the commercial dispatch eedition 9-24-13

16
WEATHER 134RD YEAR, NO. 167 Rayne Phillips Sixth grade, Annunciation High 83 Low 64 Chance t-storm Full forecast on page 2A. FIVE QUESTIONS 1 When a CB radio user asks “What’s your 20?” what should you tell him? 2 What former frontman of the Jam played lead guitar on Oasis’s “Cham- pagne Supernova”? 3 Michael Jordan is now a part owner of what NBA team? 4 C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters are written to what junior devil, Screw- tape’s nephew? 5 What’s pictured in the painting that hangs above The Simpsons’ couch? Answers, 8B INSIDE Classifieds 7B Comics 6B Obituaries 5A Opinions 4A LOCAL FOLKS Shasta Dodd works at Waters Truck and Tractor in Columbus. CALENDAR Today Lincoln symposium: Events on the Mississippi State campus include 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. free talks at Mitchell Memorial Library on Abraham Lincoln’s leadership and the 13th Amend- ment, and a 7:30 p.m. discus- sion at McCool Hall by historian Frank Williams about Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln.” Saturday, Sept. 28 Marker unveiling: As part of Mississippi’s recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the public is invited to a Mississippi Historical Marker unveiling at 10 a.m. at the cor- ner of Highway 12 and Louisville Street (in front of Walgreen’s) in Starkville, noting Union Gen. Benjamin Grierson’s raid that came through Starkville in 1863. Period music and reenactors will be on hand afterward at the Greensboro Center. Sunday, Sept. 29 Book signing: Columbus author Michael Farris Smith will read from his novel “Rivers” and sign books at the Tennes- see Williams Welcome Center, 300 Main St., from 2-4 p.m. Refreshments will be served at this event presented by the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation. DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 50 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY T UESDAY | SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 Downtown bus stops removed Lawrence Transit won’t make pickups in historic district BY NATHAN GREGORY [email protected] City officials have confirmed that the planned bus stops at the corners of Fifth and Main streets have been deleted from Lawrence Transit’s route. Other areas close to the intersection but not in the city’s historic district are be - ing considered as alternatives by LTS director of Columbus operations Dorothy Dowdell, including a parking lot at Sec - ond Street and Main Street and at the Hitching Lot Farm- er’s Market, city building offi- cial Kenny Weigel said. Signs posted at Fifth and Main Streets reading “Need a ride?” with the company’s logo were removed last week. The adjustments come af - ter a Sept. 5 Columbus Histor - ic Preservation Commission meeting that drew downtown business owners asking for the stops to be removed or relocated due to the already congested intersection. The commission moved to table a request to approve stops and shelters there, finding that the exterior appearance of the proposed shelters did not con- form to the historic integrity of the district. Main Street Columbus director Barbara Bigelow said she met last week with Dowdell and discussed al - ternative stops that would be convenient to downtown rid- 私たちはここにいる Officials celebrate start of Yokohama construction BY NATHAN GREGORY [email protected] WEST POINT — “Some people say Mississippi’s a club,” Joe Max Higgins said Monday. “Mississippi is a family, and we’ve got new family members in the house today, folks.” Higgins, the Golden Triangle Development Link CEO, was referring to Yokohama Tire Manufactur- ing Mississippi. Company, state and local officials broke ground on what will be one of the largest tire plants in the country during a ceremony at the Prairie Belt Powersite in Clay County. In about two years, the facility will open its doors for 500 workers. Micah Green/Dispatch Staff President of Yokohama Tire Company Hikomitsu Noji shakes hands with Audriana Taylor, a fourth grader at Southside Elementary in West Point, after she presented him with a magnolia tree to be planted. TOP OF PAGE: President of Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mis- sissippi Tadahuru Yamamoto, Gov. Phil Bryant, President of Yokohama Tire Company Hikomitsu Noji, Consul General of Japan in Nash- ville Motohiko Kato, Link CEO Joe Max Higgins and Sen. Roger Wicker break ground on the new Yokohama plant in Clay County Monday. INSIDE OUR VIEW: A nice day for an outdoor wed- ding. Page 4A Residents giddy with enthusiasm over arrival of new industry BY SARAH FOWLER [email protected] The excitement in the air at Yo- kohama Tire Manufacturing Missis- sippi’s ground-breaking ceremony in Clay County was almost palpable Monday morning as executives, lawmakers and Clay County residents gathered on the hundreds of acres of farm land that will soon house a boom- ing tire manufacturer. Governor Phil Bryant said West Point would one day be a “shining city on the hill.” Yokohama president Hikomitsu Noji compared the merging of the Japanese industry and the Mis- sissippi work force to a marriage with a happy honeymoon in the near future and a “baby” — the facility — born 45 months later. See YOKOHAMA, 6A Dowdell See BUSES, 6A See REACTIONS, 8A Cox (“We’re here”)

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Page 1: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

Weather

134rd Year, No. 167

Rayne PhillipsSixth grade, Annunciation

High 83 Low 64Chance t-stormFull forecast on

page 2A.

Five Questions1 When a CB radio user asks “What’s your 20?” what should you tell him?2 What former frontman of the Jam played lead guitar on Oasis’s “Cham-pagne Supernova”?3 Michael Jordan is now a part owner of what NBA team?4 C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters are written to what junior devil, Screw-tape’s nephew?5 What’s pictured in the painting that hangs above The Simpsons’ couch?

Answers, 8B

insideClassifieds 7BComics 6B

Obituaries 5AOpinions 4A

LocaL FoLks

Shasta Dodd works at Waters Truck and Tractor in Columbus.

caLendar

Today■ Lincoln symposium: Events on the Mississippi State campus include 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. free talks at Mitchell Memorial Library on Abraham Lincoln’s leadership and the 13th Amend-ment, and a 7:30 p.m. discus-sion at McCool Hall by historian Frank Williams about Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln.”

Saturday, Sept. 28■ Marker unveiling: As part of Mississippi’s recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the public is invited to a Mississippi Historical Marker unveiling at 10 a.m. at the cor-

ner of Highway 12 and Louisville Street (in front of Walgreen’s) in Starkville, noting Union Gen. Benjamin Grierson’s raid that came through Starkville in 1863. Period music and reenactors will be on hand afterward at the Greensboro Center.

Sunday, Sept. 29■ Book signing: Columbus author Michael Farris Smith will read from his novel “Rivers” and sign books at the Tennes-see Williams Welcome Center, 300 Main St., from 2-4 p.m. Refreshments will be served at this event presented by the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation.

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

established 1879 | Columbus, mississippi

CdispatCh.Com 50 ¢ NewsstaNd | 40 ¢ home deliverY

tuesdaY | september 24, 2013

Downtown bus stops removedLawrence transit won’t make pickups in historic districtBY NATHAN [email protected]

City officials have confirmed that the planned bus stops at the corners of Fifth and Main streets have been deleted from Lawrence Transit’s route.

Other areas close to the intersection but not in the city’s historic district are be-ing considered as alternatives by LTS director of Columbus operations Dorothy Dowdell, including a parking lot at Sec-ond Street and Main Street and at the Hitching Lot Farm-er’s Market, city building offi-cial Kenny Weigel said.

Signs posted at Fifth and Main Streets reading “Need a ride?” with the company’s logo were removed last week.

The adjustments come af-ter a Sept. 5 Columbus Histor-ic Preservation Commission meeting that drew downtown business owners asking for the stops to be removed or relocated due to the already congested intersection. The commission moved to table a request to approve stops and shelters there, finding that the exterior appearance of the proposed shelters did not con-form to the historic integrity of the district.

Main Street Columbus director Barbara Bigelow said she met last week with Dowdell and discussed al-ternative stops that would be convenient to downtown rid-

私たちはここにいる

Officials celebrate start of Yokohama constructionBY NATHAN [email protected]

WEST POINT — “Some people say Mississippi’s a club,” Joe Max Higgins said Monday. “Mississippi is a family, and we’ve got new family members in the house today, folks.”

Higgins, the Golden Triangle Development Link CEO, was referring to Yokohama Tire Manufactur-ing Mississippi. Company, state and local officials broke ground on what will be one of the largest tire plants in the country during a ceremony at the Prairie Belt Powersite in Clay County. In about two years, the facility will open its doors for 500 workers.

Micah Green/Dispatch StaffPresident of Yokohama Tire Company Hikomitsu Noji shakes hands with Audriana Taylor, a fourth grader at Southside Elementary in West Point, after she presented him with a magnolia tree to be planted. TOP OF PAGE: President of Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mis-sissippi Tadahuru Yamamoto, Gov. Phil Bryant, President of Yokohama Tire Company Hikomitsu Noji, Consul General of Japan in Nash-ville Motohiko Kato, Link CEO Joe Max Higgins and Sen. Roger Wicker break ground on the new Yokohama plant in Clay County Monday.

InSIDe■ OUR VIEW: A nice day for an outdoor wed-ding. Page 4A

Residents giddy with enthusiasm over arrival of new industryBY sARAH [email protected]

The excitement in the air at Yo-kohama Tire Manufacturing Missis-sippi’s ground-breaking ceremony in Clay County was almost palpable Monday morning as executives, lawmakers and Clay County residents gathered on the hundreds of acres of farm land that will soon house a boom-ing tire manufacturer.

Governor Phil Bryant said West

Point would one day be a “shining city on the hill.” Yokohama president Hikomitsu Noji compared the merging of the Japanese industry and the Mis-sissippi work force to a marriage with a happy honeymoon in the near future and a “baby” — the facility — born 45 months later.

See yokohama, 6A

Dowdell

See buses, 6ASee reactions, 8A

Cox

(“We’re here”)

Page 2: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2A Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013

DiD you hear?

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Five-Day forecast for the Golden Triangle

Almanac Data National Weather

Lake Levels

River Stages

Sun and MoonSolunar table

Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, i-ice, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow

Yesterday 7 a.m. 24-hr.Lake Capacity yest. change

The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times.

Temperature

Precipitation

Tombigbee

Yesterday Flood 7 a.m. 24-hr.River stage yest. change

Columbus Monday

High/low ..................................... 86°/56°Normal high/low ......................... 85°/60°Record high ............................ 96° (1980)Record low .............................. 44° (1974)

Monday ........................................... 0.00"Month to date ................................. 3.67"Normal month to date ...................... 2.73"Year to date .................................. 49.08"Normal year to date ....................... 40.60"

Wednesday Thursday

Atlanta 73 63 t 78 62 pcBoston 65 54 s 65 55 sChicago 71 56 s 74 56 sDallas 92 67 s 93 70 sHonolulu 89 72 pc 88 73 pcJacksonville 80 71 t 84 69 pcMemphis 84 66 pc 85 69 pc

84°

64°

Wednesday

A morning shower in places

83°

64°

Thursday

Partly sunny and seasonable

84°

61°

Friday

Mostly sunny

84°

59°

Saturday

Mostly sunny, nice and warm

Aberdeen Dam 188' 163.37' -0.84'Stennis Dam 166' 137.01' -0.84'Bevill Dam 136' 136.49' +0.17'

Amory 20' 11.39' -0.46'Bigbee 14' 5.18' -0.70'Columbus 15' 5.69' +0.24'Fulton 20' 9.86' -1.60'Tupelo 21' 2.70' -0.30'

Full

Oct. 18

First

Oct. 11

New

Oct. 4

Last

Sep. 26

Sunrise ..... 6:43 a.m.Sunset ...... 6:48 p.m.Moonrise . 10:19 p.m.Moonset .. 11:43 a.m.

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2013

Major ..... 5:19 a.m.Minor ... 11:32 a.m.Major ..... 5:44 p.m.Minor ... 11:56 p.m.

Major ..... 6:10 a.m.Minor ... 12:22 p.m.Major ..... 6:34 p.m.Minor ................. ----

WednesdayTuesday

Wednesday Thursday

Nashville 77 60 sh 82 62 pcOrlando 81 73 r 89 74 pcPhiladelphia 75 56 s 75 56 sPhoenix 97 75 s 92 69 sRaleigh 78 59 pc 79 56 pcSalt Lake City 64 44 c 58 42 shSeattle 61 45 pc 64 47 pc

Tonight

Partly cloudy, showers around

67°

TuesdaySay What?“What we’re trying to get is the balance between awareness and alarmist.” Dr. Jeanne Conry, president of the American College of Ob-stetricians and Gynecologists, speaking about the dangers

of environmental chemicals to pregnant women. Story, 5A.

U.S. honors Ray Charles with limited-edition stampThe AssociATed Press

ATLANTA — The U.S. Postal Service is planning to add soul singer Ray Charles to its “Music Icons Forever” stamp series.

Postal officials say the agency is releasing a stamp featuring the Albany, Ga., native on Monday along with one of the artist’s pre-viously unreleased songs.

Charles was a sing-er and songwriter who pioneered the soul and rhythm-and-blues genres. He died in 2004.

Events are being planned in Atlanta and Los Angeles to celebrate Charles’ inclusion in the series.

R&B singer Ashanti and the Morehouse College Glee Club are scheduled to perform at the Atlanta school’s Ray Charles Per-forming Arts Center. And Chaka Khan is headlining an event at the Grammy Museum.

The U.S. Postal Service honors music legends each year by featuring them on limited-edition stamps.

AP Photo/The U.S. Postal ServiceIn this undated photo provided by the The U.S. Postal Service, a new Postal Service stamp honoring musician Ray Charles is shown. The stamp is part of the Music Icons series of stamps.

AP Photo/Alan DiazIn this Friday, Sept. 20, 2013, file photo, a sales person pulls out an iPhone 5s for a customer during the open-ing day of sales of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5C, in Hialeah, Fla.

By MichAeL LiedTKeAP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO — Gadget lovers still can’t resist the iPhone’s seductive call, even amid a bevy of enticing lower-priced alternatives that offer similar features.

In a Monday announcement, Ap-ple Inc. said it sold 9 million units of its top-of-the-line iPhone 5S and less-expensive iPhone 5C during their first three days on sale. That trounced the performance of last

year’s model, the iPhone 5, which sold 5 million units in its opening weekend.

The initial sales figures for Ap-ple’s latest iPhone models provided the latest testament to the prod-uct’s enduring appeal more than six years after the debut of the first iPhone triggered a mobile comput-ing revolution.

The iPhone 5S and 5C’s quick start also surpassed analyst fore-casts that predicted Apple would sell somewhere from 6 million to

8 million models during the first weekend.

“The demand for the new iP-hones has been incredible,” Apple CEO Tim Cook crowed in a state-ment. As part of the company’s ef-fort to drum up interest in its most profitable product, Cook made an early-morning appearance at an Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif. on Friday when the new iPhones first went on sale.

Monday’s positive news helped generate more interest in Apple’s stock. The shares gained $23.23, or 5 percent, to close at $490.64.

Apple’s sales of new iPhones off to fast startCompany sold 9 million units in first three days

By roB GiLLiesThe Associated Press

TORONTO — Black-Berry’s largest share-holder has reached a ten-tative agreement to pay $4.7 billion for the trou-bled smartphone maker, even as many investors fret about its potential de-mise.

BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday that Fairfax Fi-nancial Holdings Ltd. has signed a letter of intent that “contemplates” buy-ing the company for $9 per share in cash in a deal that would take the com-

pany private. The tenta-tive deal comes just days after the Canadian com-

pany announced plans to lay off 40 percent of its global workforce. The

offer price is below what BlackBerry was trading at before the layoff an-nouncement.

Analysts say that al-though BlackBerry’s hardware business is not worth anything, the com-pany still owns valuable patents. Patents on wire-less technologies have exploded in value in re-cent years, as makers of the iPhone and various Android devices sue each other. Having a strong portfolio of patents allows phone makers to defend themselves and work out deals.

Fairfax reaches tentative deal to buy BlackBerry

AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, FileIn this Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, file photo, Black-Berry’s employees prepare the launch event for the company’s new smartphones in London.

The AssociATed Press

QINGDAO, China — China’s richest man plans

to spend $8.2 billion to build the country’s ver-sion of Hollywood in the northeastern city of Qin-gdao.

In a glitzy, star-stud-ded red carpet event Sun-day, Wang Jianlin said his company, Dalian Wanda Group, will build a state-of-the-art film studio com-plex in a bid to dominate China’s rapidly growing movie market.

The Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis’s 20 studios will include a per-manent underwater studio and a 10,000 square-me-ter (108,000 square-feet) stage that Wang said would be the world’s big-gest. The facility will also include an Imax research and development center, cinemas and China’s big-gest film and celebrity wax museums. The first phase is planned to open in June 2016 and it will be fully op-erational by June 2017.

A yacht marina, eight hotels and a theme park will be built to attract tour-ists.

The company has signed a preliminary deal with “a number of global film and television giants and talent agencies” to shoot about 30 foreign

films a year. It did not name the companies.

Wang also hopes to at-tract more than 50 Chinese production companies to make at least 100 domes-tic films and TV shows a year at the studios, where sets will simulate locations from Europe, the Middle East and China’s Ming and Qing dynasties.

Dalian Wanda, which operates cinemas, hotels and department stores in China, last year bought the U.S. cinema chain AMC for $2.6 billion and snapped up British yacht maker Sunseeker in June this year.

The tycoon’s red carpet event in Qingdao under-lined his outsized ambi-tions for China’s entertain-ment industry. Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Travolta and Leon-ardo DiCaprio rubbed el-bows with Chinese stars including Zhang Ziyi, Jet Li and Tony Leung at the event in Qingdao, best known for Tsingtao Brew-ery founded when Ger-many colonized the city a century ago.

Wang’s success in at-tracting the A-list actors to his launch, held the same day as the Emmy televi-sion awards show in Los Angeles, also highlights how the center of gravity in the global film industry is shifting to the East.

In an interview, Wang boasted of his plans to expand in China’s movie market, which overtook Japan to become the world’s second biggest after ticket sales rose 36 percent last year to $2.7 billion.

“There’s no single com-pany in the whole world that has a big-scale pro-duction base, and at the same time has screening and distribution channels. Wanda Group is the first one in the world,” said Wang, Wanda’s founder and chairman.

China’s richest man plans $8 billion Chinese HollywoodPredicts China’s film market would be world’s biggest in five years

AP PhotoWanda Chairman Wang Jianlin speaks during a press conference after a launching ceremony of Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis in Qingdao in east China’s Shandong province, Sunday.

Page 3: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

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By EMILy WAGSTER PETTUSThe Associated Press

JACKSON — Now that budget hearings are over, Mississippi lawmak-ers face a long process of deciding how to spend tax dollars for fiscal 2015, which begins July 1.

The 14 members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee held four days of public hearings last week and quizzed agency leaders about how money is already being spent on programs large and small.

“I think that’s the job we’ve now got — to eval-uate how they’re spending their money, what did they get, what did they spend it on last year, what do they plan to spend it on next

year, why is there an in-crease, what do they want that money for,” House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said after the hearings ended. “Those are the kinds of questions that we now have to eval-uate and make judgment calls on.”

In December, the com-mittee will release a budget blueprint, and Republican Gov. Phil Bryant will re-lease his own separate set of spending recommenda-tions. All 122 House mem-bers and 52 senators will vote on a final budget by late March or early April, if they stay on schedule.

Mississippi’s current budget is about $5.8 billion. State economist Darrin Webb predicts Mississippi will continue to see mod-

est growth, and lawmakers say the 2015 budget will be slightly larger.

Agency requestsA few agencies are

seeking budget decreas-es, but most requested an increase of about 5 percent to 25 percent. The Depart-ment of Revenue request-ed a 66 percent increase, with Commissioner Ed Morgan saying the depart-ment needs to hire more employees. He said the department had answered only 26 percent of custom-er calls in the past year.

“It’s unacceptable,” Morgan said. “It’s an em-barrassment to us.”

The Department of Public Safety requested a 45 percent increase, and lawmakers grilled DPS executives about pay rais-es and vehicles. Several lawmakers said DPS has not fulfilled promises to replace outdated vehicles

that state t r o o p e r s are driving. C o m m i s -sioner Al-bert Santa Cruz said the agency bought 15 vehicles for one of its divisions, the Mississippi Bureau of In-vestigation.

Budget writers also questioned the Forest-ry Commission about multi-year financing to buy radios for a statewide emergency communica-tions system, and asked the director of the state Wireless Communication Commission whether lo-cal governments or other users should pay fees to be on the system.

The Department of Education sought full funding of the Mississip-pi Adequate Education Program, as required by law. Although lawmakers

were generally cordial about the request, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville, said other parts of government would be shortchanged if legisla-tors pump an additional $264.5 million into MAEP, as requested. The formula is designed to ensure that schools receive enough money to meet midlevel academic standards. It was put into law in 1997 and phased in over several years, but has been fully funded only two years.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican who heads the Budget Committee, said “the vast majority” of agency directors present-ed wish lists that were “somewhat reasonable and somewhat rational in size.”

“Now, there were ex-ceptions, and I think you all know who they were,” Reeves said. “But the vast majority of state agency directors came in here and

asked for things that they felt like they needed, but it wasn’t the kind of unreal-istic expectations of years past.

“Last year, just last year, total increases requested, that came before the com-mittee, were in excess of $1.1 billion. This year, it was less than $750 mil-lion,” Reeves said. “Now, is $750 million a lot of money? Well, where I grew up in Florence, yeah, it’s a whole lot of money. But there a huge difference between 1.1 billion and 750 million.”

Miss. lawmakers face long budget writing process

The following arrests were reported by the Lowndes County Sher-iff’s Department and the Columbus Police Depart-ment:

n Terry Lee Bradford, 50, of 915 16th St. N., was arrested at his residence by CPD Sept. 20 and charged with domestic vio-lence/aggravated assault. He was released the same day on a $1,500 bond. His court date is scheduled for Dec. 5.

n Timothy Dewayne

Standifer, 32, of 470 S. Frontage Road, was arrest-ed at 1014 Fifth Ave. N., by CPD Sept. 19 and charged with possession of marijua-na-more than one ounce and contempt of court. His court date is scheduled for Oct. 16.

StandiferBradford

AREA ARRESTS

House and senate members will vote on a final budget by late March or early April, if they stay on schedule

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By ANDREW TAyLORThe Associated Press

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are far less ambitious this week in their demands for spend-ing cuts to erase new debt issued to pay the govern-ment’s bills than they were during a budget battle two years ago.

The list of cuts under consideration now tallies up to a fraction of the almost $1 trillion in additional borrow-ing that would be permitted under a GOP proposal for enabling the government to pay its bills through Decem-ber of next year.

Two years ago, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, insisted on spend-ing cuts totaling $2.1 trillion over a decade as the price to meet President Barack Obama’s demand for a like-sized increase in the government’s borrowing cap, also known as the debt ceiling.

Those cuts involved tighter “caps” on agency operating budgets as well as the automatic, across-the-board cuts known as se-questration triggered by the failure of a deficit “super-committee” to reach a deal.

The problem now is that there isn’t a roster of big, politically palatable cuts ready to go. Instead, Repub-

licans have put together a grab bag of smaller savings ideas, like higher pension contributions for federal workers, higher premiums for upper-income Medicare beneficiaries, caps on medi-cal malpractice verdicts and reduced payments to hos-pitals that treat more poor people than average.

A leading set of propos-als comes from a House GOP leadership office and was circulating on Wash-ington’s K Street lobbying corridor on Monday. It in-cludes a plan to increase pension contributions of federal civilian workers by up to 5 percentage points and lowering the federal match accordingly, which could help defray the defi-cit by up to $84 billion over a decade. Another, to block immigrants in the country illegally from claiming the

child tax credit would save just $7 billion over the same period. Eliminating the So-cial Services Block Grant, a flexible funding stream for states to help with day care, Meals on Wheels, and drug treatment facilities, would save less than $2 billion a year.

Taken together, these proposals and others could cut spending by perhaps $200 billion over the com-ing decade. While GOP aides say details aren’t set, House leaders are looking

at an increase in the cur-rent $16.7 trillion debt ceil-ing sufficient to cover the government’s bills until the beginning of 2015. Accord-ing to calculations by the Bi-partisan Policy Center think tank in Washington, that would require raising the borrowing cap by almost $1 trillion.

Boehner insists that any increase in the borrowing cap be matched by budget cuts and other reforms to produce savings of an equal amount, though not on a dollar-for-dollar basis over 10 years like in 2011. It’s a somewhat nebulous stan-dard because of the difficul-ty in quantifying how much any given “reform” is worth.

Obama says he won’t ne-gotiate concessions as the price for authority to contin-ue borrowing to cover bills already incurred and prom-ises already made and has demanded a “clean” debt limit increase with no condi-tions attached.

GOP offers smaller budget cuts on debt measure

AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteHouse Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., smiles as he leaves the floor of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington, Friday.

Other proposals listed in the GOP leadership’s list of options:

n Eliminating the authority of the government to charge a bailout fee to big banks under the Dodd-Frank financial over-sight law. The fee could only be charged it there’s a major bank failure. The document claims $23 billion in savings.n Increase Medicare “means testing” to permit higher pre-miums for Medicare beneficiaries, raising $56 billion.n Cap “pain and suffering” damages in medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 and cap punitive damages at the greater of $250,000 or twice the economic damages in such suits.n Reduce a gimmick in which states levy taxes on health care providers as a way to game the Medicaid system and receive higher federal payments at a savings of $11 billion.

Page 4: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

4A Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013

OpinionBIRNEY IMES SR. Editor/Publisher 1922-1947BIRNEY IMES JR. Editor/Publisher 1947-2003BIRNEY IMES III Editor/Publisher

PETER IMES General ManagerSLIM SMITH Managing EditorBETH PROFFITT Advertising DirectorMICHAEL FLOYD Circulation/Production ManagerDispatch

the

Letters to editor

our View

Monday was a perfect day for an outdoor wedding.

That was the day Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Missis-sippi broke ground on the first phase of its $300-million facility in Clay County.

The event featured many of the trappings you typically expect at ground-breaking ceremonies. There were the customary silver shovels and speeches filled with analogies.

Of all the analogies, we found the one offered by Yokohama Tire Company President Hikomitso Noji, most appropriate. Noji likened the day’s festivities to a wedding and the idea that Monday’s ground-breaking is symbolic of a committed relationship built on mutual trust is especially appealing.

It is particularly meaningful that Noji chose the wedding analogy since, unlike the U.S. where half of the marriages end in divorce, marriages are taken very seriously in Japan. In Japan, there is a permanence associated with marriage that is often lacking in the U.S.

From Yokohama’s per-spective, the relationship between the company and the community will be built to last, something Link CEO Joe Max Higgins stressed early on in his negotiations with Yokohama. Higgins told them that four generations of Clay County residents had worked at Sara Lee Corporation before it closed in 2007 and promised that four generations would work at Yokohama should the

company decided to locate there.

At the risk of extending the wedding analogy too far, we suggest that while those who played a role in bringing Yokohama to Clay County were numerous, Higgins stands apart for his efforts. It was only natural, then, that Higgins would perform the ceremony Monday, a duty he performed flawlessly.

And what is a marriage without vows?

That duty was left to Yo-kohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi President Tadahu-ru Yamamoto.

“We promise to be good stewards of the resources you have extended us.” Yamamota said. “We promise to contrib-ute to the quality of life of your citizens through jobs and job satisfaction. We promise to be

continually involved in your community now and in the long term.”

Perhaps as a symbol of com-mitment, Yokohama officials announced that they will plant trees in the area surrounding the new facility as part of the company’s Forever Forest project, a world-wide commit-ment to plant 500,000 trees at Yokohama facilities by 2017. West Point mayor Robbie Rob-

inson announced that citizens of the community will donate and plant 1,000 saplings for that cause.

As weddings go, it was a pretty impressive affair, although there was one distinct difference between Monday’s event and your typical wed-ding: Nobody cried at this wedding.

Monday was a day for smiles.

Huckabee endorsementRecently, the Starkville Dispatch took excep-

tion to my announcement that former Arkansas Governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee had endorsed my campaign for Oktib-beha County Prosecutor.

I respectfully disagree with The Dispatch’s assessment.

When a person seeks employment, he typi-cally provides references from one or more of his former employers.

Gov. Huckabee gave me my first job out of college, back in 1998. Since that time, I have remained close to his family. In 2003, when I applied to law school, Janet Huckabee submitted a letter of reference. In 2007, when I wrote my book, the Governor drafted the foreword. Now, the Governor is personally endorsing me for this very important position.

Given my professional history with Gov. Huckabee, it is altogether fitting and proper that he should describe my character attributes to my prospective employers, namely, the voters of Oktibbeha County. This is exactly what Gov. Huckabee has done, and I thank him for it.

Matthew WilsonStarkville

Believes government is out of controlThere is a movement underway to take back

control of our government. The project was founded for the purpose of stopping the runaway power of the federal government. We believe Washington D.C. is broken and will not fix itself. The federal government is spending this country into the ground, seizing power from the states and taking liberty from the people.

Under the power of Article V of the Constitu-tion, the Convention of States seeks to urge and empower state legislators to call a convention to propose amendments to curb the abuses of the federal government.

Please go to the site on the Internet www.conventionofstates.com and sign up to be a member. Only through the support of the American people will this project have a chance to succeed.

Harriet VaughnColumbus

Mississippi Voices

As we approach what will probably be the definitive debate on the future of the Affordable Care Act, a word or two of expla-nation is in order. This column will contain a number of questions, but very few concrete answers to those ques-tions.

The subject today involves arguably the most significant piece of social legislation in our life-time – The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as it has become known.

With the passage of a bud-get, or alternately a government shutdown, and the raising of the ceiling on the national debt, or by contrast the default on the nation’s debt obligations hanging in the balance, the debate and vote on funding, or effectively repealing, Obamacare stands as the fulcrum upon which these Armaged-don-like actions hinge.

All have heard the crescendo of critics decrying each rate in-crease announced by an insurance company. While critics attribute these increases completely to Obamacare, some questions need to be asked. To what should we attribute the more rapid rate increases and constant reduction of benefits in the years prior to the 2009 passage of Obamacare? These rate increases began their rapid ascent immediately after the failure of “Hillary Care” during the Clinton administration. Had the insurance and other health care providers kept their increas-es in check during that time, would there have been such a pressing need for the Congres-sional action that culminated in Obamacare?

I received a copy of a letter two weeks ago from a woman who, while moving and temporarily between jobs, became ill with extremely high blood pressure. Upon going to work, and after incurring significant expense in

bringing her blood pressure under control in the early days of her new job, she was in-formed that there was a 365-day exclusionary period in the coverage of this pre-existing condition. What is the answer for this hard working employee and others like her?

A family friend who was required to undergo a radical

mastectomy suffers from the residual effects of severe lymph-edema. Fortunately, this employed person has health coverage and has had insurance for some 30 years. Unfortunately, the company raised her monthly premium from around $500 a month to $1,300 per month. What is the answer for this employee who has worked for three decades?

Then there are the uncer-tain numbers of the uninsured and marginally insured. Those numbers range from 500,000 to 600,000 in Mississippi to 50 million nationally. What are the prospects for those among these individuals who must deal with brain tumors, leukemia, chronic heart disease, and severe or debil-itating injury? When the fates of these individuals are raised in the form of a question, the answers become vague and run the gamut ranging from “let them go to the emergency room” to “we can pray for them.”

Several months ago, the vow from one political camp and indeed from Republican Presiden-tial Candidate Mitt Romney was one to “repeal and replace.” It was a clear call to scrap what Con-gress had passed in the form of Obamacare and to put something more effective at addressing the significant shortcomings in Amer-ican health care in its place. Now many Americans, both Democrat and Republican, would probably take this deal once all of the key elements of the new plan were known. Is there indeed a plan to

replace Obamacare and what are the key components of that plan?

We then arrive at the most sensitive subject of all in our efforts to address the health care needs of our brothers and sisters. In the midst of all of the rancorous conversations between liberals and conservatives has been the discussion of the appropriate role of religion in the nation as a whole and in a variety of policy debates ranging from reproductive rights to health care. Washington Mall rallies have been held to proclaim America as a Christian nation.

With the words of Jesus Christ to his followers that “If you have done unto the least of these you have done it unto me” or his directive to the young lawyer who prompted the story of the Good Samaritan to “Go and do likewise” as backdrop, are we now finding that the claim that we are a Chris-tian nation is too big of a burden to carry anymore?

Astoundingly, the arrival of atheist philosopher, the late Ayn Rand, on the scene seems to have afforded to anti-government pro-gram types a welcomed proponent of individual destiny as opposed to a civic community. Indeed her advocates such as Paul Ryan and others have taken to distributing her books “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead” much as the Giddeons distribute Bibles. What are we to make of it all?

Efforts of opponents of Obamacare, like those of Sena-tors Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, have been relent-less during the August recess. House Speaker John Boehner has promised a “whale of a fight.” If the Oct. 1 signup period witnesses a large number of takers for this first comprehensive attempt at a national health care program, this may indeed be the last chance to head it off. All that is left is one more question – Where will we be when the smoke clears?

Wiseman is director of the Sten-nis Institute at Mississippi State University. His e-mail address is [email protected].

Defunding Obamacare: the mother of all debates

Voice of the people

West Point and Yokohama say, ‘I do’

Marty Wiseman

Micah Green/Dispatch StaffWest Point Mayor Robbie Robinson, President of Yokohama Rubber Company Hikomitsu Noji and Gov. Phil Bryant during a ceremony celebrating the ground breaking of the company’s new mega site in Clay County.

Our View: Local EditorialsLocal editorials appearing in this space represent the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board: Bir-ney Imes, editor and publisher; Peter Imes, general manager; Slim Smith, managing editor and senior newsroom staff. To inquire about a meeting with the board, please contact Slim Smith at 662-328-2471, or e-mail [email protected].

Page 5: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

COMMERCIAL DISPATCH OBITUARY POLICYObituaries with basic informa-tion including visitation and service times, are provided free of charge. Extended obituaries with a photograph, detailed biographical informa-tion and other details families may wish to include, are avail-able for a fee. Obituaries must be submitted through funeral homes unless the deceased’s body has been donated to science. If the deceased’s body was donated to science, the family must provide official proof of death. Please submit all obituaries on the form provided by The Commercial Dispatch. Free notices must be submitted to the newspaper no later than 3 p.m. the day prior for publication Tuesday through Friday; no later than 4 p.m. Saturday for the Sunday edition; and no later than 7:30 a.m. for the Monday edition. Incomplete notices must be re-ceived no later than 7:30 a.m. for the Monday through Friday editions. Paid notices must be finalized by 3 p.m. for inclusion the next day Monday through Thursday; and on Friday by 3 p.m. for Sunday and Monday publication. For more informa-tion, call 662-328-2471.

Luke McCrawSOUTHAVEN —

Lucas Andrew McCraw, 4, died Sept. 18, 2013, at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Brantley-Phillips Funeral Home in Her-nando was in charge of cremation. Burial was in the McCraw Fam-ily Cemetery in Bay Springs.

Luke was born June 12, 2009, to Robert and Christy McCraw of Southaven.

In addition to his par-ents, survivors include his brothers, Austin and Hunter McCraw of Southaven.

Gordon ComerABERDEEN — Gor-

don Ray Comer, 91, died Sept. 23, 2013, at Pioneer Community Hospital.

Services are today at 2 p.m. at Aberdeen First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Keith Williams officiat-ing. Burial will follow in Oddfellows Rest Cem-etery. Visitation is two hours prior to services. Tisdale-Lann Memo-rial Funeral Home is in charge of arrange-ments.

Mr. Comer was born Oct. 1, 1921, tot he late Joseph Sanford Comer and Virdie Stovall Com-er. He was a graduate of Itawamba High School. He was a member of Aberdeen First United Methodist Church and the Rotary Club. He was employed with Comer Packaging.

In addition to his parents, he was preced-ed in death by his wife, Ruth Grimes Comer; brother, Graden Com-er; and sisters, Chris-tine Pate and Tarlene Weatherford.

Survivors include his son, Jimmy Comer of Aberdeen; sister, Wilma Creely of Fulton; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers are Ray Lacey, David Houston,

George Grimes, John Bales, Charles Caraway and Tom Seymer.

Hattie Wilson PRAIRIE — Hattie

Harrison Wilson, 95, died Sept. 18, 2013, at Dugan Nursing Home.

Services are Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Northside Christian Church with the Rev. Dederick Anderson Sr. officiating. Burial will follow in Sykes Cemetery. Visitation is today from 5-7 p.m. at the church. Carter’s Mortuary Services is in charge of arrange-ments.

Mrs. Wilson was born Sept. 8, 1918, to the late Joe Harrison and Minnie Harrison. She was formerly em-ployed as a teacher.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Mason Wilson; and brother, Stillman Harrison.

Survivors include her sons, Joe Ceafers Wil-son of Spokane, Wash., and Joe Reafers Wilson of Prairie; daughter, Vivian Townsend of Milwaukee; 14 grand-children and one great-grandchild.

Rufus TurmanSULLIGENT, Ala. —

Rufus Turman, 81, died Sept. 22, 2013, at Gilm-ore Memorial Regional Center in Amory.

Services are Thurs-day at 2 p.m. at Otts Funeral Home Chapel with Billy Ray Adams officiating. Burial will follow in Sulligent City Cemetery. Visitation is Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Mr. Turman was born June 24, 1932, to the late Harvey and Lela Mae Johnson. He attended Sulligent Schools and was for-merly employed with McCoy Manufacturing and Turman Garage. He was a member of Sulligent First Baptist Church.

In addition to his parents, he was pre-ceded in death by his brother, William Ken-neth Turman; and one grandchild.

Survivors include his wife, Naomi “Susie” Turman of Sulligent; daughter, Brenda S. Trentham of Sulligent; brother, Larry Tur-man of Columbus; two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers are Gar-rett Motes, John Mur-phy, Tray Trentham, Robert Motes, Justin Flippo and Tanner Hamilton.

Ginger WelchMILLPORT, Ala.

— Ginger Mae Kuhns Welch, 65, died Sept. 21, 2013, at Salem Nurs-ing Home in Reform, Ala.

Services are Thurs-day at 1 p.m. at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church with the Rev. Steve

Lammons and the Rev. Bill Hurt officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Visi-tation is one hour prior to services. Dowdle Fu-neral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Welch was a veteran of the U.S. Ma-rine Corps. and was a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Albert Neal and Geral-dine Dunford Kuhns.

Survivors include her husband, Charles Wal-ter Welch of Millport; daughter, Amy Marie McManus of Farming-ton, Alaska; stepdaugh-ter, Cheryl Hanslovin or Oregon; stepsons, Dan Welch of Oregon and Don Welch of Orlando, Fla.; sisters, Dixie May and Chris, both of Or-egon and Kelly Sprano of Washington; brother, Victor Kuhns of Albany, Ore.; and six grandchil-dren.

Pallbearers are Don Welch, Dane Welch, Steve Hutcherson, Matt Hutcherson, Jeremy McManus and Hunter McManus.

James Ledbetter Sr.COLUMBUS —

James Ledbetter Sr., 68, died Sept. 20, 2013, at Baptist Memorial Hos-pital–Golden Triangle.

Services are Wednes-day at 11 a.m. at Charity

Mission Full Gos-pel Baptist Church in Craw-ford with Bobby L. McCarter Sr. officiat-ing. Burial will follow in Turner-Hairston Ceme-tery. Visitation is today from noon to 5 p.m. at Carter’s of Columbus.

Mr. Ledbetter was born Sept. 7, 1945, to the late Charlie Bush and Sarah Ledbet-ter. He was formerly employed with General Motors and was a mem-ber of Charity Mission Full Gospel Baptist Church.

In addition to his par-ents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, David Bush, Bill Bush, Willie Ledbetter, Ola Smith, Annie Brown, Mattie Rice and Hamp Ledbetter.

Survivors include his children, Jennifer Engelmann of Ferndale, Mich., James Ledbetter Jr. of Flint, Mich., Alli-son Holden of Apopka, Fla., Daniel Twigg, Eric Twigg, Greg Twigg and Audrey Twigg, all of Arvada, Colo.; siblings, Bobby Bush, Pearl Hankins, Betty Lowery, Lartha Fulgham and Ollie Bush, all of Co-lumbus, Rosie Tucker of Jonesboro, Ga., and Johnny Will Ledbetter of Cleveland, Ohio; and

three grandchildren.

Febbie NeelySTARKVILLE —

Febbie Collier Neely, 74, died Sept. 17, 2013.

Services are Wednes-day at 1 p.m. at Good Hope MB Church with Gary Wordlaw officiat-ing. Burial will follow in Josey Creek Ceme-tery. Visitation is today from noon to 1 p.m. at West Memorial Funeral Home.

Ms. Neely is survived by her sons, Nathan-iel Ellis, Tyrone Ellis, Sammie Ray Howard and Jessie Collier, all of Starkville; daughter, Bobbie Brown of Baton Rouge, La.; sisters, Sar-ah Cooper of Starkville and Katie Ruth Neely of Meridian; 25 grandchil-dren; 31 great-grand-children and 10 great-great-grandchil-dren.

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013 5A

Edwin KneppEdwin Jay Knepp went home to be with his

Savior, Jesus Christ, on Sunday, September 22, 2013. He was in declining health in his later years and died at his home near Macon, Mis-sissippi.

Edwin was born to the late Samuel and Mar-tha Knepp on March 18, 1929, in Plain City, Ohio. He was joined in matrimony to Tressa Schrock on May 6, 1951, and they had seven children.

In 1953, at the age of 24, he was ordained to the call of ministry in the Mennonite Church. He served there with additional leadership for six years, before moving to Noxubee County, Mississippi in 1959. There he served as pas-tor at the Magnolia Mennonite Church for 34 years. In 1994, Edwin and Tressa moved to Taylorsville, Mississippi where he served at the Maranatha Mennonite Church for six years. They returned to Noxubee County in 2001.

While living in Indiana, Edwin was involved in dairy farming. After moving to Mississippi, he joined in partnership with the Ezra Schrock family in the Macon Ready-Mix Concrete Co. After retiring from the concrete company in 1983, he built the Sunbelt Meat Company in Macon.

Survivors include his wife of sixty-two years, Tressa Schrock Knepp; five daughters, Sharon (Dale) Miller, of Severn, NC, Grace (Merlin) Martin of Conrath, WI, Jewel (Mervin) Miller, Shirlene (Jay) Hoover and Kathy (the late Tim) Graber, all of Macon. In addition he leaves two sons, Gaylord (Kay) Knepp of Canon City, CO and Phillip (Mary Ellen) Knepp, also of Macon. He also was blessed with 35 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Visitations will be held Wednesday, Septem-ber 25, from 2 p.m.– 4 p.m. and again from 6:30 p.m.– 9 p.m. at the Magnolia Mennonite Church in Macon. Funeral services will be held Thurs-day, September 26 at 10 a.m. at the Magnolia Mennonite Church. Paul Shirk, Jan Heisey and Ben Graber will officiate the services. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Cockrell Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to New Horizons Ministries, P.O. Box 1500, Can-on City, CO 81215.

To sign online guest book, please visit www.cockrellfuneralhome.com

Paid Obituary-Cockrell Funeral HomeCompliments of

Lowndes Funeral Homewww.lowndesfuneralhome.net

Malinda McCorkleMalinda Catherine McCorkle, 81, of Colum-

bus, MS passed away Saturday, September 21, 2013, at her residence.

Visitation was Monday, September 23, 2013, from 6-8 PM at Lowndes Funeral Home, Colum-bus, MS. Funeral services were Tuesday, Sep-tember 24, 2013, at 11:00 AM at Bread of Life Fellowship Church with Bro. Jack Taylor officiat-ing and Sister Diane Mealer assisting. Interment was at Beersheba Cemetery, Columbus, MS with Lowndes Funeral Home directing.

Mrs. McCorkle was born May 24, 1932, in Columbus, MS to the late John Curtis and Mary Malinda Catherine House Perrigin. She was a member of Bread of Life Fellowship Church, Co-lumbus, MS and her time was filled being a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Foster McCorkle; daughters, Bonnie Jane Patino and Connie Juan-ita Smith; son, Larry Smith; granddaughters, Kathleen A. Adkins and Sherri Sabine; and 3 sis-ters and 2 brothers.

Mrs. McCorkle is survived by her children, Mike (Kathy) Smith, Louisville, KY, Rebecca Joann (Jay) Campbell and Debra (Max) McCork-le Porter, both of Columbus, MS; brother, John Pat Perrigin, Columbus, MS; grandchildren, David Patino, San Antionio, TX, Bobby Bartley and Melissa Jenkins both of Columbus, MS, Kev-in Bartley, Dallas, TX, Chris Smith and Leslie Klinger, both of Louisville, KY, Ryland Matthews III, USMC and Jeffrey Matthews, New Bern, NC; great-grandchildren, Kimberly Adkins, Kalie Adkins, Nicholas Jenkins, Zaylie Jenkins, Devan Bartley, Alex Bartley, Cameron Bartley and Em-iliegh Bartley.

Pallbearers were Christopher Michael Smith, Robert Bartley, Jr., Kevin Michael J. Bartley, Ry-land E. Matthews III, Jeffrey Foster Matthews and Nolan Alexander Bartley.

Honorary pallbearers were Devan Jordan Bartley, Nicholas Hayes Jenkins, Cameron Fos-ter Bartley, Bryan Nicholas Jenkins, James W. Campbell, Max E. Porter, Franklin L. Klinger III, Michael Adkins, David Patino and Jorge Patino.

Memorials may be made to Bread of Life Fel-lowship Church, 100 Old New Hope Road, Colum-bus, MS 39702.

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By LAURAN NEERGAARDAP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON — From mercury to pesticides, Americans are exposed daily to environmental chemicals that could harm reproductive health, the nation’s largest groups of obstetricians and fertility specialists said Monday.

The report urges doctors to push

for stricter environmental policies to better identify and reduce exposure to chemicals that prove truly risky. But it’s likely to scare pregnant women in the meantime.

That’s because during the first prenatal visit, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists wants doctors to ask mothers-to-be about their exposure to different chemicals. They’re also supposed to teach women how to avoid some con-sidered most worrisome during preg-nancy.

“What we’re trying to get is the bal-ance between awareness and alarm-

ist,” said Dr. Jeanne Conry, president of the American College of Obstetri-cians and Gynecologists.

Specialists with ACOG and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine examined research about in-dustrial chemicals and pollutants that people can absorb from the air, wa-ter, food and everyday products. Few chemicals hit the market with good information about safe levels — some-thing the groups hope to change. But certain chemicals are linked to infer-tility, miscarriages, birth defects and other problems, the committee said.

Report: Environmental chemicals a pregnancy risk

Ledbetter Sr.

By JOSH LEDERMANThe Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says the agency will “effective-ly shut down” unless Con-gress approves stopgap funding by Oct. 1.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says the agency won’t be able to pay employees. She says only a core group of people will remain on duty in case the EPA has to respond to a “significant emergency.”

The vast majority of em-ployees will stay home.

That means that most of EPA’s functions, like draft-ing regulations and enforc-ing laws to protect the envi-ronment, will likely remain stalled until government operations fully resume.

Congress has a week left to reach a deal to avoid the first shutdown since 1996. Lawmakers are at odds over a Republican plan to defund President Barack Obama’s health care law as part of the stop-gap measure.

EPA to ‘effectively shut down’ without budget deal

risks are greatest for women with high on-the-job exposure

Page 6: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com6A Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013

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Yokohamacontinued from Page 1a

The $300 million investment from the cor-poration and $70 million in state general obliga-tion bonds will become a one-million square foot tire-making facility October 2015. In another eight years, with another $900 million investment by Yokohama, the facility will have expanded to 115 acres under one roof. Eight years and more than 400 megawatts of power will be available at the site. It has the capac-ity to provide 7.5 million gallons of water and 2.5 gallons of wastewater treatment per day.

A great partnershipFor West Point Mayor

Robbie Robinson, it was like being “a kid who’s been waiting for Christ-mas, and now it’s Christ-mas morning.”

For Yokohama Tire Corporation President Hikomitsu Noji, it was a red- letter day for the future of his company.

“I can’t explain just how much this plant means to us,” Noji told the crowd. “Our industry is conditioned for solid growth in the future. We’ll no longer wait and continue sitting on the sidelines, not having our own manufacturing facility right here in the United States.”

The next year will be crucial on Mississippi’s end to make sure the plant opens on time. Georgia-based firm Kaji-ma Associates/Architects & Engineers has already been selected to over-see the plant’s design, but basic infrastructure takes the forefront now. West Point selectmen will open bids from contrac-tors vying for water and sewer installation. Next month, Clay County supervisors will start the bidding process for road construction. The infrastructure itself is slated to be complete late next year with plant con-struction, product testing and production to follow. The gravel lot, which will soon be graded, will be a city in itself with a population of sub-con-tractors and construction workers.

About 40,000 truck-loads of dirt will have to be hauled during the first phase of construction alone. That might cause some strain on county roads in the short term, supervisor Lynn Horton said, but in a county whose unemployment has been the highest in the state in recent years, the sacrifice will be worth it.

“We hope everybody will understand what’s about to take place,” he said. “We’re moving for-ward and better days are yet to come.”

A look backThe event also pro-

vided an opportunity to reflect on what took place behind the scenes to bring the company to the Golden Triangle. Hig-gins was quick to thank the many organizations, state and local leaders involved, including Tom-bigbee River Valley Water Management District; the Mississippi Develop-ment Authority; 4-County Power Association; the Appalachian Regional Commission; and Deloitte Consulting, Yokohama’s advisory firm.

Governor Phil Bryant, Miss. Sen. Roger Wicker and Reps. Alan Nunnelee and Gregg Harper were all on hand for the event. The state legislature was recognized for its near-unanimous support of an incentive package for the company in April.

During a Link lun-cheon earlier this sum-mer, Higgins detailed the events leading to that day, beginning with Clay County signing the dot-ted line to partner with the Link in April 2012. Partners were brought in to review the location that would become the megasite. The water management district secured grant funding so the Link could complete due diligence studies.

In December, Yoko-hama representatives visited the site for the first time. They stayed about an hour. Link officials had that amount of time to get their foot in the door.

In the next two months, they hosted more and longer on-site visits. They boarded a plane to Asia on Val-entine’s Day, visiting corporate headquarters and plants for a week. They learned the Monday after they returned from the trip that they would host Yokohama Rubber Company Chairman and CEO Tadanobu Nagumo. He wanted to see West Point, Starkville, Colum-bus, Mississippi State University and meet with the governor, all in a four-hour window.

“Pretty tough, huh?” Higgins said at the lun-cheon. “How do you do it? Well, we did.”

They had to rent a he-licopter. Not one of those “regular” helicopters, but one fit for the CEO of a global corporation. Higgins talked to Mike Hainsey, Golden Triangle Regional Airport Exec-utive Director. Hainsey knew where Higgins could rent a Sikorksy S-76.

“Anybody know what that is?” Higgins asked. “I’ll tell you what it is. It’s $27,000 a day. I said, ‘We’ll take one.’”

Heavy rain had fallen in the days before Nagu-mo was to visit, causing a logistical problem for landing the helicopters. They couldn’t land on the site itself because they

would sink into the mud. They would run into pow-er lines if they tried to land on East Hazelwood Road, which runs by the plant.

4-County CEO Joe Cade stepped in and solved that problem, agreeing to take the pow-er lines down and replace them after the visit.

“We re-routed our power around another way to feed all the hous-es. We took two strands of line down so the helicopters would come in and fly where the lines were and land on the highway,” Cade said Mon-day. “That’s what we’re here for. That’s our job is to do things like that.”

Cade also had the area blocked off from traffic with trucks and signs indicating utility work was being done.

“When you see these guys get off a helicop-ter, they look just like you think they’re going to look,” Higgins said. “Bad-ass and important. You know they’re some-body when they walk in. We couldn’t have a bunch of rubberneckers out there looking.”

No detail was neglect-ed. The visitors received warm moist wash cloths wrapped up for them to wipe their hands. They were served Japanese tea. Each visitor had custom galoshes with his name on them. The he-licopter landed and they walked into a heated tent with storyboards telling them everything great about the 1,100-acre megasite. They hopped on four-wheelers for a 45-minute tour of the site.

“That, in my opinion, is where we won the deal because that was the day we gave them the story,” Higgins said. “We said, ‘West Point is the toughest town we know...It’s there I told the chairman that this was a community and a town that had four generations working at Sara Lee and if they only gave us a chance, we’d have four generations working at Yokohama.”

In April, Yokohama of-ficials came back again, this time to the gover-nor’s mansion, where they announced they had chosen Mississippi over two other locations. The whole process took just four months.

A look aheadAfter Monday’s cere-

mony, MDA executive di-rector Brent Christensen said Yokohama’s arrival will likely bring with it other economic develop-ment opportunities for the area surrounding the site and for Mississippi in general.

“It puts you on the map. It’s a tribute and testament to the leader-ship of the community that they have the band-width and commitment to make a project like this happen,” Chris-tensen said. “I think it will pay dividends for many years to come, not only for this project but for others that may be attracted because of what they’ve seen in the kind of business climate and the kind of service Yoko-hama has gotten and will continue to get.”

In echoing that other opportunities will come, Bryant said he and state leaders will work to make sure the state has a “business-to-business”

model going forward.“Generations hence

will look back at this day and say that is the day that my opportunity be-gan, perhaps not only to be a manufacturer in this great plant, but to be part of the leadership team,” he said.

Counsul-General of Japan in Nashville Moto-hiko Kato said the event marks the forging of a long-term partnership that will be pivotal for the future of both Yokohama and economic growth in Mississippi for years to come.

“By selecting Missis-sippi for construction of the first totally new plant in the United States, Yokohama is saying they have confidence in Mis-sissippi’s potential,” Kato said. “I know this plant will stand as a shining example of what is possi-ble here in Mississippi.”

Busescontinued from Page 1a

ers.“We in no way wanted

to put a stop to the bus system. That would be so good for our community. It was just the locations of the stops,” Bigelow said. “She has done a lot of work and we don’t want to halt any of her prog-

ress. I’m really glad she’s here.”

Calls to Dowdell were not returned, but she said during a city coun-cil meeting earlier this month that she hopes to have the four-route sys-tem in operation in Oc-tober. Lawrence Transit

System is based in Indi-ana and began operations there last year. When the public transportation ser-vice begins in Columbus, it will be the company’s second bus service.

The HPC will meet again on Oct. 7 at 5:30 p.m.

Micah Green/Dispatch StaffJoe Max Higgins speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi in Clay County Monday.

THE AssOciATEd PREss

HATTIESBURG — Hattiesburg residents head to the polls today for a rematch in the city’s mayoral race.

Democratic Hatties-burg Mayor Johnny DuPree recorded 37 more votes than his challenger, Independent Dave Ware, in a June 4 election.

The new election was

called by Judge William Coleman after a mistri-al was declared in a suit brought by Ware, chal-lenging the outcome.

Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. today.

Hattiesburg residents to choose mayor

Get promoted? Win an award? Send us your business [email protected] subject: Business brief

Page 7: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013 7A

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AP Photo/Riccardo GangaleA helicopter and birds fly above as a plume of black smoke billows over the Westgate Mall, following large explo-sions and heavy gunfire, in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday.

The AssociATed Press

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third day Monday in what they said was a final push to rescue the last few hostages in a siege that has left at least 62 people dead.

While the government an-nounced Sunday that “most” hos-

tages had been released, a security expert with contacts inside the mall said at least 10 were still being held by a band of attackers described as “a multinational collection from all over the world.”

Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said “two or three Amer-icans” and “one Brit” were among those who attacked the mall.

She said in an interview with the

PBS “NewsHour” program that the Americans were 18 to 19 years old, of Somali or Arab origin and lived “in Minnesota and one other place” in the U.S. The attacker from Brit-ain was a woman who has “done this many times before,” Mohamed said.

U.S. officials said they were look-ing into whether any Americans were involved. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Mon-day that the department had “no de-finitive evidence of the nationalities or the identities” of the attackers.

Kenyan officials claim last push to end mall siegeKenyan Foreign Minister says ‘two or three Americans’ among those who attacked mall

By LoLiTA c. BALdorThe Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Washington Navy Yard shooter lied about a previous arrest and failed to disclose thousands of dollars in debts when he applied for a security clearance in the Navy.

Then federal investiga-tors dismissed the omis-sions, and made one of their own — deleting any reference to Aaron Alexis’ use of a gun in that arrest.

The gaps in his record eventually allowed him to work in the secure Navy building where he gunned down 12 work-ers last week, underscor-

ing weaknesses with the clearance process that Navy officials are target-ing for change.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus recommended Monday that all police re-ports — not just arrests or convictions — involv-ing an individual must be included when a back-ground check is done. He also recommended that the Navy enhance its man-agement of sailor evalua-tions and fitness reports by assigning more senior officers to oversee them.

The Navy, in a report released Monday, re-vealed new details about Alexis’ Navy service, in-

cluding his failure to re-veal the 2004 arrest over a parking disagreement in Seattle. And officials said the background report given to the Navy omitted the fact that he had shot out the tires of another person’s car during that dispute.

Instead, the report from the Office of Per-sonnel Management said Alexis “deflated” the tires.

Defense officials have acknowledged that a lot of red flags were missed in Alexis’ background, allowing him to maintain a secret-level security clearance and have access to a secure Navy facility

despite a string of behav-ioral problems and brush-es with the law. Over the past week, they have been struggling to determine what might have been missed, and what changes could be made in order to try and prevent similar vi-olence in the future.

Report: Shooter lied about previous arrest, debts

AP Photo/Kristi Kinard SuthamtewakulThis undated cell phone photo shows a smiling Aaron Alexis in Fort Worth, Texas.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus recommended all police reports must be included with a background check

The AssociATed Press

BOSTON — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dz-hokhar Tsarnaev will ask a judge to discuss the timeline and procedure

for prosecutors to de-cide whether to seek the death penalty.

A joint status report filed in court says the de-fense wants the court to address “the death pen-alty protocol” in federal

court on Monday.

U.S. At-torney Gen-eral Eric Holder will u l t i m a t e -ly make the deci-sion about whether to seek the fed-eral death penalty, but the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston will make a recommendation. Tsar-

naev’s attorneys also have the right to make the case against the death penalty.

Tsarnaev, 20, is ac-cused in twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others at the April 15 marathon. He’s also accused of killing a Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technology police officer while on the run three days later.

Death penalty protocol focus of Mass. bomb hearing

Tsarnaev

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will ultimately make the decision about whether to seek the death penalty

Page 8: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

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The excitement was ob-vious on the faces of law-makers and executives, but could not compare to the emotions that radi-ated from Clay County residents: excitement and dreams filled with hope.

“It’s like it’s been raining here for several years and we finally have a rainbow to appear,” said West Point native Ladon-na Halverson. “Yokohama is our rainbow.”

The $1.2 billion plant will sit on 115 acres and create 2,000 local job when all phases are completed in 2023. Clay County currently has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 19 percent.

Roosevelt Cox is retired but said seeing a plant like Yokohama open in Clay County is a sign of hope for future gener-ations.

“I think it will be a big opportunity for people to get jobs in West Point,” Cox said. “Since (Sara Lee) closed down, there’s nothing for people to do. Myself, personally, I’m retired but I’m looking for-ward to the young people having something to do and have a better life than they have now.”

Edward Houston echoed Cox’s sentiments and said with new job opportunities, younger generations will have a chance to dream of a new way of life, a dream that was almost impossible without the new plant.

“We’re trying to get a new way of life,” Houston said. “This is an oppor-tunity for people in the community. We have the highest unemployment rate here in Clay County and this is an opportunity that we can move forward, that they can get their dreams and go and do what they need to do in life.”

The impact the five-million square foot plant will have on future generations seemed to be at the forefront of every-one’s mind Monday.

Jermaine Taylor, prin-cipal at West Point Middle School, says all too often he sees children who are negatively impacted when their parents are unemployed. By hopefully boosting the local employ-ment rate, Taylor said he hopes children’s grades will be affected as well.

“Financial stability at home interprets into better success in school,” Taylor said. “If they’re seeing mom being suc-cessful and less stress on mom, it’s less stress on the child.”

Noting the loss of the Sara Lee plant in 2007, Taylor said he saw a rise in people leaving the com-munity to find jobs. By bringing back industry, Taylor said he hopes Clay County will keep people who may be thinking of leaving.

“When we lost some industry here, we saw a lot of families move away to find work, attendance went down, our enroll-ment went down. It’s going to mean a lot for us. Our future generations will have some place to turn to for employment. It’s going to be hope for our children coming

through that they’re going to have a place of employ-ment and be able to stay in the area and not have to move off to find work.”

Gene Perry was stand-ing back from the crowd Monday and seemed to be taking in the scene, a toothpick in his mouth, hands on his hips.

“It’s really a big push for the county and all of the surrounding coun-ties,” he said. “It’s going to be really helpful to our young people and for generations to come and I think it’s one of the best things that could have ever happened to Clay County, Lowndes County, Oktibbeha and all of the surrounding counties. It’s going to be a really big boost.”

West Point Mayor Robbie Robinson agreed and said not only would West Point be positively impacted, but surround-ing counties would be as well.

“Clay County/West Point cannot fill 2,000 jobs so there will be plenty of jobs to go around,” Robinson said. “There will be people from Lown-des County, Oktibbeha County, Monroe County, the surrounding areas.

It’s going to take that to furnish 2,000 jobs to Yo-kohama and we pledged to do that. Locally, it’s just unbelievable. With the construction workers that will be coming in during the construction phase, West Point will benefit from the fact that they’ll be spending their money in West Point and we’ll have sales tax revenue increasing.”

Luann Little said the creation of 2,000 jobs will mean so much to her beloved hometown.

“It’s amazing. It really is,” Little said. “West Point needs jobs so bad, so bad.”

Little owns land adjacent to the Yokohama property and said seeing the new plant built there would have meant so much to her late father. “Daddy loved his God, his family and Clay County. He’d be all for this.”

Jackie Edwards is on the executive board at the

Golden Triangle Develop-ment Link and is a lifelong Clay County resident. Ed-wards said she has been involved in the process since Clay County first approached Link CEO Joe Max Higgins and asked him to help bring industry to their area.

“We think this is the greatest thing that has happened,” Edwards said. “I still can’t believe it’s real. I wake up at night thinking, ‘when I wake up it’s all going to be a dream.’ It’s that big of a deal for this area.”

She also noted the loss of Sara Lee, but said the people of West Point have weathered the storm.

“We’ve been through the times when (Sara Lee) closed and we didn’t close up and die. We stayed vi-able, we got to looking for options and this is going to save our town.

“It’s literally going to save our town.”

Taylor LittlePerryHouston

BY sARAH [email protected]

A series of search warrants and raids led to the seizure of nearly $40,000 in suspected drug money.

Assistant Commander Archie Williams with the Lowndes County Narcotics Division said agents seized more than $37,000 in cash along with cocaine and marijuana from three homes in Lowndes County over the past week. The search warrants stemmed from the arrest of a Colum-bus couple that law enforcement be-lieves to be cocaine distributors.

“We’re not only looking into not only dealing with street level dealers but people we consider distributors,”

Williams said.Antwon Jordan, 44,

and Latonya Shelton, 28, were arrested last Monday and charged with possession of co-caine with intent to dis-tribute after they led narcotics agents and Lowndes County sher-iff’s deputies on a high speed chase through the city. Over an ounce of cocaine and $8,000 in cash was dis-covered in the couple’s possession.

Their arrests then lead to the search warrants of three residences where the couple allegedly stored narcotics and manufactured crack

cocaine. The search of 59 Spann Lane, 3865 Military Road and 44 Timber Drive result-ed in the discovery of nearly $30,000 in cash, cocaine, mari-juana, spice, various items used to the man-ufacture of crack co-

caine and a stolen firearm.Jordan and Shelton are currently

in the custody of the Lowndes Coun-ty Adult Detention. More charges are expected against the couple.

Williams said the investigation is ongoing are more arrests are expect-ed.

Drug raid leads to seizure of $40K

Jordan Shelton

Page 9: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

By AdAm [email protected]

Chad Harrison knew something was wrong with his All-State player.

The Scott Central High School girls basketba l l coach waited until the end of practice Monday to check with Victoria Viv-ians to see what was bothering her.

He quickly realized Viv-ians had come to a decision that was going to end a na-tional recruiting battle.

“I want to go to Missis-sippi State,” Vivians told Harrison.

Those seven words set off a chain reaction of phone calls, text messag-es, emails, and tweets that spread the word that one of the country’s top prep bas-ketball players was coming to Starkville to join coach Vic Schaefer’s women’s bas-ketball program.

“She is truly unstoppa-ble,” Harrison said Monday night. “She can do any-thing. She can shoot the ball from 30 feet, she can post up around the basket and score with either hand, she can finish in traffic, and can rebound the ball on one end and score down at the other end in three seconds.”

Academy will play in an elimi-nation game at 11:45 a.m. An-other game will follow at 1:30 p.m. before the first champion-ship game is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. An if-needed champion-ship game will follow at 5 p.m.

All four teams have qualified for the Class AAA overall state

tournament. Today’s action will determine seedings.

For Heritage Academy and Starkville Academy, their loss-es Monday ended their sea-sons. Magnolia Heights defeat-ed Starkville Academy 11-1 in another opening-round game.

By ScoTT [email protected]

Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze isn’t sure how far the Rebels have progressed in his one-plus season at the helm.

However, Freeze feels like he will know a whole lot more Saturday after his team plays defending na-tional champion and top-ranked Alabama.

For a second straight season, the teams will meet at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. (ESPN).

“We look forward to the opportunity to go over,” Freeze said Monday at his weekly media gath-ering. “For several years now, Alabama has been the standard to which you measure yourself in this conference. That hasn’t changed. It’s another op-portunity for us to mea-sure ourselves and see where we are. I’m OK with the results as (long) our best effort is put forth.”

Off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1989, No. 21 Ole Miss enjoyed its first of two open dates this season Saturday.

“Not playing a game was a good thing for us,”

By GEoRGE hEnRyThe Associated Press

ATLANTA — Mike Minor believes he will be sharp in October even though he hasn’t won a start since Aug. 25.

“I don’t think it’s been great, and I think it shows,” he said. “But it’s one of those things that I thought I pitched pretty well all year, but right now I’m kind

of struggling a little bit.”Minor gave up two home

runs in the Atlanta Braves’ 5-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

The NL East champion Braves began the night with the league’s best record and are one-half game in front of St. Louis Cardinals, who beat Washington 4-3 on Monday. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who

did not play Monday, moved two games back.

Atlanta was shut out for the 16th time, second-most in the NL.

Minor (13-8) allowed eight hits and three runs and struck out six in seven innings. The left-hander, whom manager Fredi Gonzalez is considering to start the playoff opener next week, is winless in his last five starts.

“What I like is he gave us every opportunity to win the game,” Gonzalez said. “Seven innings, and you hold the oppo-sition to three runs, you’ve got a pretty good chance.”

With six games left in the regular season, the Braves have the majors’ best home record at 52-23, but Milwau-kee led 4-0 in the eighth when

By ScoTT [email protected]

South Lamar High School junior Holden Fields always felt like the Stallions would win a foot-ball game sooner rather than later this season.

South Lamar snapped a 14-game, two-season losing streak with Fri-day night’s 42-19 victory against Lynn. Playing fullback and middle line-backer, Fields had a major

hand in the victory. He ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns and had six tackles and two quarter-back hurries.

For his accomplish-ments, Fields is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.

“I thought we had a chance to be a better foot-ball team this year and win some games,” Fields said. “We have a new coach and several new players on the team. You

could tell there was a different attitude during the sum-mer. Everybody was hitting the weight room hard to get better. We were doing more work than we had ever done before.”

When Shannon Mc-Gregory took the South Lamar job last spring, he promised nothing more than hard work. Gregory felt like the attitude and

work ethic were good enough to get the Stallions back in the business of winning games.

“I saw a group of kids that were hungry,” McGreg-ory said. “They were not despon-

dent even though they had been losing. I have coached a long time, and I just wanted to help teach them some ways they could become better

football players. With the help of some of the veter-ans, such as Holden, the kids bought in right away. They were on board with whatever we wanted to do to try to make them win-ners again.”

For Fields, the biggest change during the offsea-son was in the installation of a new offense. South Lamar now runs the Wing-T.

“Switching to the Wing-T has been the

greatest thing possible,” Fields said. “It took us a while to learn everything, but once we did, it was a good thing. We are excit-ed about playing offense again.”

Progress in the new of-fense came slowly. Grant-ed, the first three games were losses to Lamar County, Pickens Coun-ty, and Brilliant. That group combined to win 23 games last season.

SECTION

BSPORTS EDITOR

Adam Minichino: 327-1297

SPORTS LINE662-241-5000Sports THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

Vivians

NL PLAYOFF CHASE W L Pct. n Atlanta 92 64 .590n St. Louis 92 65 .586n Los Angeles 90 66 .577n Cincinnati 90 67 .573n Pittsburgh 90 67 .573

n NOTE: Atlanta and Los Angeles have clinched the NL East and NL West. St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh have clinched playoff berths.

INSIDEn The Pittsburgh Pirates clinched their first playoff berth in 21 years Monday. Page 3B

SATURDAYn Ole Miss at Alabama, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)

INSIDE n LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger is eager to get his return trip to Georgia and a game against the Bulldogs behind him. Also, the Southeastern Conference honored Mississippi State’s Gabe Jackson. Page 4B

Prep Softball: MAIS Class AAA, District 1 tournamentCollege Football

See OLE MISS, 5B

See BRAVES, 3B

HIGH SCHOOL

Holden FieldsPlayer Week Friendly City

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Prep Player of the Week

Fields’ all-around effort helps South Lamar snap losing streak

See FIELDS, 2B

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Women’s College Basketball

By AdAm [email protected]

Action hadn’t started Mon-day, but Gary Harris wanted to set the tone.

“It’s a new season,” the Her-itage Academy fast-pitch soft-ball coach said, exhorting his players to try to create some magic.

Unfortunately, Heritage Academy had only one game’s worth of magic left in its sea-son.

Heritage Academy lost to Madison-Ridgeland Academy 18-0, beat Starkville Academy 15-4 and lost to Washington School 11-1 on Monday in the Mississippi Association of In-dependent Schools Class AAA, District 1 tournament at Propst Park in Columbus.

Magnolia Heights will play Hillcrest Christian in a win-ners’ bracket game at 10 a.m. today at Heritage Academy. Washington School and Pillow

Micah Green/Dispatch StaffTOP: Heritage Academy starting pitcher Kaitlyn Oswalt and Starkville Academy starting pitcher Meridee Higginbotham (BELOW) deliver pitches Monday in their game in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 1 tournament at Propst Park in Columbus.

HErITagE ExTENdS SEaSON ONE gamELady Patriots eliminate Lady Vols before suffering same fate vs. Washington School

Major League Baseball

Braves’ lead for home-field advantage shrinks after loss

Ole Miss prepared for trip to Alabama

See SOFTBALL, 5B

Vivians commits to mSUOne of nation’s best likes vision Schaefer has for her, program

See VIVIANS, 5B

Page 10: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

Prep FootballFriday’s games

Starkville at Columbus, 7 p.m.New Hope at Clarksdale, 7 p.m.Ethel at West Lowndes, 7 p.m.West Point at Oxford, 7 p.m.Caledonia at Choctaw County, 7 p.m.Noxubee County at Leake Central, 7 p.m.Corinth at Aberdeen, 7 p.m.Bruce at Amory, 7 p.m.East Webster at JZ George, 7 p.m.Louisville at Kosciusko, 7 p.m.East Oktibbeha at Noxapater, 7 p.m.West Oktibbeha at French Camp, 7 p.m.Oak Hill Academy at Heritage Academy, 7 p.m.Winston Academy at Starkville Academy, 7 p.m.Hebron Christian at Delta Academy, 7 p.m.Immanuel Christian at Greenville Christian, 7 p.m.Friendship Academy at Central Academy, 7 p.m.Victory Christian at Tuscaloosa, 7 p.m.Aliceville at Pickens County, 7 p.m.Berry at Lamar County, 7 p.m.South Lamar at Central of Coosa County, 7 p.m.Sulligent at Fayette County, 7 p.m.Pickens Academy at Eastwood Christian, 7 p.m.

Prep SoccerToday’s Matches

Washington School at Heritage Academy, 3 p.m.Indianola Academy at Immanuel Christian, 4 p.m.

Wednesday’s MatchStarkville Academy at Washington School, 3 p.m.

Thursday’s MatchesHeritage Academy at Starkville Academy, 3 p.m.Bayou Academy at Immanuel Christian, 4 p.m.

Prep SoftballToday’s Games

Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA North tournament

At Heritage, ColumbusMagnolia Heights vs. Hillcrest Christian, 10 a.m.Washington School vs. Pillow Academy, 11:45 a.m.

MAIS Class A North tournamentAt Carroll Academy, Carrollton

Central Academy vs. Benton Academy, 11:45 a.m.Today’s Games

New Hope at Starkville, 6 p.m.Smithville at Hamilton, 6:30 p.m.Caledonia at Columbus, 6:30 p.m.

Prep VolleyballToday’s Matches

New Hope at Ridgeland, 6 p.m.DeSoto Central at Columbus, 6 p.m.Belmont at Caledonia, 6 p.m.Tupelo at Starkville, 6:30 p.m.

Thursday’s MatchesCaledonia at Amory, 6 p.m.Starkville at Aberdeen, 6 p.m.Columbus at New Hope, 6:30 p.m.

TodayMAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

6 p.m. — Milwaukee at Atlanta, SportSouthSAILING

3 p.m. — America’s Cup, race 17 and race 18, at San Francisco, NBC Sports Network

WednesdayMAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

1:10 p.m. — Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs, WGN6 p.m. — Tampa Bay at New York Yankees, ESPN9 p.m. — Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco, ESPN

CALENDAR

oN ThE AiR

bRiEFLyAlabamaVolleyball team will play host to Alabama State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama volleyball team will bring a nine-match winning streak into its home match at 7 tonight against Alabama State at Foster Auditorium.

Alabama (11-2) is coming off three victories last weekend at the Clemson Classic in Clemson, S.C. The victories helped Alabama win its third-straight tournament.

n In related news, redshirt freshman middle blocker Krystal Rivers, of Birmingham, Ala., was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office Monday. Last week, Rivers was named the Clemson Classic MVP after averaging 3.92 kills, with a .398 hitting percentage, and 1.31 blocks per set in the tournament.

Junior CollegesICC’s Grantham honored again

FULTON — For the second-straight week Itawamba Community College sophomore Cullen Grantham, of Corinth, has been named the MACJC Keeper of the Week when the conference released its weekly awards on Monday.

Grantham earned this week’s honors after having five saves in a 1-0 victory against Northwest Mississippi C.C. in a North Division game. It was his second-straight shutout.

Last year’s MACJC All-State selection went 230 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal to help the Indians improve to 4-2-1 and 2-1-1 to take over first place in the division.

n In related news, the ICC soccer teams’ matches against Merid-ian original scheduled for Saturday have been rescheduled to Friday. The Lady Indians (2-4-1, 1-2-1 MACJC North) will start things off at 2 p.m., while the first-place Indians will follow at 4 p.m. in Meridian.

Etheridge, Newsom to be inducted into ICC Athletic Hall of Fame

FULTON — Vick Etheridge, of Corinth, and former men’s basketball coach Wayne Newsom, of Fulton, will be inducted into the Itawamba Community College Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday as part of the Homecoming festivities.

Etheridge was a member of the 1965 and 1966 football teams earning All-State honors during both seasons. As a sophomore, he was named team captain, earned a spot on the North All-Star team, and was a member of the baseball team.

Newsom, a native of Walnut, retired in 1998 after 23 seasons as head coach of the Indians basketball team.

After earning his bachelor’s degree from Southeastern Louisiana State, he began his coaching career at Alcorn Central High School where he was head basketball and baseball coach until 1967. He moved to Aberdeen where as head coach of the basketball and baseball teams, he led the Bulldogs to two Little 10 championships.

CollegesWomen’s basketball summit generates ideas to improve game

The NCAA brought in women’s basketball’s past and present to help shape the sport’s future.

Some of the top contributors in women’s basketball got together Monday as the NCAA hosted a women’s basketball summit with coaches, administrators, and committee members.

Monday’s discussions were framed around a paper that new Big East commissioner Val Ackerman put together and submitted to the NCAA in June that took a look at ways to improve women’s basketball in the short- and long-term.

While the group had no power to make changes, they came up with a bunch of recommendations based on Ackerman’s paper, including going back to the top 16 teams hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. That used to be the way until the tournament went to predetermined sites in 2003.

Moving the first two rounds of the tournament to the top seeds could help attendance. Last season the NCAA averaged 5,466 for all tournament rounds, which was 17th since the tournament began in 1982.

However, making that change would most likely lose a school like Gonzaga, which has been one of the most successful sites over the past few seasons.

Other suggestions from Monday which can’t be implemented this season included:

n Moving the NCAA tournament back a week and changing back to a Friday-Sunday format for the Final Four instead of the current Sunday-Tuesday configuration.

n Going with three super regionals for the rounds of 16 and eight as well as the Final Four and rotating them every few years.

n Holding the Division I, II, and III championships on the same weekend at the 2016 Final Four in Indianapolis.

Another area that was discussed Monday was officiating. Changes will be implemented this season to help clean up and allow more freedom of movement in the game by protecting the shooter and not allowing there to be contact on cuts anymore.

Sports on TVFilm explores Archie Manning’s pro, personal life

The ESPN documentary “The Book of Manning”, which will air at 7 tonight, shows a new generation of football fans that Peyton and Eli Manning got their athleticism and acumen from good bloodlines as well as their strong work ethic.

The film, narrated by John Goodman, explores how tragedy shaped one of the most influential families in pro sports history and serves as a reminder of how good Archie Manning was at Ole Miss and during his pro career with the otherwise hapless New Orleans Saints, Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings in the 1970s and ‘80s.

“What intrigued me about telling the story was ... I felt like a lot of people weren’t aware of the career that Archie had and how dynamic of a player he was, especially in college,” director Rory Karpf said. “You go back and you look at some of the old footage of Archie Manning in college, and to me, it’s captivating. He was kind of like Barry Sanders behind center, how athletic he was, and the footage is really breathtak-ing to watch.”

The film explores the personal and professional life of Archie Manning and how his father’s suicide impacted his life and the way he and his wife, Olivia, raised their three sons, Cooper — whose football career was cut short by a spinal condition — Peyton and Eli.

With Peyton and Eli Manning so successful in the NFL, Archie Manning the QB has largely been forgotten, and the patriarch of the first family of football said he’s always been fine with that.

“Oh, the years fly by, that’s just natural,” he said on a conference call in advance of the film’s Tuesday night debut. “You know, if it wasn’t for Peyton and Eli coming along, nobody would know who I was. Maybe a few people in Mississippi, a few old people.

“I never worry much about that. I always had kind of a philosophy, I really enjoyed playing. Gosh, I loved playing.”

NBALeague may have Heat, Nets wear nicknames on jerseys

MIAMI — So long, James, Allen, Pierce and Garnett.King James, Jesus Shuttlesworth, The Truth and KG may be

headed to the backs of NBA jerseys.Some members of the Miami Heat have been told the NBA is

considering having them and the Brooklyn Nets wear “nickname jerseys” in at least one of their four matchups this season. The NBA has not announced the plan, but teams apparently have been aware of the likelihood of it happening for at least several weeks.

For now, only the Heat and the Nets would be taking part. It’s unclear how many times those teams would wear the nickname jerseys, or if they would ever wear them against other opponents.

Grizzlies announce hirings of three assistants MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Grizzlies have hired Elston

Turner, Duane Ticknor and Shawn Respert to join the returning Bob Thornton as assistants on new head coach Dave Joerger’s staff.

Turner previously worked as an assistant for Portland (1996-2000), Sacramento (2000-06), Houston (2007-11) and Phoenix (2011-13). Ticknor spent last season as head coach of the NBA Development League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Joerger worked as an assistant for Ticknor in 1999-2000 with the International Basketball Association’s Dakota Wizards. Respert was director of player development for Houston from 2008-11 and spent the last two years as an assistant with Minnesota.

Shaquille O’Neal joining Kings ownership group The larger-than-life figure that teased and tormented the Sacra-

mento Kings for so long is now the biggest name to join the franchise’s new ownership group.

The Kings announced Monday that Shaquille O’Neal has acquired a minority stake in the team under new owner Vivek Ranadive. The Kings will introduce the four-time NBA champion at a news conference Tuesday in Sacramento.

During the height of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, O’Neal fueled the rivalry with the Kings with his play on the court and his personality off of it.

— From Special Reports

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2B Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013

Auto RacingSprint Cup Points Leaders1. Matt Kenseth .........................................2,1112. Kyle Busch ...........................................2,0973. Jimmie Johnson ...................................2,0934. Carl Edwards .......................................2,0755. Greg Biffle ............................................2,0736. Kevin Harvick .......................................2,0727. Kurt Busch ............................................2,0718. Jeff Gordon ..........................................2,0699. Ryan Newman .....................................2,06410. Clint Bowyer .......................................2,06311. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ..............................2,04912. Joey Logano ......................................2,04213. Kasey Kahne ......................................2,04014. Brad Keselowski ...................................79215. Jamie McMurray ...................................78616. Martin Truex Jr. ..................................... 75217. Paul Menard .......................................... 74218. Aric Almirola ......................................... 71919. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. .............................70020. Jeff Burton ............................................69421. Juan Pablo Montoya .............................69322. Marcos Ambrose ..................................69323. Tony Stewart .........................................59424. Casey Mears .........................................57725. Denny Hamlin .......................................528

Sprint Cup Money Leaders1. Jimmie Johnson ..........................$7,300,6672. Kyle Busch ..................................$5,730,6713. Matt Kenseth .............................. $5,598,4084. Kevin Harvick ..............................$5,100,4705. Brad Keselowski ........................ $5,070,8776. Carl Edwards ............................. $4,820,4697. Jeff Gordon .................................$4,621,0518. Ryan Newman ............................$4,587,3729. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ......................$4,521,37310. Joey Logano ............................ $4,500,49311. Martin Truex Jr. ........................ $4,444,37912. Clint Bowyer ............................. $4,421,30213. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. .................$4,302,18114. Kasey Kahne ............................ $4,292,52915. Kurt Busch ................................$4,146,39316. Aric Almirola ............................ $4,048,58817. Greg Biffle .................................$4,011,93918. Jamie McMurray .......................$3,931,81319. Juan Pablo Montoya ................ $3,923,75620. Paul Menard ............................ $3,820,35621. Marcos Ambrose ...................... $3,787,01522. Tony Stewart .............................$3,710,62423. David Ragan .............................$3,527,27524. Casey Mears ............................ $3,322,90025. Denny Hamlin .......................... $3,265,029

Sprint Cup ScheduleSept. 29 — AAA 400, Dover, Del.Oct. 6 — Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan.Oct. 12 — Bank of America 500, Concord, N.C.Oct. 20 — Camping World RV Sales 500, Talladega, Ala.Oct. 27 — Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, Ridgeway, Va.Nov. 3 — AAA Texas 500, Fort Worth, TexasNov. 10 — AdvoCare 500, Avondale, Ariz.Nov. 17 — Ford EcoBoost 400, Homestead, Fla.

Nationwide Points Leaders1. Sam Hornish Jr. ......................................9622. Austin Dillon ............................................9473. Regan Smith ........................................... 9174. Elliott Sadler ...........................................9085. Brian Vickers ..........................................9026. Justin Allgaier .........................................8877. Brian Scott ..............................................8838. Trevor Bayne ...........................................8689. Kyle Larson .............................................82210. Parker Kligerman ..................................78311. Alex Bowman ........................................73912. Nelson Piquet Jr. ..................................70913. Mike Bliss ..............................................66414. Travis Pastrana ..................................... 61715. Jeremy Clements ..................................52816. Reed Sorenson ..................................... 51717. Michael Annett ...................................... 51318. Mike Wallace ........................................49619. Eric McClure ......................................... 41920. Joe Nemechek ......................................40921. Cole Whitt .............................................33822. Johanna Long .......................................33723. Jeffrey Earnhardt ..................................30124. Blake Koch ............................................27525. Brad Sweet ...........................................272

Nationwide Money Leaders

1. Sam Hornish Jr. ............................ $985,3572. Austin Dillon .................................. $929,2843. Kyle Busch .................................... $909,0404. Elliott Sadler ..................................$810,8175. Brian Vickers ................................ $789,9226. Trevor Bayne ..................................$766,1427. Regan Smith ..................................$743,0838. Kyle Larson ....................................$735,7689. Brian Scott .....................................$731,59810. Justin Allgaier ............................. $728,45011. Parker Kligerman .........................$689,12612. Alex Bowman ...............................$677,09213. Nelson Piquet Jr. ..........................$628,79214. Travis Pastrana ............................$616,08715. Mike Bliss .....................................$608,18216. Reed Sorenson ............................$592,24217. Mike Wallace ............................... $578,09618. Jeremy Clements ........................ $555,68719. Brad Keselowski ......................... $542,30520. Eric McClure ................................ $511,80721. Joe Nemechek ............................ $492,49722. Michael Annett ............................ $440,90923. Blake Koch .................................. $406,58724. Jeff Green ....................................$395,17025. Joey Logano ............................... $393,670

Nationwide ScheduleSept. 28 — 5-hour ENERGY 200 benefiting Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Dover, Del.Oct. 5 — Kansas Lottery 300, Kansas City, Kan.Oct. 11 — Dollar General 300, Concord, N.C.Nov. 2 — O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, Fort Worth, TexasNov. 9 — ServiceMaster 200, Avondale, Ariz.Nov. 16 — Ford EcoBoost 300, Homestead, Fla.

BasketballWNBA Playoffs

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS(Best-of-three)

Eastern ConferenceAtlanta vs. Washington

Thursday, Sept. 19Washington 71, Atlanta 56

Saturday, Sept. 21Atlanta 63, Washington 45

Monday’s GameAtlanta 80, Washington 72, Atlanta wins series 2-1

Chicago vs. IndianaFriday, Sept. 20

Indiana 85, Chicago 72Sunday, Sept. 22

Indiana 79, Chicago 57, Indiana wins series 2-0

Western ConferenceMinnesota vs. Seattle

Friday, Sept. 20Minnesota 80, Seattle 64

Sunday, Sept. 22Minnesota 58, Seattle 55, Minnesota wins series 2-0

Los Angeles vs. PhoenixThursday, Sept. 19

Phoenix 86, Los Angeles 75Saturday, Sept. 21

Los Angeles 82, Phoenix 73Monday’s Game

Phoenix 78, Los Angeles 77, Phoenix wins series 2-1

CONFERENCE FINALS(Best-of-three)

Eastern ConferenceAtlanta vs. IndianaThursday’s Game

Indiana at Atlanta, 6 p.m.Sunday’s Game

Atlanta at Indiana, 2 p.m.

Western ConferenceMinnesota vs. Phoenix

Thursday’s GamePhoenix at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Sunday’s GameMinnesota at Phoenix, 4 p.m.

FootballCFL

EAST DIVISION W L T Pts PF PAToronto 8 4 0 16 354 315Hamilton 6 6 0 12 316 329Montreal 4 8 0 8 285 349Winnipeg 2 10 0 4 251 368

WEST DIVISION W L T Pts PF PACalgary 9 3 0 18 373 301B.C. 8 4 0 16 325 302Saskatchewan 8 4 0 16 376 282Edmonton 3 9 0 6 294 328

Friday’s GameB.C. at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s GamesCalgary vs. Hamilton at Guelph, Ontario, 5 p.m.Toronto at Edmonton, 8 p.m.

Sunday’s GameSaskatchewan at Montreal, Noon

The Sports Network Football Championship

Subdivision Top 25PHILADELPHIA — The weekly poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 22, points and previous ranking: Rec. Pts Pvs1. North Dakota St. (157) 3-0 3949 12. E. Washington (1) 2-1 3669 23. Towson 4-0 3580 44. Sam Houston State 3-1 3415 55. Northern Iowa 3-0 3258 76. South Dakota State 3-1 2884 67. Montana 3-0 2802 98. Eastern Illinois 3-1 2622 89. McNeese State 4-0 2529 1210. New Hampshire 1-1 2428 1111. Montana State 2-2 2366 312. Coastal Carolina 4-0 1809 1513. Central Arkansas 2-2 1681 1314. James Madison 3-1 1578 1715. Georgia Southern 2-1 1531 1416. Fordham 4-0 1312 2117. Wofford 2-2 1307 1018. Cal Poly 1-2 1124 1819. Villanova 1-2 966 2020. Bethune-Cookman 3-1 876 1921. Lehigh 3-0 821 2222. Richmond 2-2 673 2323. Tennessee-Martin 2-1 596 2424. Northern Arizona 2-1 556 2525. Gardner-Webb 3-1 483 —

Football Championship Subdivision Coaches

Top 25SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The weekly poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 22 and previous ranking: Rec. Pts Pv1. N. Dakota St. (26) 3-0 650 12. Towson 4-0 616 33. Eastern Washington 2-1 598 44. Sam Houston St. 3-1 573 55. Northern Iowa 3-0 531 76. South Dakota St. 3-1 465 67. New Hampshire 2-1 460 97. Montana 3-0 460 119. McNeese St. 4-0 409 1310. Montana St. 2-2 402 211. Coastal Carolina 4-0 372 1512. Eastern Illinois 3-1 354 1013. Central Arkansas 2-2 326 1414. James Madison 3-1 283 1615. Wofford 2-2 278 816. Fordham 4-0 217 2117. Lehigh 3-0 214 1818. B-Cookman 3-1 179 1719. Cal Poly 1-2 169 1920. Richmond 2-2 156 2021. Villanova 1-2 155 2322. No. Arizona 2-1 117 2223. Stony Brook 1-2 107 1224. Illinois St. 1-2 80 2425. Youngstown St. 3-1 47 NR

AFCA Division II Coaches Top 25

Rec. Pts Pvs1. Valdosta St. (Ga.) (29) 2-0 793 12. Minn. St.-Mankato (2) 3-0 766 23. NW Missouri St. 3-0 723 34. West Texas A&M 3-0 692 45. Colo. St.-Pueblo (1) 3-0 676 56. Missouri Western St. 3-0 647 67. Indiana (Pa.) 3-0 581 88. Henderson St. (Ark.) 3-0 553 99. Gr. Valley St. (Mich.) 3-0 544 1010. C-Newman (Tenn.) 3-0 493 1111. Bloomsburg (Pa.) 3-0 450 1312. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 3-0 449 1413. Minnesota-Duluth 2-1 400 714. Shepherd (W.Va.) 3-0 370 1515. West Alabama 2-1 321 1616. N.C.-Pembroke 3-0 315 1817. W-Salem St. (N.C.) 2-1 256 1918. Washburn (Kan.) 3-0 232 2219. West Chester (Pa.) 3-0 227 2020. St. Cloud St. (Minn.) 3-0 172 2321. Chadron St. (Neb.) 2-1 149 2122. Indianapolis (Ind.) 2-1 146 1223. Mdwstrn St. (Texas) 1-1 88 2524. Emporia St. (Kan.) 3-0 72 —25. Tarleton St. (Texas) 2-0 58 —

AFCA Division III Coaches Top 25

Rec. Pts Pv1. Mt. Union (Ohio) (38) 2-0 1044 —2. M.H.-Baylor (Texas) (4) 3-0 972 —3. Linfield (Ore.) 2-0 921 —4. North Central (Ill.) 2-0 904 —5. Hobart (N.Y.) 2-0 737 —6. Wis.-Platteville 3-0 712 —7. Wis.-Whitewater 2-0 666 —8. Bethel (Minn.) 2-0 652 —9. Wis.-Oshkosh 2-0 628 —10. Heidelberg (Ohio) 2-0 595 —11. Wheaton (Ill.) 3-0 580 —12. St. Thomas (Minn.) 2-1 525 —13. Johns Hopkins (Md.) 3-0 506 —14. Wesley (Del.) 2-1 499 —15. Pac. Lutheran (Wash.) 2-0 488 —16. Del.Valley (Pa.) 3-0 342 —17. Coe (Iowa) 3-0 335 —18. Wabash (Ind.) 2-0 334 —19. St. John Fisher (N.Y.) 2-0 288 —20. Franklin (Ind.) 1-2 244 —21. St. John’s (Minn.) 3-0 240 —22. Wittenberg (Ohio) 1-1 217 —23. Huntingdon (Ala.) 2-0 215 —24. Chr. Newport (Va.) 3-0 174 —25. Thomas More (Ky.) 2-0 137 —

This Week’s ScheduleThursday’s Games

SOUTHVirginia Tech at Georgia Tech, 6:30 p.m.Howard at NC A&T, 6:30 p.m.

SOUTHWESTIowa St. at Tulsa, 6:30 p.m.

FAR WESTCal Poly at Portland St., 9:15 p.m.

Friday’s GamesFAR WEST

Middle Tennessee at BYU, 8 p.m.Utah St. at San Jose St., 8 p.m.

Saturday’s GamesEAST

Fordham at St. Francis (Pa.), 11 a.m.Oklahoma St. at West Virginia, 11 a.m.Cornell at Yale, 11 a.m.Monmouth (NJ) at Columbia, 11:30 a.m.New Hampshire at Lehigh, 11:30 a.m.Virginia at Pittsburgh, 11:30 a.m.CCSU at Rhode Island, NoonBryant at Wagner, NoonPrinceton at Georgetown, 2 p.m.Florida St. at Boston College, 2:30 p.m.UConn at Buffalo, 2:30 p.m.Penn at Villanova, 4 p.m.Sacred Heart at Bucknell, 5 p.m.Towson at Stony Brook, 5 p.m.Holy Cross at Dartmouth, 6 p.m.James Madison at Delaware, 6 p.m.Brown at Harvard, 6:30 p.m.

SOUTHButler at Jacksonville, 11 a.m.Miami at South Florida, 11 a.m.South Carolina at UCF, 11 a.m.South Alabama at Tennessee, 11:21 a.m.East Carolina at North Carolina, 11:30 a.m.Drake at Mercer, NoonDavidson at Morehead St., NoonNorfolk St. at Morgan St., NoonSan Diego at Stetson, NoonCoastal Carolina at Elon, 12:30 p.m.Robert Morris at VMI, 12:30 p.m.Charlotte at Presbyterian, 1 p.m.Hampton at SC State, 1 p.m.Troy at Duke, 2 p.m.W. Carolina at Samford, 2 p.m.Charleston Southern at Appalachian St., 2:30 p.m.Wake Forest at Clemson, 2:30 p.m.LSU at Georgia, 2:30 p.m.Cent. Michigan at NC State, 2:30 p.m.Murray St. at Jacksonville St., 3 p.m.Maine at Richmond, 3 p.m.Alcorn St. at Alabama St., 5 p.m.Chattanooga at Georgia Southern, 5 p.m.Albany (NY) at Old Dominion, 5 p.m.Delaware St. at Savannah St., 5 p.m.Furman at The Citadel, 5 p.m.Point (Ga.) at Gardner-Webb, 5 p.m.Mississippi at Alabama, 5:30 p.m.Texas Southern at Alabama A&M, 6 p.m.Lamar at Grambling St., 6 p.m.Florida at Kentucky, 6 p.m.Kentucky Wesleyan at Liberty, 6 p.m.Tulane at Louisiana-Monroe, 6 p.m.Arkansas Tech at Nicholls St., 6 p.m.Langston at Northwestern St., 6 p.m.Jackson St. at Southern U., 6 p.m.Navy at W. Kentucky, 6 p.m.UAB at Vanderbilt, 6:30 p.m.Indiana St. at Tennessee Tech, 7 p.m.

MIDWESTMiami (Ohio) at Illinois, 11 a.m.N. Illinois at Purdue, 11 a.m.Marist at Dayton, NoonIllinois St. at Missouri St., 1 p.m.Campbell at Valparaiso, 2 p.m.Akron at Bowling Green, 2:30 p.m.E. Kentucky at E. Illinois, 2:30 p.m.Toledo at Ball St., 2 p.m.Tennessee St. vs. Central St. (Ohio) at St. Louis, 2 p.m.N. Dakota St. at S. Dakota St., 2 p.m.Iowa at Minnesota, 2:30 p.m.Montana St. at North Dakota, 2:30 p.m.Oklahoma at Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m.South Dakota at W. Illinois, 3 p.m.McNeese St. at N. Iowa, 4 p.m.Youngstown St. at S. Illinois, 6 p.m.UT-Martin at SE Missouri, 6 p.m.Kent St. at W. Michigan, 6 p.m.Arkansas St. at Missouri, 6:30 p.m.Wisconsin at Ohio St., 7 p.m.

SOUTHWESTSMU at TCU, 11 a.m.E. Washington at Sam Houston St., 2 p.m.Houston at UTSA, 3 p.m.Army vs. Louisiana Tech at Dallas, 3 p.m.Texas A&M at Arkansas, 6 p.m.FAU at Rice, 6 p.m.Prairie View at Stephen F. Austin, 6 p.m.Wyoming at Texas St., 6 p.m.

FAR WESTStanford at Washington St., TBAColorado at Oregon St., 2 p.m.UTEP at Colorado St., 2:30 p.m.S. Utah at N. Colorado, 2:35 p.m.Temple at Idaho, 4 p.m.Arizona at Washington, 6 p.m.UNLV at New Mexico, 7 p.m.San Diego St. at New Mexico St., 7 p.m.Sacramento St. at Weber St., 7 p.m.Air Force at Nevada, 7:05 p.m.Montana at N. Arizona, 8 p.m.Idaho St. at UC Davis, 8 p.m.Southern Cal at Arizona St., 9 p.m.Southern Miss. at Boise St., 9:15 p.m.California at Oregon, 9:30 p.m.Fresno State at Hawaii, 10:59 p.m.

HockeyNHL PreseasonEASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAToronto 5 4 0 1 9 17 13Tampa Bay 4 4 0 0 8 18 11Boston 5 4 1 0 8 16 15Buffalo 5 3 1 1 7 18 15Florida 5 2 1 2 6 16 17Montreal 5 2 2 1 5 17 16Ottawa 3 2 1 0 4 9 6Detroit 5 2 3 0 4 15 11

Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAColumbus 6 4 1 1 9 20 17Washington 5 2 0 3 7 16 17Pittsburgh 5 2 2 1 5 15 19New Jersey 4 2 2 0 4 10 9Philadelphia 4 1 2 1 3 11 13N.Y. Rangers 3 1 2 0 2 5 8Carolina 4 1 3 0 2 9 17N.Y. Islanders 5 1 4 0 2 10 17

WESTERN CONFERENCECentral Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GAChicago 5 3 0 2 8 16 14Minnesota 4 3 1 0 6 11 8Dallas 4 2 0 2 6 14 12St. Louis 4 2 1 1 5 15 15Colorado 3 2 1 0 4 7 6Winnipeg 6 1 3 2 4 12 19Nashville 4 1 2 1 3 8 14

Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAEdmonton 6 4 1 1 9 21 15Calgary 6 4 2 0 8 23 18Anaheim 5 3 2 0 6 12 13San Jose 3 2 0 1 5 8 7Phoenix 5 2 2 1 5 14 18Los Angeles 4 1 2 1 3 12 13Vancouver 4 1 3 0 2 11 13

NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for over-time loss.

Monday’s GamesPittsburgh 3, Chicago 2, SOMinnesota 2, Columbus 1, SOBoston 3, Washington 2, OTMontreal 3, New Jersey 2Calgary 4, N.Y. Rangers 1Edmonton 2, Winnipeg 1Vancouver 6, Phoenix 1

Today’s GamesOttawa at Toronto, 6 p.m.New Jersey at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.Tampa Bay at Nashville, 7 p.m.Dallas at Colorado, 8 p.m.N.Y. Rangers at Edmonton, 8:30 p.m.Anaheim at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m.Vancouver at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s GamesColumbus at Buffalo, 6 p.m.Nashville at Washington, 6 p.m.Montreal at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m.Pittsburgh at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.St. Louis at Minnesota, 7 p.m.Phoenix at Calgary, 8 p.m.

SoccerMajor League Soccer

EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GANew York 15 6 9 47 36 51Sporting K.C. 14 6 9 43 28 48Montreal 13 6 9 46 42 45Houston 12 7 10 37 36 43New England 11 7 11 41 33 40Chicago 11 6 12 36 43 39Philadelphia 10 9 10 37 39 39Columbus 11 5 14 36 39 38Toronto FC 4 11 15 25 44 23D.C. 3 6 20 19 48 15

WESTERN CONFERENCE W D L GF GA PtsSeattle 15 5 8 38 28 50Real Salt Lake 14 6 10 53 39 48Portland 11 13 5 45 31 46Los Angeles 13 6 10 46 36 45Colorado 12 9 9 37 31 45Vancouver 11 8 10 42 38 41San Jose 11 8 11 31 41 41FC Dallas 10 10 9 40 42 40Chivas USA 6 8 16 29 54 26

NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie

Friday’s GamePhiladelphia at Sporting Kansas City, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s GamesD.C. United at Toronto FC, NoonReal Salt Lake at Vancouver, 6 p.m.Houston at New England, 6:30 p.m.Montreal at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday’s GamesLos Angeles at Portland, 2:30 p.m.Columbus at FC Dallas, 7:30 p.m.New York at Seattle FC, 8 p.m.San Jose at Chivas USA, 10 p.m.

TennisWTA

Toray Pan Pacific OpenMonday

At Ariake Colosseum, TokyoPurse: $2.37 million (Premier)

Surface: Hard-OutdoorSingles

First RoundAna Ivanovic (11), Serbia, def. Annika Beck, Germany, 6-1, 6-1.Misaki Doi, Japan, def. Varvara Lepchenko, United States, 6-7 (3), 6-0, 7-5.Eugenie Bouchard, Canada, def. Monica Puig, Puerto Rico, 6-0, 6-4.Casey Dellacqua, Australia, def. Kristina Mladenovic, France, 7-5, 6-1.Ayumi Morita, Japan, def. Laura Robson, Britain, 7-6 (4), 6-3.Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada, def. Francesca Schiavone, Italy, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.Flavia Pennetta, Italy, def. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-3.Simona Halep (13), Romania, def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 3-0, retired.Madison Keys, United States, def. Carla Suarez Navarro (10), Spain, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.Peng Shuai, China, def. Risa Ozaki, Japan, 6-2, 6-1.Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia, def. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, 6-2, 5-7, 6-0.Andrea Petkovic, Germany, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japan, def. Anastasia Rodionova, Australia, 6-2, 4-1, retired.

Second RoundPetra Kvitova (7), Czech Republic, def. Belinda Bencic, Switzerland, 7-5, 6-4.Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, def. Roberta Vinci (8), Italy, 7-5, 6-4.Angelique Kerber (5), Germany, def. Maria- Teresa Torro-Flor, Spain, 6-0, 6-1.

DoublesFirst Round

Julia Goerges, Germany, and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic, def. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia, and Marina Erakovic, New Zealand, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.

SundaySingles

First RoundSloane Stephens (9), United States, def. Stefanie Voegele, Switzerland, 6-3, 6-2.Samantha Stosur (12), Australia, def. Alize Cornet, France, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.Kirsten Flipkens (14), Belgium, def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic, 7-6 (4), 7-5.Sorana Cirstea (15), Romania, def. Julia Goerges, Germany, 6-4, 6-4.Dominika Cibulkova (16), Slovakia, def. Urszula Radwanska, Poland, 6-3, 6-3.Belinda Bencic, Switzerland, def. Daria Gavrilova, Russia, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, def. Polona Hercog, Slovenia, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2).Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, Spain, def. Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic, 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-3.Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, def. Paula Ormaechea, Argentina, 6-1, 6-2.Elina Svitolina, Ukraine, def. Kurumi Nara, Japan, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.Venus Williams, United States, def. Mona Barthel, Germany, 6-3, 6-1.

DoublesFirst Round

Cara Black, Zimbabwe, and Sania Mirza, India, def. Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Flavia Pennetta, Italy, 2-6, 6-0, 10-7.Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, and Anastasia Rodionova, Australia, def. Mandy Minella, Luxembourg, and Elena Vesnina, Russia, 6-3, 6-1.

ATP World Tour Thailand Open

MondayAt Impact Arena, Bangkok, Thailand

Purse: $631,530 (WT250)Surface: Hard-Indoor

SinglesFirst Round

Robin Haase, Netherlands, def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain, 6-2, 6-4.Igor Sijsling, Netherlands, def. Jarkko Nieminen (7), Finland, 6-3, 7-6 (2).Feliciano Lopez (6), Spain, def. Laslo Djere, Serbia, 6-3, 6-3.

ATP World Tour Malaysian Open

MondayAt Putra Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Purse: $984,300 (WT250)Surface: Hard-Indoor

SinglesFirst Round

Adrian Mannarino, France, def. Daniel Brands, Germany, 6-3, 6-4.Federico Delbonis, Argentina, def. Chung Hyeon, South Korea, 6-4, 6-2.

DoublesFirst Round

Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay, and Horacio Zeballos, Argentina, def. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain, and Mohd Assri Merzuki, Malaysia, 6-4, 7-6 (6).

TransactionsMonday’s Moves

BASEBALLAmerican League

TAMPA BAY RAYS—Designated RHP J.D. Martin for assignment. Reinstated RHP Jesse Crain from the 60-day DL.

National LeaguePHILADELPHIA PHILLIES—Placed RHP Kyle Kendrick on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Sept. 14.

BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS—Signed C Dewayne Dedmon and G Cameron Jones.MIAMI HEAT—Signed G Larry Drew II.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

ARIZONA CARDINALS—Placed LBs Sam Acho and Lorenzo Alexander on injured reserve. Signed LB Dontay Moch from the practice squad.BUFFALO BILLS—Placed DE Alex Carrington on injured reserve.GREEN BAY PACKERS—Released WR Jer-emy Ross.JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS_Signed G Jacques McClendon. Waived WR Jeremy Ebert.MINNESOTA VIKINGS_Placed FB Zach Line on injured reserve.

FieldsContinued from Page 1B

“We had a very difficult stretch to start the season,” McGregory said. “The main thing is we didn’t want the kids to get down. We told them to keep working hard and to get better each week and the wins would come. I was really proud of the kids for fi-nally getting that win because it is a major relief. They have kept working hard and be-lieving. It was a great night for Holden, the offensive line, and the entire offensive unit.”

Since he plays football, basketball, and baseball at South Lamar High, Fields under-stands the ups and downs of being an ath-lete. He learned how to how become a better players from his older brother, Hunter. The two played together at South Lamar last sea-son before Hunter graduated in May.

“I went out for football my seventh-grade year because of how my brother liked it,” Fields said. “He always played and he always told me how much he liked it. He has always been a big influence for me and has pushed me when I need it most. My brother and my grandfather (Harry) have been the biggest influences on my football career.”

There is still plenty of football left for Fields and the Stallions in the Alabama High School Activities Association’s Class 1A, Re-gion 5 race. The Stallions look to make the first victory a starting point, instead of an ending one.

South Lamar will play Friday at Central of Coosa County.

“We felt like we could win some games this year,” Fields said. “Getting the first one won’t do anything but help our confidence. We are always excited to play every Friday night. Now that we have a win, we are even more excited to keep it going.”

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.

Prep Player of the WeekEvery Tuesday, The Dispatch will recog-

nize a standout prep performer.If you would like to nominate a prep player

of the week, call us at 662-327-1297 or e-mail us at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] before 5 p.m. Saturday.

Page 11: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

By JENNA FRyERThe Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — These are strange times in NASCAR, where every-thing has turned upside down in the blink of an eye.

Michael Waltrip Rac-ing is fighting for its survival in the wake of a race-fixing scandal and a driver who woke up two Mondays ago in the Chase for the Sprint Cup champi-onship is now looking for a job. Sponsors are taking a stand, too — against a team over ethics, maybe even against NASCAR for the perception that all teams are not treated equally.

A single-car team based in Colorado sudden-ly has the most desired seat in the garage, and when the music stops, a pair of respected veterans and the Nationwide Series championship leader may be left standing without rides because the youth movement has clearly tak-en over.

Maybe everything went haywire when Tony Stewart broke his leg Aug. 5. That’s when co-owner Gene Haas went rogue, seizing the opportunity while Stewart was inca-pacitated to finalize a deal to hire the seemingly un-touchable Kurt Busch.

Nothing else has made much sense since then.

Busch, whose talent had taken tiny Furniture Row Motorsports to the verge of a Chase berth, was suddenly headed back to a dream job. With Stewart sidelined for the rest of the season, defend-ing Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski stuck in a slump and perpetual contender Denny Ham-lin out of Chase conten-tion, the field was open to roughly 10 drivers sud-denly vying for a golden ticket into NASCAR’s ver-

sion of the playoffs.As Furniture Row

walked the fine line of courting a new driver — the team flew Juan Pablo Montoya to Colorado for a shop tour — while mak-ing last-minute prepara-tions for Busch’s Chase push, Michael Waltrip Racing was readying its fleet for the homestretch. MWR had a legitimate title contender in Clint Bowyer, ranked second or third in the standings for 10 consecutive weeks, and Martin Truex Jr. was on the Chase bubble.

So everything seemed somewhat normal head-ed into Richmond, where the Sept. 7 race would end with the top 12 drivers advancing into the Chase and Montoya probably taking the Furniture Row job.

Then came the late-race shenanigans by MWR to get Truex the final Chase berth. That’s when things really spun out of control.

NASCAR came down hard with sanctions, in-cluding Truex’s removal from the Chase field in favor of Stewart teammate Ryan Newman.

Longtime Waltrip spon-sor NAPA Auto Parts, cit-ing its belief in “fair play,” then said it would pull its multimillion-dollar spon-sorship from MWR at the end of the year. The NAPA decision could force MWR to lay off up to 100 employees and fold its No. 56 car.

So Truex went from driving his guts out in an effort to make the Chase to an unwitting partici-pant in a team scandal to being potentially out of

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013 3B

Auto Racing BaseballAMERICAN LEAGUE

East Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Awayx-Boston 95 62 .605 — — 6-4 W-1 53-28 42-34Tampa Bay 87 69 .558 7½ — 7-3 W-4 51-30 36-39New York 82 74 .526 12½ 4 4-6 L-1 46-32 36-42Baltimore 81 75 .519 13½ 5 4-6 L-5 42-33 39-42Toronto 71 85 .455 23½ 15 4-6 L-2 38-40 33-45

Central Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayDetroit 91 66 .580 — — 6-4 L-2 51-30 40-36Cleveland 86 70 .551 4½ — 8-2 W-4 49-30 37-40Kansas City 83 73 .532 7½ 3 6-4 W-2 44-37 39-36Minnesota 66 90 .423 24½ 20 3-7 W-1 32-43 34-47Chicago 62 94 .397 28½ 24 4-6 W-2 36-41 26-53

West Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Awayx-Oakland 94 63 .599 — — 8-2 W-5 52-29 42-34Texas 85 71 .545 8½ 1 4-6 W-1 40-35 45-36Los Angeles 76 80 .487 17½ 10 6-4 L-2 37-42 39-38Seattle 68 89 .433 26 18½ 3-7 L-1 33-43 35-46Houston 51 106 .325 43 35½ 0-10 L-10 24-54 27-52

NATIONAL LEAGUEEast Division

W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Awayx-Atlanta 92 64 .590 — — 4-6 L-1 52-23 40-41Washington 84 73 .535 8½ 6 6-4 L-1 47-34 37-39New York 71 85 .455 21 18½ 6-4 L-1 32-45 39-40Philadelphia 71 85 .455 21 18½ 3-7 L-5 43-38 28-47Miami 58 99 .369 34½ 32 3-7 W-1 32-44 26-55

Central Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Awayz-St. Louis 92 65 .586 — — 6-4 W-1 49-27 43-38z-Cincinnati 90 67 .573 2 — 7-3 W-2 49-26 41-41z-Pittsburgh 90 67 .573 2 — 5-5 W-1 50-31 40-36Milwaukee 70 86 .449 21½ 19½ 6-4 W-2 37-44 33-42Chicago 65 92 .414 27 25 2-8 L-2 30-49 35-43

West Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Awayx-Los Angeles 90 66 .577 — — 4-6 W-2 46-32 44-34Arizona 79 77 .506 11 10½ 6-4 L-1 44-34 35-43San Diego 73 83 .468 17 16½ 6-4 W-1 43-35 30-48San Francisco 72 84 .462 18 17½ 6-4 W-1 38-38 34-46Colorado 71 86 .452 19½ 19 4-6 L-2 44-35 27-51

z-clinched playoff berthx-clinched division

AMERICAN LEAGUEMonday’s Games

Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 4Texas 12, Houston 0Minnesota 4, Detroit 3, 11 inningsChicago White Sox 3, Toronto 2Oakland 10, L.A. Angels 5Kansas City 6, Seattle 5, 12 innings

Today’s GamesChicago White Sox (H.Santiago 4-9) at Cleveland (U.Jimenez 12-9), 6:05 p.m.Tampa Bay (M.Moore 15-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Kuroda 11-12), 6:05 p.m.Toronto (Redmond 4-2) at Baltimore (Tillman 16-7), 6:05 p.m.Houston (Peacock 5-5) at Texas (Darvish 13-9), 7:05 p.m.Detroit (Fister 13-9) at Minnesota (Diamond 6-11), 7:10 p.m.Boston (Lackey 10-12) at Colorado (Chatwood 7-5), 7:40 p.m.Oakland (Griffin 14-9) at L.A. Angels (Vargas 8-7), 9:05 p.m.Kansas City (B.Chen 8-3) at Seattle (Paxton 2-0), 9:10 p.m.

Wednesday’s GamesOakland (Straily 10-7) at L.A. Angels (Weaver 10-8), 2:35 p.m.Chicago White Sox (Axelrod 4-10) at Cleveland (Salazar 1-3), 6:05 p.m.Tampa Bay (Price 8-8) at N.Y. Yankees (Undecided), 6:05 p.m.Toronto (Rogers 5-8) at Baltimore (B.Norris 10-12), 6:05 p.m.Houston (Keuchel 6-9) at Texas (M.Perez 9-5), 7:05 p.m.Detroit (Scherzer 20-3) at Minnesota (Correia 9-12), 7:10 p.m.Boston (Peavy 11-5) at Colorado (Oswalt 0-6), 7:40 p.m.Kansas City (E.Santana 9-9) at Seattle (Iwakuma 13-6), 9:10 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUEMonday’s Games

Milwaukee 5, Atlanta 0Cincinnati 3, N.Y. Mets 2, 10 inningsMiami 4, Philadelphia 0Pittsburgh 2, Chicago Cubs 1St. Louis 4, Washington 3San Diego 4, Arizona 1

Today’s GamesMilwaukee (Thornburg 3-1) at Atlanta (F.Garcia 1-2), 6:10 p.m.N.Y. Mets (Niese 7-8) at Cincinnati (Leake 14-6), 6:10 p.m.Philadelphia (Miner 0-1) at Miami (H.Alvarez 4-5), 6:10 p.m.Pittsburgh (Cole 9-7) at Chicago Cubs (Rusin 2-5), 7:05 p.m.Washington (G.Gonzalez 11-7) at St. Louis (Wacha 3-1), 7:15 p.m.Boston (Lackey 10-12) at Colorado (Chatwood 7-5), 7:40 p.m.Arizona (Miley 10-10) at San Diego (T.Ross 3-8), 9:10 p.m.L.A. Dodgers (Ryu 13-7) at San Francisco (M.Cain 8-9), 9:15 p.m.

Wednesday’s GamesN.Y. Mets (Matsuzaka 2-3) at Cincinnati (G.Reynolds 1-2), 11:35 a.m.Washington (Zimmermann 19-8) at St. Louis (S.Miller 14-9), 12:45 p.m.Pittsburgh (Liriano 16-7) at Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 3-2), 1:20 p.m.Milwaukee (Lohse 10-10) at Atlanta (Maholm 10-10), 6:10 p.m.Philadelphia (Hamels 8-14) at Miami (B.Hand 1-1), 6:10 p.m.Boston (Peavy 11-5) at Colorado (Oswalt 0-6), 7:40 p.m.Arizona (Delgado 5-6) at San Diego (Kennedy 6-10), 9:10 p.m.L.A. Dodgers (Nolasco 13-10) at San Francisco (Bumgarner 13-9), 9:15 p.m.

By ANDREW SELIGMANThe Associated Press

CHICAGO — The long wait is over, Pittsburgh. Your Pirates are finally headed back to the postsea-son.

After a 21-year absence, the Pirates clinched at least a National League wild card Monday night when they beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 and the Washington Na-tionals lost to St. Louis.

Now, they can turn their attention toward bigger goals, the kind that seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream through all those losing seasons.

“Even though I didn’t lose for the last 20 years, they make you feel like you are. You feel like you lost those 20 years,” Andrew McCutchen said. “That’s all you hear. You hear it ev-ery single day — ‘When’s it going to change? You think this is the year?’ You get sick and tired of hear-ing that. It’s awesome that there won’t be any ques-tions anymore. The ques-tion is, ‘Are we going to be able to go farther?’”

It will be Pittsburgh’s first trip to the postseason since Barry Bonds, Jim Leyland and Co. won three straight NL East titles from 1990-92. Bonds then left for San Francisco as a free agent, and the small-budget Pirates piled up 20 consec-utive losing records — the longest streak in the four major professional sports.

Starling Marte hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field, and the Pirates threw out a runner at the plate for the final out.

The Pirates sprayed each other with bubbly and beer and sparkling cider in the visitors’ club-house once St. Louis’ 4-3 win over the Nationals be-came final.

The Cincinnati Reds also clinched at least a wild-card berth, when they beat the New York Mets 3-2 in

10 innings. The Pirates and Reds, both 90-67, trail St. Louis by two games in the NL Central with five to go.

Pittsburgh players sang Journey’s “Don’t Stop Be-lieving.” They chanted “MVP! MVP!” while dous-ing McCutchen. They took pictures and manager Clint Hurdle had them gather for a group photo in the mid-dle of the cramped visitors’ clubhouse.

“The people of Pitts-burgh have been waiting a long time,” said Neil Walk-er, who homered.

The Pirates snapped a 1-all tie when Marte sent a drive off Kevin Gregg (2-6) with two outs in the ninth into the left field bleachers.

In a fitting coincidence, they then preserved the victory on the final out in a play at the plate.

McCutchen, the cen-ter fielder, picked up Ryan Sweeney’s bloop single after right fielder Marlon Byrd failed in trying to scoop up the ball and threw to first baseman Justin Morneau, positioned just in front of the pitcher’s mound. Mor-neau caught the throw on one hop and made the relay to catcher Russell Martin, who applied the tag on Nate Schierholtz trying to score from first base.

Still on his knees, Mar-tin held the ball over his head in jubilation. Then, he was embraced by closer Jason Grilli before heaving the ball toward deep left field as the Pirates celebrat-ed near the mound. Grilli escaped with his 32nd save in 34 chances.

“Twenty-one years since we popped Champagne in a Pirates clubhouse — and we’re acting like it’s been a long time,” Hurdle said. “The hard work, the fun. I’m just proud of each and every man in here, the fans they represent, ownership, general manager, president ... the scouts, players. This has been a group effort for a long time.”

Pirates clinch first playoff spot in 21 years

NASCAR has been turned upside down in past two months

InsIden MORE AUTO RACING: Sprint Cup, Nationwide Points, Money Leaders. Page 2B

See NASCAR, 6B

WoRld leAdeRs, PGA Money leAdeRs

Golf

WORLD GOLF RANKINGThrough Sept. 22

1. Tiger Woods USA 13.222. Adam Scott Aus 9.253. Phil Mickelson USA 8.524. Henrik Stenson Swe 8.235. Justin Rose Eng 7.786. Rory McIlroy NIr 7.507. Steve Stricker USA 6.888. Matt Kuchar USA 6.649. Brandt Snedeker USA 6.2710. Jason Dufner USA 6.0811. Gr. McDowell NIr 5.5212. Zach Johnson USA 5.5213. Jim Furyk USA 5.2114. Keegan Bradley USA 5.1115. Luke Donald Eng 5.1016. Jason Day Aus 4.9117. Sergio Garcia Esp 4.6518. Lee Westwood Eng 4.6219. C. Schwartzel RSA 4.5120. Ian Poulter Eng 4.4721. Jordan Spieth USA 4.3722. Ernie Els RSA 4.3123. Dustin Johnson USA 4.2624. Webb Simpson USA 4.1825. Hunter Mahan USA 4.09

PGA TOUR MONEY LEADERS Through Sept. 22

Player Trn Money1. Tiger Woods 16 $8,553,4392. Henrik Stenson 18 $6,388,2303. Matt Kuchar 23 $5,616,8084. Phil Mickelson 21 $5,495,7935. Brandt Snedeker 23 $5,318,0876. Adam Scott 16 $4,892,6117. Steve Stricker 13 $4,440,5328. Justin Rose 17 $4,146,1489. Zach Johnson 24 $4,044,50910. Jordan Spieth 23 $3,879,82011. Keegan Bradley 25 $3,636,81312. Jason Day 21 $3,625,03013. Billy Horschel 26 $3,501,70314. Bill Haas 25 $3,475,56315. Jim Furyk 22 $3,204,77916. Jason Dufner 22 $3,132,26817. Kevin Streelman 25 $3,088,28418. Hunter Mahan 25 $3,036,16419. Dustin Johnson 22 $2,963,21420. Webb Simpson 25 $2,957,58221. Graham DeLaet 26 $2,834,90022. Boo Weekley 27 $2,786,66223. D.A. Points 28 $2,658,88724. Nick Watney 26 $2,477,63925. Charl Schwartzel 19 $2,256,723

By DOUG FERGUSONThe Associated Press

ATLANTA — Tiger Woods al-ways has been measured against Jack Nicklaus and his 18 majors, and most recently Sam Snead and his 82 PGA Tour victories.

Now he’s being measured against himself.

And it’s not a fair fight.The PGA Tour sent out its

awards ballot Monday to those players eligible to vote. The win-ners are to be announced Friday.

Woods should be a lock for play-er of the year, provided he is mea-sured against the other four names on the ballot instead of the previous seasons when he won the award.

He won five times this year, and the only tournament that could be classified as a medium-strength field was at Torrey Pines. Woods won two World Golf Champion-ships, at Doral and Firestone. He won The Players Championship on perhaps his least favorite course on tour. And he won Bay Hill. The world ranking points he earned from those five wins alone were more than any player has earned all year except for Henrik Stenson.

But he didn’t win a major, the very standard by which Woods measures a great season. And there was nothing particularly memorable about his wins, except that two of them were on a Monday and all of them were on courses where he had won before. In fact, Woods couldn’t even remember where he won. It was a harmless oversight, but no less amusing, when Woods last week at East Lake put himself down for winning Memorial instead of Torrey Pines. Nice problem to have.

Woods already has won the award 10 times. His record this year is worse than every season he won the award except 2003. So this has been a great season by any oth-er comparison except with himself.

Three of the last four winners did not win a major.

Luke Donald won in 2011 with only two victories, one of them at

Woods competing against past as players deliver votes

Disney. He also won the money ti-tle and the Vardon Trophy, and his win at Disney was one of clutch per-formances. Needing nothing short of a win to be the first player with money titles on both sides of the At-lantic in the same year, he birdied the first six holes on the back nine and shot 64 to do just that.

Jim Furyk won in 2010 with only three victories and one other significant trophy — the FedEx Cup. Phil Mickelson won the Mas-ters that year, but the other majors went to players who weren’t even PGA Tour members at the time (Graeme McDowell, Louis Oost-huizen, Martin Kaymer).

Woods won in 2009 with seven wins and a sweep of all the other awards (Vardon, money title).

To be sure, Mickelson and Adam Scott could have made a con-vincing case by winning the Tour Championship. That would have given either of them three wins, including a major and the FedEx Cup (Mickelson would have need-ed some help for the latter).

But they didn’t.One of the more famous sayings

in golf is that the scorecard has only a number, not pictures.

These are the numbers:n Woods led the league with

five wins. He won the money ti-tle by over $2 million. He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average.

n Scott won the Masters and The Barclays, which arguably has the strongest field in golf. He fin-ished in the top 5 at two other ma-jors.

n Mickelson won the British Open and the Phoenix Open. He was runner-up in the U.S. Open.

Stenson also is on the ballot with two FedEx Cup playoff wins and the trophy itself (along with the $10 million bonus). He finished in the top 3 at two other majors. Two great wins and zero majors don’t cut it. Matt Kuchar is also on the ballot, but only for balance. He had his best year ever with two wins. That will have to do.

Adding pictures to the score-

card is the only thing that could change the vote.

Mickelson came within in a dimple of 59 in the Phoenix Open. He had the lead on the back nine at Merion and was runner-up at the U.S. Open for the sixth time. He bounced back to win the British Open — the major not even Mick-elson thought he could win — with what his peers consider one of the greatest closing rounds in a ma-jor. It left him one leg short of the Grand Slam, though winning on a links course already defines him as a complete player even without a U.S. Open.

Scott became the first Aussie in a green jacket and he was leading the British Open on the back nine until making four straight bogeys. He was poised for a run at the Tour Championship until getting sick at the wrong time.

Both are great stories. But did they have better years?

Here are a few things to keep in mind. This is a vote of the players, and there’s no telling how they de-fine the award. Best player or best year? Do they have an agenda? Is it a popularity contest? Still baffling is Rickie Fowler winning rookie of the year in 2010 over Rory McIlroy, even though McIlroy won at Quail Hollow, Fowler didn’t win at all and neither reached the Tour Champi-onship.

Is it a sentimental pick for Mick-elson, the greatest to have never won player of the year? Is there re-sentment toward Woods for how he handled the penalty given to him at Conway Farms for his ball moving?

The tour won’t release results, only a winner. And it won’t reveal voter turnout. Most of these guys only pay attention to their tee times.

One final thought as it relates to Woods: If his record this year be-longed to any other player, would this even be a debate?

BravesContinued from Page 1B

Aramis Ramirez homered off reliever Anthony Var-varo.

Marco Estrada (7-4) gave up two hits, walked three and struck out six. He threw a career-high 115 pitches, 76 for strikes.

The hits Estrada al-lowed were a triple by An-drelton Simmons in the second and single by Jus-tin Upton in the sixth.

In his last eight starts since coming off the dis-abled list with a strained left hamstring, Estrada is 3-0 with a 2.26 ERA, a span of 51 2/3 innings.

Carlos Gomez gave Mil-waukee a 1-0 lead in the first, hitting the first pitch he saw from Minor for his 22nd homer.

The Brewers went up 3-0 in the fifth when Norichika Aoki doubled and scored on Jonathan Lucroy’s 18th homer.

After Ramirez’s 12th homer in the eighth, Mil-waukee took a 5-0 lead when Sean Halton dou-bled off Varvaro, moved to third on Yuniesky Betan-court’s infield single and scored on shortstop Sim-mons’ throwing error.

Minor has allowed at least two homers in sev-en starts this season and is 0-3 with a 5.12 ERA in those outings. He gave up just three homers over an 11-start stretch from June 26-Aug. 25, but has been taken deep seven times in his last five games.

Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez ejected Gonzalez with two outs in the seventh. With a run-ner at first, Estrada hit Paul Janish in the left leg with a pitch, but Hernan-dez ruled that Janish, who leaned into the 89 mph fastball, did not attempt to get out of the way.

Page 12: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

By BRETT MARTELThe Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. — After spending most of his young life cher-ishing every moment in Georgia’s Sanford Stadium, LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger can’t wait until his next visit is done and over with.

“I’m looking forward to Sunday morning tremendously,” said Met-

tenberger, who left the Bulldogs in disgrace in 2010. “There’s just so much put into this game that has noth-ing with the game that actually goes on between the snap and the whistle. The worst part is my mom has to

deal with a lot of this stuff, too, and that’s just unfair.”

The senior quarterback addressed the sixth-ranked Tigers about his Georgia homecoming before Mon-day’s practice.

“I don’t want any outside media or spotlight on myself or my relationship with Georgia to take away from this game and the experience for all the other guys,” he said.

Although Mettenberger prefers not to dwell on how intensely personal this week’s matchup with No. 9 Geor-gia is for him, it’s also hard to deny it.

It’s not every week a quarterback faces the very program he revered as a kid, and for which his mother would be working this week if Georgia coach Mark Richt hadn’t given her some time off to escape the limelight.

“It’d be awkward for her to be hanging around,” Richt said of Tam-

my Mettenberger, adding that he told her to just try and enjoy a week off at a time when she doesn’t normally get one.

Even for Richt, it’s personal. He watched Zach grow up in the football operations building, where Tammy Mettenberger has worked since her son was 8 years old. He remembers a young Zach visiting his mom at work, often wearing Georgia red, being on the field on game days and meeting his players. Richt later gave him a scholarship, but then had to dismiss him when the redshirt freshman quarterback was embroiled in legal trouble over his treatment of a wom-an at a bar not long after 2010 spring practice.

“We all really like Zach and want the best for him, but just don’t want him to win the game this weekend,” Richt said.

Richt also said he did not intend to bring up the Mettenberger storyline with his players, but rather would talk about him like any other opposing quarterback.

“We’re not going to be worrying about, ‘He’s Zach Mettenberger,’ so much as he’s 6-foot-5, 230-whatev-er-he-is, and can sling it,” Richt said.

In this young season, Mettenberg-er is on pace to have one of the best seasons ever by an LSU quarterback.

His 10 scoring passes and 1,026 yards passing are the most an LSU QB has posted through four games. Earlier this season, his five scoring passes against UAB set an LSU sin-gle-game record. He ranks second in the SEC in passing efficiency, behind only Georgia’s Aaron Murray, his for-

mer teammate.When LSU last played Georgia in

the 2011 SEC title game, Mettenberg-er was a third-string quarterback in his first year with the Tigers after transferring from junior college. He didn’t play a snap, but remembers a number of Bulldogs fans expressing their opinions about him in the Geor-gia Dome that night.

“It was pretty bad two years ago getting heckled and I didn’t even play so I can imagine it’s just going to be that much better this time around,” Mettenberger said. “I’m expecting the worst, but I’ve just got to go in there with a level head and play foot-ball.”

Mettenberger’s teammates say their quarterback’s demeanor hasn’t changed much this week, and they’re not surprised.

“Zach is a guy that, when he’s fo-cused, nothing can get him off track,” said left guard Vadal Alexander, a Georgia native himself. “He’s been focused this whole season and I feel like this week’s not going to be any different.”

Les Miles has treated the story line with humor, saying Richt must have known LSU was counting Tam-my Mettenberger for intelligence about the Bulldogs.

Miles said playing “between the hedges” at Georgia’s Sanford Sta-dium is a special experience for any SEC player, so he wasn’t about to downplay how much it would mean to a player who grew up so close to the Bulldogs’ program, envisioning him-self coming out of that tunnel wearing red for most of his young life.

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com4B Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013

Football: NFLAMERICAN CONFERENCE

East W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC DivNew England 3 0 0 1.000 59 34 2-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0Miami 3 0 0 1.000 74 53 1-0-0 2-0-0 2-0-0 1-0-0 0-0-0N.Y. Jets 2 1 0 .667 55 50 2-0-0 0-1-0 1-1-0 1-0-0 1-1-0Buffalo 1 2 0 .333 65 73 1-1-0 0-1-0 0-2-0 1-0-0 0-2-0

South W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC DivHouston 2 1 0 .667 70 82 1-0-0 1-1-0 2-1-0 0-0-0 1-0-0Indianapolis 2 1 0 .667 68 48 1-1-0 1-0-0 1-1-0 1-0-0 0-0-0Tennessee 2 1 0 .667 60 56 1-0-0 1-1-0 2-1-0 0-0-0 0-1-0Jacksonville 0 3 0 .000 28 92 0-1-0 0-2-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-0-0

North W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC DivCincinnati 2 1 0 .667 75 64 2-0-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 1-1-0 1-0-0Baltimore 2 1 0 .667 71 64 2-0-0 0-1-0 2-1-0 0-0-0 1-0-0Cleveland 1 2 0 .333 47 64 0-1-0 1-1-0 0-2-0 1-0-0 0-1-0Pittsburgh 0 3 0 .000 42 76 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-1-0

West W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC DivDenver 3 0 0 1.000 127 71 2-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0Kansas City 3 0 0 1.000 71 34 1-0-0 2-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0 0-0-0Oakland 1 2 0 .333 57 67 1-0-0 0-2-0 1-2-0 0-0-0 0-1-0San Diego 1 2 0 .333 78 81 0-1-0 1-1-0 0-2-0 1-0-0 0-0-0

NATIONAL CONFERENCEEast

W L T Pct PF PA Home Away NFC AFC DivDallas 2 1 0 .667 83 55 2-0-0 0-1-0 2-0-0 0-1-0 1-0-0Philadelphia 1 2 0 .333 79 86 0-2-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 0-2-0 1-0-0N.Y. Giants 0 3 0 .000 54 115 0-1-0 0-2-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-1-0Washington 0 3 0 .000 67 98 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-3-0 0-0-0 0-1-0

South W L T Pct PF PA Home Away NFC AFC DivNew Orleans 3 0 0 1.000 70 38 2-0-0 1-0-0 3-0-0 0-0-0 2-0-0Carolina 1 2 0 .333 68 36 1-1-0 0-1-0 1-1-0 0-1-0 0-0-0Atlanta 1 2 0 .333 71 74 1-0-0 0-2-0 1-1-0 0-1-0 0-1-0Tampa Bay 0 3 0 .000 34 57 0-1-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-2-0 0-1-0

North W L T Pct PF PA Home Away NFC AFC DivChicago 3 0 0 1.000 95 74 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0 1-0-0Detroit 2 1 0 .667 82 69 1-0-0 1-1-0 2-1-0 0-0-0 1-0-0Green Bay 1 2 0 .333 96 88 1-0-0 0-2-0 1-1-0 0-1-0 0-0-0Minnesota 0 3 0 .000 81 96 0-1-0 0-2-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 0-2-0

West W L T Pct PF PA Home Away NFC AFC DivSeattle 3 0 0 1.000 86 27 2-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0St. Louis 1 2 0 .333 58 86 1-0-0 0-2-0 1-2-0 0-0-0 1-0-0San Francisco 1 2 0 .333 44 84 1-1-0 0-1-0 1-1-0 0-1-0 0-1-0Arizona 1 2 0 .333 56 79 1-0-0 0-2-0 1-2-0 0-0-0 0-1-0

Thursday, Sept. 19Kansas City 26, Philadelphia 16

Sunday, Sept. 22Tennessee 20, San Diego 17New Orleans 31, Arizona 7Dallas 31, St. Louis 7Cleveland 31, Minnesota 27Baltimore 30, Houston 9Carolina 38, N.Y. Giants 0Detroit 27, Washington 20New England 23, Tampa Bay 3Cincinnati 34, Green Bay 30Miami 27, Atlanta 23Indianapolis 27, San Francisco 7Seattle 45, Jacksonville 17N.Y. Jets 27, Buffalo 20Chicago 40, Pittsburgh 23

Monday’s GameDenver 37, Oakland 21

Thursday’s GameSan Francisco at St. Louis, 7:25 p.m.

Sunday’s GamesN.Y. Giants at Kansas City, NoonSeattle at Houston, NoonBaltimore at Buffalo, NoonArizona at Tampa Bay, NoonIndianapolis at Jacksonville, NoonCincinnati at Cleveland, NoonChicago at Detroit, NoonPittsburgh vs. Minnesota at London, NoonN.Y. Jets at Tennessee, 3:05 p.m.Washington at Oakland, 3:25 p.m.Dallas at San Diego, 3:25 p.m.Philadelphia at Denver, 3:25 p.m.New England at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.Open: Carolina, Green Bay

Monday, Sept. 30Miami at New Orleans, 7:40 p.m.

Broncos 37, Raiders 21Oakland 0 7 7 7 — 21Denver 10 17 3 7 — 37

First QuarterDen—Decker 2 pass from Manning (Prater kick), 10:28.Den—FG Prater 53, :47.

Second QuarterDen—Welker 12 pass from Manning (Prater kick), 7:27.Oak—D.Moore 73 pass from Pryor (Janikowski kick), 5:57.Den—J.Thomas 13 pass from Manning (Prater kick), 3:40.Den—FG Prater 41, :19.

Third QuarterDen—FG Prater 40, 8:41.Oak—Reece 16 pass from McFadden (Janikowski kick), :17.

Fourth QuarterDen—Hillman 1 run (Prater kick), 11:27.Oak—McFadden 1 run (Janikowski kick), 1:15.A—76,978.

Oak DenFirst downs 13 31Total Net Yards 342 536Rushes-yards 17-49 35-164Passing 293 372Punt Returns 0-0 3-34Kickoff Returns 2-45 1-8Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0Comp-Att-Int 21-31-0 32-37-0Sacked-Yards Lost 3-23 1-2Punts 6-52.5 1-37.0Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-2Penalties-Yards 8-77 5-40Time of Possession 24:36 35:24

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING—Oakland, Pryor 4-36, McFadden 12-9, Ford 1-4. Denver, Hillman 9-66, Ball 11-61, Moreno 12-39, Manning 3-(minus 2).PASSING—Oakland, Pryor 19-28-0-281, Flynn 1-2-0-19, McFadden 1-1-0-16. Denver, Manning 32-37-0-374.RECEIVING—Oakland, D.Moore 6-124, Reece 4-45, Butler 3-54, Streater 3-42, Rivera 2-21, Jennings 2-15, Ford 1-15. Denver, D.Thomas 10-94, Decker 8-133, Welker 7-84, J.Thomas 3-37, Hillman 1-12, Moreno 1-6, Tamme 1-5, Green 1-3.

Manning, Denver beat Oakland to go to 3-0By EDDIE PELLSThe Associated Press

DENVER — Peyton Manning slapped his hands together five, six, seven times and barked out the signals. A few seconds later, Wes Welker was all alone, cradling the quarterback’s latest touchdown pass.

All part of another im-peccably crafted victory for Manning and the Denver Broncos, who rolled over the Oakland Raiders 37-21 Monday night. Denver’s 127 points lead the league and are 31 more than sec-ond-place Green Bay.

It was Denver’s 14th straight regular-season win, tying the franchise re-cord set in 1998 when the Broncos won their second Super Bowl.

Manning went 32 for 37 for 374 yards and put his name in the record books a few more times while out-witting the Raiders (1-2).

“You see flashes of good things,” Manning said. “When we’re executing and not making mistakes, we can go the distance. We can go 80 yards, take advantage of a short field.”

Manning’s 12 touch-down passes are one more than Tom Brady’s old record for the first three games, set in 2011. Manning still has yet to throw an interception, which matches a record held by Michael Vick, who also threw 12 touchdowns before his first pick in 2010.

“We get to play with one

of the greatest quarterbacks and football players to ever play the game,” said tight end Julius Thomas, who caught one of the touch-downs. “He’s great. There’s no other way to cut it up or slice it.”

As much as the numbers, it was Manning’s decipher-ing of the Oakland defense that made jaws drop.

His first touchdown, a 2-yard pass to Eric Decker (eight catches, 133 yards), came after a subtle play-ac-tion fake that froze the de-fense and left Decker un-covered in the back of the end zone.

By ROB HARRISThe Associated Press

LONDON — The fa-mous arch rising above Wembley Stadium is be-coming an increasingly fa-miliar sight for NFL fans.

The London venue has become the trusted vehicle for the league’s annual ef-forts to drum up more over-seas interest. Heading into the first of two regular-sea-son games at Wembley this year, it’s clear that stadium officials want to see a lot more of the NFL as well.

With the league expand-ing its annual international series from one game to two this year, the usual questions arise whether one day the league will ex-pand to London. And while the league says any such decision is several years away, Wembley officials say they’ll be ready if the day comes.

Squeezing in a full slate of home games on Sundays shouldn’t interfere with the stadium’s commitments to host England’s national team soccer fixtures and other events, Wembley’s managing director Roger Maslin said Monday.

“Absolutely we can,” Maslin said in an execu-tive box overlooking the Wembley pitch. “I am ab-solutely confident if (NFL Commissioner) Roger Goodell wanted to have a franchise here we could absolutely deliver on it.”

Known for being En-gland’s national football

stadium — the other foot-ball, played with a round ball — Wembley started staging regular-season NFL games in 2007. On Sunday, the Minnesota Vi-kings play the Pittsburgh Steelers, before the Jack-sonville Jaguars face the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 27.

It is the first of four games over four seasons in London for the Jaguars, raising the prospect of the Florida team one day up-rooting to London, where owner Shad Khan bought Premier League club Ful-ham in July.

The two 2013 games sold out within hours, which Maslin said is a sign of the rising popularity of the NFL in Britain. Sun-day’s game matches a pair of 0-3 clubs.

The “core fan base” in the U.K. is now more than 2 million, according to Chris Parsons, the NFL’s senior vice president of in-ternational.

That’s more than dou-ble the figure when the league first brought reg-ular-season games to Wembley in 2007, but still not high enough for a fran-chise here to be sustain-able.

“We’ve doubled our fan base in the last 3 1-2 to four years,” Parsons said. “I’d like to see that at least dou-ble again in the next three or four years. That would put us among the top five sports in the U.K. in terms of core fan base.”

Wembley keen on team, Super Bowl in London

Offenses contributing to high sacks totals in first three weeksBy BARRy WILNERThe Associated Press

Eli Manning went down seven times, EJ Manuel one more than that Sunday. NFL teams are on a near-record sacks pace, and it’s not solely because of what defens-es are doing. These spread-out of-fenses are making quarterbacks more vulnerable than ever.

After Oakland and Denver combined for four sacks Monday night, Week 3 wound up with 101, one off the record set in 1986’s 11th week. The New York Jets led the way with eight on Buffalo rookie Manuel.

“You get what’s coming to you when you play the Jets. If you dig a hole, that’s their game,” Bills center Eric Wood said.

The Carolina Panthers got those seven on the Giants’ Man-ning, including five in the first quarter. FIVE!

“I think the big thing is you have to see how many passes are being thrown, more than anything else,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “It’s funny, but when people are throwing the ball more you are creating more opportunities (for sacks).”

Greg Hardy beat left tackle Will Beatty for three sacks.

“I’ve got one simple job — pro-tect the guy with the ball. That’s my job,” Beatty said. “Do your job, good things are going to hap-pen. I let it get way out of hand by having him go down.”

The sack parade began last Thursday night when Kansas City and Philadelphia combined for 11, including 3½ by Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston, who leads the league with 6½. Hous-ton is on pace for more than 30, which would obliterate Michael Strahan’s record of 22½.

So what gives, other than of-

fensive lines that can’t protect passers?

In part, blame the current trend of more wide-open attacks, particularly when offenses spread out personnel and place the onus on five linemen to handle whatev-er number of rushers. By getting more skill players out in space on pass plays, there’s also more bur-den on quarterbacks to get rid of the ball quickly.

They can’t always do that with blitzing linebackers or safeties joining the rush coming from the guys up front. So you get 259 sacks through three weeks, the most for that period in league his-tory, beating a mark set in 1985.

“You want to do everything you can, obviously, to eliminate that and minimize those sacks,” said Browns first-year coach Rob Chudzinski, who made his mark as an offensive coordinator. “But everybody’s trying to get the

chunk plays which you need to score. It’s hard methodically to drive the ball down the field; you have to get that big play.

“So with it comes some of the things you don’t necessarily want.”

Cleveland had plenty of things it wanted against Minnesota, in-cluding six sacks. Considering that the Browns were able to min-imize Adrian Peterson’s impact in the running game, the sacks almost were a bonus.

Browns rookie linebacker Barkevious Mingo, who got to Christian Ponder once, was draft-ed No. 6 overall to chase down quarterbacks. Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco was introduced to Mingo quickly — on his first NFL play, he sacked the Baltimore quarterback.

Is the way NFL offenses strat-egize suited for a guy like him?

“Definitely,” Mingo said, flash-

ing a wide smile. “I think this team is suited for pass defense. Our defensive coordinator (Ray Horton) likes to get after it and cause pressure. We’ve got some guys that can get after the quar-terback, and when they try to run we’ve got inside guys that are just gobbling it up, and I think we’ve got the pieces.”

The most sacks in one season are 1,313 in 1984; sacks became an official stat in 1982. The cur-rent pace would bring more than 1,400 sacks.

Still, guys like Houston and Hardy, Mingo and Mario Wil-liams and J.J. Watt can dream about smashing Strahan’s sin-gle-season mark. And smashing quarterbacks.

AP Sports Writers Tom Withers and Steve Reed contributed to this story.

College Football SEC IN BrIEFSEC honors MSU’s Jackson; Time set for game vs. LSU

n BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —Shortly after Mississippi State senior guard Gabe Jackson was named the SEC offensive lineman of the week, the Bulldogs learned their Oct. 5 home game with LSU will kick off at 6 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU. The network carrying the contest will be announced no later than Sunday.

Jackson, a senior from Liberty, was instrumental in MSU manufacturing 551 yards of total offense and five rushing touchdowns. The honor is the first of Jackson’s career, and he is the first Bulldog to earn the weekly offensive line award from the league since Tobias Smith on Oct. 13, 2012.

The league also honored LSU running back Jeremy Hill, Florida defensive lineman Dante Fowler, and Arkansas longsnapper Alan D’Appollo-nio are Southeastern Confer-ence players of the week.

The SEC announced the winners Monday.

Missouri defensive end Kony Ealy was named defen-sive lineman of the week.

Georgia wide receiver Reggie Davis was named the top freshman.

Other times for games Oct. 5 are: 11:21 — Georgia State at Alabama (SEC TV), 2:30 p.m. — Arkansas at Florida/Ole Miss at Auburn/Georgia at Tennessee (WCBI), 6 p.m. — Arkansas at Florida/Ole Miss at Auburn/Georgia at Tennessee/LSU at Miss. St.

(ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU), 6:30 p.m. — Kentucky at South Carolina (Fox Sports Net), 6:30 p.m. — Missouri at Vanderbilt

Alabama’s Saban expects Cooper, Belue to play

n TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama expects to get most of its injured players back for the game against Ole Miss.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide held several starters out of a victory against Colorado State while they were nursing injuries.

Coach Nick Saban said Monday all but backup safety Nick Perry appear ready to participate in preparations for the 21st-ranked Rebels. Perry has a shoulder injury.

Wide receiver Amari Coo-per and Deion Belue sat out the 31-6 win over Colorado State with toe injuries. Guard Anthony Steen missed the game with a headache. Wide receiver Kevin Norwood also sat out with an unspecified injury.

Safety Jarrick Williams had been having problems after getting poked in the eye against Texas A&M.

All that left freshman Eddie Jackson and sopho-more Bradley Sylve starting at cornerback.

n In other news, the Alabama coaches recog-nized Christion Jones and DeAndrew White as players of the week on offense. Trey DePriest and C.J. Mosley represented the defense, and Landon Collins, Kenyan Drake, and Altee Tenpenny were recognized on the spe-cial teams list.

Mettenberger eager to get to Georgia game

Mettenberger

Page 13: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

Harris, whose team qualified for the Class AAA State tournament last year in his first season as coach at the school, was disappointed the Lady Patriots couldn’t extend their season. He said the team struggled through an assortment of ups and downs all sea-son. Those challenges continued Monday in the team’s second elimination game against Washington School. Trailing 3-1, pitch-er Kaitlyn Oswalt tried to stretch a double into a triple and was thrown out at third base. Harris said Oswalt slid hard into the base and re-aggravated a back injury and had to leave the game. He said Shiloh Ellis came in to re-place Oswalt in the circle and did an admirable job, but Washington School slowly pulled away en route to the run-rule vic-tory.

“We were in the game until KO goes out,” Harris said. “After that psycho-logically that is a tough blow for you. Our kids got down after that and it was tough to get back up. It just kind of snowballed on us.”

Heritage Academy re-bounded from its open-ing run-rule loss against Starkville Academy. Trailing 4-0, the Lady Patriots (10-16) erupted for nine runs on four hits in the second inning. Even though Heritage Academy had only eight hits, getting runners on base appeared to give the squad life. Macy Walters had two hits and three RBIs, and Macy Nord-quist had two hits and four RBIs to give the team hope it could string victo-ries together to extend its season.

“If some people start hitting the ball it is like our whole team jumps on it and everyone catches it. It is contagious,” Walters said. “It also helps when we play teams that are our rivals like Starkville Academy because we re-ally want to beat them and stay alive (in the tourna-ment).”

Walters said Harris told the players to forget about the first game. She said not focusing on the bad became a lot easier when she and her team-mates started to hit the ball. Unfortunately, the high-fives the Lady Patri-ots generated from scor-ing so many runs didn’t materialize, even though it showed the resilien-cy Harris saw a lot more from the team in 2012.

“It is such a mental game,” Harris said. “You would think he most tal-ented team always wins, so you have to stress to them that they have to be focused and ready. To be honest, it has been a challenge to

keep them focused. It is not something we have done a great job of doing, as our record shows.”

Harris acknowledged that his team’s surprise run to the state tourna-ment last season con-tributed to his disap-pointment that the Lady Patriots couldn’t earn a return trip. Unable to work the “magic” like it did last season, Harris said neither he nor the players should be satis-fied with double-digit vic-tories in a season. He said the program is not where he thought it would be after the second season and that he has to figure out what he needs to do to better prepare the play-ers.

“We’re going to have to make some changes and make some sacri-fices we haven’t made,” Harris said. “I have to do a better job selling this program. We have got to make it fun for the girls to play. We have to start at the younger levels like we have been trying to do.”

Harris also said it is imperative that more than two players (Oswalt and Brooklyn Waldrep) play travel ball so they are better players by the time the 2014 fast-pitch season begins.

“We have to get fast-er,” Harris said. “We were not able to put pressure on teams like they did to us. We have to find some softball players. Softball players are committed to it and work hard year-round. It is not just some-thing you pick up for two months out of the year.”

Class a North State tournamentn central Academy

qualifies for overall state tournament: At Carrollton, The Lady Vi-kings went 2-1 Monday to secure one of the four spots from the North in the Class A overall state tournament Sept. 28 and 30 at Center City Park in Pearl.

Central Academy, the No. 1 seed from District 1, edged host Carroll Acade-my 8-6 in the first game. It lost to Tunica Academy 5-0 in its second game and then defeated Deer Creek Academy 8-2 in an elimination game.

“Everybody chipped in on the whole day,” Cen-tral Academy coach Sam-my Lindsey said. “They played hard. It definitely was a team effort.”

Courtney Gaylord pitched all three games for the Lady Vikings. Lindsey said Kayla Brown hit well in the first game in which the Lady Vikings rallied for three runs in their final at-bat. He said Savanah Stapleton, Sadie Lindsey, Sarah Norris, and Allie Beth Rigdon were part of the scattered hitting the team had throughout the day.

Central Academy will play Benton Academy at 11:45 a.m. The four teams will play for seeding next week in the tournament that also will include the top four teams from the South.

Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.

Ole Miss junior quarter-back Bo Wallace said. “It is good to have two full weeks to prepare for Alabama because they do so many things well. This will be a big challenge, but I like our chances.”

Last season, Ole Miss stayed with Alabama well into the third quarter of play. In the end, a kick re-turn for touchdown and three turnovers doomed the Rebels in a 33-14 loss. Still, the confidence gleaned from that loss and a 30-27 loss at Texas A&M the following week helped Ole Miss reach the post-season for the first time in three years.

“Physically they’re (Al-abama) very, very good,” Freeze said. “They’re not going to make the mistake that allows you to have many explosive plays. That’s been their staple of their defense. They’re go-ing to stay in the right po-sition. Very rarely do you see explosive plays. We’ve got to find a way to create those, or find a way to stay in and convert on third and shorts to stay on the field.

“Do I think we’re better prepared for this year? I do. We have a better under-standing of who we are and what we want to do.”

Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0 South-eastern Conference) al-ready has won twice on the road. It opened the season with a SEC victory at Van-derbilt and then delivered a dominating performance in a road win at Texas.

“We knew we had some big challenges right off the bat,” Wallace said. “I like the confidence level of this team. You can tell we are no longer intimidated when we go on the road and into hostile situations.”

Freeze feels improved play at quarterback will give the Rebels a better chance against the Crim-son Tide. Against Texas, Wallace was 17 of 25 for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

The Rebels committed only one turnover and scored the final 30 points of a 44-23 victory.

“Bo (Wallace) has tak-en care of the ball better (this season),” Freeze said. “ If you look at that last year, those three turn-overs resulted in a touch-down and two field goals, 13 points or so. If you don’t have those, maybe we’re in it in the fourth quarter last year. He’s proven this year to this point that he’s been more conscious about it, and hopefully he will be again.”

Ole Miss junior wide receiver and former Noxu-bee County standout Vince Sanders is expected to be back in the lineup after suffering an injury against Vanderbilt.

“Vince will play,” Freeze said. “He went through a full practice yesterday. We’ll incorporate him in just like we would anybody. He’ll be ready to go. You’ll see him, Laquon (Tread-well), Ja-mes (Logan), and Donte (Moncrief) out there at the same time. We’ll just rotate them and keep him fresh. We love having him back. It gives us another threat for sure.”

The status of linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche is ex-pected to be determined later in the week. Freeze said the Rebels have played with a lack of depth at line-backer all season and he expects that trend to con-tinue.

Alabama (3-0, 1-0) is coming off a 31-6 home victory against Colorado State on Saturday. Freeze expects a much more fo-cused Alabama team this weekend, so Ole Miss will need to limit mistakes if it has a chance to earn its fourth win, its third road win, and its second win in Tuscaloosa.

“It would mean we’re definitely ahead of sched-ule in our program, to go there and win or beat them

here,” Freeze said. “We won’t talk about Ole Miss winning just once there. That really doesn’t mat-ter to these kids. ... Our coaches probably don’t even know that. I know it because I’ve followed this program. I don’t think that would motivate us one way or another. What should motivate us, and I think will, is an opportunity to go stand in front of the mea-suring stick and prove that you deserve to be there. That’s what we’ll focus on. If it does go our way, it would be a huge boost to our program and move us a few steps forward quicker than anybody thought, in-cluding myself.”

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013 5B

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SoftballContinued from Page 1B

ViviansContinued from Page 1B

Vivians, a 6-foot guard/forward, was named a first-team All-American by Max-Preps after averaging 39.7 points and leading Scott Central to its second Class 2A state title in three sea-sons. Vivians also averaged 15.1 rebounds, four steals, and one block last season, and has been named first-team All-State in each of her first three seasons. She was the nation’s second leading scorer this season. Her scor-ing average eclipsed the 37.6 points per game Mary Kathryn Govero averaged in 2006-07. Govero, who played at Mt. Salus Christian School in Clinton, went on to play for four years at MSU. She finished her MSU ca-reer with 1,173 points, which is 12th in program history.

Vivian’s scoring prowess is just one reason nearly all of the top programs in the nation sought her. After Viv-ians narrowed her choices to MSU, Florida, Louisville, and Kentucky, Harrison saw his standout player was ready to end the recruiting process. He said Vivians expressed a desire to go to MSU last fall but that he en-couraged her and her family to take their time with the decision and to make sure she was certain where she wanted to go. He said he called Victoria’s father, John, as soon as she told him the news and began calling coaches and media outlets.

“I am proud because I wanted this to be her deci-sion,” said Harrison, a MSU graduate. “I didn’t want her to go to Mississippi State be-cause of me and not have it be the right fit for her.”

Harrison said Vivians’ ties with her family likely played a key role in her de-cision to stay in the state. He said Vivians typically has 50-60 family members at all of her games, and she usually has a huge following everywhere she goes. He credited her family for help-ing her remain grounded throughout the process and Vivians for being a wonder-

ful young lady to coach.“I think she truly believes

in the vision coach Schaefer has for the program,” Har-rison said. “Last summer when she was at camp, he brought her in and he and Scott Stricklin said they want her to be the face of Mississippi State basketball and lead the program into the future. They said the program did special things with Tan White (Tupelo) and LaToya Thomas (Green-ville) and that the program could do even more with her. They told her that if she made a commitment other players in the region would come. I think she is satis-fied with the pieces in her recruiting class and where everything is heading and that she believes she can win there. I think she is sold that (Schaefer) has a really good vision and a good fol-low through and that she will be successful.”

Dan Olson, director of Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and espnW HoopGurlz, has Viv-ians rated the No. 24 player in the Class of 2014. Bret Mc-Cormick, of All-Star Girls Report, another national re-cruiting service, has Vivians ranked No. 40 in the nation. Both men believe Schaefer and his staff secured a play-er with a wealth of talent and potential who could help push MSU into the upper echelon of the Southeastern Conference.

“It is another big get for Vic Schaefer because he has another good athlete,” Olson said. “I don’t want to sit here and say she is a program-changer, but she can be. He is moving right along into the mix of the SEC and getting athletes who can help Mississippi State compete against the other schools that are ath-letic.”

Said McCormick, “Vic and (assistant coach) Aqua (Franklin) and the rest of the coaching staff stuck a feather in their caps because they did good. She should

pay major dividends right away.”

Vivians is part of a re-cruiting class that includes Starkville High School guard Blair Schaefer, who is Vic Schaefer’s daughter, and Morgan William, a point guard from Shades Valley High in Birmingham, Ala. William gave a verbal commitment to MSU in July. Olson had William ranked 278th in the Class of 2014 at the time of her commit-ment. She has since moved up to No. 139 in the country. McCormick had William ranked 254th in country at the time of her verbal com-mitment.

The three commitments come on the heels of a 2013 signing class that includes Dominique Dillingham, an All-State player from Texas, Chinwe Okorie, a center from Stoneleigh-Burnham (Mass.) School, Breanna Richardson, an All-State player from Georgia, Kiki Patterson, an All-State play-er from Columbus High School, Ketara Chapel, an All-State player from Tex-as, and Savannah Carter, a transfer from Trinity Val-ley Community College. New Albany High standout Jazmine Spears also signed with MSU but didn’t qualify academically and is at Trini-ty Valley C.C.

Olson ranked the class of seven players No. 35 in his national rankings. Richard-son, who is No. 77 in Olson’s individual rankings, is the highest-rated player in the class. Carter is the 27th-best junior college player, accord-ing to Olson.

College coaches can’t comment on signings until they receive a signed Na-tional Letter of Intent. A ver-bal commitment is non-bind-ing. The first day of the early signing period is Nov. 13. It runs to Nov. 20. Harrison said he anticipates Vivians signing a NLI in the early signing period. He said the family likely would hold a signing ceremony at the school.

Page 14: The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 9-24-13

DILBERT

ZITS

GARFIELD

CANDORVILLE

BABY BLUES

BEETLE BAILEY

DOONESBURY

MALLARD FILMORE

FOR SOLUTION SEE THECROSSWORD PUZZLE

IN CLASSIFIEDS

FAMILY CIRCUS

DEAR ABBY: I’m a 23-year-

old woman who still lives at home. I have been working for the last five years and have saved enough to live comfort-ably on my own. Unfortunately, my parents have for-bidden me to do it because they think I’m being manipulated into it by my boyfriend, that I just want to “do whatever I want” and be out until late (although I’m rarely up past 9 p.m. and they know it), and because I “can’t stand them” anymore.

I have no privacy! My mail is opened “mistakenly” and my calls are listened in on even when I politely — and some-times angrily — ask them not to. They have even imposed a rule that I must show them my bank balance weekly.

They have told me I will not leave the house without being married first. I would like to live on my own before I actually marry so I can experience what it’s like. This is something I have always wanted to do. If I do move out, they say I’ll “bring shame and embarrass-ment” to the family.

There seems to be a double standard going on here be-cause my older brother has his girlfriend sleep over. How can I accommodate my parents with-out being disowned? — FEEL-

ING HELPLESS IN ILLINOIS

DEAR FEEL-ING HELPLESS: Your parents have chosen to ignore that you are an adult, self-supporting and entitled to make your own choices. They may be well-meaning, but they are extreme-ly heavy-handed. Their hyper-vigi-lance — opening your mail, eaves-

dropping on your phone calls and insisting on checking your bank balance weekly — is over the top. They would like you to be “safely” married before you leave their protection.

Is their problem that they disapprove of your boyfriend? If you get a place of your own, do you plan on moving him in? If that’s not the case, there is no reason why your living independently might shame or embarrass them.

Not knowing your parents, I can’t judge whether their threat to disown you is serious or not. However, if it is, realize it’s a form of blackmail, and you will have to decide which is more important — your freedom or their support.

DEAR ABBY: “Lights Out in Federal Way, Wash.” (Aug. 13) asked if it was a “sign” that her deceased parents were watching over her when streetlights would go out as she drove under them on her way home.

I understand your desire to give encouragement to some-one who has lost her loved ones, but don’t you know that many streetlights are light-acti-vated so that after headlights hit them in just the right way they will turn off? After you pass under them, it becomes dark enough again and they will turn back on within a few minutes.

While I’m sure that given the opportunity this girl’s parents would watch over her, the streetlights she described have nothing to do with the paranormal but have a scien-tific and logical explanation. — SOMEONE’S WATCHING IN GUILFORD, MO.

DEAR WATCHING: While many readers shared similar experiences, the majority had a logical explanation as you did. However, I still feel that if what she’s experiencing brings her comfort, the important thing is what she chooses to believe.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For everything you need to know about wedding planning, order “How to Have a Lovely Wedding.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Wedding Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Ship-ping and handling are included in the price.)

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com6B Tuesday, sepTember 24, 2013

Comics & Puzzles

Dear Abby

Dear Abby

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Sept. 24). Your talents shine this year, but do not rely on them. It’s hard work and dedication that will see you through the finish line of a big project. Someone with opposing views will make your work and life richer in October. You’ll get to experience something special and exclusive in December. Aries and Sagittarius people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 5, 2, 33, 19 and 4.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Beware of those who associate with you primarily because they think it makes them look better. While this is flattering, it’s so superficial

that you can’t trust the con-nection. It could change at any moment.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You believe in every person’s right to live well. That’s why it makes you angry when people waste the things that would mean so much to another person. You’ll proudly take part of an effective redis-tribution.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You believe that life is full of beauty. But for some reason, people talking about that in overly simplistic and sentimental ways makes you feel inwardly rebellious. You prefer to find beauty on your

own terms. CANCER (June 22-July 22).

Should you stick to your ritual or veer from it? Every time you repeat an action, it strength-ens the neural pathways in your brain that make the next repetition easier. Will that be better for you or worse?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Just because you can sense the lay-ers inside yourself and spend time in those depths doesn’t mean others are able to do this. Your gift for introspection is a rare talent to celebrate.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). A person who enjoys you will tend to overlook any less than perfect things you do and even make up reasons why your flaws and mistakes are actually glorious.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). There are those who will try to get away with anything and ev-erything they can. It’s up to you to uphold the ideal of justice for all. Where justice is denied, everyone suffers, not only the oppressed.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). It’s as though the wind wants to mess up your hair — and not in a mean way, but in an older sibling way that lets you know that wherever you are, someone is keeping you in check.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Anger is an emotion that makes you seek your own interest instead of seeking the truth. That’s why it’s better not to make any decisions or try to express yourself in the heat of an angry moment.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). So often the roles we cut out for ourselves become like traps. Real power is feeling that you are free to be the role or not and come or go as you please.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Your sign mate Abraham Lincoln, the great humanitar-ian and 16th president of the United States, said, “When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. And that is my religion.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). When receiving a compli-ment on work that was done by someone else, for instance for a haircut or an item of clothing, some take the credit. You’ll as-sign it appropriately, and your honesty attracts an admirer.

Horoscopes

NASCARContinued from Page 3B

work eight weeks from now.Bowyer, one of the most pop-

ular drivers in the garage, is now feeling the ire of fans for his role in the Richmond scandal and his promising season has fallen apart after two mediocre races to start the Chase, maybe because of all the pressure. He’s 10th in the standings, essentially out of title contention, and sponsor 5-Hour Energy said it will decide after the season if it will continue its relationship with MWR.

Then 5-Hour President Scott Henderson took a peculiar stance Sunday at New Hamp-shire, where he seemed to ques-tion NASCAR chairman Brian France’s decision not to punish Penske Racing the same way it did MWR for trying to manip-ulate the Richmond race to get Joey Logano into the Chase, and perhaps for expanding the Chase field to 13 drivers to ac-commodate Jeff Gordon. Bow-yer and Gordon had an issue late

last season that took Bowyer out of title contention.

“There’s a lot of talk about in-tegrity,” Henderson said. “When the guy who’s in charge can say, ‘I can do whatever I want and I’m going to do it and I just did,’ I wonder about integrity. I want to make sure we can win in this sport, OK?”

Should 5-Hour bail at the end of the year, Bowyer will be in far worse shape than Truex. At least Truex has some time to look for

a job. In December, there won’t be any jobs to be had.

And speaking of jobs, there’s really only one seat open right now — the Furniture Row vacan-cy that Montoya turned down.

Sometime after Richmond, Penske Racing picked up the phone and lured Montoya back to IndyCar. Maybe they wanted the former Indianapolis 500 win-ner to complement their open-wheel organization, or maybe the Penske folks wanted to clear

the path to Colorado for long-time company man Sam Hor-nish Jr.

Currently leading the Na-tionwide championship race, Hornish is at another cross-roads in his career. Penske is full at the Cup level with Kes-elowski and Logano, and it ap-pears the team wants Hornish’s Nationwide seat for 19-year-old Ryan Blaney, who grabbed his first career victory Saturday night at Kentucky.

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