Leah Siegel, ESPN producer, mother of three and three-time Emmy award winner, died at 43 early Monday in Dallas after a courageous, two-year battle with breast cancer.

Siegel was a pioneer in the field of sports television. She was one of the first women to become a full-time field producer at ESPN.

Her husband, Eric Loehr, told readers of her blog, at 10:29 a.m. CDT, that she passed away at about 4:30 a.m. He noted, "Thank you to everyone. The support over the last couple of years has been amazing. As Leah has enriched many people's lives, I believe that her life was equally enriched."

She was resting peacefully the past few days in hospice care.

Siegel not only paved the way for women in the field of sports, but she inspired thousands throughout her battle with breast cancer.

Shortly after giving birth to her third child, Oliver, in August 2008, Siegel was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Later that fall, she made her story public and it was chronicled in a front-page feature in The Dallas Morning News. It inspired thousands and she received numerous visits to her webpage.



Siegel was also instrumental in raising awareness about breast cancer and furthering the need for research. She inspired her local community in the Lakewood area of Dallas to participate in the annual Komen Dallas Race for the Cure. Siegel's group was one the highest fund-raising teams.

Siegel and her husband, Eric, had three children: Teagan, 5; Wyatt, 3; and Oliver, 23 months.

She began her career at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., where she grew up.

She attended Maret High School and graduated from the University of Maryland.

Her blog lists two services. You can read more about their details and Siegel's inspiring story at her website: Leah Siegel Journal.

CHANDLER - A dozen employees who were fired by a Chandler Pei Wei restaurant claim it was because of the controversial new immigration law.

The employees tell us they were let go after they attended a rally against SB 1070, but the restaurant says there's more to the story. They apparently skipped out on their scheduled shifts to attend the protest.

Those 12 former employees want their jobs back, and are also asking for back pay and an apology from Pei Wei. They say other employees who didn't show up to work were punished -- not fired -- and they shouldn't have been treated differently.

They're now taking their protest to Pei Wei's front door.

"I thought they were going to support us in one way but they didn't," says Elizabeth Serafin, who was fired. She says she didn't call in May 29 because other workers had asked for the day off but were denied.

Twelve of the store's 30 employees didn't show up for work to march in the anti-SB 1070 protest.

"We were hungry, we were thirsty… it was worse than going to work, we didn't do it for fun!" says Serafin.

Serafin claims that when other employees have missed work in the past, without calling in, they were punished but not fired.

Yvonne Herrera also lost her job. She worked for Pei Wei for 10 years as a cook, without ever taking a sick day, she says.

Pei Wei issued the following statement: "We were disappointed that 12 employees from our Chandler location chose to violate a well-known attendance policy resulting in their termination. When employees chose not to show up for a scheduled shift and chose not to give notice, it causes tremendous disruption to fellow coworkers and impedes our ability to serve our guests."

Serafin says she doesn't regret missing work to march for an issue she feels so strongly about.

'"We know [the immigration law] going to affect our families or even our jobs… there's a lot of people coming from another state. There's a lot of white people doing that, how come we're not doing it for ourselves?"

A local workers union is helping the 12 people who were fired. Protesters say they continue to picket outside of Pei Wei from time to time.

(CBS) The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled 30,000 "Nap Nanny" portable baby recliners after a 4-month-old Royal Oak, Mich. girl reportedly died in one of the recliners that was being used in a crib.

The child was found strapped into her harness and hanging over the side of the recliner, caught between it and the crib bumper, according to the CPSC website.

The commission and the product's manufacturer, Baby Matters, are aware of other cases in which infants, primarily those under 5 months of age, became trapped in or fell out of one of the recliners.

Infants can partially fall or hang over the side of the recliner even when they are strapped into the harness that comes with the product. The risk is greater if the product's straps are not properly attached to the D rings, or if consumers use a first-generation Nap Nanny, which was sold without D rings.

The Nap Nanny is designed for sleeping, resting, and playing. It's intended for use on the floor, away from cribs and any other products. If the product is used on a counter or other elevated surface, the child could fall out and sustain a serious head injury.

The recalled Nap Nannys were sold for about $130 at toy and children's retail stores nationwide and online, including at www.napnanny.com, from January 2009 through July 2010.

Consumers with a first-generation Nap Nanny should stop using the product immediately and contact the firm to receive an $80 coupon towards the purchase of a new Nap Nanny. Those with a second-generation model should immediately stop using the product until they view product warnings and instructions on the manufacturer's website

FORD'S NEW EXPLORER: Ford Motor Co. launched the marketing campaign for the 2011 Ford Explorer Monday. It's an important vehicle for the company, the second most-recognized Ford after the Mustang.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Ford is taking a risk with the Explorer, building it on a car platform instead of a truck platform for smoother driving and better fuel economy. But the new design might turn off some fans of the old SUV.

WHAT'S NEXT: The 2011 Ford Explorer goes on sale this winter, with a starting price of $28,190.

The Jonesboro Sun today begins a four-part series based on interviews with Damien Echols, under a death penalty for 17 years in the slayings of three West Memphis children. He continues to profess his innocence and describes his life behind bars as "pure hell." Readers' degree of sympathy will, naturally, tend to correlate with their belief in the guilt or innocence of Echols and the other two men convicted in this badly flawed case.

Today we have the trailer for the upcoming comedy/drama "It's Kind of a Funny Story," starring Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew), and Keir Gilchrist ("United States of Tara"). Check it out below.

Plot: Sixteen-year-old Craig (Gilchrist), stressed out from the demands of being a teenager, checks himself into a mental health clinic. There he learns that the youth ward is closed – and finds himself stuck in the adult ward. One of the patients, Bobby (Galifianakis), soon becomes both Craig's mentor and protege. Craig is also drawn to another 16-year-old, Noelle (Roberts). With a minimum five days' stay imposed on him, Craig is sustained by friendships on both the inside and the outside as he learns more about life, love, and the pressures of growing up.

The new movie is written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the duo behind "Half-Nelson" and "Sugar." It is scheduled to hit theaters on September 24th, in limited release.

Read more: http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=18306#ixzz0ugLDXWZV

Damien Echols, 35, has spent his entire adult life on Arkansas' death row. Every day, he faces the possibility of execution. But there is a bright spot in his life.

"She's like a living, breathing miracle in human form," Damien says of Lorri Davis, his wife of 10 years.

Lorri met Damien after she became aware of his controversial case. She wrote to him, traveled from New York to see him and offered her help. "It was the right thing to do," she says, "because he is innocent."

"I can understand you believing that he's innocent and wanting to work on his case. But what made you actually decide to marry him?" asks "48 Hours Mystery "correspondent Erin Moriarty.

"Well, I mean, the simple answer is I loved him. He's an amazing person. And he's going to be worth this."

Lorri is now familiar with every facet of Damien’s case and works day and night with the legal team, fighting not only for Damien on death row, but for Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, the other convicted men who are serving life sentences.

"We have gone through every aspect of this case and there was never been anything that pointed to their guilt," she explains.

They are known as the West Memphis Three, and they are now actively supported by people who could really make a difference, like Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and actor Johnny Depp.

"I’m here because I firmly, truly, 1000 percent believe that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley are totally innocent," Depp tells Moriarty.

Photos: Star Support for the West Memphis Three
Watch More of Depp's "48 Hours" Interview

Despite all that, the Arkansas courts have upheld all three convictions for more than 16 years. Prosecutors maintain that Damien, Jason and Jessie are responsible for the cold-blooded murder of three 8-year-old boys.

On May 5, 1993, Chris Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch were out playing together.

"Stevie was very outgoing, a brilliant child. Anyone who knew him loved him," says his mom, Pam.

A waitress back then, Pam didn’t worry very much when her son wasn’t home before her 5 p.m. shift began. "I just figured that he might of lost track of time and was on his way home."

It was when her husband, Stevie’s stepfather, picked her up at 9 p.m. that she heard for the first time that the boys had still not returned. "I just started cryin' and sayin', 'God, no, no. Why isn't he home?'"

Pam searched straight through the night along with other panicked parents, including Chris Byers' father, Mark.

Then, at 1 p.m. the next day, police made a grim discovery in a wooded strip by the interstate known to the kids as Robin Hood Hills. Stevie, Michael and Chris were found bludgeoned and drowned in a drainage ditch. Their bodies were naked and hogtied with their own shoelaces.

"I hit the ground screaming, 'God, no, no!" says Pam.

"Just a gut wrenching moment to put into words… the disaster, the devastation," Byers recalls.

Six days later, he buried his son, Chris.

"When these murders happened, it was something that was almost like an atomic bomb going off," Damien explains. "You have three children that are murdered. I mean, that in itself is a pretty horrific thing…And then slowly, details start comin' out about how they were found. Now, a lot of these details weren't true."

Byers says there were a lot of rumors. "I heard that one of 'em was skinned. I heard that one of 'em's face was cut off."

"Then you start hearin' all these, you know, people whispering about, maybe it was Satanists that did this," says Damien.

That theory did not seem so farfetched at the time. A media-fueled hysteria about satanic cults was sweeping the country.

An FBI investigation found no such satanic murders, but in 1993, West Memphis juvenile officer Jerry Driver was concerned about cult activity, saying, "It seems to be a trend right now."

Retired Agent Ken Lanning on the FBI Investigation
Damien Echols Speaks Out

Driver had Damien, an 18-year-old dropout, in his sights.

"I think I was the closest thing he could come to conceiving of what he thought a Satanist would look like… all black was the only thing I ever wore. Ridiculous hairstyles. I was a stupid teenager. I really was a smart ass," he says, admitting he didn't help his case at all.

Driver was convinced that the murders were the work of Damien Echols, and he told that to the police.

Damien was now a prime suspect and he says word of that leaked out. "I walked into a softball game. I went around the concession stand and I hear people sayin', 'There he is. That's him.'"

Still, police had no physical evidence or anything else to connect him to the crime; not until someone Damien knew spoke out.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior (2010)
Genre: Action (Shooter) / 3D / 1st Person

Sniper: Ghost Warrior is a first-person tactical shooter that places the player in the role of a US Marine sniper tasked with aiding in the liberation of a Latin American island nation from the oppression of a dictator. Gameplay focuses on realistic sniper missions, involving stealth, control of breathing and heartbeat for increased accuracy, bullet trajectory that takes weather conditions into account and four different sniper rifles. Additional features include a variety of mission types, the ability to play as a member of an assault team, 12-shooter multiplayer support and close combat weapons and explosives.

Features:
* Realistic sniper shooter on everyday life
* Calculation of a bullet, Take account of the various amendments of its flight
* Great graphics
* Passage of missions with the help of two different characters
* Hard murder melee - squeezing the eyes and throat-slitting

System Requirements:
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 @ 3.2 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Video: nVidia Geforce 6800 / ATI Radeon X1650 (256 mb)
RAM: 1 GB (XP) / 2 GB (Vista / 7)
HDD: 1,6 Gb

Sniper: Ghost Warrior (2010) | 4.03 GB | Single Link
http://turbobit.net/wm8x76ucsrud.html

Friday's show at the Biltmore has been postponed until Dec 10 due to injury. All tickets purchased for the concert will be honoured for that date. For those unable to attend the Dec 10 show, refunds will be available at point of purchase starting Monday. Congress, Baptists and Metal Cult DJs will still be performing on Friday. Cover $5 or free with Bison B.C. ticket, which then can be kept for Dec 10

Bison B.C.

With Congress, Baptists

POSTPONED

Biltmore Cabaret, 2755 Prince Edward

Tickets: $15 at Zulu, Scrape, Red Cat and ticketweb.ca

VANCOUVER -- Bison B.C. guitarist-vocalist Dan And is just about ready to leave Vancouver.

Should that ever happen, you can probably thank the 2010 Winter Olympics for driving him out of town.

Reached via phone in April just before the release of Bison B.C.’s latest album Dark Ages — while the band was touring the U.S. opening for Oakland-based power trio High On Fire — And made his frustration with the overall state of affairs in Vancouver fairly clear.

“I love Vancouver — don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I feel like it’s my town and all my friends are there, and the family and the community I’ve surrounded myself with is there.

“But I’ve almost reached the point where I’m too fed up and I just want to go up north and hide in the woods.”

He laughed.

Dark Ages admittedly deals in large part with Vancouver’s makeover before the big event that took place in February.

Bison B.C.’s band members all work and live in and around Vancouver’s embattled Downtown Eastside, a part of the city And said was swept under the rug before and during the Games to make way for showcasing the “pretty” side of Vancity to the rest of the world.

While writing the material for Dark Ages, a word popped up — “Renaissance,” which appears in the lyrics of the album’s opening track, Stressed Elephant — that encapsulated And’s feelings and served as a catalyst for the album’s direction and overall theme.

“You start thinking about the Dark Ages and decadent societies that get to a certain point of decadence before they just collapse,” And said. “I think that we’re headed there.

“I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of 2012. I’ve actually got an application on my iPhone that’s counting down. Sometimes I’ll watch that for a while, just waiting for it. I don’t think anything’s going to happen — I just like the idea.”

You can only imagine And in hiding somewhere in the mountains in a little shack, surrounded by canned goods and camping gear, sitting by the stove and staring at his iPhone, waiting for the 2012 deadline to come and most likely go without a sound.

“Yeah, I’m going to be a crazy hill man,” And said. “Me and my girlfriend will be boarded up — a two-person militia that doesn’t do anything and just waits.”

On its second album for heavy- metal stalwart label Metal Blade — “If idiots like us can get on Metal Blade, anybody can do it,” And said — Bison B.C. finds itself refining its barbarian onslaught with flurries of acoustic guitars and keyboard touches.

And attributes this new approach to the band’s evolving relationship with Vancouver-based producer Jesse Gander, who also produced the band’s previous album, 2008’s Quiet Earth.

“You need dynamics to make things heavy,” And said. “A lot of metal nowadays is steady double-kick drum, and it loses its heaviness because your ears just get tired.

“We went in and did an entire day of feedback and guitar noise that [Gander] used in certain parts here and there,” And added. “He really wanted to make one song flow into the other. I love that dynamic. It keeps things interesting for us, too.”

Stressed Elephant, for example, lurches forward with blasts of French horn. Fear Cave ends in a static-laden coda. Album closer Wendigo Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn) begins with a pensive acoustic guitar and piano line overlapped with the sound of trains recorded near the Rogers sugar refinery in Vancouver.

The latter track is the third instalment in the “Wendigo series” that began on Quiet Earth, an album that featured the first two chapters in the song cycle.

Considering this is becoming sort of a running theme, are there any more Wendigo songs to be expected in the future?

“I didn’t intend on writing three Wendigos,” And said with a laugh. “When I started writing, it just kept coming. Even the story in the lyrics, I didn’t feel like it was done.

“But it’s done for now — I don’t want to keep writing Wendigo songs over and over again.”

All things considered, the Wendigo theme — referring to the mythical cannibalistic creature of Algonquian lore — seems to fit really well with the whole 2012/run to the hills/end of the civilized world thing.

“That’s what I could do: I could do a whole concept album about moving to the hills and trying to find the Wendigo,” And said.

“Maybe I’m on to something. I could make a documentary about losing my mind.

“It’ll be out like 10 years from now — ‘Whatever happened to Dan And? Where did he go?’”

Alphonse Mucha Birthday and His Women Images Featured in Google Doodle – Today, July 24, another Google Doodle is being flashed in Google’s US homepage. Apparently, it’s the way Google commemorates Alphonse Mucha’s 150th birthday.

So who is Alphonse Mucha? Alphonse Maria Mucha was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist best known for his distinct style and his images of women. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, and designs.

For a brief background of Alphonse Mucha’s biography, he was first recognized around the Christmas of 1894 when he happened to drop into a print shop where there was a sudden and unexpected need for a new advertising poster for a play starring Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress in Paris at that time. Mucha volunteered to make the poster. Come New Year of 1895, the advertisement for the play Gismonda by Victorien Sardou appeared on the streets of the city giving him overnight success. As such, his name was revealed and announced all over Paris. To Bernhardt’s joy, she immediately entered into a 6 year contract with Mucha.

That was the start of the success of Mucha. After that, he produced a lot of paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations, as well as designs for jewellery, carpets, wallpaper, and theatre sets. He was able to set a trademark on his designs as “Mucha Style”.

“Mucha Style” gained international presence through the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. He later on decorated the Bosnia and Herzegovina Pavilion and collaborated in the Austrian Pavilion. He later on died on a lung infection on July 14, 1939 after being released against the hands of the Gestapo who captured him during the peak of fascism in the late 1930s.

Today, Mucha’s style are being revived in several arts such as the Sailor Moon posters, and other designs. Happy 150th birthday Alphonse Mucha!

Desiree Jennings was living a dream come true. The 25-year-old had a marketing job at a major company, was married to a handsome, successful man, and had challenging hobbies: she was an avid runner, and a cheerleading ambassador for the Washington Redskins football team.


But almost overnight Jennings went from the picture of happiness and health, to a twisted, stuttering vision of pain and suffering.

After a routine flu shot last fall, Jennings said she began experiencing fever and painful body aches. The symptoms quickly progressed until she could only walk with a twisted, halting gait, and had trouble reading, doing simple math -- even remembering things. Her condition put a halt on her once-frenetic lifestyle.

"I want to work, I want to be doing something," she said. "But who's going to hire somebody who can't remember what they did the day before?"

Jennings developed another odd symptom -- a strange foreign accent; the Midwestern woman suddenly sounded British. "It sounds like an accent, but it's not. I just can't pronounce words anymore," she said.

But perhaps worse of all is what happens when Jennings tried to recall specific memories. In her "20/20" interview, Jennings' speech devolved to stuttering, then complete gibberish.