Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/law/law-com-newswire/~3/945cZEUuVro/sign_me_in.jsp
Jessica Ghawi People Water Fred Willard Emmy nominations 2012 Ramadan 2012 Michelle Jenneke batman
Facebook has reportedly been toying around with the idea of launching a distribution platform for mobile games, boosting advertising revenue by also taking a cut of sales. As of today, the initiative is official: a new Mobile Games Publishing page is now live on Facebook's developers site. The pilot program is designed for small and medium-sized gaming developers -- after signing up, Facebook will help developers target consumers who might be interested in playing. Additionally, the site will provide feedback through analytics tools, enabling developers to refine their approach in response to customer interest. The program isn't open to everyone just yet, but if you're a small to mid-sized dev that Facebook identifies as "high-potential," you might just have a shot at joining up. Fill in your deets at the source link below.
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Facebook
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Facebook
bestbuy bestbuy gamestop black friday deals Sephora Cyber Monday 2012 Walmart.com
This may seem like a well-covered topic, but honestly, no small business is ever fully prepared to face a disaster nevermind the long post-event road to recover.??Another summer storm season is just around the corner.??Most small business owners don?t realize that storms aren?t the only threat to their livelihood. The good news is that there are steps that every small business can take to reduce the impact of a catastrophe and decrease the restart time to being fully operational once more.
What can we learn from recent disasters?
Disasters don?t just include storms or fires. There are a multitude of unforeseen events that can impact and interrupt your business to the point of shut-down. Consider for a minute that your work force is lean, everyone is juggling multiple tasks, and each person is critical to your business? success. Then consider that a pandemic virus, (think H1N1 virus) strikes your community taking out nearly two-thirds of your work force, several critically. Your business suffers because you cannot meet customer demands, provide adequate service, or maintain daily operations with so many key staffers out ill.??What you do next, may mean the difference between keeping your customers or losing them forever. It may even mean the survival of your business.
If your next move is to reach for your updated crisis plan and implement the procedures your emergency team put together just last quarter, then your business may have hope for surviving the crisis.??Alternately, if your next choice is to buy a box of surgical masks and put a quarantine sign on your door, you may want to start looking for another career choice.
To your amazement, not only did your emergency response team write the crisis plan, they even ran a few test scenarios to see how well it worked!??Before you can believe your eyes, your emergency response team leader pulls out the binder and initiates the ?Illness Crisis Protocol? to start the process of auto orders with your vendors, back-up delivery schedules and a list of contingency duties for the remaining staff on hand. Each staffer gathers together a list of the top ten items in his or her department that need to be addressed in order to maintain operations for the next 24 to 36 hours. The team regroups in an hour and begins to sketch shor- term plans based on their needs lists. None of this would have been possible if your employees hadn?t taken the initiative and time to review these processes six months ago.
Data interruption
Threats to data bases aren?t just for corporate espionage novels any more.??Posing even a greater risk to small businesses than their large corporate cousins, data theft or data interruption can cost thousands or even millions in lost revenue.??According to a Trend Micro-sponsored Ponemon Institute study, ?more than 78 percent of organizations have suffered from at least one data breach over the past two years.????Whether those breaches were from external malicious intent or as a result of employee error, the costs related to recovering and restoring your business? data. Data recovery is severely hindered for small businesses because according to the Trend Micro report, ?62 percent of small business enterprises do not routinely back up [their] data? making it even more difficult to recover lost information and restart the business. Of those businesses backing up their data, one in four of them are storing their back up at a remote location more than 50 miles away. Backing up your data to a removable hard drive and storing it in a desk drawer may be a nice first step, but consider what you would do if a rogue storm?strikes and your business and all of its contents are flooded. Storing back up data in an off-site secure location will help to ensure greater business continuity. When creating a back-up, remember to also keep a duplicate copy of your business? accounting and emergency contact information for every employee. These and other emergency measures will make a big difference in how quickly you can reopen your business.
Lastly, but certainly not least, protect your employees.??For small businesses, employees hold not just the figurative keys to the business, but often the physical keys, too.???Employees, a small business? most important asset, can often be overlooked in disaster planning,? says a representative from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). Protecting your employees needs to happen both inside and outside your facility.??Make sure that your emergency plan includes building evacuation, shelter in place, and lockdown activities. Also, consider how you can implement a work at home process until your business? facilities are back online and fully operational.
Please be advised that, based on current IRS rules and standards, any advice contained herein is not intended to be used, nor can it be used, for the avoidance of any tax penalty that the IRS may assess related to this matter. Any information contained in this article, whether viewed or subsequently printed, cannot be relied upon as qualified tax and accounting advice.? Any information contained in this article does not fall under the guidelines of IRS Circular 230.
www.smallbizaccountants.com
Source: https://www.accountingfreedom.com/?p=1059
dominos dominos Michelle Obama Oscars Wissam Al Mana seth macfarlane oscar winners anne hathaway
He was the 2007 valedictorian of Rome High school.
He is the son of Dr. and Mrs. James Payne and the grandson of J. Sanford Payne and the late Sara Hall Payne.
Source: http://rn-t.com/bookmark/23242753
Aaron Ross Sikh temple Nastia Liukin Gabby Douglas hair Kayla Harrison Mars landing Gabby Douglas
Fire from the Blue Rhino propane plant explosions lights up the night sky on Monday in central Florida.
At least eight people were injured, including five critically, as a series of explosions rocked a central Florida propane gas plant on Monday night, sending local residents who believed "bombs are going off" into a panic.
All the workers at the Blue Rhino propane plant in Tavares, Fla., were accounted for early Tuesday.
"People from very far away and in towns six, seven, eight, 10 miles from here were reporting feeling their homes shaking," John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office told ABCNews.com.
One of the injured people was not a worker, but a man who was hit by a car while trying to run away from the fire.
Leesburg resident Kaghy Sam, 29, was sprinting on the road "due to a large fire and several explosions" just before 11 p.m. Monday and "ran into the direct path" of 72-year-old Gene Batson's vehicle, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Sam was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center with serious injuries, and no charges were filed.
Three workers were listed in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center early Tuesday, while one person injured in the explosion was in critical condition at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. Other injured workers drove themselves to hospitals.
Five workers walked up to a command center with skin hanging off their arms, torso and faces, a fire official said.
The plant, located northwest of Orlando, refilled propane tanks usually used for barbecues and other uses. There were at least 53,000 20-pound tanks on the premises.
There were 14 full-time employees and 10 part-timers at the scene when the blasts happened around 11 p.m.
"It sounds like bombs are going off," Norma Haygood told WESH in Orlando.
The tanks at the plant hold 90,000 gallons of propane each, but did not ignite the fire, Tavares Fire Chief Richard Keith said Tuesday morning.
"We don't think there was any act of sabotage or anything like that," Keith told the Orlando Sentinel. "It was probably a human or equipment error."
Three 33,000-pound tanks of propane were untouched even though hoses designed to spray water on them in case of fire did not go off because they needed to be manually activated, Lake County Battalion Chief Chris Croughwell said.
RELATED: TRAIN CARRYING PETROLEUM DERAILS, CATCHES FIRE IN QUEBEC
"Most sane people don't stick around for an event like this," he said.
Tavares Mayor Robert Wolfe was surprised the hoses needed to be manually activated. "We're lucky those tanks didn't explode," he said. If they did, it "would have wiped us out," he said.
Video footage on WESH showed raging fires following the explosions. Residents who were told to leave their homes as a precaution were later allowed to return.
"You could definitely see the fire from across the lake," Ashley McCormick of Mount Dora told ABC. "It was humongous even from seven miles away. You could hear the explosions, just one after another and then after it would explode, a fireball would shoot up into the sky."
"It was like a car had run into my house, is what I thought had happened," said Marni Whitehead, who lives less than a mile from the plant.
She ran outside and saw the explosions.
"We knew right away it was the plant, the propane plant," Whitehead said. "After that, it was just sort of panic. And it was just boom after boom after boom."
"I have heard tons of booms for at least 30 minutes," Mount Dora's Blake Cottle told ABC affiliate WFTV-TV.
Officials believe the fire was contained, but while reporters were examining the facility on Tuesday morning, firefighters found burning plastic tank caps in a gigantic container, according to the Sentinel.
Blue Rhino, which was built in 2004 and employs fewer than 50 people, is a subsidiary of Kansas-based Ferrellgas.
"We know very little so far. It's very early, it's very preliminary," a Ferrellgas spokesman told the Sentinel.
"It was a tremendous fire," Keith said Tuesday morning. "We still have a lot of work to do."
Blue Rhino was cited with a "serious" violation by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration in November of 2011, according to the Sentinel.
"We don't have any details regarding the event," an OSHA spokesperson said. "As is standard OSHA policy, OSHA has up to six months from the beginning of its investigation to issue its findings and determine whether any OSHA standards were violated. OSHA does not issue preliminary or interim reports, so we won't be able to comment on the investigation until the final report is issued."
With News Wire Services
?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nydnrss/new-york/~3/XIpTgXyojLc/story01.htm
John Harbaugh jill biden jill biden martin luther king jr baltimore ravens ravens Ravens vs Patriots
Vivid Seats
A snapshot of National Football League average home game ticket prices for the 2013-2014 season, according to ticket marketplace Vivid Seats.
The looming National Football League season will be the San Francisco 49ers' last at Candlestick Park, and cost-conscious fans might want to get in on the action now.
According to an analysis by online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats, the Niners have the No. 13 most expensive average home game tickets out of the league's 32 teams. But if the team's season ticket and seat license prices at the new Levi's Stadium are any indication, expect the team to rank higher next year.
Across the NFL, the average ticket price for the 2013 season is $203.75. For home games at Candlestick Park this upcoming season, 49ers' tickets are going for an average $216, according to Vivid Seats.
That's much lower than the top teams for home game ticket sales, like the New England Patriots, which are going for an average of $431. However, Niners games are significantly higher than the Oakland Raiders' average $120 ticket price, which sends the East Bay team to the bottom of the spendy list, at No. 29.
The 49ers' new $1.3 billion Santa Clara stadium project ? slated for completion next summer ? has already generated more than $800 million in revenue from early seat license and box sales.
Seat license costs at Levi's Stadium, which are not figured into average ticket prices, range from $2,000 to $12,000. Season ticket prices range from $850 to $2,000 or more for suites.
For those keeping score, a ticket to the 49ers' game at the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 15 is currently the No. 11 most expensive single game of the upcoming season, with tickets averaging $418, according to Vivid Seats.
Lauren Hepler covers economic development, sports, and hospitality for the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She can be reached at 408.299.1820
atlanta hawks forrest gump bernard hopkins 2012 white house correspondents dinner devils la riots rachel maddow
By Christian Lowe
WARSAW (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has agreed to consider a second case against Poland over allegations it allowed the CIA to run a secret jail on its soil, intensifying pressure on Warsaw to reveal how closely it was involved in the U.S. "war on terror".
The Strasbourg-based court will consider an application from Saudi-born Abu Zubaydah, who alleges that he was held illegally about a decade ago in a CIA-run facility on the grounds of an intelligence training academy in a Polish forest.
His case will be considered alongside one brought earlier by Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who says he was held in the same place as part of a CIA program of "extraordinary rendition" to detain and interrogate suspected al Qaeda operatives.
According to applications submitted to court by lawyers for the two men, they were flown by private jet to a remote Polish airfield and then driven to the facility near a village called Stare Kiejkuty. While there, they say they were subjected to interrogation techniques - including water-boarding - that human rights activists say amount to torture.
Polish officials deny hosting a CIA jail. Poland's foreign ministry said it had received details of the case from the ECHR.
"Poland is obliged to reply to the complaint by the deadline of September 16 this year. The case is currently being analyzed by the legal services of the ministry," it said in a statement.
The twin court cases are awkward for Poland's government: it is caught between a desire to be seen as a model of human rights and respect for the law on the one hand, and its close security relationship with the United States on the other.
GUANTANAMO INMATES
The United States has acknowledged that, as part of its "war on terror" it had facilities around the world where it held al Qaeda suspects. Putting them on foreign soil meant the detainees were not entitled to the protections afforded under U.S. law.
Washington has never disclosed the location of any of the prisons, and President Barack Obama signed an order ending their use after taking office in 2009. Both Abu Zubaydah and al-Nashiri are now being held in the U.S. military jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Warsaw has so far declined to answer questions from the court about the allegations made by al-Nashiri, citing national security concerns and worries about interfering with a separate criminal investigation inside Poland.
"As a member of the Council of Europe, Poland is obliged to cooperate with the Court," said Helen Duffy, senior counsel for Abu Zubaydah on behalf of Interights, a human rights group.
"It needs to begin to engage with the detailed allegations against it and to account for its central role in the rendition program," she said.
Abu Zubaydah's application against Poland was on Monday listed by the ECHR as having been "communicated", which means that on a preliminary examination the court believed there was a case to answer.
The court usually takes several years between receiving an application and communicating it, but it acted more swiftly in the two cases against Poland: 14 months for al-Nashiri and six months for Abu Zubaydah's application.
Some people with expertise in the court's workings say this could mean a ruling will be made as early as this year.
The U.S. government says Abu Zubaydah ran a camp in Afghanistan that trained some of those who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities. It accuses al-Nashiri of directing an attack on the U.S. warship Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000 that killed 17 sailors.
Prosecutors in Poland have been conducting a criminal investigation into allegations that Polish officials knew there was a CIA jail. It has been running now for five years, with no sign any prosecutions are imminent.
(Additional reporting by Dagmara Leszkowicz; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/european-court-hear-cia-jail-case-against-poland-150155823.html
fiscal cliff Pitbull Hannah Storm fergie new years looper New Years Eve
Women?s basketball coach Beth Burns isn?t taking her forced retirement sitting down.
Former San Diego State University women?s basketball coach Beth Burns isn?t taking her forced retirement sitting down. Burns was caught slapping an assistant coach on the shoulder and then the school forced her to retire without so much as a goodbye to her players. Become a blogger today!
Get started now
Chris Porco cbs sports ncaa tournament kids choice awards Miley Cyrus Twerk ncaa march madness cbs
Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, issued a decree giving Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi authorization to order the military police to arrest civilians.
According to the daily Al Wasat, which printed the decree published Sunday in the official state bulletin, Mansour extended a series of presidential prerogatives to Beblawi, including the arrest authorization.
The move may be interpreted as another step to increase the repression of demonstrators supporting deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by the military on July 3.
Since the lifting in May 2012 of the emergency law, which had been in effect in Egypt since 1981 ostensibly to fight terrorism, the police had been the only organization allowed to arrest civilians.
However, on June 13, 2012, the Justice Ministry issued a decree authorizing the military police to arrest civilians for specific common crimes, although a few days later the Supreme Administrative Court in Cairo ordered that measure suspended. EFE
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/latino_foxnews_com/home/feed/~3/HVnQO9T1mEg/
britney spears At&t Wireless 9/11 Jerry Lawler Samsung Galaxy S3 bachelor pad bachelor pad
Happy Saturday friends! Since you are inside staring at the Internet instead of outside staring at the ocean, here's a selection of the most bestest stories we published this week. They will make you laugh and cry simultaneously with outrage and joy!
Source: http://gizmodo.com/chromecast-dealz-apple-store-meltdowns-easy-monopoly-933910755
Jon Lord Colorado shootings dark knight rises Aurora shooting James Eagan Holmes jeremy lin Sage Stallone
Microsoft has had a less-than-stellar track record with the?Xbox One?so far: with somewhat fumbling PR and a host of unpopular features and policies, the Xbox One?s reveal didn?t go over so well in the gaming sphere.
Now Microsoft is aiming to change that by pushing a variety of newly announced features and content in order to redeem the console?s overall public image, and their most recent attempts have proven successful.
At this year?s?PAX Australia, Microsoft unveiled some pretty impressive features for their next-gen Xbox One. First off, the Redmond-based gaming giant announced that gamers will be able to use the next-gen system to create and self-publish their own indie games?a move that was well received by many indie enthusiasts.
Now Microsoft offers something that every gamer can appreciate?more HDD capacity. 500 gigs isn?t by any means a smallish figure, but when gamers are downloading HD videos and huge next-gen gaming content via Xbox LIVE, that hard drive may be full before you know it.
To solve this, Microsoft has promised gamers the Xbox One will have ?unlimited? drive space via the console?s extensive cloud network, and that it won?t cost users a dime.
According to a PR spokesperson from Microsoft, the cloud storage feature will be offered to?allXbox LIVE subscribers and won?t be restricted to just Xbox LIVE Gold members?which is quite surprising, given the perks offered by the premium subscription.
Xbox Live offers Xbox One unlimited storage space in the cloud for all Xbox Live members to store numerous types of Xbox Live content, including your profile, games, Achievements and entertainment.
This content is stored and saved in the cloud so you can automatically access it anywhere, anytime, no matter where you are.
While Microsoft has touted their cloud network since the Xbox One was formally announced, we haven?t had very much clear-cut information regarding the specifics of the cloud. This new announcement may be enough to win a percentage of gamers who are still on the fence about which next-gen console is right for them, and it will be interesting to see if Sony counters with their own focus on cloud storage.
The?PlayStation 4?s cloud network,?Gaikai, will be optimized for Sony?s PlayStation Store offering and may feature a variety of classics from the previous PlayStation consoles all the way back to the PS1. While Sony?s cloud-based service will offer a ton of content from a smattering of providers, we may not see unlimited hard drive space.
Even so the PS4 remains the dominant choice, and we?ll likely see the console war heat up in the coming months with Gamescom and this year?s Tokyo Game Show around the corner.
Via Examiner
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vr-zone/~3/MXcEJtgrpW8/47766.html
lra lra eric johnson eric johnson big east tournament ashley olsen new apple tv
SAN DIEGO -- An attorney and former supporter of San Diego's mayor says he is preparing to make a sexual harassment claim against the city.
Attorney Marco Gonzalez speaking at a news conference in front of City Hall on Monday said lawsuits may also be filed if Mayor Bob Filner refuses to resign.
Gonzalez was accompanied by another lawyer and former Councilwoman Donna Frye, who first announced the allegations last week.
Frye read statements Monday allegedly from two unnamed victims.
Frye says the mayor forcibly kissed both during separate encounters.
San Diego's first Democratic mayor in 20 years is desperately trying to hold on to his office amid the allegations.
Filner has apologized for not respecting women. But he said in a statement Monday that he is not guilty of sexual harassment.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/15/3501244/san-diego-mayors-ex-supporters.html
presidents day mindy mccready mindy mccready downton abbey nba all star game danica patrick Michelle Laxalt
Unidentified members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew from Prescott, Ariz., pose together in this undated photo provided by the City of Prescott. Some of the men in this photograph were among the 19 firefighters killed while battling an out-of-control wildfire near Yarnell, Ariz., on Sunday, June 30, 2013, according to Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo. It was the nation's biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years. (AP Photo/City of Prescott)
Unidentified members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew from Prescott, Ariz., pose together in this undated photo provided by the City of Prescott. Some of the men in this photograph were among the 19 firefighters killed while battling an out-of-control wildfire near Yarnell, Ariz., on Sunday, June 30, 2013, according to Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo. It was the nation's biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years. (AP Photo/City of Prescott)
This undated photo courtesy of the the Woyjeck family shows firefighter, Kevin Woyjeck, right, and his father, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Joe Woyjeck. Kevin Woyjeck of Seal Beach, Calif., was one of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew, who was killed Sunday evening above the town of Yarnell, northwest of Phoenix in the nation's biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years. (AP Photo/Woyjeck Family)
This undated photo provided by the family shows John Joseph Percin Jr. Percin, 24, was among the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters who were killed Sunday, June 30, 2013 when a windblown wildfire overcame them north of Phoenix. (AP Photo)
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) ? Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, based in Prescott, Ariz., were killed Sunday when a windblown wildfire overcame them north of Phoenix. It was the deadliest single day for U.S. firefighters since Sept. 11. Fourteen of the victims were in their 20s. Here are the stories of those who died:
___
ANDREW ASHCRAFT: AN ATHLETIC, GO-GETTER
Prescott High School physical education teacher and coach Lou Beneitone taught many of the Hotshots, and remembered Andrew Ashcraft, 29, as a fitness-oriented student.
"He had some athletic ability in him and he was a go-getter, too. You could pretty much see, from young freshman all the way, he was going to be physically active."
Beneitone said athletic prowess was a must for the Hotshots. "That's what it takes. You gotta be very physically fit, and you gotta like it, gotta like the hard work."
Ashcraft, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was honored to be a member of the Hotshot crew, and "he just had a really sweet spirit about him," Elise Smith, a Prescott resident, told The Deseret News of Salt Lake City.
Ashcraft left behind a wife, Juliann, and four children, the newspaper reported.
___
ROBERT CALDWELL: THE SMART ONE
Friends characterized Robert Caldwell, 23, as the smart man in the bunch.
"He was really smart, he had a good sense of humor," said Chase Madrid, worked as a Hotshot for two years, but sat this year out.
"He was one of the smart guys in the crew who could get the weather, figure out the mathematics. It was just natural for him," Madrid said.
It was Caldwell's intelligence and know-how that got him appointed as a squad boss.
His cousin, Grant McKee, was also a Hotshots member and also was killed on Sunday.
"Robert was a gentle giant ? he was man of few words," said his aunt, Laurie McKee.
He had just gotten married in November, and had a 5-year-old stepson.
"Both of these boys were only interested in having a family life. Robert was newly married, and Grant was engaged. They just wanted the house and the dog," she said.
Mary Hoffmann was grandmother to both boys.
"To have two grandson's gone, it's devastation," she said.
___
TRAVIS CARTER: STRONG AND HUMBLE
At Captain Crossfit, a gym near the firehouse where the Hotshots were stationed, Travis Carter was known as the strongest one out of the crew ? but also the most humble.
"No one could beat him," trainer Janine Pereira said. "But the thing about him, was he would never brag about it. He would just kill everyone and then go and start helping someone else finish."
Carter, 31, was famous for once holding a plank for 45 minutes, and he was notorious for making up brutal workouts.
The crew recently did a five-mile run during wilderness training, then he made them go to Captain Crossfit in the afternoon for another really hard workout.
"The other guys who came in here always said that even though he was in charge, he was always the first one at the fire, the first one in action," Pereira said.
___
DUSTIN DEFORD: DRY SENSE OF HUMOR
Dustin DeFord, 24, had been a firefighter since he turned 18 and started as a volunteer in tiny Ekalaka, Mont. His father, the Rev. Steve DeFord, said the outpouring of support there has been unbelievable.
"We've got enough food in the house to last a year," he said.
DeFord graduated from Cornerstone Bible Institute in Hot Springs, S.D., three years ago, his father said, and always believed God was his guiding force.
On his Facebook page last year, he talked about wanting to find work in western Montana, but God instead moved him to Arizona. Immediately he worked to improve his skills on the climbing wall at a gym near the firehouse.
"He listened very well. He was very respectful," said Tony Burris, a trainer at Captain Crossfit. "He kind of had a dry sense of humor."
Another trainer, Janine Pereira, echoed that sentiment.
"You would say something to him, and he would respond with a crack, which was funny because he was so shy," she said.
DeFord is survived by nine brothers and sisters, including a Marine Corps staff sergeant who is traveling home from Afghanistan, an older brother who is fighting fire with a helicopter team in New Mexico and a younger brother on a Hotshot crew in Alaska.
___
CHRIS MACKENZIE: 'JUST LIKE HIS DAD'
An avid snowboarder, Chris MacKenzie, 30, grew up in California's San Jacinto Valley, where he was a 2001 graduate of Hemet High School and a former member of the town's fire department. He joined the U.S. Forest Service in 2004 then transferred two years ago to the Prescott Fire Department, longtime friend Dav Fulford-Brown told The Riverside Press-Enterprise.
MacKenzie, like at least one other member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, had followed his father into firefighting. Michael MacKenzie, a former Moreno Valley Fire Department captain, confirmed that he had been informed of his son's death.
"I can't talk about it," he said.
Fulford-Brown, also a former firefighter, feared for the worst as soon as he heard the news of the Arizona firefighters. "I said, 'Oh my God, that's Chris' crew.' I started calling him and calling him and got no answer," he told The Press-Enterprise. MacKenzie, he said, "lived life to the fullest ... and was fighting fire just like his dad."
"He was finishing his credentials to get promoted and loved the people. It's an insane tragedy."
___
ERIC MARSH: HOOKED ON FIREFIGHTING
Eric Marsh, 43, was an avid mountain biker who grew up in Ashe County, N.C., but became hooked on firefighting while studying biology at Arizona State University, said Leanna Racquer, the ex-wife of his cousin. Marsh lived with Racquer and her then-husband during the winters from 1992 through 1996 in North Carolina, but kept returning to Arizona during fire season.
After college, he kept working as a firefighter, eventually landing a full-time job and settling in northern Arizona. He even moved his parents to the state, she said. Marsh was superintendent of the Hotshot crew and the oldest of the 19 who died.
"He's was great ? he was the best at what he did," Racquer said. "He is awesome and well-loved and they are hurting," she said of his family.
Marsh was married but had no children, said his cousin, Scott Marsh, of Pisgah Forest, N.C. His father, John Marsh, told the Jefferson Post newspaper in Jefferson, N.C., that his only child "was a great son."
"He was compassionate and caring about his crew."
___
GRANT MCKEE: GIVING NATURE
Grant McKee, 21, loved to give things away.
"Even as a child, I'd ask him where things were, and he'd say, 'Oh such and such liked it.' And sometimes it really cost a lot! But he'd say, 'Oh he liked it so much,'" said his grandmother, Mary Hoffmann.
"So on his birthday, I started to say, 'I hope you're going to keep this!'" she said.
McKee's cousin, Robert Caldwell, also was a Hotshot and also was killed on Sunday.
"I had four grandchildren, but Grant was the sweetest most giving nature of any of my grandkids," Hoffman said. "We used to think he was a little angel."
McKee's mother said Grant was training to be an emergency medical technician and only intended to work with the Hotshots for the summer.
During EMT training, he would ask for extra shifts at the emergency room. And because his superiors liked him, they would give them to him, Laurie McKee said.
"Grant was one of the most likable people you could ever meet," she said. "Grant was friendly, he was outgoing. Everybody loved Grant."
___
SEAN MISNER: 'TREMENDOUS HEART AND DESIRE'
Sean Misner, 26, leaves behind a wife who is seven months pregnant, said Mark Swanitz, principal of Santa Ynez Valley Union High School in Santa Barbara County, where Misner graduated in 2005.
Misner played varsity football and also participated in the school's sports medicine program where he wrapped sprained ankles and took care of sidelined athletes.
"He was a team player, a real helper," Swanitz told The Associated Press.
In high school, Misner played several positions, including wide receiver and defensive back. He was slim for a high school football player, but that didn't stop him from tackling his opponents, recalled retired football coach Ken Gruendyke.
"He played with tremendous heart and desire," Gruendyke said. "He wasn't the biggest or fastest guy on the team but he played with great emotion and intensity."
___
SCOTT NORRIS: THE 'IDEAL AMERICAN GENTELMAN'
Scott Norris, 28, was known around Prescott through his part-time job at Bucky O'Neill Guns.
"Here in Arizona the gun shops are a lot like barbershops. Sometimes you don't go in there to buy anything at all, you just go to talk," said resident William O'Hara. "I never heard a dirty word out of the guy. He was the kind of guy who if he dated your daughter, you'd be OK with it.
"He was just a model of a young, ideal American gentleman."
O'Hara's son Ryan, 19, said Norris' life and tragic death had inspired him to live a more meaningful life.
"He was a loving guy. He loved life. And I've been guilty of not looking as happy as I should, and letting things get to me, and Scott wasn't like that at all."
___
WADE PARKER: ANOTHER SECOND GENERATION FIREFIGHTER
At 22, Wade Parker had just joined the Hotshots team. His father works for the nearby Chino Valley Fire Department, said retired Prescott Fire Department Capt. Jeff Knotek, who had known Wade since he was "just a little guy."
The younger Parker had been very excited about being part of the Hotshot crew, Knotek said.
"He was another guy who wanted to be a second generation firefighter," Knotek said. "Big, athletic kid who loved it, aggressive, assertive and in great shape."
"It's just a shame to see this happen," Knotek said.
___
JOHN PERCIN JR.: STRONG, BRAVE, AMAZING
He loved baseball and had an unforgettable laugh. In his aunt's eyes, John Percin Jr. was, simply, "an amazing young man."
"He was probably the strongest and bravest young man I have ever met in my life," Donna Percin Pederson said in an interview with The Associated Press from her home in Portland, Ore.
John Percin Sr. declined to comment Monday. "It's not a good time right now."
Percin, 24, was a multisport high school athlete who graduated in 2007 from West Linn High School, southeast of Portland.
Geoff McEvers grew up playing baseball with Percin and remembered him as a fun-loving guy with an unforgettable laugh, The Oregonian newspaper reported.
McEvers said he learned about the Percin's death through friends.
"It's already tragic when you hear about those who died," McEvers told the newspaper, "but when you find out it's someone you know personally, it's tough."
___
ANTHONY ROSE: 'BLOSSOMED' AS FIREMAN
Anthony Rose, 23, was one of the youngest victims. He grew up in Wisconsin and previously worked as a firefighter in nearby Crown King before moving on to become a Hotshot.
Retired Crown King firefighter Greg Flores said Rose "just blossomed in the fire department. He did so well and helped so much in Crown King. We were all so very proud of him."
Flores said the town was planning a fundraiser for Rose and hoped to also have a memorial to honor him.
"He was the kind of guy that his smile lit up the whole room and everyone would just rally around him," he said. "He loved what he was doing, and that brings me some peace of heart."
___
JESSE STEED: 'GREAT FOR MORALE'
Jesse Steed's former colleagues remember him as a joker.
"He was a character. If you look at all the old photos of him, he was doing things to make people laugh," said Cooper Carr, who worked with Steed in the Hotshots from 2001 to 2003.
"He was good at impressions, and he sang songs; he was just great for morale. He'd just talk in a funny voice and have us all in stiches," Carr said. "And he was strong as an ox."
Carr remembers that Steed once spent the better part of an hour positioning a water bottle just right for a photo so that it would look like Yosemite Falls was cascading into it.
Steed was also remembered for his dedication to fighting wildfires.
"He did it for a long, long time. I think he started in 2001, when he got out of the Marines. A job like the Hotshots is hard, hard work, and you don't stay in it if you don't love it," Carr said.
Steed, 36, was one of the older members of the crew. Renton, Wash., police officer Cassidy Steed said his brother "always put his life on the line for people who he knew he would never meet."
___
JOE THURSTON: DARING AND DETERMINED
Back home in Cedar City, Utah, Joe Thurston, 32, used to go to an area reservoir with friends and promptly show how fearless he could be.
"He was definitely one of the daredevil types," longtime friend Scott Goodrich told the Salt Lake Tribune. "We went to Quail (Creek) Reservoir, and we'd be finding 40- to 50-foot cliffs that people would be scared to jump off. He would just show up and be front-flipping off of them."
He brought this bold streak to the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
"He had all the qualities that a firefighter would need to possess," E.J. Overson, another friend, told the Salt Lake City newspaper. "He was service-oriented, very caring and willing to do some things that many others would say, 'I don't want to get involved.'"
Thurston was also determined, generous and hardworking, his friends said.
He went to Cedar High School and Southern Utah University, played in a band and rode skateboards.
"He was one of the best guys I ever met," Goodrich said.
___
TRAVIS TURBYFILL: 'BIG, HUGE MARINE'
Known as "Turby" among crew members, Travis Turbyfill got a full-time position with the Hotshots when another member's girlfriend asked him to quit.
Turbyfill, 27, often worked with other Hotshots at Captain Crossfit, a warehouse filled with mats, obstacle courses, climbing walls and acrobatic rings near the firehouse. He would train in the morning and then return in the afternoon with his wife and kids.
Trainer Janine Pereira said she recently kidded Turbyfill for skipping workouts. His excuse was that he wanted to spend some quality time at Dairy Queen.
"He was telling me that it's because it was Blizzard week, and he was just going to eat a Blizzard every night," she said.
Tony Burris, another trainer, said he enjoyed watching Turby with his two daughters.
"Because he's this big, huge Marine, Hotshot guy, and he has two little girls, reddish, blonde curly hair, and they just loved their dad," he said.
___
BILLY WARNEKE: 'DOING WHAT HE LOVED'
Billy Warneke, 25, and his wife, Roxanne, were expecting their first child in December, his grandmother, Nancy Warneke, told The Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, Calif. Warneke grew up in Hemet, Calif., along with his fellow Granite Mountain hotshot, Chris MacKenzie. He was a four-year Marine Corps veteran who served a tour in Iraq and had joined the hotshot crew in April, buying a property in Prescott, near where his sister lived, the newspaper reported.
Nancy Warneke said she called her sister after seeing the fire on the news.
"She said, 'He's gone. They're all gone,'" Nancy Warneke told The Press-Enterprise. "Even though it's a tragedy for the whole family, he was doing what he loved to do. He loved nature and was helping preserve nature."
___
CLAYTON WHITTED: HE'D 'LIGHT IT UP'
Full of heart and determination, Clayton Whitted, 28, might not have been the biggest guy around, but he was among the hardest-working. His former Prescott High School coach, Lou Beneitone, said Whitted was a "wonderful kid" who always had a big smile on his face. Whitted played for the football team as an offensive and defensive lineman.
"He was a smart young man with a great personality, just a wonderful personality," said Beneitone. "When he walked into a room, he could really light it up."
Beneitone said Whitted loved being a firefighter and was well-respected among his crew. He says he ran into Whitted about two months ago and they shook hands and hugged, and talked about the upcoming fire season.
"I told him to be careful," Beneitone said.
___
KEVIN WOYJECK: FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS
For Kevin Woyjeck, 21, the fire station was always a second home. His father, Capt. Joe Woyjeck, is a nearly 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Keith Mora, an inspector with that agency, said Kevin often accompanied his dad to the station and on ride-alongs and always intended to follow in his footsteps.
"He wanted to become a firefighter like his dad and hopefully work hand in hand," Mora said Monday outside of the fire station in Seal Beach, Calif., where the Woyjeck family lives.
Mora remembered the younger Woyjeck as a "joy to be around," a man who always had a smile on his face. He had been trained as an EMT and worked as an Explorer, which is a mentorship training program to become a professional firefighter.
"He was a great kid. Unbelievable sense of humor, work ethic that was not parallel to many kids I've seen at that age. He wanted to work very hard."
As he spoke, Mora stood before an American flag that had been lowered to half-staff. His own fire badge was covered with a black elastic band, a show of respect and mourning for those lost in the line of duty.
___
GARRET ZUPPIGER: A RED BEARD, AND A SENSE OF HUMOR
Garret Zuppiger, 27, loved to be funny, said Tony Burris, a trainer at a gym where many of the Hotshots worked out.
Burris said the two bonded over their hyper-manly ginger facial hair.
"We both had a red beard and so we would always admire each other's beards," he said. "We also had a few conversations about beer."
Zuppiger's humor was evident on his blog where he wrote about his grandmother's one-eyed Chihuahua, his "best hair day ever" and a hike with his mother on Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. There's also photos of a tongue-in-cheek project to build a "ski-chair," in which a living room recliner was placed atop two skis.
"Garret Zuppiger turns 25!" he wrote in a post several years ago. "Everyday is like a gift!!"
___
Associated Press reporters Raquel Maria Dillon in Seal Beach, Calif., Sue Manning in Los Angeles; and Felicia Fonseca and Hannah Dreier in Prescott contributed to this story.
Associated Pressphilip humber red sox white sox chuck colson ufc 145 results orrin hatch marlon byrd
