Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Almanacs “The Almanac - Jan.13 - Post Chronicle” plus 4 more

Almanacs “The Almanac - Jan.13 - Post Chronicle” plus 4 more

The Almanac - Jan.13 - Post Chronicle

Posted: 13 Jan 2010 04:43 AM PST

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 13, the 13th day of 2010 with 352 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury and Mars. The evening stars are Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Salmon P. Chase, sixth Chief Justice of the United States and whose image is on the U.S. $10,000 bill, in 1808; Horatio Alger, author of rags-to-riches stories, in 1832; Alfred Fuller, the original Fuller Brush Man, in 1885; singer Sophie Tucker in 1884; Hollywood columnist Army Archerd in 1922; television executive Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive, in 1949; and actors Robert Stack in 1919, Gwen Verdon in 1925, Charles Nelson Reilly in 1931, Rip Taylor in 1934 (age 76); Richard Moll in 1943 (age 67), Kevin Anderson in 1960 (age 50), Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 1961 (age 49), Penelope Ann Miller in 1964 (age 46), Patrick Dempsey in 1966 (age 44) and Orlando Bloom in 1977 (age 33).

On this date in history:

In 1864, composer Stephen Foster ("My Old Kentucky Home") died in a New York hospital, three days after he was found sick and almost penniless in a hotel room.

In 1910, radio pioneer and electron tube inventor Lee Deforest arranged the world's first public radio broadcast, a performance by the New York Metropolitan Opera.

In 1941, Irish novelist James Joyce died at age 58.

In 1953, Josip Broz Tito is chosen president of Yugoslavia. He would serve until May 1980.

In 1982, an Air Florida Boeing 737 crashed into a Potomac River bridge in Washington, killing 78 people.

In 1987, seven top New York Mafia bosses were sentenced to 100 years in prison each, including the heads of the Genovese, Colombo and Lucchese crime families.

In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder takes office in Virginia, becoming the first elected African-American governor of a U.S. state.

In 1991, a Soviet crackdown in the Baltics killed 15 and injured 140.

Also in 1991, at least 40 South Africans were killed and 50 injured when fighting erupted during a soccer game in Orkney.

In 1993, U.S. and allied fighter planes bombed targets in southern Iraq to punish Saddam Hussein for his repeated violations of U.N. resolutions that ended the Persian Gulf War.

In 1996, U.S. Sen. William Cohen, R-Maine, announced his retirement, a record 13th senator choosing not to seek new terms. By year's end, Cohen would join the Clinton Cabinet as secretary of defense.

In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to seven black soldiers for their courage in action in Italy during World War II. It was the first time the medal was given to black WWII servicemen.

In 1999, Michael Jordan, regarded by many as the greatest basketball player ever, announced his retirement. He had led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships.

In 2001, more than 800 people were killed when an early morning earthquake shook the coast of El Salvador.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II argued forcibly against war in Iraq except as "the very last option" and said such a conflict would be "a defeat for humanity."

In 2005, the 15-year-old boy accusing Michael Jackson of child molestation vividly described sexual encounters in testimony before a grand jury.

Also in 2005, the CIA said Iraq replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of terrorists.

And, U.S. major league baseball players agreed to stricter policy for steroids and other drugs that includes testing and tougher penalties.

In 2006, the U.S. military launched a missile attack in Pakistan in an unsuccessful effort to kill al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Pakistan lodged a complaint against the U.S. attack in which a reported 17 died.

In 2008, a University of Minnesota research team announced it had created a beating heart from animal tissues and cells, officials said.

In 2009, Timothy Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for treasury secretary, was questioned about allegedly failing to pay taxes from 2001-04 on his salary from the International Monetary Fund, classified as self-employment. Officials said the matter was resolved and Geithner was confirmed.

A thought for the day: in "The Guardian," Alec Issigonis wrote that, "A camel is a horse designed by committee." (c) UPI

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Vaughan reopens ball-tampering controversy - Reuters Blogs

Posted: 13 Jan 2010 05:26 AM PST

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Michael Vaughan in retirement does not shrink from the limelight. Or from controversy.

The former England captain commentates on BBC radio, writes a newspaper column and appears in a hair transplant advertisment. He also indulges in "artballing", hitting paint-daubed balls at a blank canvas attached to a wall.

"I've a very active mind," Vaughan explained after calling time on his cricket career last year.

Last week, Vaughan turned that mind to cricket again and gave voice to the thoughts of many neutrals when he criticised England pace bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson for eye-catching activities during the drawn third test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Television cameras showed Broad stopping the ball with his foot while Anderson was filmed picking at the leather with his fingernails. The South Africans expressed their concern at possible ball tampering but did not officially complain.

Vaughan said the general reaction would have been very different had Pakistan been involved.

"If this had been a game involving Pakistan, and Shoaib Akhtar or Mohammad Asif had been pictured using their fingers on the ball, there would have been uproar," he wrote.

Broad explained that the heat at Newlands had been the reason he stopped the ball with his foot rather than bending down while Anderson argued the pair had been nothing more than absent minded and lazy. The fact that England were only one wicket away from defeat for the second time in the series suggests if there had been ball tampering, it had not been a total  success.

Vaughan's remarks, though, should not be dismissed lightly. The art of reverse swing was founded in Pakistan where the shine on which conventional swing depends is quickly erased on abrasive pitches.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Sarfraz Nawaz demonstrated that by keeping one side smooth and allowing the other to roughen, the ball would swing in the opposite direction. He passed on the knowledge to Imran Khan who in turn tutored Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

Then the controversy began. Wasim and Waqar tore through the England batting in a 1992 series when the home team collapsed spectacularly five times from positions of comparative safety.

Allan Lamb accused the Pakistanis of ball tampering by deliberately roughening the ball and, although he was fined and suspended by his county, popular opinion was on the England batsman's side.

The counterview, expressed by the former Warwickshire medium-pacer Jack Bannister in the 1993 Wisden almanac praised Wasim and Waqar for perfecting the "first genuine fast bowling innovation since overarm bowling was legalised in 1864″. He added: "Any genuine innovation in sport is fascinating to watch.Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis won the series for Pakistan on superior ability."

Substitute Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones for Wasim and Waqar and nobody in England would have disagreed with Bannister's statement after the 2005 Ashes series, won by England at home. Reverse swing at high speed was now an accepted part of the bowlers' armoury.

However, in the following year, on the fourth day of the fourth test between Pakistan and England at the Oval, a box of balls was brought on to the field while the home side were batting in their second innings. 

A routine ball replacement became suddenly charged with an awful significance when the batsmen were offered the choice, signalling the umpires believed the previous ball had been doctored. That belief was confirmed when Umpire Darrell Hair awarded five penalty runs to England. A shocked Pakistan side refused to come out after the tea interval and were deemed to have forfeited the match.

Unlike the Broad and Anderson incident, 26 television cameras at the Oval failed to capture any sign of what could be construed as ball-tampering. In short, there was no smoking gun and not only Pakistanis were outraged by Hair's actions.

Although Broad and Anderson's actions looked, on replay, more careless than culpable, Vaughan's words linger. What if it had been Pakistan?

PHOTO: England's James Anderson (L) hands the ball to team mate Stuart Broad during the third Test against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town Jan. 6, 2010. REUTERS/Philip Brown

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Love of deer hunting prompts poetry book - Pennsylvania Almanac

Posted: 13 Jan 2010 03:53 AM PST


Love of deer hunting prompts poetry book

After spending decades of hunting seasons in the woods writing poetry while waiting for that elusive "big buck," Bethel Park resident Paul M. Kvederis recently decided to compile his collection into his first book, "Poems from the Stump."

The 100-page, self-published work is full of easy-to-read poems and other selections relating to the outdoors, nature, love, and concern for others.

It is featured in the "Alumni Spotlight" section of the fall edition of Duquesne University Magazine and currently is available on-line at www.stumpoems.com and at Borders Books and Music Store, Bethel Park, where Kvederis will have a book signing from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23.

"It's been a wonderful retirement project," said Kvederis. "But I can assure you that actually getting the book completed and going into business as a self-publisher as I approach 75 was no small task."

"On the other hand, the personal satisfaction gained has made it all worthwhile," he said.

Kvederis, a native of Pittsburgh, retired in 1999 as manager of Public Relations for CONSOL Energy Inc. (formerly Consolidation Coal Company).

Over the years, he also worked as a news media assistant editor for Bethlehem Steel; public relations spokesman for National Steel; associate publications editor for PPG Industries (formerly Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.); and, early in his career, as a copy editor for both the old Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph and the present Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

During his working years, Kvederis was active in community affairs, having served on the boards of directors for St. Clair Hospital, St. Clair Management Resources, Canonsburg General Hospital, and the Wesley Institute.

As president and public relations chairman of the Bethel-St. Clair Rotary Club, he helped launch Rotary International's 1980s campaign to stop the spread of polio world-wide. Through his efforts, his club is now one of a handful of model fund-raising clubs for all other Rotary clubs to follow throughout the world.

"It took nearly 50 years of hunting seasons to complete 'Poems from the Stump,'" Kvederis said, "but whether a person hunts or not, my hope is that this book will serve as a source of inspiration in their personal life, while acting as a gateway to the beauty that awaits anyone who loves nature and the great outdoors."

Kvederis is a member of the National Rifle Association, Teutonia Mannerchor, Library (Pa.) Sportsmen's Association, Inc., and AARP.

He and his wife, JoAnn, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in January 2007. They have three children: Valerie of Red Lion, Pa.; Thomas of Pennington, N.J.; and Jeffrey of Sarasota, Fla.; and 10 grandchildren.


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TV reporter loses battle with cancer - Pennsylvania Almanac

Posted: 13 Jan 2010 03:17 AM PST


TV reporter loses battle with cancer

By Terri T. Johnson Almanac staff writer tjohnson@thealmanac.net

Two years ago, in November 2007, Yvonne Zanos was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. At the time, doctors gave her a 15 percent survival rate.

Her response was typical of her upbeat outlook on life: "Someone has to be the 15 percent."

For slightly more than two years, Mrs. Zanos of Upper St. Clair beat the odds, until her fight ended Jan. 8, two days after her 60th birthday. A graduate of Bethel Park High School, Mrs. Zanos was the consumer editor for KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, helping others solve problems and most recently, was the familiar face of "Does It Really Do That?"

That segment, delivered in a friendly, yet professional manner, helped viewers decide which products to buy.

Mrs. Zanos graduated from Bethany College before beginning a modeling career. In 1971, she was first runner-up in the Miss Pennsylvania pageant, later taking over the role when needed.

The tall, lanky young woman with the soft brown hair and captivating eyes, met the handsome University of Pittsburgh football star, James Zanos. Their love and marriage spanned more than 38 years.

Her career began as a reporter for KDKA in the 1970s. She later left to host a magazine show in Kansas City, Mo. Her family remained in Upper St. Clair, visiting on weekends. When the Missouri show ended, Mrs. Zanos returned and joined WTAE as a reporter in 1984. After considering a few job opportunities out of state, she vowed in 1994 that her family and home were in Pittsburgh, and she remained in the local market.

Leaving WTAE and rejoining KDKA in 1997, she sat out a year for contractual reasons and spent a great part of the time enjoying her then young granddaughter, Lindsey. Later, four more grandchildren joined her family - Lily, Nora, Bess and most recently grandson Beau.

The grandchildren called her La-La. She told the story of how she would rock her fussy grandchildren and sing a nonsensical song of La-La, La-La to different notes. One day, one of the granddaughters looked up and said "La-La." The name stuck. While most of the audience knew her for her charming delivery and importance in getting problems solved, at home, she was simply La-La.

Professionally, Mrs. Zanos was known for her consumer segments and also for her role as spokeswoman for the KD Turkey Fund to benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Even as her days became more painful and exhausting, she worked to raise money for the less fortunate. The Zanos family asked for contributions in her memory to the KD Turkey Fund, 1 N. Linden St., Duquesne, PA 15110.

Finding a cure for ovarian cancer, the disease that eventually took her life, was one of her greatest passions. She acted as a representative for others battling the disease even when she knew her death was imminent.

Less than a week before her death, Mrs. Zanos gathered in her home with her closest friends and family, not to grieve, but to celebrate life. She died with her family by her side at the Family Hospice and Palliative Care Center for Compassionate Care in Mt. Lebanon.

Surviving in addition to her husband and grandchildren are two daughters, Adona Kane and Nicole Conaway, both of Mt. Lebanon; her mother, Edith Shadler of Canonsburg; and two sisters, Nancy Mele of Eighty Four and Carol Rumberger of Wisconsin.

Funeral services were held Jan. 12 at Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park.


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Zollinger cashes in on ‘Jeopardy’ - Observer Today

Posted: 13 Jan 2010 01:23 AM PST

SOUTH DAYTON - How do you turn 22 years of trying into a $26,801 victory? Just ask Jason Zollinger.

Zollinger, described as "an engine assembler from South Dayton," not only fulfilled his longtime dream of appearing on Jeopardy! Tuesday, but overcame a slow start to become the day's champion.

Friends, family and spectators filled the family-owned Zollinger's Restaurant Tuesday night to watch Jason compete against Jennie Burroughs from Missoula, Mont. and one-day champion Mariann Cook Andrews from Turnwater, Wash.

While the episode was taped in November, contractual non-disclosure obligations meant that only Jason and his wife Rose, who had been in the audience, knew anything of the outcome. A free buffet of prepared and donated items was served to all who came and towels printed with "Team Jason" were handed out as well. The towels were to be waved as a form of silent cheering, as outbursts during the show would be punished with, according to posted signs, tape over your mouth for the first offense and buying a round for everyone on the second.

The towels initially saw little airtime, however, as Zollinger answered only one clue during the first half of the "Jeopardy!" round. During the first commercial break, he trailed in third place with $1,000 and was approached by a contestant coordinator about his timing problems. After a clue is read, a set of "enable lights" is flipped on. Buzz in too early and you are locked out for a fraction of a second. Buzz in too late and another contestant has likely beaten you to the punch.

"In that first round I was just dying," Zollinger said. "I knew plenty of those answers and just couldn't get in. I was waiting too long; I was waiting for the lights. And then I tried to get in sooner and I was just too early."

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek's traditional contestant banter took place following the first break, during which Zollinger gave an amusing story about traveling to Tokyo and being mistaken as an NFL player.

Once the game resumed, Zollinger began picking up on the timing of the signaling button more acutely. He slowly built his score, then hit upon the first Daily Double of the game. In a move that tangibly tensed up the crowd at the restaurant, he chose to make it a "true Daily Double" by risking all his money on a question about, well, money. Correctly identifying Independence Hall as the building on the back of the $100 bill, he effectively doubled his score and would quickly finish the round in second place with $5,000.

Zollinger would have enough luck and control of the board during the "Double Jeopardy!" round to hit the remaining two Daily Doubles in the game. He again risked all his money on a clue regarding a monument to Iwo Jima, doubling his score to $12,400, and risked $4,000 on a clue about superlatives, bringing his score to $22,400.

Hitting all three Daily Doubles was definitely a contributing factor to Zollinger's win, and choosing to risk it all on two of the clues was not quite a spontaneous decision.

"My plan, going in, was to bet it all if I got the Daily Double in the 'Jeopardy!' round," he said, citing ample time and ability to catch up if he had incorrectly answered then. "When I got the first one in 'Double Jeopardy' it was a good category - it was Iwo Jima. I was really gung-ho with the category and I felt good about trying to double up again."

Plans, however, do not always bring confidence, and Zollinger said he was very nervous throughout the entire game, even after he took the lead.

"I guess after the second Daily Double, when I doubled up again, that was when I started to feel - I wouldn't call it comfortable with the game, but at least better about the game," he said.

Zollinger had $24,400 after "Double Jeopardy!" - a commanding but not insurmountable lead over second-place Burroughs, who had $13,400. The category: Famous Women.

As the spectators at the restaurant watched the contestants write their responses to a clue demanding the name of a hall-of-fame aviator-astronaut, Zollinger spoke to the crowd.

"Does anyone know who Eileen Collins is?" he asked. "She was the first woman to command a space shuttle. It was something I picked up thumbing through an almanac at the hotel before heading to the show."

The crowd cheered, many confident that Zollinger had just given them the correct answer. On the TV, Trebek approached Andrews.

"You ran into a buzzsaw today named Jason," he said, the crowd cheered again.

She revealed her response: Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.

Trebek declared her correct. The crowd quieted.

Burroughs revealed her response: Sally Ride. She took the lead. Trebek moved to Zollinger; the crowd sitting in stunned silence. He revealed his answer:

Sally Ride.

The restaurant erupted. Zollinger's fake-out mattered little against the revelation that he had actually done it. With a total of $26,801, $401 more than Burroughs, he had won.

"I think a lot of people think that I lost this game, and I had to just sort of play with them," he said. "I guess maybe it was mean; my dad told me it was cruel."

Jason's father, Larry Zollinger, was as clueless to the outcome as everyone else and taken by his son's misdirection. He had earlier suspected his son may have won, however, through some deductive reasoning.

"The picture that was in the paper; that picture was taken after the taping of the show because he said nobody talks to Alex Trebek before the show," Larry said. "Losers don't smile like that."

Jason and Rose both said they would spend at least part of the winnings on debt payments and home repairs, having not yet set upon anything more extravagant.

But becoming the champion means returning for another game, and Zollinger's Restaurant will be open again Wednesday night to see if Jason can become a 2-day champion. Jason will not be present, instead watching at his mother's house in Cuba, N.Y., but it may do little to dampen the excitement of a village and area as it tunes in again.

"Somebody from a small town goes out to the big world and wins," Larry Zollinger said. "And all our lives we've been told, 'podunk' and 'hick town' and 'backwoods' and guess what: we just had a boy out of here that went to compete with the big guns. ... Here's a kid who works in the factory, went to college for a couple years and didn't like it, but kept on reading and kept on thinking and kept on trying."

And after more than two decades of trying, when simply making it to the show was a dream fulfilled, Jason Zollinger proved himself to the nation.

"We had a party before I left for California and I told everybody then that all I wanted to do was to prove that I belonged, and I feel that I've done that," he said. "It's a really big sense of accomplishment."

Jason Zollinger will defend his championship tonight at 7:30 on WKBW (Ch. 7).

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