Saturday, October 26, 2013

Nikon D5300 specs, features, and price

<Nikon D5300 Couponsimg src="http://www.associatednews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/nik530.jpg">

TOKYO - Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the release of the D5300, the first Nikon DX-format digital SLR camera to offer built-in Wi-Fi and GPS functions.

The Nikon D5300 will be available November-mid onwards across India in Black, Red and Grey color variants at an MRP of Rs. 54,450 for the body only, Rs. 59,950 with 18-55mm VR lens, and Rs. 75,950 with 18-140mm VR lens.

The Nikon D5300 features an effective pixel count of 24.2-megapixels and a Nikon DX-format CMOS sensor. Measuring 125 x 98 x 76 mm (4.9 x 3.9 x 3 inches) and weighing 530 g (1 lb 2.7 oz) the D5300 is slightly smaller and lighter than its predecessor.

The D5300′s built-in Wi-Fi connectivity feature can be used for transmitting images to a smart device for sharing as well as for remote shooting.

Built-in GPS also means images can be geotagged with latitude, longitude, and altitude data, without the use of external adapters. Full HD 1080p video can now also be recorded at 60/50 fps and a new pentamirror increases viewfinder magnification to approx. 0.82x.

Speaking on the announcement, Hiroshi Takashina, Managing Director, Nikon India said that the D5300 features Nikon's latest innovative technologies, allowing users to instantly shoot, store and share images.

Sajjan Kumar, Vice President-Imaging, Nikon India, elaborated explaining that It's also been upgraded to use the Nikon EXPEED 4 image processing engine which enables a larger ISO range of 100 to 12,800 (expandable to 25,600 equivalent) though the camera still has a top continuous burst speed of 5 frames per second.


Source: Associatednews

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Nikon D5300 First Look Preview

<Nikon D5300 Dealsp>It's just under a year ago since we witnessed the arrival
of the D5200 and Nikon has announced the Nikon D5300. Slotting in above the D5200 in the Nikon line-up, the D5300 is designed to appeal to aspiring users looking to upgrade from a compact, as well as what Nikon terms 'networkers', which hints at its Wi-fi functionality, but more on that shortly.

While it shares a virtually identical resolution to the D5200, Nikon claims the 24.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor inside the D5300 is newly developed and like its big brother the D7100, the sensor does away for the need of an anti-aliasing filter for improved sharpness.

New EXPEED 4 image processor

The D5300 is the first Nikon DSLR to feature the EXPEED 4 image processor, improving the performance of the camera in a number of areas over its predecessor, including better Auto White Balance control and ISO performance at higher sensitivities - the D5300 sports a native ISO range up to ISO 12,800, but can be expanded to an ISO equivalent of ISO 25,600.

One of the strengths of the D5200 is its relatively sophisticated AF system, and it's no surprise to see the 39-point Multi-CAM 4800DX unit transfer across to the D5300. We've been impressed with its performance in the past, particularly the 3D tracking system that's linked to the D5300's Scene Recognition System to cleverly track your subject across the frame, so it shouldn't through up any nasty surprises on the D5300.

Interestingly though, where Canon has made efforts to improve the live view AF performance of the EOS 700D by adding phase-detect photosites onto the sensor, the D5300 continues to rely solely on contrast-detect AF during live view and video capture. We'd have welcomed some innovation here from Nikon or at least built-in phase-detect photosites on the sensor as this in the past where some Nikon DSLRs have struggled - not only against the likes of the 700D, but the growing range of system camera rivals too.

Wi-fi Connectivity

With the trend for built-in Wi-fi connectivity increasing on new cameras, it's nice to finally see a Nikon DSLR offering this built-in functionality, rather than as a optional accessory as we've seen with both the D3200 and D5200 for example. Expect easy transfer of images from the camera to your iOS or Android device via the dedicated free Nikon App to share in social networking sites, as well as offering the ability to remotely shoot, with feed from the D5300 transmitted to your smart-device.

At the rear of the camera, the vari-angle screen remains, but increases in size to 3.2in with an aspect ratio of 3:2 and a boosted resolution of 1037k-dots. Curiously, while touchscreen functionality is becoming more wide-spread on cameras in this sector, the D5300 goes without.

There's also a dedicated HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode that captures two images in quick succession at different exposures before merging them together in a single image with a much broad range of shadow and highlight detail compared to a single exposure. The Active D-Lighting mode has also been tinkered with, now with a specific Portrait mode to balance the exposure.

As the D5300 is likely to be used as a dual-role camera for both stills and movies, you'll find Full HD 1080p video capture at either 60/50p, while there's a built-in stereo microphone too.

Nikon revealed that the D5300 is based around a new monocoque construction that does away with the need for a separate chassis and is formed from a new material that Nikon remained tight-lipped on on what it actually was. That said, if you've handled a D5200, you'd be hard-pushed to differentiate the look and feel of the D5300 once in the hand.

First Thoughts

While we've seen a fair bit of innovation recently across the market, Nikon plays it much safer with the D5300. Looking at the specification and at first glance at least, appears to be a suitable upgrade of the D5200,though there are still some areas that we feel need attention if it wants to be the best there is for the aspiring photographer. We can't make any real judgements though until we've gott our hands on a final production sample to find out how it really performs.

The Nikon D5300 is expected to be available mid-November
with a body-only price of £729, and a kit price of £829 with the 18-55mm VR lens.

Watch our First Look video preview:

Source: Whatdigitalcamera

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Westgate-area shops celebrate travel on the open road again

<easy halloween cupcakesp>SECOR STREET PARTY SET FOR SATURDAY

Kathy Nagypaul in her shop, Creative Cupcakes is among the business owners promoting the Secor Open Road Party in the Westgate area to celebrate the end of the thoroughfare's reconstruction.
THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTHEnlarge | Buy This Photo

Kathy Nagypaul picked a challenging time to open a bake shop on Secor Road this summer.

Her business, Creative Cupcakes, began operation while the thoroughfare was halfway through its major reconstruction.

"I just opened up four months ago. I need all the help I can get," Ms. Nagypaul said.

"I moved in right in the middle of everything."

Her business is among those planning to participate in Saturday's "Secor Open Road Party," a festival to entice customers who may have been discouraged from patronizing them because of the orange barrels - and occasionally, detour signs - that beset Secor between Central Avenue and Monroe Street from mid-March through late July.

Creative Cupcakes, 3344 Secor, will provide gift certificates as prizes for a Halloween costume contest and parade that starts at 2 p.m., three hours into an event scheduled for 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday.

Other highlights include a bean-bag toss tournament and music from country-and-western singer-songwriter Josh Thompson.

"I hope it's very helpful for me," said Ms. Nagypaul, who said business "is getting better every day."

Next door at Scrambler Marie, the restaurant's manager, Dan Hohenbrink, estimated a construction-related loss at $3,000 to $4,000 per week.

"Anything to get people to come back to Secor would be great," he said.

Free, wheelchair-accessible shuttle buses will operate along Secor between Dorr Street and Alexis Road.

The festival's lead co-sponsors include The Blade, Sears, and the city of Toledo.

Secor Road in the Westgate area is open again after months of construction work that finished early but still hampered trade at the stores and restaurants along the stretch.
THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTHEnlarge | Buy This Photo

"We are celebrating the area being open to traffic, and the patience of the businesses who waited through the construction period,"said Mike Mori, an event organizer and advertising director at The Blade.

Home Depot, Sears, and Westgate Village Shopping Center will provide prizes.

During a $5.4 million project that started in March, a 12-inch water main nearly a century old was replaced, followed by Secor's complete reconstruction between Central Avenue and Monroe Street.

The construction reduced the busy street, normally five to six lanes, to one lane each way plus a left-turn lane.

One phase required closing Secor's I-475 interchange ramps for nearly two weeks; another forced all traffic at Secor and Central to turn right while the middle of the intersection was rebuilt.

Geddis Paving & Excavating, the project contractor, got major work completed more than three months ahead of the city's Nov. 1 deadline.

Finishing touches put the work's official conclusion in early September.

Geddis is to receive a 10 percent bonus for finishing early.

Mr. Hohenbrink said the street work was "definitely worth it."

Having a smooth street "will be better for us in the long run," he said.

Secor had been rebuilt between Monroe and Laskey Road in 2009.

At the festival, Geddis Paving will display some of its heavy equipment and offer a photo booth.

The Toledo Fire Department will exhibit a ladder truck and its safety house, the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library will send its Cybermobile, and the children's area will include a pumpkin patch, rides, and a replica of Baru, the Toledo Zoo's Australian crocodile.

Children ages 2 to 12 will be eligible to participate in the Halloween parade and enter the costume contest. Prizes will be awarded for the cutest, scariest, and most inventive costumes.

Registration for the bean-bag toss tournament, to be next to the music tent, will start at 11 a.m. The tournament is limited to 32 teams in two divisions. A collegiate division will be open to players with valid college identification, while an open division will accept anyone age 18 or older.

Collegiate-division winning teams will receive flat-screen televisions, and $500 Home Depot gift cards will be awarded to the open-division winning players.

Live music will start at 4 p.m. with Bruce Sims and The Jam Band, with Mr. Thompson to take the stage at 8 p.m.

Three songs from his 2010 debut album, Way Out Here, were Top 40 country hits, and Mr. Thompson also is expected to perform his new single, "Cold Beer With Your Name On It," during the show.

Contact David Patch at:

dpatch@theblade.com

or 419-724-6094.


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Source: Toledoblade

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S 4 Wallet Cases Now Available

<5s iphone cases otterbox pink xbox 360p>OtterBox's Commuter Series Wallet Case is now available for the iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S 4. The protective wallet case is equipped with a sliding drawer that can hold up to three cards and extra cash. The drawer features an audible click closure system so you'll always know that your personal items are safely secure.

The case also includes an interior slip cover to protect against bumps and falls, a sleek exterior shell that easily fits into your pocket, and a self-adhesive screen protector that guards against scratches and smudges.

The OtterBox wallet case for the iPhone 5s and Galaxy S 4 is now available from OtterBox.com for $45. It is comes in black, glacier and primrose.

Here is a video of the case in action.


Source: Iphonefaq

Monday, October 14, 2013

Nightmare in Maryville, Mo.: Teens' sexual encounter ignites a firestorm against family

MARYVILLE, Mo. * There wasn't much left by the time she arrived, just a burnt-out structure and the haze of smoke that lingered around it.

The siding and gutters had melted. The roof was gone. Inside, piles of ash filled the rooms that had once bustled with the pleasant sounds of a family.

That morning last April when Melinda Coleman received word that emergency vehicles were gathering around her Maryville house, she had hoped for the best.

But if the events of the past year and a half had taught her anything, it was that when the town of Maryville was involved, that seemed unlikely.

Since the morning her daughter had been left nearly unconscious in the frost of the home's front lawn, this northwest Missouri community had come to mean little besides heartache.

Few dispute the basic facts of what happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 8, 2012: A high school senior had sex with Coleman's 14-year-old daughter, another boy did the same with her daughter's 13-year-old friend, and a third student video-recorded one of the bedding scenes. Interviews and evidence initially supported the felony and misdemeanor charges that followed.

Yet, two months later, the Nodaway County prosecutor dropped the felony 5s iphone cases purse against the youths, one the grandson of a longtime area political figure.

The incident sparked outrage in the community, though the worst of it was directed not at the accused perpetrators but at a victim and her family. In the months that followed, Coleman lost her job, and her children were routinely harassed. When it became too much, they left, retreating east to Albany.

Coleman had hoped the move would allow them to heal in peace, that the 40 miles separating the towns would be enough to put an end to their bitter saga.

Now, though, as she stared at the charred remains of her house, the distance didn't seem nearly enough.

Three years ago, when the Colemans arrived in Maryville from Albany, there was plenty to like about their new hometown.

The 12,000-population city, tucked into an expansive stretch of farmland along Missouri's northern border, offered an idyllic setting. It was, like many small towns, close-knit, with an old-fashioned town square and a passion for high school football. The kind of place where down-home values still reigned and you couldn't stop by the local Hy-Vee or A&G Restaurant without running into a familiar face.

For a family still struggling with the effects of a tragedy, it represented a fresh start.

Just three years earlier, Coleman's physician husband, Michael, had been on his way to watch his son compete in a wrestling tournament when his truck skidded on a patch of black ice and careened into a ravine. Two of the couple's children - Daisy and Logan, ages 9 and 10 at the time - escaped through a back window. Michael didn't survive.

Hardly a day went by, it seemed, without driving past his old medical practice or the place where the wreck had occurred. Months after the death, well-meaning friends still introduced Melinda, a veterinarian, as "Dr. Coleman's widow." Even the family's home, a Victorian they had spent a decade renovating, served as a reminder of what had been lost.

And so, midway through the 2009-10 school year, Coleman decided to relocate.

"Even though it was sad to leave, in some ways it was a huge weight off our shoulders," she says now. "Just to be anonymous, in a way."

For the most part, the family settled nicely into its new surroundings. Charlie, the oldest son, became a three-sport athlete at Maryville High, eventually earning a baseball scholarship to Baker University. Logan, two years younger, was an accomplished wrestler with a good group of friends, and Tristan, the youngest, was everyone's pet.

And then there was Daisy.

Pretty and blond, she had grown up competing in beauty pageants, amassing a dresserful of trophies. Though slower than her brothers to assimilate, midway through her freshman year at Maryville High, she seemed to be finding her place.

A member of the school's cheerleading team, she was already part of the varsity squad that performed at boys basketball games. Her grades, her mother says, were nearly all A's, and she had begun to make friends as part of a local dance team.

And she'd recently captured the attention of a popular senior football player, a 17-year-old with whom she had begun texting.

His name was Matthew Barnett, and for a girl still trying to make her way in a new place, the attention was flattering.

Jan. 7, 2012, was a Saturday night, and Daisy spent it the way she spent most weekend evenings - with her best friend, a 13-year-old girl she had grown up with in Albany.

During a typical sleepover, the girls played music, made dance videos or watched movies.

On this night, however, their activities were a bit more brazen.

In Daisy's bedroom closet was a stash of alcohol from which both girls sipped. As they passed the night talking and watching TV, Daisy also texted with Barnett.

Barnett played defensive end for Maryville High School's vaunted football team, the Spoofhounds, and came from a prominent Maryville family - his grandfather had been a longtime member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Tall and handsome, Barnett had a scraggly beard and a reputation as a guy who liked to have a good time, the latter bolstered by an arrest for drunken driving.

Daisy had come to know him through Charlie; in fact, Barnett had been among the boys piled into the Coleman living room just a few days earlier, watching football on the big screen as Melinda served up chili and snacks. The two boys were football teammates, and while Charlie liked Barnett well enough, he was also wary. Enough that, upon discovering his sister was texting with the senior, he tried to put an end to it.

"I told her to stay clear of that kid," Charlie remembers. "But honestly, what teenage kid wants to (listen to) her older brother?"

At some point that Saturday evening, the texting condensed into a plan.

Shortly after midnight, Coleman went in to check on the girls and found them watching a movie in Daisy's bedroom.

Around 1 a.m., the teens slipped out a bedroom window and were met by Barnett and another boy, who drove them three miles to the Barnett house.

When they arrived, sneaking in through a basement window, the girls found themselves among some of the school's most popular student-athletes. In addition to Barnett, there was junior Jordan Zech, a top wrestler and all-state linebacker; a senior football and tennis player whose family owned the popular A&G Restaurant; a third junior football player; and a 15-year-old who knew the group through an older sibling.

None of the teens commented for this story. Normally, The Star does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse, but this case is widely known in Maryville, and Coleman allowed her daughter's name to be used in The Star, as well as an earlier KCUR broadcast, to bring attention to the case. She also provided copied investigative records that had been sealed by authorities.

In those records, Daisy alleges that after she arrived, Barnett handed her a large glass filled with alcohol. The boys urged her drink it and then a second glass too, she related later to her mother.

That, she would tell police, was the last thing she remembers.

The sun hadn't yet risen the next morning when Coleman, groggy from a sleep interrupted, made her way toward the living room.

She had woken moments earlier to the sound of scratching at the front door - the dogs, she figured, had gotten out - and grudgingly went to investigate.

Instead, she found Daisy, sprawled on the front porch and barely conscious.

The low temperature in the area that day was listed at 22 degrees, and the teen had spent roughly three hours outside, wearing only a T-shirt and sweatpants. Her hair was frozen. Scattered across an adjacent lot were her daughter's purse, shoes and cellphone.

Coleman tried to process what she was seeing. Daisy had a history of sleepwalking - years earlier, she had wandered outside. Had she done it again? In her daughter's bedroom, Coleman found the 13-year-old asleep. She, too, seemed confused.

Still struggling to make sense of it all, Coleman carried her daughter to the bathroom, to be undressed for a warm bath.

That's when she saw the redness around her daughter's genitalia and buttocks. It hurt, the girl said, when Coleman asked about it. Then she began crying.

"Immediately," Coleman says, "I knew what had happened."

Coleman called 911, which directed her to St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, where, according to Daisy's medical report, doctors observed small vaginal tears indicative of recent sexual penetration. The 13-year-old also ended up at St. Francis.

It wasn't until a captain of the Nodaway County Sheriff's Office arrived at the hospital for one-on-one interviews with each girl, however, that the full picture of the night's events began to emerge.

While the last Daisy remembered was drinking "a big glass of clear stuff," the 13-year-old's recollections proved more useful.

The younger girl, who admitted drinking that night but denied doing so after arriving at Barnett's, said she went into a bedroom with the 15-year-old boy, who was an acquaintance. He is unidentified in this article because his case was handled in juvenile court, but sheriff's records include his interview, in which he said that although the girl said "no" multiple times, he undressed her, put a condom on and had sex with her.

When the two returned to the basement's common area, the 13-year-old said, Barnett emerged from another room and asked if the girls were ready to go home. She said Daisy was unable to speak coherently and had to be carried from the bedroom.

Around 2 a.m., the girls were driven back to the Coleman house, where, the 13-year-old said, the boys told her to go on inside, saying they would watch over Daisy outside until she sobered up.

The younger girl also offered a significant detail, one later reiterated in the interviews of at least three of the boys.

As Daisy was carried to the car, she was crying.

One by one that Sunday morning, the boys were rounded up and brought to the Nodaway County Sheriff's Office for questioning.

Barnett, who was arrested and charged with sexual assault, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, admitted to having sex with Daisy and to being aware that she had been drinking. He insisted the sex was consensual.

Barnett was not charged with statutory rape, as that Missouri law generally applies in cases when a victim is under 14 years old or the perpetrator is over 21. But felony statutes also define sex as non-consensual when the victim is incapacitated by alcohol.

Hospital tests around 9 a.m., roughly seven hours after her last imbibing, showed Daisy's blood alcohol content still at 0.13.

In addition to admitting his own sexual encounter with the younger girl, according to the sheriff's office report, the 15-year-old said the boys had left Daisy "outside sitting in 30-degree weather" - even more dangerous with a high alcohol level in the bloodstream.

From him, the lawmen also learned that Barnett and Daisy's encounter had been captured with an iPhone. That led to 17-year-old Zech's felony charge of sexual exploitation of a minor. Records show that after initially declining to answer questions, Zech said he had used a friend's phone to record some of the encounter. He said, however, that he thought Barnett and the girl were only "dry humping," a term commonly used to describe rubbing together clothed. Another teen, however, told police the video featured both Barnett and Daisy with their pants down.

By midafternoon Sunday, a search warrant for the Barnett home resulted in the seizure of a blanket, bedsheets, a pair of panties found on a bedroom floor, a bottle of Bacardi Big Apple and plastic bottles of unidentified liquids. The sheriff's office also seized three cellphones, including the iPhone allegedly used by Zech.

Sexual assault cases can be difficult to build because of factors such as a lack of physical evidence or inconsistent statements by witnesses. But by the time his department had concluded its investigation, Sheriff Darren White felt confident the office had put together a case that would "absolutely" result in prosecutions.

"Within four hours, we had obtained a search warrant for the house and executed that," White told The Star. "We had all of the suspects in custody and had audio/video confessions.

"I would defy the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department to do what we did and get it wrapped up as nicely as we did in that amount of time."

News of the case shocked the town. Initially, sympathy was expressed for the girls and their families.

"We're very lucky," the sheriff told the newspaper in nearby St. Joseph. "It was very cold, in the 30s, and people die laying out in the cold like that."

He also asked residents to keep gossip and unfounded allegations to themselves, as it could hinder the case.

A sizable contingent stood by the accused athletes, however, and as the story ripped through the halls of Maryville High School, many took to Twitter and Facebook to make their allegiance known.

Two days after discovering her daughter on the front porch, Coleman says, she got a phone call from another mother warning her that online threats were being levied against the Coleman children, including a suggestion that her sons would be beaten up in the school parking lot.

When she checked online, she discovered that many of the comments were aimed at Daisy. On Twitter, the brother of one of the boys at the Barnett home that night wrote that he hoped Daisy "gets whats comin."

Daisy was suspended from the cheerleading squad for her role in the night's events. Barnett did not finish his senior year there, according to his lawyer.

During his Senior Night with the wrestling team, Charlie was booed by some students. Among the comments that made it back to him in the weeks following the arrests: that his mother and sister were "crazy bitches," that Barnett was blameless, and that Daisy had been "asking for it."

"There were several days," Charlie says, "I just wanted to go knock a kid's teeth out."

At a dance competition, Melinda Coleman says, a girl arrived wearing a homemade shirt: Matt 1, Daisy 0.

Two weeks after the incident, Coleman says, she was told without explanation that her employment at Maryville's SouthPaws Veterinary Clinic was being terminated.

Days later, carrying a hidden tape recorder, she returned to speak with her boss. In the recording, provided to The Star, Coleman asked Sally Hayse point-blank the reason for her firing.

Hayse said the possibility that Coleman might pursue civil charges in the case - which she has not done - was "putting stress on everybody in here" and "there's going to be times when we probably have stuff booked, and you wouldn't be able to come in."

Reached by The Star, Hayse acknowledged that she has ties to the family of one of the teens at the Barnett home that night and that the incident involving Daisy did complicate her relationship with Coleman.

"This is a small community, and it definitely was stressful for us here, without a doubt," she said, but "if you were to ask me point-blank (why the firing), I would say it's because our style of medicine didn't jive." She did not offer that reason to Coleman in the taped conversation.

Through it all, Coleman held tightly to a belief in justice and that the youths' punishment would provide closure for the family. She spoke with White on multiple occasions and sat down with Robert Rice, the Nodaway County prosecutor, to discuss her concerns.

"She would come to the sheriff's office on an almost daily basis," says White of the days following the arrests. "And I would sit down with her and try to answer her questions and explain to her what was going on. And the next day she'd show up, and we'd go through the same thing again.

"It was like living through the movie 'Groundhog Day.'"

In early March, however, while awaiting a hearing for Barnett and Zech, Coleman says, she received a call from a friend with local political ties: The word was that favors were being called in and that the charges would be dropped.

Coleman says she didn't give the call much credence, but she passed the message on to her lawyer, who wrote to the county prosecutor inquiring about the rumors.

Less than a week later, Coleman was at the grocery store when she got another call.

The felony sexual assault charge against Barnett, as well as Zech's sexual exploitation count, had been dismissed.

Located a hundred miles north of Kansas City, Maryville serves as the seat of Nodaway County. It's a college town, home to 7,000-student Northwest Missouri State University and its powerhouse Division II football program, and is small enough that most longtime residents are connected in some way.

When a reporter visited Maryville police to obtain copies of Zech's arrest record, for instance, the department employee who pulled the file was the mother of one of the five boys at the Barnett home that night.

"It's a big town in a rural area, but it's still a rural area," says author Harry MacLean, who spent four years living in Nodaway County while researching "In Broad Daylight," his best-selling book on the murder of Skidmore bully Ken McElroy and the town cover-up that followed. "...They do tend to revolve around the influence of several families. All of those small towns are like that there. There's four or five or six families that carry the weight."

And in Maryville, the Barnett name carries a good deal of weight.

Rex Barnett served 32 years with the Missouri Highway Patrol's Troop H before embarking on a fruitful political run. In 1994, the Republican was elected as a state representative, serving four terms before leaving the House in 2002.

He also has political ties to prosecutor Rice. Barnett's granddaughter worked as a volunteer on the campaign of U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, who also employs Rice's sister as an aide in constituent services.

In the aftermath of the dropped charges, this wasn't lost on many in the town.

A petition, generating more than 1,200 signatures, was posted on the website Change.org to request an investigation by Attorney General Chris Koster. Emails were sent to Jefferson City as well. The office ultimately said it didn't have the authority to review Rice's decision.

"I wanted to make sure that everything that was being done was on the up-and-up," says Amanda Amen, the petition's author and an acquaintance of the mother of the 13-year-old. "Because at the time, there were a lot of rumors."

In a phone interview, Rex Barnett said that from the time of his grandson's arrest, he made a point not to meddle in the case.

"As far as contacting anybody, even to get information, I wasn't even going to do that," he said. "Because I knew that any contact whatsoever by me with the sheriff's department or prosecuting attorney - or any witness, as far as that goes - would have been bad for me and bad for the case."

A spokesman for Graves, whose name came up in relation to the case in discussions online and around town, released a statement to The Star on Aug. 7: "Sam literally knows nothing about this situation. The first our office heard of it was on Internet blogs."

Last week, after a consultant for Graves contacted the newspaper, the spokesman provided an amended statement: "The first Sam had ever heard of it was when The Star called his office for comment. However, as the father of two girls, he understands the families' outrage and their search for answers."

When the charges were dropped, in accordance to Missouri law, all records pertaining to the case were sealed, such as interviews with nearly a dozen witnesses, the results of tests done on bedclothes and the rape kits. The video wasn't found, according to the prosecutor, though Charlie Coleman told his mother it was passed around at school.

Melinda Coleman says Rice never informed her of his decision. Nor, she claims, did he return the voice messages that she and her attorney left with his office seeking an explanation.

Rice later denied this to The Star, though a letter written to him by Coleman's attorney on March 19, a week after the charges had been dismissed, states: "I called your office multiple times last week in an attempt to obtain accurate information so that I could explain your decision to my client. You did not return my telephone calls."

After initially declining to speak with The Star this summer, Rice later agreed to an interview with a reporter who showed up unannounced.

Sitting in his nicely decorated town square office - on one wall is a small collection of framed NMSU jerseys, on another is a framed photo of Graves - he defended his decision, calling the rumors of political favors a "total red herring."

Rice said charges were dropped for lack of evidence, but he added, declining to go into the specifics, that information brought to his attention regarding what happened "before, during and after" the incident also played a role in his actions.

"There wasn't any prosecuting attorney that could take that case to trial," he said.

"It had to be dismissed. And it was."

The parent of one of the teens at the Barnett house that night was the only one to comment briefly to The Star: "Our boys deserve an apology, and they haven't gotten it yet."

In a later interview, Rice called it a case of "incorrigible teenagers" drinking alcohol and having sex. "They were doing what they wanted to do, and there weren't any consequences. And it's reprehensible. But is it criminal? No."

Robert Sundell, who represented Barnett, echoed that sentiment: "Just because we don't like the way teenagers act doesn't necessarily make it a crime."

For his part, White, the sheriff, maintains "no doubt" a crime was committed that night. The doctor who treated Daisy the following morning called the prosecutor's decision to drop the charges "surprising." And one longtime Missouri attorney believes the Colemans' status as relative outsiders played a part in the cases' dismissals.

"The fact that the family wasn't from Maryville made it a lot easier for the prosecutor to drop those charges," he said.

The mother of the 13-year-old Albany girl, who asked that her name not be used, puts it more bluntly:

"If that had been one of my sons - and my sons would rather cut their hands off than do something like that - but had that been one of my kids, they would be sitting in a maximum security prison somewhere doing 25 years. There's no doubt in my mind."

For the Colemans, the dismissal of the charges spelled the beginning of the end to their life in Maryville.

In the days that followed, a new round of vitriol made its way online.

"F - - yea. That's what you get for bein a skank : )," read one tweet, one of many expletive-filled comments posted publicly.

The reaction wasn't surprising, according to Julie Donelon, president of the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault.

Some form of victim-blaming occurs in virtually every sexual assault case, she says, but it can be particularly intense in small towns, where "the victim and her family members are having to see not only the perpetrator and the perpetrator's family, but also those people ... who have expressed disbelief in her story."

The daily harassment became too much, Coleman says. Daisy and Logan transferred to Albany High School, making the 80-mile round trip daily.

Initially, Coleman refused to consider leaving Maryville altogether - even after, she says, her lawyer suggested it might be in the family's best interest.

"Part of me is stubborn enough to stay just to say, 'No, you're not going to win,'" she says.

So it was not until August last year, she says, that she finally knew "this was never going to be OK."

She went to Rice's office for a deposition on the case's lone remaining charge, Matthew Barnett's misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child for leaving Daisy in freezing temperatures.

After speaking with a rape advocate, the mothers had initially declined to participate for fear the questioning would be used against them. They later changed their minds and agreed to meet with the prosecutor.

According to Coleman, Daisy was excused from the room after briefly discussing the case. But for the next two hours, she says, Rice proceeded to angrily ask her about the petition and demanded to know where Coleman had heard that political favors might be involved.

Rice responds that he never raised his voice during the meeting. Sundell, who was also present, adds: "It may have happened in a different room, when I wasn't there, but not during the deposition."

The misdemeanor endangerment charge, too, was soon dropped.

The sheriff blames the mothers for the lack of prosecutions: "They refused to speak and give their story." The women say they were eager to work with authorities until the felony charges were dropped.

That August, with Charlie off to Baker University and the younger children set to begin a new school year, the family moved back to Albany - or as White, the sheriff, puts it, "went back to Gentry County, where they came from."

Even after leaving, however, it wasn't over with Maryville.

Coleman still had a house there, unoccupied and up for sale - until that Sunday morning six months ago.

According to Capt. Phil Rickabaugh of the Maryville Fire Department, the cause of the fire wasn't immediately determined.

"We started to dig in and investigate it," he said, but the structure was deemed unsafe. "Several weeks later, an insurance investigator came in, and it was heavily investigated by private parties. (But) we never have heard anything else out of that."

The cause, Rickabaugh says, remains unknown.

For the most part, things in Maryville have returned to normal.

The high school football team is off to its usual dominant start, sporting a 7-0 record following Friday's 50-10 win over Smithville. The college is preparing for its homecoming festivities, and the A&G Restaurant still fills up quickly on Sundays after church.

Many in town are happy to put the episode behind them, including White, who makes little attempt to mask his opinion of Coleman, a woman he says "clearly has issues."

"We did our job," he says. "We did it well. It's unfortunate that they are unhappy.

"I guess they're just going to have to get over it."

Getting over it, it turns out, hasn't proved all that easy.

Since that night in January, Daisy has been in regular therapy. She has been admitted to a Smithville hospital four times and spent 90 days at Missouri Girls Town, a residential facility for struggling teens.

Last May, shortly after returning home from college, Charlie found his sister collapsed in the family's bathroom, where she had ingested a bottle of depression medication.

It was her second suicide attempt in the past two years.

Though she agreed to appear in a segment for local radio station KCUR - "You're the s-word, you're the w-word ... b-word. Just, after a while, you start to believe it," she said in the interview - she has since declined to speak publicly about the incident.

The 13-year-old hasn't fared much better, her mother says. Her child suffers from flashbacks and nightmares and for a long time after the incident dragged her mattress into her brother's bedroom at night.

Still, she says: "We didn't suffer nearly what the Colemans did. (My daughter) had support here. People believed us here.

"It's been utter hell for Melinda," she continues. "I didn't have to lose my job over it. I didn't have to lose a house over it. I didn't have to lose where I had gone to move on with my life. And she did."

The young men present at the Barnett home that night, meanwhile, seem to have moved on.

Two are now members of Northwest Missouri State University athletic teams, and Barnett is enrolled at the University of Central Missouri, his grandfather's alma mater. Based on his Twitter account, before it was locked to non-friends, the events of the past two years haven't dampened his enthusiasm for the opposite sex.

In a recent retweet, he expressed his views on women - and their desire for his sexual attentions - this way:

"If her name begins with A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, she wants the D."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Seven months ago, The Star began looking into the 2012 case of two young teens who told authorities they were sexually assaulted by older boys. The Star spoke extensively with the mothers of the girls, interviewed dozens of others and reviewed hundreds of pages of records, from sheriff's office interviews with the accused to medical records. While most documents were sealed by authorities, many were copied previously by the Coleman family and provided to The Star.

Though The Star's policy usually is not to name alleged victims in sexual assault incidents, or cases of attempts on one's life, exceptions have been made in some cases. Daisy Coleman's name appears in this article with the permission and cooperation of the Coleman family.


Source: Stltoday

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Nexus 5 said to be 'half the price' of the iPhone 5S

A source says the new Google phone will come with an attractive price for those that have been hankering for a new Nexus.

(Credit: MacRumors)

The hype and rumors we're hearing around the upcoming Nexus 5, expected from LG and Google later this month, is that it could instantly become the new Android phone to beat. But the latest whisperings hint that it could also give the iPhone 5s iphone cases dress up games for girls dresses a run for its money when it comes to how much of your money you have to shell out for one.

TechRadar says a "source familiar with Google" has told the site that the successor to the popular but LTE-less Nexus 4 will ship in the latter part of October and cost "half the price" of the iPhone 5S.

What's a little tricky about this is that the source seems to be referring to United Kingdom prices and ship dates, which can be different from what we see in the United States. If the Nexus 5 were to be half of what an unlocked iPhone 5S sells for at retail stateside (it starts at $649 for 16 GB contract-free with a T-Mobile SIM), that would mean we could see a new unlocked Nexus that, according to TechRadar's source, will meet the specs of the iPhone 5S, but for less than $350.

That would certainly be a welcome deal for Nexus fans hoping for a repeat of the $299 price tag for an unlocked Nexus 4 right out of the gate.

We'll see in the coming weeks if Google actually offers such a pre-holiday bargain on a top-flight phone, or if we've just caught wind of some sort of UK-only pricing scheme or just total bunk.

Be sure to read up on everything else we expect in a new Nexus, and let us know in the comments if you plan to get one of your own.


Source: Cnet

Report: Kobe Bryant returning to Germany for platelet-rich plasma therapy

<plasmap>Kobe Bryant is traveling to Germany to have another round of platelet-rich plasma therapy on his right knee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

On Thursday the Lakers confirmed Bryant had left the United States for an unnamed destination and an unnamed medical procedure unrelated to his Achilles tendon injury. The team expects him to return early next week.

Bryant underwent the procedure in 2011 while recovering from surgery to remove bone fragments from his knee. The therapy involves spinning samples of his own blood to separate the healing platelets, then injecting them back into his knee.

MAHONEY: Marcin Gortat to spend season on trade block

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said Bryant is showing progress in his rehabilitation.

"He just keeps progressing," D'Antoni said Wednesday, according to ESPN Los Angeles. "He was out today shooting a little bit and jogging. He just keeps getting better."

Kobe Bryant is traveling to Germany to have another round of platelet-rich plasma therapy on his right knee, league sources tell Y! Sports.-
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 03, 2013


Source: SI Wire

Nexus 5 said to be 'half the price' of the iPhone 5S

A source says the new Google phone will come with an attractive price for those that have been hankering for a new Nexus.

(Credit: MacRumors)

The hype and rumors we're hearing around the upcoming Nexus 5, expected from LG and Google later this month, is that it could instantly become the new Android phone to beat. But the latest whisperings hint that it could also give the iPhone 5s iphone cases otterbox defender unc a run for its money when it comes to how much of your money you have to shell out for one.

TechRadar says a "source familiar with Google" has told the site that the successor to the popular but LTE-less Nexus 4 will ship in the latter part of October and cost "half the price" of the iPhone 5S.

What's a little tricky about this is that the source seems to be referring to United Kingdom prices and ship dates, which can be different from what we see in the United States. If the Nexus 5 were to be half of what an unlocked iPhone 5S sells for at retail stateside (it starts at $649 for 16 GB contract-free with a T-Mobile SIM), that would mean we could see a new unlocked Nexus that, according to TechRadar's source, will meet the specs of the iPhone 5S, but for less than $350.

That would certainly be a welcome deal for Nexus fans hoping for a repeat of the $299 price tag for an unlocked Nexus 4 right out of the gate.

We'll see in the coming weeks if Google actually offers such a pre-holiday bargain on a top-flight phone, or if we've just caught wind of some sort of UK-only pricing scheme or just total bunk.

Be sure to read up on everything else we expect in a new Nexus, and let us know in the comments if you plan to get one of your own.


Source: Cnet

Otterbox Introduces New iPhone 5/5s Case With Space for Credit Cards and Cash

Otterbox has introduced iPhone case/wallet combination, the Commuter Series Wallet. The $45 case includes space for 3 credit cards and a single dollar bill, while coming in black, white/grey and pink/grey color combinations.

The new case competes against other wallet cases like TwelveSouth's BookBook, as well as dozens of other wallet cases on the market.

- Multi-layer case guards against damage to your device
- Slimline design hides contents, keeping them safe and secure
- Self-adhering screen protector guards against scratches and scrapes to the glass display
- Access drawer holds up to three cards and one bill
- Audible click closure gives you peace of mind knowing your items are securely enclosed
- Access Wallet drawer contents without turning case over


The Commuter Series Wallet case, for the iPhone 5 and 5s iphone cases waterproof, is available from Otterbox and other retailers for $45.
Source: Macrumors

A Day Made Better: Extraordinary Teachers Honoured by OfficeMax Grand & Toy

<safcop>A Day Made Better program recognizes teachers for their ability to inspire students with creative and innovative teaching, both inside and outside the classroom

TORONTO, Oct. 1, 2013 /CNW/ - Canadian teachers on average spend $453 of their own money to fund classroom needs, such as supplies or classroom activities 1. To help ease the burden, Canadian office solutions provider OfficeMax Grand & Toy today announced it is surprising six public school teachers across the country with $9,000 total worth of classroom supplies through its 2013 annual A Day Made Better program.

Today marks the 5th year of A Day Made Better, in which OfficeMax Grand & Toy associates surprise teachers at their schools with $1,500 worth of school supplies. The national program aims to relieve and support primary school teachers who spend their own money on much-needed classroom supplies.

"Teachers are often the unsung heroes of the community," said Ron McDougall, General Manager, OfficeMax Grand & Toy. "They are an exceptionally dedicated group of individuals whose love of teaching shows through by how much they go above and beyond while educating Canada's youth. 'A Day Made Better' is one way OfficeMax Grand & Toy works to give back to the communities and teachers it serves."

The national A Day Made Better program has received hundreds of nominations from across the country since its inception. This year's winners were recognized for, among other things, their use of technology in the classroom, working closely with parents to keep them up-to-date on their child's progress, and being actively involved in the communities where they teach.

This year's honoured teachers come from cities and towns across the country including: Canmore AB, Middle Sackville NS, Orangeville ON, Waterloo ON, and Winnipeg.

Prize
Each recognized teacher receives a box of assorted school supplies valued at $1,500 for use in their classroom, including a Kodak Easy share camera, a Sony ZS-S4iPB Boom box with iPOD cradle, an ergonomic chair donated by Safco Products, and a Dymo Label Printer 450.

Judging Process
The Selection Committee includes select staff from OfficeMax Grand & Toy. Entries are graded based on a variety of attributes including the teacher's passion and commitment to sustainability, and their innovation and inspiration in the classroom.

About OfficeMax Grand & Toy
OfficeMax Grand & Toy is a leading provider of workplace products and solutions serving business to business and retail customers in Canada for over 130 years. From the latest technology, interiors and furniture, everyday office supplies and facility resources to a wide range of print and document services, we provide workplace innovation that enables our customers to work better.

A part of OfficeMax family since 1996, the company has the expertise and consolidated product and supply chain leadership to provide customers big and small with a range of superior products and services across North America. OfficeMax customers are served by approximately 29,000 associates and more than 900 retail stores globally. OfficeMax has been named one of the 2013 World's Most Ethical Companies, and is the only company in the office supply industry to receive Ethics Inside® Certification by the Ethisphere Institute.

1 According to survey results released by the Canadian Teachers' Federation.

SOURCE OfficeMax Grand

For further information:

Media Contact:
Sabena Singh
Environics Communications
ssingh@environicspr.com
416.969.2735


Source: Newswire

JARDINE: Oakdale teen outduels defending champion dad in world fast draw

<championp>- In the late 1960s, Walter Brennan starred in the title role of the TV Western "The Guns of Will Sonnett."

The story line had Sonnett and his grandson searching far and wide for his gunfighter son, who had abandoned the family years earlier. Of course, Brennan's character had a trademark line used throughout the series.

He would utter that his son is good with a gun and his grandson is better. "And I'm better than both of 'em," he'd conclude. "No brag, just fact."

Jon Rivera wishes he could say the same. The retired Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy won last year's World Fast Draw competition in Durango, Colo. I wrote about him in August 2012, after Rivera won that first world title. He's won four of six tournaments since then, piling up points toward the 2013 world all-around championship. That's plenty to brag about.

But in Red River, N.M., last weekend, when it came time to defend the World Fast Draw title he won a year ago, Rivera encountered an unlikely and unbeatable foe: his 16-year-old son, Jonathan. Just fact.

Unlikely? Jonathan, an Oakdale High sophomore who this afternoon will take his driver's license exam, had shown only a passing interest in fast draw shooting until only two weeks before the Red River event. He picked up the six guns while his dad was training for the championships, and something just clicked.

"He pulled off a bunch of great shots," dad said. But that was one hot streak on one day, so his dad dangled the competitive carrot.

"I told him if he was fast again on the second day in a row, and again the third day, I'd take him with me to New Mexico," Rivera said.

Indeed, Jonathan displayed incredible new-found speed those second and third days, so dad scrambled to book an additional airplane ticket, and off they went.

In fast draw competitions, shooters meet in best-of-five-shot duels. They stand side by side to fire blanks or, in some events, wax bullets. Events also vary by distances from the target. Lose a match, get an X. Three X's and you're out.

The Riveras both competed in the 8-foot blank elimination world championship, the showcase event of the meet.

"This was the big one," Jon River said. "The first day, we managed to avoid (competing against) each other."

Instead, Jon suffered his first X at the trigger of Canada's Nick "The Quick" Ione. By the afternoon of the second day, the field dwindled to three shooters: Jon and Jonathan, with one X apiece, and Nick The Quick with two.

Father and son finally faced off, with dad winning the first two shots and Jonathan the third and fourth.

"I was really nervous," Jonathan said.

The fifth shot would decide the match – or not. The Riveras drew exactly at the same time – each timed in 0.263 seconds – creating a rare tie that merited one more try.

"The next shot, Jonathan got me and gave me my second X," Rivera said.

"It felt great," his son said.

Jon Rivera next faced Nick The Quick.

"He knocked me out in three shots," Rivera said.

That left the grand finale for the world title: Kid Jonathan vs. Nick The Quick.

Nick won the first match, giving Jonathan his second X. In the championship go-round, Jonathan won the first shot. Nick the Quick took the next two. Then Jonathan took shots four and five for the championship.

But the match against his dad is the one he'll remember most. "No one picked me, going up against my old man ranked No. 1," Jonathan said.

Dad maintained his overall No. 1 association ranking by finishing third. His son, meanwhile, tasted victory and caught the competitive bug in a major way.

"I just got my (all-around) title Sunday, and he's ready to take it from me on Monday," dad Jon said.

Hence, there's a new kid in town. The guns of Jon Rivera were humbled, yet he is a proud papa.

Jonathan won the world championship. Dad took home the all-around title for 2013.

No brag, just fact.

Visit www.fastdraw.org for more information. Bee columnist Jeff Jardine can be reached at jjardine@modbee.com or (209) 578-2383. Follow him on Twitter @JeffJardine57.


Source: Modbee

Cartoonist Ricardo Siri Liniers latest launch: 'The Big Wet Balloon' - VOXXI

<903p>Ricardo Siri Liniers is a well-known and truly beloved Argentine cartoonist noted in Latin America for his successful comic strip Macanudo, published in the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación.

Liniers has over 3600 published comic strips, 25 published books in Spanish and more than 10 books published in Brasil, Canada, France, Spain and Italy, among other countries. In addition, his work appears in magazines like Rolling Stone, Spirou, Virginia Quarterly Review and Playboy. Not only that but he collaborated painting pieces live, on-stage at concerts with Grammy-nominated musician Kevin Johansen in a tour through Latin America and Europe.

His work has earned him comparisons to cartoonist legends Charles Schultz (Peanuts) and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes).

Siri Liniers recently released " The Big Wet Balloon," his first English-language children's book, which he wrote and illustrated. The book is published by Toon Books and will be available in both English and Spanish editions.

The U.S. book tour was a huge success, with appearances at the Brooklyn Book Festival in addition to bilingual book readings in public schools in Washington and New York City coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Month.

"The Big Wet Balloon" tells the story of sisters Clemmie and Matilda- inspired by Siri Liniers' daughters- who learn to enjoy the secret delights of a rainy afternoon. VOXXI had the pleasure of sharing a few moments with this cartoonist to talk about his book.

Q&A with cartoonist Ricardo Siri Liniers

VOXXI: How is t"The Big Wet Balloon" different from your previous books and works?

Ricardo Siri Liniers: "The Big Wet Balloon," the book I have just presented in the USA, is very special to me. Not only because the Toon Books Publishing House is managed by one of my great heroes in the publishing world, Françoise Mouly, with whom I worked closely in this book, but because the protagonists of this one are my two daughters, Matilda and Clementine. One day I saw them play in a summer rain and discovered almost immediately that there was a book there, just waiting to be written.

VOXXI: Does the U.S. public understand your humor the same way Latin Americans do or did you have to reinterpret? There is nothing more difficult than telling a joke in another language to another culture. Is this true for you?

Siri Liniers: I don't know how well they will understand my humor, but I trust that it should work. Although I am a Latin American author with influences from other Latin American authors, there are also many American influences in my past. I grew up watching Woody Allen movies, listening to Bob Dylan, reading Kurt Vonnegut and admiring Bill Watterson, Art Spiegelman, Gary Larson... I think that also has influenced me as a draftsman.

VOXXI: What do you expect from this latest release?

Siri Liniers: The same thing as when you put one foot in a swimming pool- to test the water!

VOXXI: What new projects do you have in the immediate future?

Siri Liniers: For the immediate future, I plan to have the happiness of welcoming my third daughter, Emma, in October... Surely she will somehow be the protagonist of some of my future pages.

For more information on cartoonist Ricardo Siri Liniers visit his Toon Books page. "The Big Wet Balloon" is available in hardcover for $12.95 (ISBN: 978-1-935179-32-0).


Source: Voxxi