AP source: Barbara Walters to retire next year

FILE - In this April 23, 2012 file photo, Barbara Walters arrives to the Matrix Awards in New York. Walters plans to retire next year, ending a television career that began more than a half century ago and made her a trailblazer in news and daytime TV. Someone who works closely with Walters says the plan is for her to retire in May 2014 after a series of special programs saluting her career. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday, March 28, 2013 on condition of anonymity. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File)

FILE - In this April 23, 2012 file photo, Barbara Walters arrives to the Matrix Awards in New York. Walters plans to retire next year, ending a television career that began more than a half century ago and made her a trailblazer in news and daytime TV. Someone who works closely with Walters says the plan is for her to retire in May 2014 after a series of special programs saluting her career. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday, March 28, 2013 on condition of anonymity. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Barbara Walters plans to retire next year, ending a television career that began more than a half century ago and made her a trailblazer in news and daytime TV.

Someone who works closely with Walters said the plan is for her to retire in May 2014 after a series of special programs saluting her career. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday.

Walters, 83, was hospitalized earlier this year after falling and cutting her head while leaving a party in Washington and remained out of work after developing the chickenpox. Largely retired from ABC News already, her main work is at "The View," the daytime hit she created in 1997.

Her television career began in 1961 when she was hired as a writer for the "Today" show. She graduated quickly to on-air work and became the show's co-host before leaving in 1976 to become co-anchor of ABC's evening news with Harry Reasoner ? the first woman in such a role for a television network.

The pairing ended quickly and Walters settled into a role as ABC News' cajoler-in-chief, competing ferociously to land newsmaking interviews with heads of state and stars of the day. She regularly did interview specials, including an annual show with the most fascinating people of the year, and was co-host of "20/20" for two decades, much of the time with Hugh Downs.

She described "The View" as the "dessert" of her career, a regular gathering of women chatting about the hot topics of the day and interviewing visiting presidents and actors eager to reach a daytime audience. Walters appeared semi-regularly as one of the hosts.

"The View" faces a transition continuing without Walters and also the last remaining original host, Joy Behar, who recently announced she was stepping down.

Walters underwent heart surgery in 2010, turning the experience into a prime-time special, "A Matter of Life and Death," featuring interviews with fellow heart patients Bill Clinton and David Letterman.

ABC news and entertainment representatives would not comment Thursday and Walters' publicist, Cindi Berger, did not immediately return requests for comment.

It wasn't clear when Walters would announce her plans. Late spring is the time TV networks generally reveal their plans for the upcoming year so advertisers can lock in commercial time.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-28-US-TV-Walters-Retirement/id-5aebf8a686a04525847a7a8f6f366277

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Gay marriage case's Edie Windsor: marriage 'magic'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? When Edith Windsor got engaged in the 1960s to the woman who eventually became her wife, she asked for a pin instead of a ring. A ring would have meant awkward questions, she said: Who is he? Where is he? And when do we meet him?

On Wednesday, the 83-year-old stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, the face of a case that could change how the U.S. government treats married gay couples. She wore a grey pants suit, a pink and orange scarf and her engagement pin, a circle of diamonds.

Windsor, whose wife, Thea Spyer, died in 2009, sued to challenge a $363,000 federal estate tax bill she got after Spyer's death. The pair married in Canada in 2007. Had Windsor been married to a man, she would not have paid any estate tax.

Windsor said the spirit of her partner of 44 years was watching and listening Wednesday, and she called marriage a "magic word."

"For anybody who doesn't understand why we want it and why we need it, OK, it is magic," she told reporters.

Windsor is asking the court to strike down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage for purposes of federal law as the union of a man and a woman. She said the argument before the court went well.

"I think it went great. I think it went beautifully," she told reporters in front of the court after the argument.

Windsor, who goes by Edie, said public acceptance of gay marriage and gay people has changed since the time when she had to hide behind a pin.

"As we increasingly came out, people saw that we didn't have horns. People learned that we were their kids, and their cousins and their friends," she said.

When the couple's wedding announcement ran in The New York Times in 2007, she said, they received congratulations from hundreds of people, from schoolmates to colleagues.

Plaintiff Edith Windsor waves to supporters outside after arguments in her case against the Defense of Marriage Act at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, March 27, 2013. For the second day running,... more? Plaintiff Edith Windsor waves to supporters outside after arguments in her case against the Defense of Marriage Act at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, March 27, 2013. For the second day running, the Supreme Court on Wednesday will confront the issue of gay marriage, hearing arguments on a U.S. law that denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW SOCIETY) less? Even 10 years ago, Windsor said, she would have been "hiding in the closet." But Wednesday she said she was "thrilled and exalted and humbled, very humbled" to be at the court.

___

Follow Jessica Gresko on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jessicagresko

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-marriage-cases-edie-windsor-marriage-magic-203852659--politics.html

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Early number sense plays role in later math skills

WASHINGTON (AP) ? We know a lot about how babies learn to talk, and youngsters learn to read. Now scientists are unraveling the earliest building blocks of math ? and what children know about numbers as they begin first grade seems to play a big role in how well they do everyday calculations later on.

The findings have specialists considering steps that parents might take to spur math abilities, just like they do to try to raise a good reader.

This isn't only about trying to improve the nation's math scores and attract kids to become engineers. It's far more basic.

Consider: How rapidly can you calculate a tip? Do the fractions to double a recipe? Know how many quarters and dimes the cashier should hand back as your change?

About 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. lacks the math competence expected of a middle-schooler, meaning they have trouble with those ordinary tasks and aren't qualified for many of today's jobs.

"It's not just, can you do well in school? It's how well can you do in your life," says Dr. Kathy Mann Koepke of the National Institutes of Health, which is funding much of this research into math cognition. "We are in the midst of math all the time."

A new study shows trouble can start early.

University of Missouri researchers tested 180 seventh-graders. Those who lagged behind their peers in a test of core math skills needed to function as adults were the same kids who'd had the least number sense or fluency way back when they started first grade.

"The gap they started with, they don't close it," says Dr. David Geary, a cognitive psychologist who leads the study that is tracking children from kindergarten to high school in the Columbia, Mo., school system. "They're not catching up" to the kids who started ahead.

If first grade sounds pretty young to be predicting math ability, well, no one expects tots to be scribbling sums. But this number sense, or what Geary more precisely terms "number system knowledge," turns out to be a fundamental skill that students continually build on, much more than the simple ability to count.

What's involved? Understanding that numbers represent different quantities ? that three dots is the same as the numeral "3'' or the word "three." Grasping magnitude ? that 23 is bigger than 17. Getting the concept that numbers can be broken into parts ? that 5 is the same as 2 and 3, or 4 and 1. Showing on a number line that the difference between 10 and 12 is the same as the difference between 20 and 22.

Factors such as IQ and attention span didn't explain why some first-graders did better than others. Now Geary is studying if something that youngsters learn in preschool offers an advantage.

There's other evidence that math matters early in life. Numerous studies with young babies and a variety of animals show that a related ability ? to estimate numbers without counting ? is intuitive, sort of hard-wired in the brain, says Mann Koepke, of NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. That's the ability that lets you choose the shortest grocery check-out line at a glance, or that guides a bird to the bush with the most berries.

Number system knowledge is more sophisticated, and the Missouri study shows children who start elementary school without those concepts "seem to struggle enormously," says Mann Koepke, who wasn't part of that research.

While schools tend to focus on math problems around third grade, and math learning disabilities often are diagnosed by fifth grade, the new findings suggest "the need to intervene is much earlier than we ever used to think," she adds.

Exactly how to intervene still is being studied, sure to be a topic when NIH brings experts together this spring to assess what's known about math cognition.

But Geary sees a strong parallel with reading. Scientists have long known that preschoolers who know the names of letters and can better distinguish what sounds those letters make go on to read more easily. So parents today are advised to read to their children from birth, and many youngsters' books use rhyming to focus on sounds.

Likewise for math, "kids need to know number words" early on, he says.

NIH's Mann Koepke agrees, and offers some tips:

?Don't teach your toddler to count solely by reciting numbers. Attach numbers to a noun ? "Here are five crayons: One crayon, two crayons..." or say "I need to buy two yogurts" as you pick them from the store shelf ? so they'll absorb the quantity concept.

?Talk about distance: How many steps to your ball? The swing is farther away; it takes more steps.

?Describe shapes: The ellipse is round like a circle but flatter.

?As they grow, show children how math is part of daily life, as you make change, or measure ingredients, or decide how soon to leave for a destination 10 miles away,

"We should be talking to our children about magnitude, numbers, distance, shapes as soon as they're born," she contends. "More than likely, this is a positive influence on their brain function."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/early-number-sense-plays-role-later-math-skills-173349630--politics.html

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Hayden Panettiere Secretly Engaged To Wladimir Klitschko!

Hayden Panettiere Secretly Engaged To Wladimir Klitschko!

They just rekindled their romance several months ago, but Hayden Panettiere and her boxer boyfriend Wladimir Klitschko are engaged! The 23-year-old “Nashville” star and the 37-year-old Ukrainian heavyweight professional boxer are reportedly set for a wedding this summer. An insider close to the couple said, “Very few people know, and she isn’t wearing her ring ...

Hayden Panettiere Secretly Engaged To Wladimir Klitschko! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/hayden-panettiere-secretly-engaged-to-wladimir-klitschko/

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Kay's workers' comp bills receive testimony, no vote | Madison Record

Kay

Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon, on Wednesday presented four bills aimed at reforming the state?s workers? compensation system.

Similar to his asbestos ?double-dipping? measure that was heard in the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month, Kay?s workers? comp bills were not called to a vote, but did garner brief testimony in the Labor & Commerce Committee. It is unclear when, or if, they will be called to a committee vote.

The bills Kay presented to the committee this week ? House Bills 1245, 1246, 2229 and 2769 ? represent four of nine measures he introduced this session that deal with the state?s workers comp system.

They are also part of a larger GOP-backed ?pro-growth jobs? legislative package that proposes changes to the tort and tax systems, as well to the state?s regulations on businesses, in attempt to create more jobs and make Illinois more competitive with its neighboring states.

If the battle over workers? comp reform that took place in 2011 is any indication, Kay?s measures will likely face some resistance.

The four bills he presented this week received mixed reactions as groups like the Illinois Trial Lawyers? Association (ITLA) and Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois (AFFI) voiced opposition to some while business groups and associations that represent municipalities offered their support on others.

The ITLA and AFFI, as well as a few other groups, voiced opposition to HB2229, which would amend the Workers? Compensation and the Workers? Occupational Diseases acts to create ?certain rebuttable presumptions regarding certain conditions of a firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT), or paramedic.?

Among other changes, HB2229 would add language to the acts to make their provisions applicable to an EMT or paramedic cross-trained as a firefighter, instead of any EMT or paramedic.

Kay told that committee that under current law, EMT?s are categorized the same as firefighters for the purpose of buying workers? comp insurance. His bill would also delete language that includes blood borne pathogens and tuberculosis as conditions to which those provisions apply to.

?I feel like that?s unjust because EMT?s do nothing like firefighters,? he said.

Eddy Crews, a legislative representative for the AFFI, testified that his group is ?adamantly opposed? to Kay?s bill.

He said his group is currently negotiating a similar bill in the Senate sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, who Crews said, asked the AFFI to consider language to address concerns of a certain private ambulance company.

In response, Kay said he is unaware of any Illinois EMT who has died in the line of duty and that categorizing EMT?s the same way as firefighters places ?an undue burden? on counties and villages throughout the state.

?Quite frankly, it makes no sense to me whatsoever,? Kay said, adding that municipalities are ?paying five times the amount they should for workers? comp insurance and I think that?s wrong.?

Kay also presented HB2769 to the committee this week. This bill would change the way compensation is computed when an employee making a workers? comp claim sustained a previous injury that resulted in the payment of compensation for a percentage of partial disability.

Under HB2769, the previous percentage of partial disability would be deducted from any award for a subsequent injury to the same portion of the body that was involved in the prior injury.

In addition to other changes,Kay?s bill states that ?nothing in those provisions permits cumulative awards for compensation for partial disability to exceed 500 weeks, which shall constitute complete loss of use of the body as a whole.?

Kay said his legislation aims to correct the results of ?a bad decision that came out of arbitration in Northern Illinois? in the case of Will County Forest District v. Illinois Workers? Compensation Commission.

?In short, what we are ending up with here are arbitrators who are extending man-as-a-whole beyond 100 percent,? he said. ?That?s a very dangerous situation.?

Margo Ely, director of legal, human resources and risk management for the City of Naperville, testified in support of Kay?s measure. Other supporters of HB2769 include the Illinois Municipal League and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

Ely told the committee that the City of Naperville has more than 900 employees and spends about $1.5 million a year on compensation, either in time off, medical expense payments and lump sum settlements.

Workers? compensation, she said, ?is not supposed to be lucrative. It?s supposed to just make them whole.?

?This particular bill is a step in the right direction,? she said.

Kay also briefly discussed House Bills 1245 and 1246.

HB1245 would provide that appeals over decisions of the Workers? Compensation Commission on compensation of a state employee?s claim could be made in circuit court.

HB1246 would require the Department of Central Management Services to charge the employing state agency for workers? compensation payments for medical expenses and temporary total disability paid to an employee. Current law only does this in certain situations dealing with temporary total disability payments.

Legislation can found on the Illinois General Assembly?s website at ilga.gov.

Source: http://madisonrecord.com/news/253981-kays-workers-comp-bills-receive-testimony-no-vote

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Saudi Shi'ites fear spy arrests will exacerbate local tensions

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia risks worsening already-tense relations with its Shi'ite Muslim minority if it charges 16 detained Shi'ites with spying in a case linked to rival Shi'ite power Iran, community leaders said on Wednesday.

The government has previously blamed unrest among Shi'ites in the Qatif district of oil-producing Eastern Province on an unnamed foreign power, seen as code for Iran, a charge local activists have denied. Sixteen people have been killed in Qatif in clashes with police in the past two years.

Shi'ite activists said several members of their community had been arrested in the past four days across Saudi Arabia and their families had not been able to contact them.

Late on Tuesday the Interior Ministry said the intelligence service had detained an Iranian, a Lebanese and 16 Saudis for spying. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in a struggle for influence across the region.

Those detained, in the four cities where the government said it arrested the espionage suspects, included two clerics, a banker and a university professor, Shi'ite activists said. They were arrested in Riyadh, Mecca, Jeddah and Eastern Province.

"These people are not at all known as politically active. They are active only in normal religious practices. So these accusations are really strange. This whole story is damaging relations with the community," said one Shi'ite leader, Jafar al-Shayeb.

Saudi Shi'ites complain they face persistent discrimination in getting public sector jobs and worshipping freely, charges the government of the Sunni-majority kingdom denies.

Shi'ites also say they are often unfairly portrayed by officials and Sunni clerics as having loyalty to Iran.

On Tuesday the local Arab News daily reported that three Saudis had been sentenced to prison for spying on Saudi Arabia's state oil company by stealing hard drives. It was not clear whether that case was related to the alleged spy ring.

Investigators said in September that a cyber attack intended to stop production at Saudi Aramco was carried out by insiders. Aramco later linked the attack to hackers in foreign countries.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-shiites-fear-spy-arrests-exacerbate-local-tensions-095734763.html

Ash Wednesday 2013