| Hot Stove: Wilkerson to Seattle
Apparently, the Mariners grew tired of waiting. Only days after the team was rumored to sign Brad Wilkerson contingent on them trading right fielder Adam Jones to the Orioles in the Erik Bedard deal, they decided to proceed regardless. Wilkerson hopped aboard, Jones or not, for a one-year, $3 million contract. Whether this means there's hope the Bedard deal will be concluded in the next several days is unclear, but consider Wilkerson's addition a promising sign. Even if talks fall through, though, and Jones remains in Seattle, Wilkerson can provide adequate insurance against the team's somewhat questionable alternatives at designated hitter and/or first base. .
Weak housing market forces County sawmill closures
Wanda Campbell of Washburn is losing her job of eight months at the Fraser-owned sawmill at Masardis. It's not closing, but a worker from the Ashland mill slated for closure has seniority and will take her job. Her husband, Ron, works at the same mill and may get bumped from his job too. "This affects everything," Wanda Campbell said. "We are still thinking [about] what we will do. Everything is costing more — food, fuel, the possible loss of health insurance. It will be an even tougher winter than we were facing [already]." A total of 72 Fraser workers will lose their jobs in Ashland for up to four months because of low lumber prices caused by the weakened U.S. housing market and lumber imports, according to an announcement made Jan. 16. The duration of the closure will be determined by the market conditions.
Hormone linked to pre-eclampsia
Women who suffer from high blood pressure during their pregnancies have higher levels of a hormone that increases blood pressure in the tissue that connects mother and fetus, researchers say. Their study was published online Friday in the journal Hypertension. Pregnancy-induced high blood pressure is called pre-eclampsia. It affects 2.6 per cent of pregnancies in Canada, according to Health Canada, and leads to high levels of protein in the urine and swelling of the face and hands. It can also cause a pre-term delivery of the baby and can be fatal for both the infant and mother. When they tested 21 pregnant women with pre-eclampsia, researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., found high levels of the hormone angiotensin II in part of the placenta that supplies food and oxygen from the mother to the fetus.
Kings Blog and Q&A
Sam Amick grew up in the Bay Area town of Pleasanton, Calif., where his hoops inspiration was the Run TMC crew of Golden State that was ruined when the Kings traded for Mitch Richmond in 1991. He headed for Sacramento nonetheless and earned a journalism degree from Sacramento State in 2000 before joining The Bee on a full-time basis in 2002. He assumed the Kings beat before the 2005-06 season. His favorite athlete of all-time is William Nuschler Clark, otherwise known as "Will the Thrill." Sam can't answer every question that comes his way, but he'll do his best. February 19, 2008 Let the "second half" begin PORTLAND - The All-Star break is often looked at as the halfway point of the season, but that's not the case by a longshot. So with 31 games out of 82 left, welcome to the 62.2 percent point Kings fans! The Kings can only hope the home stretch goes a little smoother than its beginning.
moon phase info
January 2, 2006: Here's one I remember very well! Several twisters spun up early on this afternoon. Two of those found the ground in Adair County near Columbia, where one took out a mobile home and unroofed a house. Over in Lincoln County to the east, two people were injured by another tornado late that afternoon. Now we wait and see if what happened in Park City Thursday is added to the above list. **All the above data courtesy of the Louisville National Weather Service.** SH The Top Weather Events of '07 (Updated 12/28/07) Should old weather happenings be forgot and never brought to mind? Ha! In my world, the answer is an emphatic NO!! They should be remembered--and ranked--for these were the events that helped characterize 2007.
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