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What a great day. The sun is shining for about the first time in January, Maverick’s is going off just over the hill, and the divisional round will kick off at Lambeau Field in just a few hours.

A side note - why are they charging $25 a head to watch Maverick’s on the big screen at AT&T Park when they are desperately trying to discourage people from showing up - for free, mind you - at the beach and kicking the whole cliff into the ocean?

I’m taking it all in from home wearing my Packers shirt and looking at the ridiculous “G Force: How Many False Starts Will You Be Responsible for Today?” handkerchief that they gave us at Lambeau on December 9. Was that specially prepared for Sims and Gallery?

1985 Dan would never forgive 2008 Dan for saying that I really don’t mind the Seahawks anymore. (Remember the “Raider Busters?”) As a Packer fan, Hasselbeck’s coin-flip comment didn’t bother me. The bottom line on this one is that Lambeau with a bit of snow is a great home field, and the Seahawks are dreadful on the road. I think we’ll see today that the Packers are very good and the Seahawks aren’t. Packers, 31-17.

I would not want to be setting the line for the Patriots-Jaguars game. 13 1/2 is probably reasonable. The Patriots could blow this one out. They are a really good team. They will have a chip on their shoulder, they’ll be focused, yadda yadda yadda. I don’t like the Patriots. They are a dynasty built on fraud with a phony squeaky-clean reputation. There is a lot of film out there showing how to slow them down (Philly, Baltimore, NYG), and the Jaguars are much better than those teams. Do they match up well? Maybe not, but what the hell. I’m picking Jacksonville to end New England’s run 34-30. It will take the game of their lives, but like I said, it’s a great day, so why not.

Indianapolis is indeed going to blow out the Chargers. Tomorrow I’m sure I’ll have that catchy/annoying “San Diego Superchargers” song in my head all day. But for whatever reason people have forgotten how good Indy is. San Diego has made a nice comeback with Norv, but it will come to a crushing end with Gates on the sideline. As much as I’d like to see LT (he’s an MVP, he can call himself whatever he wants) mocking some Patriot’s signature move at Gillette Stadium next week, Indy will win 35-20.

The Giants-Cowboys game will be fun to watch, but I think it will be a little sloppy. Dallas has looked awful in recent weeks and it may take some time to remember how to play. I think Romo needed that Mexico trip to reset. The Giants are another team like Seattle. Sometimes you think they are really good, but they just aren’t. So it will be a TO-led comeback that puts Dallas over the top, 24-21. Say what you will about TO, he was a stud with that broken ankle in the Super Bowl so a sprain should be worth 150 yds, 2 TDs or so.

It’s official. The Maverick’s surf contest has been given the green light.

Now 24 of the world’s best big wave surfers have approximately 24 hours to make it to the legendary break in Half Moon Bay by early Saturday morning, when the event’s opening heat is scheduled to run.

“We have a really good swell coming at us with great weather,” contest director and Maverick’s pioneer Jeff Clark said Thursday. “All the Santa Cruz guys are around, the South Africans are here, a lot of guys are still on their way, and we’re stoked.”

Clark said that, based on the current buoy readings, he is expecting to see waves of 30 feet on the face for the contest.

Click here for a slide show of the 2006 event!!!

“Not the biggest Maverick’s,” he said, “but 30-foot Mav’s is no pushover either. I think we’re going to see some really high-performance big-wave surfing out there.”

The decision to hold the contest this weekend was a delicate one because another big wave contest, the Nelscott Reef Tow-in Classic, was scheduled to run Friday, taking advantage of the same big swell. Eleven of the 24 invitees to the Maverick’s contest are also invited to compete in the Nelscott event.

Anthony Tashnick of Santa Cruz, the 2005 Mavericks champion, is one of those 11 surfers. Tashnick had already made a 17-hour drive up to Oregon when he heard that the Mavericks Contest had been given the green light. He elected to hop a Thursday night flight back home in order to be ready for Mav’s.

“It’s gonna be way better at Mav’s,” Tashnick said while waiting for his flight in the Portland airport Thursday night. “This swell is a straight west. Mav’s is going to be big and gnarly with perfect conditions.”

Contest organizers are urging big-wave surf fans to steer clear of the break off Pillar Point Harbor on contest day in an effort to reduce the impact of massive crowds on the sensitive coastal environment.

Clark said that spectators will have a better viewing experience by taking advantage of the numerous live broadcasts planned for Saturday, instead of squinting to see the action out at the break a half mile offshore.

Clark plans to have a live feed of the contest broadcasting at the Mavericks Surf Shop in Princeton. Fans can also head to AT&T Park in San Francisco, where a live feed will be shown via the jumbotron. A live webcast is also available online at www.maverickssurf.com.

Opening heats are slated for 8 a.m. with four six-man rounds of 40 minutes each. The semifinals will follow, with the finals loosely scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

This is the sixth running of the event. Santa Cruz surfers have won four of the first five titles, with the Westside’s Darryl “Flea” Virostko taking the first three, followed by Tashnick in 2005.

South African surfer Grant Baker is the defending champion, after coming out of nowhere to top the field in February 2007 in the best conditions the event has seen.

This year’s event boasts a $75,000 prize purse, with $30,000 for first place, $12,000 for second place, $7,500 for third place, $3,500 for fourth, $2,500 for fifth and $1,500 for sixth place.

Mayor’s MySpace photos hot topic in Arlington

Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist’s name is sure to be mentioned when Arlington holds its annual town meeting Wednesday.

Some of the mayor’s roughly 500 constituents will want to know her views on the issues affecting the Eastern Oregon community; others will want to talk about her underwear.

The mayor’s lingerie is a hot topic here, with some residents upset that she posted pictures of herself wearing only a black bra and panties on her MySpace page. She was on one of the town’s fire engines.

Kontur-Gronquist’s MySpace page is blocked to all but her friends, but the pictures were at one time available to all users. In an interview with the (Pendleton) East Oregonian, the mayor said she did nothing wrong and those who are offended need to get over it.

“That’s my personal life,” she said. “It has nothing to do with my mayor’s position.”

Kontur-Gronquist, who is also the fire department’s executive secretary, said the photos were taken before she was elected mayor three years ago, and she saw no reason to remove them from the Internet after taking office.

“I’m not going to change who I am,” she said. “There’s a lot of officials that have a personal life, and you have people in this community who have nothing better to do than scrape up stuff like this.”

Lorena Woods is one of those residents who say the photos of a scantily clad mayor reflect badly on Arlington.

“It’s a picture of her in bra and panties on a rural protection fire truck in a rural protection fire hall,” Woods said. “This isn’t the way we want our city to be portrayed.”

Councilman Jeff Bufton said he’s heard a lot of negative comments about the pictures, but declined to say whether the council plans to address the topic.

-The Associated Press

Fire In Hoboken Above Popular Bar

Stubborn Fire In Hoboken Apartment Building

Fire and smoke poured out of a four story building on First Street in Hoboken.
Fire In Hoboken

Firefighters in Hoboken have put on quite the fight as they try to put an end to an overnight blaze.

Smoke and flames shot out from the apartments above McSwiggins bar on First Street between Bloomfield Avenue and Washington Street.

No one was hurt. Several streets in the area have been closed off

The smell of smoke has reached nearby towns.

Incident in the Strait of Hormuz; Update: “I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes.”

It’s all Bush’s fault, of course–via Reuters:

Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, CNN reported.

The CNN report on Monday, citing unidentified U.S. officials, said the Iranian vessels came within 200 yards (meters) of the U.S. ships and that after a threatening radio communication, U.S. sailors manned their ships’ guns and were very close to opening fire.

More info:

U.S. military officials told CNN the boats were “attack craft” that they believed were operated by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard. The Iranian boats made threatening maneuvers against the U.S. warships and threatening radio transmissions, the officials told CNN. The captain of one U.S. vessel was in the process of giving the order to shoot when the Iranian ships began turning away, CNN said. A radio transmission from one of the Iranian ships said, “I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes,” CNN reported, citing a U.S. official.

***

Allah asks: “Which nutroots blog will be the first to scream ‘Gulf of Tonkin!’?”

Answer: Democratic Underground, always reliable…

Free Sample Kit from South Beach
www.trylivingforfree.com

available while supplies last
one per household/email address
4-6 weeks for delivery
good only in the USA
not available for PO Boxes
expires 2/28/08
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Beth

Frogs are smart, they eat what bugs them!

Here’s a money saving idea…

In a marriage of discount and dreams, a major retailer is trying to prove that a once-in-a-lifetime experience doesn’t require a once-in-a-lifetime investment.

So here comes the bride . . . in a wedding gown from Target.

The gowns, sold through Target.com for less than $200, have appeared in recent weeks on Oprah and on the pages of Lucky and Glamour magazines. And they’ve caused a stir on fashion blogs, where their arrival has ignited a debate about whether there are any boundaries left when it comes to saving money.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-cheapchic07jul19,0,3167940.story

Go to wedding gowns for tips on choosing a wedding gown.

Designer Wedding Gowns

There goes the wedding budget….”"

Bridal dress designer Monique Lhuillier leapt into the wedding business on a whim. Having had a difficult time finding her own gown, Lhuillier, a 23-year-old newlywed at the time, decided to begin sketching her own line of dresses. Her husband figured it was little more than a hobby, one that she would tire of soon enough. “He thought I had the wedding blues and eventually I’d get over it,” she says, chuckling warmly.

That was a decade ago, and Lhuillier (Lo-lee-ay) is still not over it. In fact, she’s now regarded as one of the premier designers in the bridal industry, and her “hobby” has become a thriving enterprise that grossed more than $20 million last year. Her wedding gowns, ranging in price from $2,000 to $25,000, have been worn by the likes of Christine Baumgartner (wife of Kevin Costner) and the rock star Pink.

http://usaweekend.com/07_issues/070722/070722fashion.html

More ideas on buying a wedding gown

Regent Cruise Line Launches Destination Wedding Program

Here’s a unique way to get married:”"

Here’s how it works: Regent guests looking to get married or renew their vows in port (or onboard, if they wish) can plan their ceremony directly with a wedding consultant. But what’s interesting to us, and unique to the industry, is that pre-arranged wedding packages for Regent’s guests do not exist! The bride- and groom-to-be, or couple renewing their vows, get to create their own day. The traditional wedding staples (the officiant, marriage certificate, wedding cake and Champagne) will be there — but you get to pick everything else, with your consultant’s help.

So, think outside the box for a minute. If you could tie the knot or renew your vows any way you wanted, how would you do it? Some of Regent’s suggestions include a kilted ceremony in an ancient Scottish castle (with bagpipers!), a hot air balloon ride over a tropical pineapple plantation and a sunset wedding in the South Pacific.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm”ID=2117

Go to complete wedding guide for wedding tips and advice.

Wedding Pizza, Anyone?

Karen McMillen, owner of Coshocton’s East of Chicago Pizza, enjoys being creative and cooking. On Friday, she combined both passions to make a wedding pizza.

The bottom pizza is adorned with flowers - made out of ham, pepperoni, peppers and black olives. The second pizza has a flower made out of tomatoes, black olives and peppers, while the third pizza has a ring of pepperoni around the edge. Once cooled, they will be topped with a bride and groom, just

http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article”AID=/20070721/NEWS01/707210318/1002

Also see wedding cake tips

Wedding Registry Trends

Times are a changing, as they say.

At a recent engagement party, I turned to a 20-something guest and asked if the woman getting married was registered for china. She hesitated, clearly puzzled, “No, they’re going on an Alaskan cruise for their honeymoon.”

This cross-generational exchange shows how far behind I am on the changing trends in wedding gifts. Maeve Burke, a spokesperson for Canadian Tire, which launched a wedding registry service in 2004, is too polite to say that. But she will say that popular choices for wedding presents have really shifted in the past decade.

“Couples are more likely to request items that they can enjoy every day rather than the china set that comes out once a year,” she says. “They’re also asking for gifts that are related to a shared hobby, and might put bikes or a canoe on their list.”

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/237548

See wedding registry for more information.

Wedding Cakes - How About Renting One

Impossible, you say, since a wedding cake is something the bride and groom and guests actually consume and therefore cannot be returned in exactly pristine condition.Think again. Love makes all things possible, apparently.

These days, a beautiful, towering wedding cake that is rolled out and put on display for guests to ooh and ahhh over might really be a fake cake made of foam and plastic and covered in fondant “”" which is similar to frosting. After the bride and groom perform the ritual of cutting the cake “?” in some cases, a slice of real cake is hidden in a secret compartment “”" the cake is rolled away.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070723-9999-1m23cake.html

More on wedding cakes

Filed under Blog by Marry
Permalink • Print • Email
Related Entries

* Late breaking news
* ‘My husband is jealous
* ‘Gentlemen,’ said the young husband, ‘are we quite prepared to deliberate upon so grave a
* ‘And so you are going to be married?’ asked the duchess of the author who had read his manuscript
* Two-thirds of such women are enabled to win their independence by this single manoeuvre, which is

Late breaking news
Low-Cost Wedding Gowns

Here’s a money saving idea…

In a marriage of discount and dreams, a major retailer is trying to prove that a once-in-a-lifetime experience doesn’t require a once-in-a-lifetime investment.

So here comes the bride . . . in a wedding gown from Target.

The gowns, sold through Target.com for less than $200, have appeared in recent weeks on Oprah and on the pages of Lucky and Glamour magazines. And they’ve caused a stir on fashion blogs, where their arrival has ignited a debate about whether there are any boundaries left when it comes to saving money.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-cheapchic07jul19,0,3167940.story

Go to wedding gowns for tips on choosing a wedding gown.

Designer Wedding Gowns

There goes the wedding budget….”"

Bridal dress designer Monique Lhuillier leapt into the wedding business on a whim. Having had a difficult time finding her own gown, Lhuillier, a 23-year-old newlywed at the time, decided to begin sketching her own line of dresses. Her husband figured it was little more than a hobby, one that she would tire of soon enough. “He thought I had the wedding blues and eventually I’d get over it,” she says, chuckling warmly.

That was a decade ago, and Lhuillier (Lo-lee-ay) is still not over it. In fact, she’s now regarded as one of the premier designers in the bridal industry, and her “hobby” has become a thriving enterprise that grossed more than $20 million last year. Her wedding gowns, ranging in price from $2,000 to $25,000, have been worn by the likes of Christine Baumgartner (wife of Kevin Costner) and the rock star Pink.

http://usaweekend.com/07_issues/070722/070722fashion.html

More ideas on buying a wedding gown

Regent Cruise Line Launches Destination Wedding Program

Here’s a unique way to get married:”"

Here’s how it works: Regent guests looking to get married or renew their vows in port (or onboard, if they wish) can plan their ceremony directly with a wedding consultant. But what’s interesting to us, and unique to the industry, is that pre-arranged wedding packages for Regent’s guests do not exist! The bride- and groom-to-be, or couple renewing their vows, get to create their own day. The traditional wedding staples (the officiant, marriage certificate, wedding cake and Champagne) will be there — but you get to pick everything else, with your consultant’s help.

So, think outside the box for a minute. If you could tie the knot or renew your vows any way you wanted, how would you do it? Some of Regent’s suggestions include a kilted ceremony in an ancient Scottish castle (with bagpipers!), a hot air balloon ride over a tropical pineapple plantation and a sunset wedding in the South Pacific.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm”ID=2117

Go to complete wedding guide for wedding tips and advice.

Wedding Pizza, Anyone?

Karen McMillen, owner of Coshocton’s East of Chicago Pizza, enjoys being creative and cooking. On Friday, she combined both passions to make a wedding pizza.

The bottom pizza is adorned with flowers - made out of ham, pepperoni, peppers and black olives. The second pizza has a flower made out of tomatoes, black olives and peppers, while the third pizza has a ring of pepperoni around the edge. Once cooled, they will be topped with a bride and groom, just

http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article”AID=/20070721/NEWS01/707210318/1002

Also see wedding cake tips

Wedding Registry Trends

Times are a changing, as they say.

At a recent engagement party, I turned to a 20-something guest and asked if the woman getting married was registered for china. She hesitated, clearly puzzled, “No, they’re going on an Alaskan cruise for their honeymoon.”

This cross-generational exchange shows how far behind I am on the changing trends in wedding gifts. Maeve Burke, a spokesperson for Canadian Tire, which launched a wedding registry service in 2004, is too polite to say that. But she will say that popular choices for wedding presents have really shifted in the past decade.

“Couples are more likely to request items that they can enjoy every day rather than the china set that comes out once a year,” she says. “They’re also asking for gifts that are related to a shared hobby, and might put bikes or a canoe on their list.”

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/237548

See wedding registry for more information.

Wedding Cakes - How About Renting One

Impossible, you say, since a wedding cake is something the bride and groom and guests actually consume and therefore cannot be returned in exactly pristine condition.Think again. Love makes all things possible, apparently.

These days, a beautiful, towering wedding cake that is rolled out and put on display for guests to ooh and ahhh over might really be a fake cake made of foam and plastic and covered in fondant “”" which is similar to frosting. After the bride and groom perform the ritual of cutting the cake “?” in some cases, a slice of real cake is hidden in a secret compartment “”" the cake is rolled away.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070723-9999-1m23cake.html

More on wedding cakes

Filed under Blog by Marry
Permalink • Print • Email
Related Entries

* Late breaking news
* ‘My husband is jealous
* ‘Gentlemen,’ said the young husband, ‘are we quite prepared to deliberate upon so grave a
* ‘And so you are going to be married?’ asked the duchess of the author who had read his manuscript
* Two-thirds of such women are enabled to win their independence by this single manoeuvre, which is

Late breaking news
Low-Cost Wedding Gowns

Here’s a money saving idea…

In a marriage of discount and dreams, a major retailer is trying to prove that a once-in-a-lifetime experience doesn’t require a once-in-a-lifetime investment.

So here comes the bride . . . in a wedding gown from Target.

The gowns, sold through Target.com for less than $200, have appeared in recent weeks on Oprah and on the pages of Lucky and Glamour magazines. And they’ve caused a stir on fashion blogs, where their arrival has ignited a debate about whether there are any boundaries left when it comes to saving money.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-cheapchic07jul19,0,3167940.story

Go to wedding gowns for tips on choosing a wedding gown.

Designer Wedding Gowns

There goes the wedding budget….”"

Bridal dress designer Monique Lhuillier leapt into the wedding business on a whim. Having had a difficult time finding her own gown, Lhuillier, a 23-year-old newlywed at the time, decided to begin sketching her own line of dresses. Her husband figured it was little more than a hobby, one that she would tire of soon enough. “He thought I had the wedding blues and eventually I’d get over it,” she says, chuckling warmly.

That was a decade ago, and Lhuillier (Lo-lee-ay) is still not over it. In fact, she’s now regarded as one of the premier designers in the bridal industry, and her “hobby” has become a thriving enterprise that grossed more than $20 million last year. Her wedding gowns, ranging in price from $2,000 to $25,000, have been worn by the likes of Christine Baumgartner (wife of Kevin Costner) and the rock star Pink.

http://usaweekend.com/07_issues/070722/070722fashion.html

More ideas on buying a wedding gown

Regent Cruise Line Launches Destination Wedding Program

Here’s a unique way to get married:”"

Here’s how it works: Regent guests looking to get married or renew their vows in port (or onboard, if they wish) can plan their ceremony directly with a wedding consultant. But what’s interesting to us, and unique to the industry, is that pre-arranged wedding packages for Regent’s guests do not exist! The bride- and groom-to-be, or couple renewing their vows, get to create their own day. The traditional wedding staples (the officiant, marriage certificate, wedding cake and Champagne) will be there — but you get to pick everything else, with your consultant’s help.

So, think outside the box for a minute. If you could tie the knot or renew your vows any way you wanted, how would you do it? Some of Regent’s suggestions include a kilted ceremony in an ancient Scottish castle (with bagpipers!), a hot air balloon ride over a tropical pineapple plantation and a sunset wedding in the South Pacific.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm”ID=2117

Go to complete wedding guide for wedding tips and advice.

Wedding Pizza, Anyone?

Karen McMillen, owner of Coshocton’s East of Chicago Pizza, enjoys being creative and cooking. On Friday, she combined both passions to make a wedding pizza.

The bottom pizza is adorned with flowers - made out of ham, pepperoni, peppers and black olives. The second pizza has a flower made out of tomatoes, black olives and peppers, while the third pizza has a ring of pepperoni around the edge. Once cooled, they will be topped with a bride and groom, just

http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article”AID=/20070721/NEWS01/707210318/1002

Also see wedding cake tips

Wedding Registry Trends

Times are a changing, as they say.

At a recent engagement party, I turned to a 20-something guest and asked if the woman getting married was registered for china. She hesitated, clearly puzzled, “No, they’re going on an Alaskan cruise for their honeymoon.”

This cross-generational exchange shows how far behind I am on the changing trends in wedding gifts. Maeve Burke, a spokesperson for Canadian Tire, which launched a wedding registry service in 2004, is too polite to say that. But she will say that popular choices for wedding presents have really shifted in the past decade.

“Couples are more likely to request items that they can enjoy every day rather than the china set that comes out once a year,” she says. “They’re also asking for gifts that are related to a shared hobby, and might put bikes or a canoe on their list.”

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/237548

See wedding registry for more information.

Wedding Cakes - How About Renting One

Impossible, you say, since a wedding cake is something the bride and groom and guests actually consume and therefore cannot be returned in exactly pristine condition.Think again. Love makes all things possible, apparently.

These days, a beautiful, towering wedding cake that is rolled out and put on display for guests to ooh and ahhh over might really be a fake cake made of foam and plastic and covered in fondant “”" which is similar to frosting. After the bride and groom perform the ritual of cutting the cake “?” in some cases, a slice of real cake is hidden in a secret compartment “”" the cake is rolled away.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070723-9999-1m23cake.html

More on wedding cakes

Wedding Guest Etiquette

Interesting”"tips”"for wedding guests.”"

Weddings are an occasion to dress up and have fun, so don’t make the mistake of wearing the same outfit you’d put on for a board meeting or job interview.

Women who wear outfits that are sexy or otherwise revealing are making a mistake, Donaldson says. It’s the bride and groom’s day to shine, as well as their families’, so it’s distracting if you wear something too tight or revealing. “Some couples think it’s an occasion to get a baby sitter and go out and party, but there’s a place for tradition and decorum. As a guest, you don’t want to be the spoiler.”

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article”AID=/20070722/FEATURES07/707220333/1016/FEATURES07

More wedding tips

Two-Thirds of American Couples Overspend on Their Weddings

Why am I not suprised.

Summer is the most popular season to get married and a wedding will likely”"be the biggest expense a couple faces in their first year of marriage. According to a
newly released Visa survey of 1,000 cardholders, couples who got married in
the past ten years spent an average of $7,873 on their weddings.
“”??”" Additionally, two-thirds of all respondents said they overspent on
their weddings. Specifically, men (16 percent) splurged on their honeymoons
while women (21 percent) spent too much on food, drinks and wedding cakes,
followed by their wedding dresses (11 percent). Where was money on the
wedding best spent? Respondents answered wedding photos and decorations,
with only 1 percent saying they overspent on those items.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl”ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-20-2007/0004629517&EDATE=

Go to My Complete Wedding Guide for advice on how to plan your wedding without overspending.

Whopper Freakout… Did you see this video on what would happen if they stopped serving Burger King’s Whopper?

Funny how people freakout…

ikely we haven’t seen the end of this: A series of apparent ethics rules violations by Washington political figures, with the commonality of involvement with a company called Hythiam Inc. Odds are, we also haven’t seen the last of things like it.

Hythiam sells “comprehensive behavioral health management services to health plans, employers, criminal justice, and government agencies,” and there’s something highly useful about this. One of the videos on its corporate front page suggests “there’s a movement from incarceration to treatment,” and eventually probably there will be - prisons are becoming so unwieldy and immensely expensive that smarter solutions (for not all but a significant chunk of inmates) are going to be needed.

Thus, providers like Hythiam. Among its key products is this: “Hythiam currently offers initial disease management offerings for substance dependence built around its proprietary PROMETA Treatment Program for alcoholism and dependence to stimulants. The PROMETA Treatment Program, which integrates behavioral, nutritional, and medical components, are available through licensed treatment providers.”

It sounds good enough you might want to just leap, maybe before you look. One of the results is incorrect reporting on ethics documents by two Pierce County political figures, County Executive John Ladenburg (who had disclosed an investment interest in Hythiam but less than it really was) and state Representative Dennis Flannigan of Tacoma (who owns 4,000 shares in Hythia but didn’t disclose it), both Democrats. (Washington law, much like Oregon’s, requires annual disclosure to the state of asset interests by a large number of public officials.)

Kicker A is that, as the Tacoma News Tribune reports, “Flannigan, Ladenburg and other Pierce County lawmakers helped secure a total of $900,000 in state and local funding for Prometa.”

Kicker B is that, the paper also reports, “The [county] council and executive agreed in April to spend $400,000 to try the program on offenders in the county’s drug court. But the council suspended funding Oct. 23 after a preliminary report by the county audit staff found little evidence that Prometa is effective.”
The personal financial linkage to Hythiam spreads beyond the politicians. The TNT also says that Terree Schmidt-Whelan, who runs the nonprofit adminstration of Prometa treatment for Pierce County, also is a Hythiam stockholder.

Flannigan has a long history of failures to properly report; the Hythiam thing for him is one in a series. But probably we shouldn’t be too surprised that as private contractors take on increasingly sensitive and significant activities for governments, that some of them will attract direct involvement from people in government. It’s easy to justify: As a stockholder, a public official actually has a say, albeit likely a small one, in the private entities doing the public’s business. But that say, that link and that tie, bind in both directions.

County Executive John Ladenburg’s last-ditch effort to save funding for the Prometa drug-treatment program did not sway the County Council.

Instead of setting aside $400,000 for Prometa in the 2008 budget, the council Tuesday designated the money for “decreasing the Pierce County jail population or evidence-based programs that are directed towards breaking the cycle of drug addiction.”

The council also set aside the $175,000 in unspent 2007 Prometa funding for the same purpose, bringing the total to $575,000.

The council took no action on  to spend the money on Prometa.
Council Chairman Terry Lee, R-Gig Harbor, said Prometa could qualify for the funds “if it becomes a program based on evidence-based results.”

Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, said the council will ask the Performance Audit Committee to devise performance measures that will be applied to programs like Prometa, with the ultimate goal of reducing the jail population.

“We need to do a much better job of measuring and holding people accountable for outcomes,” Bunney said.

The council last month  2007 funding for Prometa – used to treat addicts in county drug court – after a performance auditors report found little evidence the program is effective.
On Tuesday Ladenburg made a last effort to revive Prometa funding by offering budget language addressing several council concerns.

The executive’s plan would have prohibited managers and board members of the nonprofit Pierce County Alliance – which administers Prometa for the county – from owning stock in Hythiam Inc., the company that licenses the treatment. The plan also would have removed language from the alliance’s contract with Hythiam that required it to market Prometa.