the real business of protecting public health to do if we're not needed at an exercise," Texas radiation-monitoring specialist Robert Free wrote bluntly to federal regulators when they broached the idea. "Not to mention the waste of public monies."
Environmental and anti-nuclear activists also scoffed. "You need to be practicing for a worst case, rather than a nonevent," said nuclear policy analyst Jim Riccio of the group Greenpeace.
In a statement, FEMA acknowledged that a simulated problem during a no-release exercise is handled on plant grounds. Federal planners say this exercise still requires community decision makers to mobilize and set up communication lines with officials on the site, practicing critical capabilities, even though they won't need to measure and respond to radiation.
While officials stress the importance of limiting radioactive releases, the revisions also favor limiting initial evacuations, even in a severe accident. Under the previous standard, people within two miles would be immediately evacuated, along with everyone five miles downwind. Now, in a large quick release of radioactivity, emergency personnel would concentrate first on evacuating people only within two miles. Others would be told to stay put and wait for a possible evacuation order later.
Timothy Greten, who administers the community readiness program at FEMA, said it wouldn't be necessary to tell people to stay put "if you could evacuate everybody within 10 or 15 minutes." But he said hunkering down can be safer in some locations and circumstances, "especially for a short-term solution."
Federal officials say people could risk worse exposure in an evacuation impeded by overcrowded roadways or bad weather.
This change, however, raises the likely severity of a panicked exodus outside the official evacuation area. Even a federal study used to shape the new program warns that up to 20 percent of people near official evacuation areas might also leave and potentially slow things down for everyone ? and that's assuming clear instructions.
"If it were me, I would evacuate" even without an official go-ahead, said Cheryl L. Chubb, a nuclear emergency planner with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, who is critical of the changes.
At Fukushima, more than 150,000 people evacuated, including about 50,000 who left on their own, according to Japan's Education Ministry. At Three Mile Island, 195,000 people are estimated to have fled, though officials urged evacuation only for pregnant women and young children within five miles. About 135,000 people lived within 10 miles of the site at the time.
In its series, the AP reported that populations within 10 miles of U.S. nuclear sites have ballooned by as much as 4 1/2 times since 1980. Nuclear sites were originally picked in less populated areas to minimize the impact of accidents. Now, about 120 million Americans ? almost 40 percent ? live within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant, according to the AP's analysis of 2010 Census data. The Indian Point plant in Buchanan, N.Y., is at the center of the largest such zone, with 17.3 million people, including almost all of New York City.
"They're saying, 'If there's no way to evacuate, then we won't,'" Phillip Musegaas, a lawyer with the environmental group Riverkeeper, said of the stronger emphasis on taking shelter at home. The group is challenging relicensing of Indian Point.
In February, a national coalition of environmental and anti-nuclear groups asked the NRC to expand evacuation planning from 10 miles to 25 miles and to broaden separate 50-mile readiness zones to 100 miles. The groups also pressed for some exercises that simulate a nuclear accident accompanied by a natural disaster like an earthquake or hurricane ? akin to the combination of tsunami, blackout and meltdowns at Fukushima.
The new U.S. program has kept the 10- and 50-mile planning zones in place, as well as the requirement for one full exercise for a 10-mile evacuation every two years. However, required 50-mile planning exercises will now be held less often: every eight years, instead of every six years.
Exercises are full-blown tests, with FEMA evaluation, of the entire range of community capabilities needed in an accident. Smaller drills of specific skills are run more frequently.
In the state-led 50-mile exercises, emergency personnel practice the logistics of dealing with contaminated food and milk over a large region. They also prepare the mechanisms to relocate people, clean up contamination and later return evacuees to their communities.
Gary Lima, who manages the nuclear readiness program at the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said 50-mile exercises should be run more frequently than once every eight years. "Recovery is really your hardest work," he said.
Even when the program mandated a six-year timetable, federal authors of the 2002 program manual acknowledged that "many (first responders) have indicated a desire" for even more frequent exercises in the 50-mile zone.
The Japanese disaster reinforced such worries when officials told some towns beyond 12 miles from the disabled plant to evacuate. Soil and crops were contaminated for scores of miles around. At one point, health authorities in Tokyo, 140 miles away, advised families not to give children the local water, which was contaminated by fallout to twice the government limit for infants.
The U.S. government recommended that Americans stay at least 50 miles from the Japanese plant. Government officials said the same kind of action could be taken domestically in a similar accident, but advance planning for U.S. evacuations is, in fact, restricted to 10 miles.
Nuclear regulators advocate "one standard to protect Japanese people and one standard for the American people," said Richard Brodsky, a former New York state lawmaker who is fighting relicensing of Indian Point.
The Japanese government had budgeted $14 billion through March 2014 for the cleanup, but it's expected eventually to cost far more. And some evacuees may never return home.
Paul Blanch, a retired engineer who worked on safety in the U.S. nuclear industry, said the American government largely ignores the potential economic costs of nuclear accidents when it calculates risk. "How do you clean up trees and leaves and soil?" Branch asked referring to fallout. "How do you put a value on that?"
Officials for FEMA and the NRC said they are still studying whether Japan's experience points to the need for further changes in the United States.
Pressed on the reduced frequency of 50-mile exercises, federal planners said community personnel can practice skills as often as they like, without needing a full-blown federal evaluation each time.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's main advocate, strongly backed the eight-year timetable to reduce the burden of adding the attack exercises. Asked about the other changes, NEI spokesman Steven Kerekes said they bring more federal oversight, formalizing practices already begun at many sites.
However, no nuclear plant has ever been shut down for deficiencies in the emergency response plan of surrounding communities.
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report from Tokyo.
___
The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate(at)ap.org
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The concept of planning is used and abused, especially when it comes to real estate investing for retirement. I know, cuz I?ve seen me do it. The hardest, most expensive lessons I?ve learned came from planning instead of PLANNING. Investors whose end game is retirement income, simply can?t afford to rely on planning. It?s not that they won?t accomplish their goal(s), as many will. It?s just that their goals were originally set using the limited options menu provided by planning vs the much thicker menu available to those who PLAN.
The Analogy
Knew a guy in high school who was gonna become a big time bodybuilder if it killed him. He was 15 and worked out at home in a room next to the furnace room, which was adjacent to the garage. His dad had bought him a used bodybuilding set. It had everything including the rickety bench press setup. ?He worked his butt off for the entire summer. The results were fairly impressive. All the appropriate muscles had grown in size and strength. In fact, when he visited family at Thanksgiving, everyone made a big deal of his ?new muscles?. ?He was proud of what his months of hard work had wrought.
Then one day a buddy told him about the gym that was close to his home. Bike close. His friend added that the gym?s owner was also a world champ. Boom! The next day after school, he was there, talking with the owner. Long story short, he went home, talked his dad into paying the $ 10 monthly fee, and began working out under the one on one coaching of the owner.
?Bout 3? years later he was a finalist in Mr. Teenage Southern California.
The difference? He trained with a pro. A real world champ, who?d shown him the menu he?d never even known existed. See, he?d been bodybuilding, when all along he shoulda been BODYBUILDING.
He never would of gotten himself within sniffin? distance of being on stage at that competition in a million years if he?d continued his home workouts. It simply wasn?t possible, for multiple reasons.
That analogy works well for real estate investors who?re grimly determined to retire WELL vs retiring well.
Those who PLAN are working from a much larger options menu, and therefore have the potential for retiring WELL. The smaller menus don?t allow for Strategic Synergism, and without that option, the investor is anchored to the lone strategy of buying the best property(s) they can find in the best regions their comfort zones will allow. Furthermore, their ability to benefit from capital growth will be limited to the vagaries of the market. That?s code for,
How?d you like your retirement to be largely reliant on appreciation and the long term increase in rents?
You can lift weights in your basement for the next 30 years, but you?ll never come close to the body worthy of competing on stage. Yet, by puttin? yourself in a professionally equipped gym with a trainer who?s been there and lived that, you?ll create the body able to just exactly that ? if it?s what you want.
Retiring WELL is no different, so let?s summarize.
?If You PLAN you?ll be using the OPTIONS MENU most real estate investors never see.
Choosing to execute that PLAN will result in retiring WELL.
PLANNING beats planning every time out. Only the PLANNING MENU has the option of Strategic Synergism.
BODYBUILDING is no more about ?lifting weights? than real estate investing for RETIREMENT is about ?buying low and selling high?.
The investors with the most OPTIONS won?t just win.
They?ll WIN.
Photo: nerissa?s ring
This Article is Copyright ? 2004-2012 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
When Investing In Real Estate ? There?s Planning and There?s PLANNING
Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog
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In a May 10, 2012 photo Rose Mary Sabo-Brown talks about the pride she feels for her husband, Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., as she holds a photo of him at her home in New Castle, Pa. He was killed in Cambodia and is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor in a ceremony next week. (AP Photo/Andrew Russell, Tribune-Review)
In a May 10, 2012 photo Rose Mary Sabo-Brown talks about the pride she feels for her husband, Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., as she holds a photo of him at her home in New Castle, Pa. He was killed in Cambodia and is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor in a ceremony next week. (AP Photo/Andrew Russell, Tribune-Review)
In a Thursday May 10, 2012 photo Rose Mary Sabo-Brown looks at the medals awarded her husband, Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., at her home in New Castle, Pa. Army Specialist Sabo was killed in Cambodia and is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor in a ceremony next week. (AP Photo/Andrew Russell, Tribune-Review)
In an undated photo Rose Mary Sabo-Brownis shown with her husband Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr. Sabo was killed in Cambodia and is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor in a ceremony next week. (AP Photo/Andrew Russell, Tribune-Review)
In a Thursday May 10, 2012 photo Rose Mary Sabo-Brown talks about the pride she feels for her husband Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., U.S. Army who was killed in Cambodia and is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor in a ceremony next week. She is shown at her home, at her home in New Castle, Pa. (AP Photo/Andrew Russell, Tribune-Review)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is awarding the Medal of Honor to a Pennsylvania Army specialist killed in combat in 1970 while serving as a rifleman in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
The White House says Spec. Leslie H. Sabo Jr. will receive the medal posthumously for heroic action when his platoon was ambushed by North Vietnamese forces in 1970 near the village of Se San in eastern Cambodia.
A White House description of the action says Sabo saved the lives of several of his fellow soldiers. At one point, he grabbed a nearby enemy grenade, tossed it away and shielded a wounded comrade with his body, saving his life.
"Although wounded by the grenade blast, he continued to charge the enemy's bunker," the White House account says. "After receiving several serious wounds from automatic weapons fire, he crawled towards the enemy emplacement and, when in position, threw a grenade into the bunker."
He silenced the enemy, but the explosion also killed him.
Sabo's widow, Rose Mary Sabo-Brown, and his brother, George Sabo, are expected to attend the White House ceremony.
Sabo's medal was a long time coming. The Army says paperwork for the award was done at the time of the war by George Koziol ? one of the men wounded in the battle of Se San ? but that it was lost in 1970 and did not resurface for three decades.
In 1999, Alton Mabb, a 101st Airborne Division Vietnam veteran, found the original paperwork while at the National Archives researching an article for the division's magazine. A few weeks later he asked archive personnel to send him copies of the paperwork and began the push to get Sabo recognized.
Mabb confirmed Sabo's military records and awards using the Freedom of Information Act. He also began the three-year search for veterans of the Se San battle. He discovered that there was a three-year statute of limitations on Medal of Honor nominations that would require a congressional override.
In March 2002, Mabb took the paperwork to Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and asked her to intervene.
According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the medal has been awarded 3,458 times since it was first awarded in 1863. There are fewer than 90 living recipients.
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Associated Press reporter Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report from Washington.
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