Death Notices

HUGHES -- On Aug. 11, 2004, Elisabeth "Bebe" Hughes, daughter of the late Ethel Maude and Joseph Irving Ball, mother of Penelope Cook and her husband Donald, and grandmother of Whitney Marshall, Alexis Marshall, Victoria Fallon and Scott Marshall. A memorial will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her name to the John Scott Hughes Scholarship Fund, Gloucester High School, c/o Joan Dallin, 32 Leslie O. Johnson Road, Gloucester, MA 01930. Arrangements are being conducted by the James C. Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington St., Gloucester.

BRADSHAW -- Of Gloucester, formerly of New Jersey, Aug. 12, 2004, Robert G. Bradshaw, 89, Gloucester artist and New Jersey educator, husband of Jean R. Bradshaw, father of R. Bruce, Joan, Sally M., George D. and Wendy Bradshaw, and grandfather of Robert J., Lori, George R., Carey, Clinton W., Joanna J. and Tristan E. Bradshaw. Family services will be private. Contributions in memory of Robert G. Bradshaw may be made to the Cape Ann Symphony, P.O. Box 1343, Gloucester, MA 01930.

LOW -- Of Gloucester, Aug. 11, 2004, Howard J. Low, 89, husband of the late B. Isabelle (Tossell) Low, father of Suzanne Degagne and Richard Low and his wife Elaine, and grandfather of Michele Bonna, Jeanine Boyers, Joshua Degagne and Samantha Low. There are no funeral services. Contributions may be made in his name to the Cape Ann Animal Aid Association, 260 Main St., Gloucester, MA 01930.

Funeral Notices

Cherry Nichols Clark

A memorial service for Cherry Nichols Clark, 86, wife of the late John L. Clark, of Rockport, formerly of Providence, R.I., was celebrated in the First Congregational Church of Rockport yesterday at 11 a.m.

The Rev. Rona McLean Tyndall, pastor, officiated.

The organist was Dr. Philip Swanson, who led the congregation in singing "Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness," "Fight the Good Fight," "Let There Be Peace On Earth" and "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."

Words of remembrance were given by John G. Clark, a son of Windsor, Conn.; Charles L. Clark, a son of Rockport; Andrew Clark Swayze, a grandson of Burlington, Vt.; and Madeline Rappoli, a granddaughter of Rockport.

A poem, "The Ship," was read by Thomas Clark, a son of Beverly.

The ushers were grandchildren Olivia Clark, John Clark, Leila Clark, Reed Rappoli, Joanna Clark and Gilman Clark.

The church was filled to capacity with family and friends, including town of Rockport officials led by Rockport Selectmen Chairman Roxanne Tieri, and officers and members of the Sandy Bay Yacht Club.

Following the service, the family and friends gathered at the Clark residence on Eden Road.

Arrangements were by the Burgess and Mackey Funeral Home, 201 Main St., Rockport.

Robert H. Fiers

The funeral service for Robert H. Fiers, 78, husband of Shirley (Pooler) Fiers, of Gloucester, was held in the James C. Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington St., Gloucester, Thursday at 8 p.m.

Deacon Daniel Dunn, of St. Ann Church, officiated.

The American flag of the World War II, U.S. Naval veteran, was presented to his daughter, Phyllis J. Allen of Essex.

The funeral home was filled with family and friends.

Burial will be held privately.

Neil C. Strong

Funeral services for Neil C. Strong, 80, of 122 Western Ave., were held Friday at 10 a.m. in the Independent Christian Church, Unitarian Universalist. He was the husband of Grace L. (Atkins) Strong.

The Rev. Wendy Fitting, pastor, officiated before the many family members and friends in attendance.

The organist, David Bergeron, led the congregation in singing "The Old Rugged Cross" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Special words of remembrance were offered by his daughter, Janiel C. Rey. The Rev. Fitting shared a reflection from his son, Thomas C. Strong.

His granddaughter, Shelby E. Strong, read "A Parable of Immortality" by Henry Van Dyke.

The pallbearers were his sons, Ronald B. Strong, Thomas C. Strong and Donald K. Strong; a grandson, Jared C. Strong; his son-in-law, Alberto E. Rey; and family friend, Gary W. Thurston.

The honorary pallbearers were close family friends, Neil Marshall, George A. Grammas and Grier Grammas.

Prayers of committal were given by the Rev. Fitting in the Washington Cemetery.

The American flag, which represented Mr. Strong's dedicated service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, draped the casket. The flag was folded and presented to his wife by Cmdr. Eric B. Lantz and CS2 Susan L. Pearson of the U.S. Naval Reserve, Quincy.

Cmdr. Lantz sounded "Taps," which was echoed by bugler Gerald Silviera.

A collation followed the services at the Manor Inn on Essex Avenue.

On Thursday evening at the funeral home, the Gloucester Lodge of Elks No. 892 conducted memorial services under the direction of Exalted Ruler Jon J. Curley, assisted by Leading Knight William F. Hinckley Sr., P.E.R., Est. Loyal Knight Elizabeth Hinckley, Tiler William F. Hinckley Jr., Inner Guard Mickey MacKillop, Esquire Diane Havener and Trustees Willie Greeke and John E. Degnan.

Soloist Everett Knowlton, L.M., sang, "How Great Thou Art" and "Vacant Chair."

Arrangements were under the direction of the Pike-Grondin Funeral Home, 61 Middle St., Gloucester.

Starting over: Soldier returns home from 20 months of duty

By Greg Cook

Staff writer

Since returning home last week, Sgt. Jerry Ciolino Jr. has found it hard to lose the work, work, work schedule of 12 to 16 hours a day, with no down time, that he had while away for 20 months with the 94th Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit that became one of the longest serving American units in Iraq.

He's been running errands and hanging out with buddies, his parents and his wife, Melissa, and step-daughter Caroline Gaipo, who turns 8 next month.

"I figured I'd come home and relax," the 27-year-old said, "but I can't sit still right now."

The excitement of finally being home -- after his unit was twice held over in Iraq -- may be part of it.

Ciolino is 6-foot-2, with a broad frame, smooth-shaved head (earning him the nickname "Bald Eagle" when he served in Bosnia from 2000 to 2001) and an affable disposition. He is thinking of getting back to work in a few weeks with the Gloucester Police Department, where he's a reserve officer.

And he and Melissa are beginning to think again about buying a house and having another child, plans that were put on hold when he was called to active duty Dec. 5, 2002.

"It's like restarting our whole family over -- me, Melissa and Caroline," Ciolino said. "We've got to all start from scratch. We've changed in different ways."

Rather be lucky

When Ciolino returned to Iraq from 15 days leave in Gloucester last October, he learned that while he was away a close friend in his company had barely escaped becoming a victim of one of Iraq's ubiquitous improvised explosive devices -- roadside bombs jury-rigged from old munitions.

The reservists were patrolling outside a town near Hit, when they stopped their Humvees to examine a narrow bridge leaving the city. Ciolino's friend leaned over a guard rail and there, maybe two feet away, spotted an 155 mm artillery shell rigged to blast the troops.

He turned and ran, dashing about 100 feet before it exploded. They figured he was saved because the bomb was triggered by a cell phone, and the signal relayed just slow enough for him to escape.

"I always said to my squad I'd rather be lucky than good," Ciolino said. "... You can be the best trained soldier, you can be alert, and you're not going to see an IED."

The roughly 160 men and women of the 94th flew to Kuwait on April 20, 2003, and drove into Iraq at the end of that month, spending much of their time in the so-called Sunni Triangle to the west of Baghdad, which has seen the greatest guerilla activity since the end of major combat in early May 2003.

Nine members of the company, including Ciolino, received Purple Hearts for being wounded in action. Some sustained relatively minor shrapnel wounds. One soldier was hit by shrapnel in his eye, requiring three surgeries over the past five months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to try to restore his vision.

Ciolino was guarding the front gate of an 82nd Airborne Division base at Ar Ramadi with three other men about 20 minutes after midnight Sept. 12, 2003, when a robed man walked up the base's access road, turned suddenly and hurled a grenade at the Americans. It exploded about 15 feet from Ciolino, throwing shrapnel into his right arm and left calf.

The Americans fired at the man, hitting him several times, before they dove behind sandbags to the left of the gate. A couple of other guerillas popped up down the road and shot AK-47s at them. American reinforcements ran to the gate. A couple of the Iraqis ran away, never to be found, while the robed man stood and jogged toward the Americans, tossing a second grenade before American bullets cut him down.

The attack left Ciolino with a piece of shrapnel the size of a pencil eraser lodged about 2<1/2> inches into his arm. Army doctors left it in, saying it would work itself out eventually and would only do more damage to remove it. So far it hasn't limited his use of his arm.

The second grenade threw shrapnel into the leg of one of the soldiers who ran to Ciolino's aid and will likely require him to use a cane to walk for the rest of his life, Ciolino said.

"I'm extremely grateful. I feel happy and honored to have the fellow soldiers in my platoon," Ciolino said. "When they knew we were being attacked ... they came running down the street to help us out."

Dangerous roads

Ciolino spent last winter training some 2,400 Iraqi border patrol guards. The company's tour in Iraq had been extended the previous fall, but in March they began preparing to return to the United States.

They packed up their gear and drove to Kuwait. But the night before they were to leave for home, Ciolino recalls a colonel arrived to tell them, "We need you guys to get back to the fight and help your fellow soldiers up there."

At the time, American leaders were boosting troop levels to deal with the insurgency and battles flaring in places like Fallujah. Two dozen relatives of the company's 152 members took a bus from Tewksbury to meet with Lt. Gen. James Helmly, chief of the Army Reserves, and other Pentagon brass on June 7, asking to know why their loved ones had been kept in Iraq so long. They were told specialized companies like the 94th, which does combat support and convoy escorts, needed to be kept in Iraq longer because of their particular expertise.

The 94th spent the spring and summer escorting convoys of five to 60 trucks hauling ammunition, food, water and vehicle parts from Kuwait to Tikrit, Baghdad and places nearby. Ciolino's group was attacked a few times with small arms, but fortunately not rocket-propelled grenades or roadside bombs.

"On the exact same roads we were traveling, soldiers were dying every other day," Ciolino said.

Ciolino found the insurgents used crude tactics during the first months he was in Iraq -- firing from places without cover, not bothering much to camouflage roadside bombs. Before long, they switched to using garage door openers and cell phones to trigger explosives.

They buried bombs two feet under the sand beside roads, hid them in hollow light poles, inside the carcasses of dogs and cows. Sometimes they put bombs in riderless carts pulled by ponies. Sometimes they blew up a bomb behind the troops to study how the Americans would drive up the road before pulling over to make sure they were all OK. Next time, the insurgents would place bombs further up the road to take advantage of the Americans' practice.

"They got a lot smarter as time went on," Ciolino said.

Patrolling cities was especially unsettling. With so many people around, anyone could have a bomb strapped under their clothes or aim a rocket-propelled grenade from an window.

The soldiers returned to base camps at night, where they might be shaken awake by mortars landing 100 to 500 yards away. Ciolino said they'd look for cover, but sometimes there was none and they would remain in the open, praying they didn't get hit, and run if the mortars fell too near.

"Some people are afraid to admit it," he said, "but I think everyone has the same feelings. You have anxiety, you're very nervous, you're very tense, you're scared for your life almost every second you're working because you know anything can happen any second."

Slow progress

"I know we are making progress by building these schools and hospitals and putting all this money into education and health care, and there are a lot of people who like us, but there is a small percentage that is attacking us every day," Ciolino said the other day at his Ferry Street home in Gloucester. "... Those are the people who are preventing that country from getting on the right track."

"From the way I see it, my opinion from when I was there and what I hear in the news and on TV, I don't think it is under control yet," Ciolino said. "It's gotten better than it was a few months ago, but it's not where it needs to be to change that place."

"The troops are doing a great job keeping us safer back home, keeping us free back home," he said.

He thinks about Iraq a lot, but he said he hasn't dreamt about it. He can't stand loud noises now, finding himself startled by the pops of toy firecrackers at Gloucester's sidewalk bazaar last weekend. Back in Iraq, loud noises only signaled bad news.

"I've done a lot, and I've seen a lot," Ciolino said. "I've seen a lot of horrific things, from dead bodies to blown up bodies. Some people handle it differently. I can't say how I'll be in a year, but right now I'm fine."

Waterfront lot for sale for $1.5M;Mayor tries to remove development hurdles for vacant parcel

By Richard Gaines

Staff writer

Mayor John Bell has begun the process of untying the legal knots that have held back development of a prime piece of waterfront real estate for nearly half a century.

Bell last month moved to bring into the hands of the city, through the Waterways Board, a sliver of land between the harbor and the vacant two acres on Rogers Street known as I-4,C-2.

He has said I-4,C-2 would be an ideal home for the regional offices of the nearly 200 employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has outgrown its rental offices at the Blackburn Industrial Park and is about to publish requests for proposals for a new home here or elsewhere on the Essex County coast.

Boston real estate executive Jeffrey Cohen purchased the uplands acreage in 1986, but the semi-independent Gloucester Redevelopment Authority has since held the deed to the waterfront parcel below I-4, C-2.

Cohen's plans for a shopping complex with underground parking were confounded, and ultimately dashed, by a legal tangle that kept him from waterfront access across the GRA's sliver of waterfront property.

A possible turning point in the stalemate came in February, when the Massachusetts Appeals Court rejected Cohen's lawsuit for $4 million to cover his carrying costs during a long struggle to develop I-4,C-2, so named because of its urban renewal designation.

Cohen, who is president of Metropolitan Properties of America, a $500 million luxury apartment development firm, renounced further hope of, or interest in, doing anything with his two acres between the Building Center and the Gloucester House restaurant. He put the property on the market.

Cohen said Thursday the selling price is $1.5 million.

But Cohen also said he would be surprised to find a buyer so long as the property remained bound by the same legal limits that frustrated him.

Bell's initiative aims to remove them.

The mayor cited "the need to encourage final resolution of all the issues and encumbrances that remain with the property" in a July 21 memo to GRA Chairman Barry Pett, the GRA's attorney, John Cunningham, and Waterways Board Chairman Peter Bent.

Bell asked that they transfer the deed and eliminate or reconfigure easements to allow "availability of water access" from the uplands parcel to the harbor.

Bell said he wanted the waterfront parcel in the hands of the Waterways Board, as the city agency responsible for governing the waterfront. The transfer would also leave the GRA, created to oversee the vast urban renewal of the 1960s, with nothing important left on its plate.

Because the GRA is legally autonomous and the Waterways Board a legal creature of the city, the transfer also would eliminate a legal complexity.

The distinction between the city and the GRA played a crucial role in thwarting Cohen's effort to develop I-4, C-2. He had the GRA's assurance of cooperation in obtaining a Chapter 91 permit from the state to put the property to a non-industrial use, but he was frustrated by the separate opposition by city mayors during earlier times.

In a lower court ruling upheld by the Appeals Court, the GRA was found to be "a separate entity, managed, controlled and governed by its members," and so could not be held liable for any breach of its agreement with Cohen committed by the city and its mayors.

A transfer of the waterfront property to the Waterways Board would mean owners of the uplands parcel would have only the city to deal with in negotiating use of the property.

"We're doing this to help the seller," Bell said. "We want to offer flexibility on easements," which a developer would need in order to reach the waterfront.

Pett said the GRA "shouldn't have been involved" in negotiating dockage contracts. About 10 commercial boats have contracts allowing them to dock from the float that is below the GRA's parcel.

Cohen said he was skeptical the transfer would prove useful in his effort to sell.

"If the city feels good about it, that's great," he said. "But I'm sitting here, and nothing's happening."

He suggested the city buy I-4, C-2, clear permits needed for the building to house NOAA, and then sell it to a developer who could build to NOAA's specifications.

"If the city wants to do something," said Cohen, "that's the only way it works."

City continues land sales to boost rainy day fund

By Richard Gaines

Staff writer

The City Council has set $250,000 as the minimum price for a quarter-acre parcel in Bay View about to go on the auction block.

Buoyed by the success of two recent auctions -- for the former Maplewood School and the former Action Inc. offices on Elm Street -- the council Tuesday pushed the minimum price for the property on South Kilby Street higher than those recommended by the city's Property Disposition Committee and the council's own subcommittee.

The sales are essential to a defense of the city's bond rating, which was reduced earlier this summer from A1 to A2 by Moody's rating service.

The sale of surplus city property was organized last summer to replenish the city's stabilization fund, after the city turned to the rainy day account to help cover operating costs during its budget crisis. With the fund reduced from $2.4 million to about half that amount, Moody's found the city's overall fiscal stability had eroded enough for the downgrade.

The $250,000 price for the raised, triangular parcel on South Kilby Street was proposed by Ward 1 Councilor Joseph Ciolino. The Property Disposition Committee, headed by purchasing agent Everett Brown, had recommended offering the land for $200,000. The council's Budget and Finance Committee thought the city should take no less than $217,900.

Ciolino noted the Maplewood property sold for $715,000, which was $65,000 more than the minimum bid price, and the Elm Street property sold for $210,000 after being put on the block for $190,000.

The South Kilby Street parcel contains an abandoned and condemned day care center. The buyer would need to raze the wooden structure to make way for a one- or two-family home, which could have a limited view of Ipswich Bay. The city probably will begin accepting bids within a matter of weeks.

Brown said a parcel on Cherry Street near the Beeman School will be prepared for sale next. The School Committee transferred three potential parcels to the city, but Brown said one is probably not buildable. He said no decision has been made on whether to auction off a second parcel.

In its downgrade notice, Moody's supported the replenishing of the stabilization fund from the sale of surplus property. "Positively," it said, "the city is expected to add nearly $1 million to the stabilization fund in fiscal 2005 with revenue generated from two land sales (the Maplewood and Elm street properties)."

Children ride home happy from bike auction

By All Hands

Gus Foote will again take on the role of midsummer Santa this morning.

At 10 a.m., behind the police station, the city councilor will "auction" off an estimated 50 bicycles that have ended up in the city's possession, repeating what has become a tradition.

City Clerk Bob Whynott, in the guise of Foote's spokesman and event promoter, says "no bid will be rejected."

In past years, and again this morning, children will be able to win the surplus bikes with the spare change they might have gathered.

Foote has been known to overlook better bids to ensure a fair distribution.

A helping hand

In the acknowledgements to Russ Cohen's book, "Wild Plants I Have Known and Eaten," which was published by the Essex-based Essex County Greenbelt Association earlier this summer, the Arlington author and naturalist thanks Rockport's Toad Hall Bookstore for giving Greenbelt a grant to help produce the book.

Toad Hall was founded in 1972 with environmental aims. Its parent organization, the Essex County Ecology Center, donates all its after-tax proceeds to environmental causes -- more than $100,000 over the years. The Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team and the effort to restore the Saratoga Creek salt marsh in Rockport are recent beneficiaries.

"We're there trying to make people aware of things," Toad Hall's Nancy Sullivan said.

And so the bookstore, located at 51 Main St., is happy to host Cohen at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for a slide show and to sign copies of his book. In it, he discusses when and where to forage, safety and etiquette.

Cohen is expert at making meals of wild plants -- Japanese knotweed stalks, lamb's-quarters stalks, black locust tree flowers, jewelweed seeds, blackberries, blueberries, milkweed pods, chokecherry berries -- and will prepare some of the recipes in his book for attendees to sample.

"We're looking forward to it," Sullivan said.

Call (978) 546-7323 for more information.

Cafe society

Summer brings an explosion of activity, some of it technically illegal.

Building Inspector Bill Sanborn notes as many as 10 restaurants have taken to putting tables on the sidewalks, creating ad hoc cafes, without the necessary variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

On Main Street and elsewhere, these tables have sprung up, creating something of a nuisance to walkers and residents, who've registered complaints.

Letter-of-the-law letters have been sent to alleged violators. If they want to put out tables next summer, they'd best get their permits.

As for this summer, well, the wheels of justice just don't turn fast enough in this town. The technically improperly placed outdoor tables are likely to stay just that for now.

Cricket time

They are -- thanks to Walt Disney's creation of everyone's conscience, Jiminy -- far and away our favorite insect. They hop around at our feet in the grass and twigs, and give not an iota of grief.

In recent days, their unmistakable chirping has returned, as it does every midsummer.

Entomologists tell us the crickets mate in the fall. Those that are until now buried in shallow cribs, under leaves and sand, emerge to start the process again.

The chirping, the rubbing of their legs, intensifies through September.

The early chirping is designed to stake out territory, but at nightfall in the lush last days of summer, it's romance on their minds.

It keeps them awake even as it helps us drift off.

Everywhere a sign

Warm, sunny weekends are a perfect time to clean out the attic and peddle away dusty treasures at a yard or garage sale.

Trees and utility poles, according to a city ordinance, are not the perfect place for signs advertising those sales.

Patti Amaral, co-chairwoman of the Clean City Commission, said this week she had received a package of 20 signs for yard sales and concerts someone had collected from trees and telephone poles. Amaral, who collects similar signs herself, said she called every phone number listed.

Her message to those homemade merchants and band promoters: A city ordinance bans their signs from trees and poles. In addition, a fallen sign could bring the person responsible for placing it a $300 fine for littering.

Amaral, who said the signs "make our city look terrible," is now urging people not to put them on trees and poles in the first place.

"It's getting out of control," she said.

Northern Lights

Local followers of the bluegrass band Northern Lights will get a surprise performance tonight from the band's founder, Taylor Armerding of Ipswich.

Northern Lights is having an outdoor performance at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center at Harbor Loop at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 each, $13 for members. Seating is first-come, first-served, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments will be available.

Armerding, a lead singer and mandolin player (and columnist and editorial writer for the Eagle Tribune Publishing Co. newspapers) retired from the band at the end of last summer. But he will join again tonight to replace an ailing Dave Dick, who is out with a bad back.

Honored veteran

A flag will be flown at the veterans center this week in honor of Gil Anthony Roderick, a World War II veteran who died Feb. 17, 2002.

Born Aug. 22, 1920, Roderick entered the U.S. Navy on Sept. 22, 1942. A ship's service man, third class, he worked as a laundryman aboard the amphibious assault command ship USS Panamint.

Roderick served in Newfoundland and the Pacific, including Okinawa. He received the American Theater Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal with one bronze star, the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. He was discharged from the Navy on Nov. 5, 1945.

The flag is flown at the request of his wife, Priscilla M. Roderick.

Anyone wishing to have a flag flown in honor of a deceased veteran should contact the Office of Veterans' Services at (978) 281-9740.

Weather

Weather

LOCAL FORECAST: Today, partly cloudy with highs around 80. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight, partly cloudy in the evening, then mostly cloudy after midnight. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph, becoming southeast after midnight. Tomorrow, a chance of showers in the morning, then a 70 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 70s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Tomorrow night, mostly cloudy with a chance of showers in the evening, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows around 60. Chance of rain 50 percent.

MARINE FORECAST: For coastal waters from the Merrimack River to Watch Hill, R.I.: Remains of tropical storm Bonnie were expected to have headed for northern New England, with a weak high pressure system moving over the waters today. Remains of Hurricane Charley should move up the coast tomorrow, passing over southern New England or just to the west tomorrow night and Monday. High pressure will then build across the waters Tuesday. Both Bonnie and Charley have the potential to produce tropical downpours and strong gusts over the coastal waters. Refer to the latest advisories from the tropical prediction center. Today, southwest wind 10 to 15 knots, decreasing to 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Tonight, south wind 5 to 10 knots, becoming southeast after midnight. Seas 1 to 3 feet. Tomorrow, east wind 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet. A chance of showers in the morning,

then showers likely in the afternoon. Tomorrow night, southeast wind 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Monday, southwest wind 10 to 15 knots, becoming west after midnight. Seas 3 to 5 feet. A chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning. Tuesday, west wind 5 to 10 knots, becoming southwest. Seas 2 to 4 feet.

EXTENDED FORECAST: Monday, partly cloudy with highs in the upper 70s. Monday night through Tuesday night, partly cloudy with lows in the mid-60s. Highs around 80. Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs around 80. Wednesday night, partly cloudy with lows in the lower 60s. Thursday, partly cloudy with highs around 80.

Obituaries

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Elisabeth "Bebe" Hughes, 91

Elisabeth "Bebe" Hughes, daughter of the late Ethel Maude and Joseph Irving Ball, died Wednesday at her home surrounded by her family.

She was a devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and was loving, loyal and supportive to all.

She graduated from Cushing Academy and Colby Junior College.

While a member of Melrose-Wakefield Hospital Auxiliary, she was instrumental in creating the gift shop and coffee shop. For many years she drove for the Red Cross, making frequent trips to Boston.

An avid golfer, she was always proud of her hole-in-one at the Equinox Country Club in Vermont. She enjoyed playing the piano and summer trips to Lake Winnepesaukee with her two sisters.

She leaves a daughter, Penelope Cook and her husband Donald; grandchildren, Whitney Marshall, Alexis Marshall, Victoria Fallon and her husband Rob, and Scott Marshall and his wife Kathleen; four great-grandchildren, Dakota and Chelsea Hamill, and Griffin and Bridget Marshall.

She was predeceased by her son, John Scott, and her sister, Virginia.

A memorial will be held privately.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her name to the John Scott Hughes Scholarship Fund, Gloucester High School, c/o Joan Dallin, 32 Leslie O. Johnson Road, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Arrangements are being conducted by the James C. Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington St., Gloucester.

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Robert G. Bradshaw, 89

Robert G. Bradshaw, 89, Gloucester artist and New Jersey educator, died Thursday night at Greycliff, after a 55-year struggle with diabetes.

He was surrounded by family members including his wife, Jean, whom he married in 1941.

He was born in Trenton, N.J., and attended Trenton Art School, where he was instructed by his father, G.A. Bradshaw, a famous etcher and founder of the school now known as Mercer County College.

He was an accomplished musician who won the title of flute champion of New Jersey in 1933. He played flute in both the Trenton and Cape Ann Symphonies.

He received his degree in art and archaeology from Princeton University in 1937, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors. He was awarded a master of fine art degree in art education at Columbia University in 1939, with highest honors.

He was a distinguished lecturer and full professor of art and art history at Douglass College, Rutgers University, in New Jersey, from 1947 to 1979.

Summers were spent with family on Cape Ann in the Rocky Neck art colony, painting, exhibiting and sailing his beloved sailboat, Sesshu, in Gloucester Harbor. As a young man in the 1930s, he sketched and painted Gloucester with his father and their friend Gordon Grant. His love of Gloucester and nautical subjects was developed at that time.

In the '40s, '50s and '60s on Rocky Neck, he came to specialize in watercolor and acrylics and often was seen sketching in East Gloucester with his good friends, artists Tom O'Hara and Bruce MacPhail.

His spent his retirement in East Brunswick, N.J., and for the past five years on Rocky Neck.

He was a well-known watercolorist who exhibited widely in the northeast. He was a member of the North Shore Art Association and was president of the Cape Ann Modern Art Association. His prizes include best in show in the New Jersey Watercolor Society, and first prize for figurative watercolor at the New Jersey State Museum. His works had often been showcased by the American Watercolor Society in New York.

He is survived by his wife, Jean R. Bradshaw; children, R. Bruce, Joan Bradshaw and Sally M. Bradshaw, all of Gloucester, and George D. and Wendy Bradshaw, both of Providence, R.I.; grandchildren, Robert J. and Lori Bradshaw, both of Gloucester, George R. and Carey Bradshaw, both of Brooklyn, N.Y., Clinton W. Bradshaw, Joanna J. Bradshaw and Tristan E. Bradshaw, all of Providence, R.I.; and great-grandchildren, A. Reid and Sarah E. Bradshaw, both of Gloucester.

Family services will be private.

Contributions in memory of Robert G. Bradshaw may be made to the Cape Ann Symphony, P.O. Box 1343, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Howard J. Low, 89

Howard J. Low, 89, husband of the late B. Isabelle (Tossell) Low, of Gloucester, died Wednesday at Addison Gilbert Hospital.

Mr. Low was born in Gloucester on May 2, 1915. He was a graduate of Gloucester High School, class of 1935, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

He worked as a deliveryman for Railway Express for many years until his retirement.

He is survived by his daughter, Suzanne Degagne of Gloucester; son, Richard Low and his wife Elaine of Gloucester; grandchildren, Michele Bonna of Malden, Jeanine Boyers of Sacramento, Calif., Joshua Degagne of Salem, N.H., Samantha Low of Gloucester; and four great-grandchildren.

In addition to his wife, he was predeceased by his sister, Ethel Markuson.

There are no funeral services.

Contributions may be made in his name to the Cape Ann Animal Aid Association, 260 Main St., Gloucester, MA 01930.

Service will remember Corinthian tragedy

By Peter K. Prybot

On Sept. 19, 1949, at 7 p.m., in thick fog off Halifax during a redfishing trip, "I was on deck working the aft port gallous," recalled Jerome Noble Jr., the youngest crewman on the Gloucester dragger Corinthian, one of the huge Gorton Pew fleet.

Noble's father, nicknamed "the redfish king" by his peers, skippered the 111-foot former schooner, which was built in Essex in 1928. Besides the Nobles, the Corinthian's 11-man crew included another Noble, Percy, as well as George Gordon, Ted Decker, George Hemeon, Okie Peterson, Harry Sluchter, Manley Goodick, Stan Zeeman and Jack Amaral - mostly Gloucestermen with Nova Scotian roots.

Within the hour, Gordon, Decker, Hemeon, Peterson, Sluchter and Percy Noble would lose their lives.

"We were hauling back the net when we heard a foghorn. My father answered with the Corinthian's foghorn," remembered Jerome Noble Jr., then 25. "The sound got closer and closer. He felt a crash was imminent. He ordered everyone up on deck and soon unlashed the dories on top of the wheelhouse,"

"I saw it when it came out of the fog," he said. "The ship hit the stern and went right through the dories. I put my hand up and felt the ship move by before the impact threw me."

Mor Mac Fer, a 450-foot freighter of American registry, hit the Corinthian with a deadly blow while steaming 14 knots, loaded with steel bound for Copenhagen, with its radar turned off.

Ward 2 City Councilor John "Gus" Foote, then a teenager, was redfishing nearby on his father's dragger, Gloucester, when "news of the collision went all over the air," he said. "I knew all the crew members real well."

The Gloucester Fishermen's Memorial Service Committee has planned another special service to honor and remember the 5,388 Gloucester fishermen lost at sea, and also to mark the 55th anniversary of the Corinthian tragedy.

These services began in 1997. This year's powerful, succinct service will take place next Saturday, Aug. 21, at 5 p.m. at the Man at the Wheel statue and Fishermen's Memorial Cenotaph site. There will be no rain date.

"We plan for the service to occur during high tide on a Saturday in August at 5 p.m.," said committee member Lucia Amero. "This way, most people are done with what they are going to do, and they can attend."

High tide also makes tossing the remembrance flowers easier.

"I will be speaking my father's story," said Noble's son, Stephen, 47, who will give the keynote speech and tell the whole Corinthian tragedy story, including its aftermath.

Jerome Noble Jr. kept a diary while fishing. Stephen's address is based on that diary.

"My father thought it would be emotional for him to give the speech," Stephen said. The Noble family will also place a committee wreath in front of the Man at the Wheel statue during the service.

Jerry Noble Jr., now 80, stopped fishing after the Corinthian disaster.

"My wife wouldn't let me go back fishing, and we just had a new baby added to the family," he said.

"Jerry has had nine lives," said Virginia, his wife of 61 years. One of those lives involved surviving a Kamakazee attack in the Pacific during World War II, which inflicted 1,500 casualties and nearly sank the aircraft carrier he was on, the USS Franklin.

Noble later became an electrician and established Jerry Noble Electricians. His son has taken over the popular Gloucester business.

The 2003 service, which marked the 25th anniversary of the Alligator and Capt. Cosmo sinkings, saw a doubling of attendance to well over 500 people.

This year's service will begin with a procession led by flag bearer and retired fisherman Alfred Piscitello. It will include city dignitaries, Fishermen's Memorial Service Committee members and fishermen carrying oars representing their vessels. The procession originates at the American Legion square.

The ceremony will follow and include an invocation and benediction by the Rev. Timothy Harrison of St. Ann Church, an introduction by Mayor John Bell, hymns by the Fishermen's Memorial Choir, directed by Dee Caruso Mahoney, the keynote speech, student essay awards and the reading of the essays.

Marge Frontiero, mother of Tom Frontiero, who was lost on the Starbound, will read a special poem written by her son Anthony, titled, "They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships." The committee will memorialize member Leo Amero, who recently passed away.

Joel Rodriguez will act as master of ceremonies. The placing of wreaths and tossing of remembrance flowers will end the ceremony.

"Like everyone else on the Committee, Leo wanted the service done right," Amero said. Other Committee members include Thelma Parks, David Rose, Joel Rodriguez, Sue Silveira, Joseph Novello, Barry Pett and Joseph Parisi III.

"I have the best committee," Amero said. "There are no egos. Everything is done from the heart." Many members have lost fishermen friends and family at sea.

For many families, aside from memories and photos, the Fishermen's Memorial Cenotaph and the annual service are all they have left of loved ones who vanished at sea.

The service is open to the public, many of whom share Gloucester's long fishing legacy, which includes losses along with all the gains.

Technology or not, tragedies still occur at sea.

"We want people to cry, to show emotion for all of us (during the service)," Amero said.

br> Correspondent

Eagles look to climb to top with Miami and Virginia Tech gone

Associated Press

BOSTON - Boston College believes its chances of winning the Big East have become a lot more realistic with the departure of conference powerhouses Miami and Virginia Tech.

The Eagles, going into their final season in the league before joining the Hurricanes and Hokies in the Atlantic Coast Conference next year, play their season opener at Ball State on Sept. 2.

With two perennial powers departed, BC coach Tom O'Brien figures things have got to be a little easier for his team.

"Since we haven't beaten Miami since 1984, I would say that it is," BC head coach Tom O'Brien said yesterday afternoon. "Every year the goal is to win the (conference) championship and get in a BCS (bowl game). With Miami not here, the road is not as hard."

The Eagles, who have placed no higher than third in the Big East during O'Brien's seven seasons, were fifth the past two years. They see an easier schedule ahead.

"I think it will be," said senior quarterback Quinton Porter, in a battle with 24-year-old senior Paul Peterson for the starting role. "With those two teams leaving, it gives us our shot."

BC, winners of four straight Bowl games, elected to join Miami and Virginia Tech last October. Having spent a portion of last season as an outcast, they know they'll face more hostile crowds on the road than usual.

"They didn't like us last year," O'Brien said. "If it was 95 percent last year, maybe 100 percent this year. We've dealt with it. We'll be fine."

The Eagles will try to continue their success on the ground, where they've produced six consecutive 1,000 rushers. Derrick Knight, the school's all-time leading rusher, graduated last year, so they'll rely on an untested backfield.

"Deciding on a running back," O'Brien said. "I think that's a major concern. We don't have a lot of experience back there."

BC has three freshman - two redshirts - and a sophomore with six career carries fighting for the starting spot.

Either Porter or Peterson will be the starting quarterback, with the other likely to red shirt.

"Right now the intention is to play one and red shirt the other," O'Brien said.

But the questions clearly are easier to handle without having to face Miami and Virginia Tech this year.

"The way it is now, this definitely is our shot," defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said.

Teammates rally for Olympian who faces jail

By Tim Dahlberg

Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece - They've trained together 10 hours a day for two years, and now time is running out for the women of the U.S. synchronized swim team. When the Olympics are over, they'll split up, with some going to college and others making their way into the real world.

Tammy Crow has more immediate plans. When she gets home, she'll begin serving a 90-day jail sentence for a crash last year that killed her boyfriend and a 12-year-old boy.

The fact that she's here is upsetting to some people, who don't believe Crow deserves to be an Olympian.

Her teammates, who believe she's done nothing wrong, do.

"People have said things about our very good friend and teammate which aren't true," team captain Lauren McFall said. "She's been working 20 years to be here, and she wants to do this for the people back home."

At the synchronized swimming pool yesterday, Crow was almost indistinguishable among the nine women in deep blue suits kicking their legs and moving their arms in unison. They were going through routines they had practiced thousands of times before, but with the games about to begin there was added urgency.

When the music stopped blaring, Crow's coach and some of her teammates came over to talk. They knew the questions weren't going to be about American medal chances, but they came anyway.

They were there to defend their friend, which is what teammates do.

"We're pretty much all we've got," McFall said. "We're our own little society. It's very easy for us to keep outside things out because we're very close-knit."

It hasn't been so easy to keep this thing out. Synchronized swimming is usually starved for attention, but not this kind.

Crow, a 27-year-old Californian with stringy blond hair, was driving her boyfriend's SUV up a snowy mountain road early the morning of Feb. 16, 2003, when the car slid out of control and plowed sideways into two trees.

Brett Slinger, a star Little Leaguer and aspiring Olympian himself, was crushed to death in the back seat. Her boyfriend, Cody Tatro, wasn't wearing a seat belt and was killed when his head hit the steering wheel.

It could have been chalked up as a tragic accident. But Crow had been drinking with teammates at a San Francisco restaurant only hours before, and witnesses said she was speeding as she passed another car just before the crash.

Tatro taught at Slinger's middle school, and they were going up to meet Slinger's parents for a day of snowboarding.

A year later, Crow entered a small courtroom packed with Brett Slinger's friends and family in Sonora, Calif., and pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter. A judge gave her 90 days in jail, then postponed the sentence until after the Olympics so she could train with her teammates.

Crow overcame her grief and injuries that included a broken arm to make the team, then had to win approval from U.S. Olympic officials to go to Athens. Her teammates embraced her all the way.

"It's definitely brought us all closer together," Kendra Zanotto said. "It's like when your family has a tragedy. It brings you together. We're happy she's with us. We're trying to support her in her grieving."

That support was evident yesterday when Crow slipped away so she didn't have to talk. Her teammates came out to speak for her.

If Crow does decide to say something, she might begin by telling Brett Slinger's parents how sorry she is. Mike and Devon Slinger remain upset that she has never apologized to them in person and contend she has never accepted responsibility for her actions.

When Crow was officially approved for the team two months ago, Mike Slinger questioned the decision.

"It looks to me like they just wanted a win at all costs," he said at the time. "It doesn't matter if you're a morally responsible person as long as you're a good athlete you get your way."

Crow's coach, Chris Carver, says the crash has taken a bigger toll on Crow than what she allows others to see.

"She's not the same person she was before the accident," Carver said. "She's not back all the way. It has given her a kind of unholy view of life."

Carver also sees a different side of the swimmer. She sees a woman who kept plugging away after nearly making the team four years ago because she wanted it so much.

"She's an only child who's done it the hard way," Carver said. "She's a good kid, a very good kid."

Mike and Devon Slinger like to think they had a pretty good kid themselves.

"He may not have been an Olympian, but he was pretty special to us," Mike Slinger said.

Tim Dahlberg is a national columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlbergap.org

Open wide, Athens: Record parade for opening ceremony of Olympics in Athens

By Brian Murphy

Associat

ATHENS, Greece - With five rings ablaze in the middle of a manmade sea, the Olympics returned to its birthplace yesterday in an epic homecoming heralded by a pounding heartbeat, a mythological centaur and an array of Greek gods followed by the biggest parade of nations in the games' history.

"The Olympic Games: Welcome back to Greece!" an announcer cried to kick off the opening ceremony, which culminated with the Greek windsurfing champion from the 1996 Games, Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, lighting the cauldron at the end of a slender 102-foot arm that rose slowly over one end of the stadium.

It was a moment many doubted Greek organizers could pull off, after years of worrisome delays and constant pressure to bolster the most expensive security network at an Olympics.

The ceremony also closed an important circle in sports, from the games' innocent rebirth in 1896 to the latest gathering of the world's greatest athletes under 202 flags in an age beset by fears of terrorism and instability.

"Greece is standing before you. We are ready. ... We have waited long for this moment," said the games' chief organizer, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, standing under an model of an olive tree.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge urged athletes to "show us that sport unites by overriding national, political, religious and language barriers."

"We need peace, we need tolerance, we need brotherhood," he said.

At dusk, a countdown video filled the screen at the Olympic Stadium - whose new weblike canopy was bolted into place only last month. The numbers clicked down from 28: one second for each of the games scheduled since the first modern Olympiad in an all-marble arena in central Athens. Each tick of the clock was accompanied by the amplified sound of a human heartbeat.

Then, with a blast of fireworks around the stadium roof, the ceremony was fully under way. Minutes later, the five Olympic rings were ablaze.

"We did it! We did it!" chanted a group of flag-waving Greeks in the stands.

A round-the-clock work blitz - under broiling sun and blinding spotlights - managed to pull together the vast network of venues, transport links, villages and security needed for the athletes and heads of state at the first Summer Games since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

A sign of the security measures floated overhead - a blimp with supersensitive spyware. Outside the stadium sat symbols of the delays - dirt expanses instead of landscaped paths, idle cranes and trees planted just last week.

Earlier, an International Olympic Committee member who helped oversee the preparations noted how much was at stake if the Greeks failed the task.

"I think you have saved Greece and saved the IOC from great humiliation," Alex Gilady told Athens organizers.

The spectacle of the opening ceremony - tradition mixed with Las Vegas-style fanfare - celebrated Greek history, culture and civilization.

After the burning Olympic flames subsided, a boy on a replica of a ship sailed into the arena, waving a small Greek flag. Then the centaur - the mythological half-man, half-horse - waded into the water and tossed a spear of light representing a javelin. From the center of the stadium rose a statue representing an ancient form from Greece's Cyclades islands. The form broke apart to reveal other figures from Greek history.

The ancient god of love, Eros, flew above two lovers dancing and playing in the water. Then Eros hovered over a procession of figures from Greek history - from ancient vase paintings to a tribute to the Greek shepherd, Spiridon Louis, who won the first Olympic marathon.

"The great moment has come!" cried the announcer in the stadium. Moments later, the parade of nations began with the appearance of Greek weightlifter Pyrros Dimas, who is seeking his fourth consecutive gold medal at the games.

Behind him more than 10,500 athletes streamed into the stadium.

There was huge applause for Afghanistan on its return to Olympic competition after an eight-year absence and with its first female athletes. Coach Nina Suratger, in a shimmering green robe and head scarf, carried the flag.

The entrance of the more than 500-member U.S. team - led by basketball guard Dawn Staley - drew cheers. But some people also stood and put their thumbs down in an apparent show of displeasure for the war in Iraq. Moments later, the Iraqis entered to a roaring ovation.

The Chinese team was led by 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, who towered over even other baskeball giants in the main stadium field.

Paraguay carried a banner that read "From Horror to Hope" in apparent reference to the supermarket fire that killed nearly 400 people earlier this month.

For nearly two hours, the teams filed along a black walkway into the stadium: Russians in '20s-style white outfits, first-time Olympians from the tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati in woven grass costumes, Tajik female athletes in gold headdresses, women from Moldova in hot pink pantsuits, and men from Burundi dancing with spears.

Greece, because of its links to the ancient games, entered first, as usual. But, as the host nation, the more than 440 Greek athletes also were the last into the stadium - walking single file as the crowd chanted "Hellas, Hellas," as the country is called in Greek.

But the Greek team had two glaring holes. A doping scandal threatens the country's biggest track stars - 200-meter champion Kostas Kenteris and 100-meter silver medalist Katerina Thanou.

Kenteris had been considered the favorite to light the Olympic cauldron. Instead, he and Thanou were hospitalized with minor injuries following a motorcycle wreck. The accident came after the two were accused of evading a drug test, and they might miss the games.

But it was Kaklamanakis, the champion from the centennial games, that took the honor. For Greeks, it was a poignant choice in a country that felt it should have been awarded the games instead of Atlanta.

All along, Greek officials continually described the Olympics as a way to shed the country's reputation as a parochial and unruly corner of the European Union. The transport minister even said drivers' respect for Olympic lanes shows Greece can be "civilized."

The Olympic deadlines forced projects long taken for granted in other European capitals: highways around city centers, a serious subway and rail network and efforts to preserve architectural landmarks.

"No country has been more underrated than Greece," Angelopoulos-Dasalaki said.

Windsurfer lights the flame

The Greek athlete who lit the Olympic cauldron to open the Athens Games is a three-time world champion windsurfer who won a gold medal in Atlanta in 1996 and carried his nation's flag in Sydney four years ago. Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, who turns 36 next week, won the gold in the windsurfing Mistral class at Atlanta and placed sixth in Sydney. The world champion in 1999, 2000 and 2001, he competes in Athens starting Sunday.

At the Olympic test event leading up to the Athens Games, Kaklamanakis accidentally ran into a group of women's competitors and knocked over one near the finish. She injured her shoulder, but Kaklamanakis stopped and stayed with her until an emergency craft arrived.

d Press

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - A multiplayer trade between the Lakers and Celtics was amended yesterday because Gary Payton refused to report to Boston for a physical by a deadline, the Lakers said.

But a Celtics spokesman said Boston had agreed in advance to waive the requirement that Payton undergo a physical exam.

"The team waived his physical as part of the amended trade," Celtics spokesman Bill Bonsiewicz said last night. "It (the physical) obviously became moot as part of this deal."

The amended trade will now give Los Angeles 6-8 forward Jumaine Jones instead of guard Marcus Banks and Boston will no longer be required to give up its second-round draft choice, the Lakers said.

Lakers spokesman John Black said the trade had to be amended because it was contingent upon all players reporting to their new teams for physicals by 2:30 p.m. PDT yesterday.

"Gary Payton refused to go to Boston and do that," Black said.

Boston waived the Payton contingency and in consideration the Lakers had to switch terms of the deal, he said.

The Celtics expect Payton to report for training camp Oct. 4, Bonsiewicz said.

The terms of the original Aug. 6 trade called for the Lakers to send Payton, Rick Fox and a conditional first-round draft pick to Boston in exchange for Chucky Atkins, Chris Mihm, Banks and a second-round draft choice.

Sports in brief

Gloucester High School sports

Football mini-camp starts Monday, Aug. 23, at 6 p.m. at Gloucester High School. Players will need a physical form signed by a doctor and a $75 user fee check they can bring to high school. All other sports start Aug. 26. Cross Country is a $50 user fee. All other sports are $75. All athletes need a physical form signed by doctors.

Youth track

The last youth track clinic will be Monday night at 6 p.m. at the O'Maley Middle School track for ages 5-8, 9-10 and 3-4 (and no one younger). There is no charge. Officials will sign participants when they show up. For returnees, note the change in nights for the program, and that the program is at O'Maley and not the high school. It is sponsored by Gloucester Beach and Recreation.

Gloucester High School boys track and field coach Jim Munn will conduct a series of Saturday morning clinics for boys and girls in grades 4 through 8 who are interested in running cross country in the fall. Participants should bring their their own water bottles, come dressed to run and meet at the bandstand at Stage Fort Park by no later than 9 a.m. The clinics are free and open to all Cape Ann area youngsters. For more information, call Coach Munn evenings at (978) 281-0266.

Native to play in Boston

Gloucester native Mike Francis, who now lives in Florida, will be playing in the Boston Open for golf professionals Sunday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Franklin Park Golf Course in Dorchester.

Gloucester High School football

Equipment will be issued for juniors and seniors Monday, Aug. 16, at 4:30 p.m. at the high school; freshmen and sophomores Tuesday, Aug. 17, at 4:30 p.m. Mini-camp will start Monday, Aug. 23, at 1 p.m. at Gloucester High School.

Gloucester Field Hockey Camp

It will be held Aug. 23-27 at the O'Maley School field. The camp is for girls age 8-15. The field hockey program begins daily at 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Fee for the camp is $45. Players should bring sneakers and cleats if they have them, as well as a mouthguard. Sticks will be available. If it rains we will be inside the O'Maley Rink. Registration information can be obtained by calling Kim Patience at (978) 281-3765.

The Gloucester High school field hockey team will start practice at Fuller School field on Monday, Aug. 30, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. It will break for lunch and meet again from 2 to 5 p.m. Anyone interested in joining, including incoming freshmen, must have completed physicals and authorization form at this time, and also a user fee. Players can pick up forms at the high school. Practice will be rain or shine.

Cape Ann Youth Hockey

Cape Ann Youth Hockey is looking for Mite players to fill out their 2004-2005 roster. Any player born 1996 or after is eligible. Contact Paula Fulford at (978) 281-3442 if interested by Aug. 15. Players need no prior hockey experience.

Cape Ann Youth Hockey is also having a fund-raising cruise aboard the Hurricane II on Saturday, Aug. 14, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased from any board member or by contacting Donna Balestraci at (978) 546-7857. It will have a 50/50 raffle. Music is provided by D.J. Scotty Mac.

Youth soccer

Fishermen Youth Soccer still has some openings for the fall soccer season for many age groups. The U7 group in particular has many openings for players and for coaches. Go to www.fishermenyouthsoccer.org for details or call (978) 525-3389. The season begins in September after school starts.

Manchester Essex field hockey coach

Manchester Essex football needs a junior varsity field hockey coach. If interested contact athletic director Hardy Nalley at (978) 526-2066 or e-mail Chris Horne at hornec@mersd.org.

Rugby

North Shore Rugby is looking for new players for the upcoming fall season. Players are needed for both the men's and women's clubs, and no experience is required. See www.NSRFC.com for more information or call (781) 771-1127.

Swimming

The YMCA of the North Shore Sharks will be holding registration for new swimmers for the fall/winter team on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 7, and Sept. 8, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 pm at the Ipswich, Salem and Beverly (Sterling Center) branches, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 14, and Sept. 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Marblehead/Swampscott branch. Interested swimmers should bring a swimsuit and towel to registration. The Marblehead/Swampscott, Salem, Ipswich and Beverly/Cape Ann teams all have openings for boys and girls from the ages of 5 to 18. For more information, call Anthony Sakakeeny at the Salem YMCA at (978) 744-0351, Susan Guertin at the Marblehead/Swampscott YMCA at (781) 631-0870, Adam Memont at the Ipswich YMCA at (978) 356-9622 or Kevin Tyrrell at the Beverly YMCA at (978) 927-6855.

Sports schedule

Today

ROAD RACE: Seacoast Seven (10:30 a.m., starts at Stage Fort Park tennis courts); INTERTOWN: Championship, best of five: Game 1: Manchester at Rockport (2 p.m., Evans)

Tomorrow

INTERTOWN: Championship, best of five: Game 2: Rockport at Manchester (2 p.m., Hyland); CAPE ANN INDUSTRIAL SOFTBALL: Poliskey's vs. Galante's (9 a.m., Burnham's I); Bresnahan's Enterprises vs. C.A.P. Construction (10:30 a.m., Burnham's I); Coopers Bulldogs vs. Giacalone's Construction (10:30 a.m., Burnham's II)

Custom Finish locks a spot on top

Staff report

With just two games remaining in the Cape Ann Industrial Slow Pitch Softball League's regular season, Custom Finish clinched at least a tie for first place in Division 1.

They led all the way in last week's 10-4 triumph over the Lobster Trap. Doubles by Aaron Williams and Mark Salah sparked a 3-0 first inning.

After the Trap cut its deficit to 3-2 in the fourth frame, the Finishers pulled away with four runs in their next turn at bat, with Kevin Collins and Mark Fulford delivering key doubles. Fabio Palazzolo and Bryan Lafata were the only Trappers with more than one hit.

Coopers Bulldogs outlasted Preferred Auto/North Shore Builders, 12-11, in the battle for the final playoff berth in Division 1. Both teams scored eight runs in a wild fourth inning. Jason Harrington's single after two errors put Coopers ahead 12-9 in the last inning.

Ray LaChance Jr.'s two-run homer left PAB/NSB just short. Steve Maniaci had a round-tripper while Chris DeWolfe collected three hits. Nathan Bertolino and Kevin Riley had three hits each for the Bulldogs.

Hampden Hill remained entrenched at the top of Division 2 by cruising past Galante's, 11-6. Nine of the runs came in the fourth inning; John-John Nicastro and Phil Mineo homered. Brian Macchi (triple) and Mike Favazza (double) had three hits each.

Nick and Chris Giacalone and Jay Perrotta did most of the hitting for Galante's, which remained in a tie for the last playoff berth in Division 2 with C.A.P. Construction.

The Construction Crew fell to second-place Poliskey's, 9-5. Bob Harnish the elder and son John homered as Poliskey's broke open a 2-1 contest with four runs at the midway point. Brian Harnish contributed two doubles and a single, and Brian Anderson went 3-for-3. Peter Sutera did the same for C.A.P. while Jason Elliott had a solo shot.

...

Lauria Waddleton won the Gladys Smith 1st Flight Championship with a net score of 156 at the Rockport Golf Club women's championship. Pat Dagle finished second in the 36-hole event.

...

Freddy Cicerchia, 51, of Manchester tells of his ride in the Pan Massachusetts Challenge:

"This was my seventh year riding the PMC. I ride as part of Team Martignetti. ... We had 37 riders this year, and as a team will raise approximately $200,000. This year members of our team from the North Shore area were P.J. O'Clair from Manchester, Tina Ambrose, George Thompson and Mark Beaulieau, all of Beverly. Mark is a cancer survivor and works for Seaside Cycle in Manchester.

"Why do I ride? To try to make a difference. I have a lot to be grateful for in my life, and I think it is important to express that thankfulness by giving back. I have lost a lot of good friends to cancer, and it is the cause among many good causes that I have chose to be part of. The children are also a huge motivator. To see young people suffer and then have their lives changed at such a young ages: so innocent, so heart-breaking.

"... Within our lifetime we may see cancer go from the major killer to a manageable disease. The end is in sight, all the more reason to keep the research dollars flowing. Anyone who does the ride realizes that it is a life-changing event for them. It is an experience that can't be put fully in words and gives a reward that no one would expect."

...

The Gloucester eighth-grade boys team ended its season with a loss to the Pentucket Regional ninth-grade team in the semifinals of the Hamilton-Wenham Summer League playoffs. Two nights earlier Gloucester had lost a hard-fought defensive struggle in overtime against one of Hamilton-Wenham's teams.

During the regular season the team's only loss was to Pentucket. The team was coached by Jon Pratt, with the help of his sons, Jon and Jay, along with Chris Hand. The team was led by Derek Pratt's scoring and leadership. Pat George and Carson Stevens contributed rebounding and scoring. Mark Alves, Rick Gallante and Brian Hand rounded out the backcourt and provided scoring and defense.

Trevor Adkins, Dylan Maki and Ben Moore were the frontcourt specialists and helped with their offense and boardwork. Jay Destino was injured early in the year and was sorely missed.

...

The team going to Cooperstown, N.Y., for a Little League all-star tourney has a Cape Ann flavor to it. The Gloucester players are Brett Cahill, Phil DiMaio, Tim Labrecque, Santo LoGrasso, Sean Martin, Adam Philpott, MacKenzie Quinn and Caulin Rogers. Rockport is represented by Michael Emerson and Connor Ressel. Cody Ferriero of Essex is also on the team, which will be playing in the Cooperstown Dreams Park National American Tournament of Champions.

This will be the third visit for the Fighting Fishermen of Gloucester to the Invitational Tournament. The team's coaches are Bucky Rogers, Dave Quinn, Bruce Emerson and Dan Labrecque. Last year the team placed 30th overall out of 64 teams from all over the United States. The Web site is www.cooperstowndreamspark.com.

...

The following Cape Ann runners competed in the 37th annual Beverly Yankee Homecoming Race last week.

Matthew Curran, Gloucester, 47 (fifth, 17:00); Wesley Lassen, Gloucester, 26 (sixth, 17:35); Rick Ciolino, Gloucester, 39 (17th, 18:28); Joe Iacono, Gloucester, 38 (18th, 18:29); Jennifer Brooks Lassen, Gloucester, 25 (22nd, 2nd woman, 19:03); Danielle Baker, Gloucester, 27 (31st, 19:47); David Geary, Gloucester, 38 (32nd, 19:49); Layce Alves, Gloucester, 24 (35th, 19:57); Steve Davis, Gloucester, 44 (46th, 20:42); Lauren Houde, Manchester, 18 (88th, 22:55); William Bodie, Essex, 58 (108th, 23:30); Jennifer Houde, Manchester, 16 (150th, 24:50); Anthony Giambanco, Gloucester, 47 (177th, 26:09); Daniel Houde, Manchester, 46 (198th, 26:54); Catherine Meany, Rockport, 54 (202nd, 27:01); Livia Cowan, Gloucester, 44 (256th, 28:47); Tom Davis, Rockport, 53 (270th, 29:59); Linda Davis, Rockport, 53 (271st, 30:01).

For Iacono, who weighs more than 200 pounds, it was his first time averaging less than a six-minute mile.

"For a guy his size with no running background, that is very good," Gloucester High School track coach J.D. MacEachern said. "Joey is a good athlete, and I'm sure he started running to stay in shape. I know that he trains, but he has innate running ability, so the training pays off. If they had an Olympics for big guys who started running later in life, Joey would be a good candidate."

...

The winners of The SunBanque Cape Ann YMCA Bench Press Challenge are: Overall: Justin McEachern (405 pounds); Weight Class, 211-plus: Alec Johnson, who weighed in at 212 and benched 405; Weight Class, 176-210: Justin McEachern, who weighed in at 196 and benched 405; Weight Class, 175 and under: Dom Ciolino, who weighed in at 160 and benched 295.

...

Update on the Cape Anners in professional baseball: Gloucester's Rusty Tucker, on the comeback trail from Tommy John surgery, threw one inning for Single A Lake Elsinore. He allowed one hit, struck out one and walked none while allowing no runs.

Manchester's Brian Lentz, a player for the Seattle Mariners' Single A Inland Empire 66ers, has played in 33 games and is batting .244 (21-for-86). He has 14 RBI and has struck out 29 times while walking eight.

If you have an item for the Local Notebook, please e-mail Sports Editor Dom Nicastro at dnicastro@ecnnews.com, fax to (978) 281-5748 or call (978) 283-7000, ext. 3450.

Industrial League standings

Division 1<*C>

Custom Finish 10-2

Lobster Trap 9-4

PAB/NSB 6-7

Coopers 5-7

Giacalone's 3-8

Division 2<*C>

Hampden Hill 12-1

Poliskey's 9-4

C.A.P. 4-8

Galante's 4-8

Bresnahan's 0-12

Top three from each division make playoffs

Family stricken by disease motivates native to compete

By Steve Maniaci

Staff writer

Few experiences in life are as painful as losing a child, a fact Gennaro and Anabela Barbiero of Albany, N.Y., know all too well. Their 9-year-old daughter Sabrina died March 21 of a rare and newly discovered disease, neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation.

The gene, discovered two years ago, was misdiagnosed as Parkinson's, cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. It is a rare, inherited, neurological movement disorder characterized by the progressive degeneration of the nervous system. Only one of every 3,000,000 people suffer from NBIA, and there isn't a cure.

While the odds of contracting the disease are low, the Barbieros were also hit with the news that their other daughter, Alyssa, 8, also has the disease. Her chances of survival, according to medical estimates, is poor at best.

Gloucester native Mark Michalsin and his family are neighbors of the Barbieros. After watching the family suffer through the loss of Sabrina, then hearing the news about Alyssa, Michalsin decided to do something to help cure NBIA.

The 32-year-old 1990 Gloucester High School graduate will participate in an Albany-area triathlon tomorrow to raise money for NBIA.

"It was gut-wrenching to see what my friends are going through," Michalsin said. "This disease is basically a death sentence, and I don't want my friends to have to go through that again. I am a father of two boys, and they mean the world to me. So when I found out about Sabrina and Alyssa, it really hit me hard, and I knew I had to do something to help. Sports is what I know best, and competing in a triathlon is the best way to get the NBIA message out."

Michalsin, who has already raised more than $4,800 in donations before the event, has been competing in triathlons for the past few years. He said the challenge to compete is a motivator.

"Like most people, I was going to the gym to work out," Michalsin said. "But I was not doing anything in the way of competition. A friend of mine suggested I try a triathlon, and at first I was skeptical because even though I grew up in Gloucester, I didn't do much swimming. But as soon as I tried my first one, I was hooked."

For someone who said he struggled with running as a child, Michalsin said it is the easiest part of the triathlon. The swimming is the hardest part, he said, while the biking is something at which he is getting better.

"The key to performing a triathlon is getting all the muscles in your body to work for you," Michalsin said. "It also becomes a mental game, but thankfully I have the motivation to do this in Sabrina and Alyssa. Those poor girls and the family have gone through a hundred times worst the pain that I go through in a triathlon, so I'm not going to complain."

Michalsin does not have a certain time goal for the event, but he has completed the course in 2<1/2> hours during training. He said the only goal for his race is to spread the word about NBIA. He hopes the message will motivate people to help.

"As much as I want, I can't do this alone," Michalsin said. "But the more people that know about NBIA, the better chance we have to save Alyssa's life. This is what I want to do, and it would be wonderful if we can find a cure in time."

A paper products salesman for SCA Tissue, Michalsin has lived in the Albany area for the past 10 years with wife Renee and sons Logan (5), and Lucas (20 months). He comes home to Gloucester at different points during the year and plans to visit after the triathlon.

Michalsin said he is ready for the challenge.

"If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be competing in triathlons, I would have said you were crazy," Michalsin said. "But I love the challenge, and I hope to raise money for a good cause. Hopefully, we can find a way to beat this horrible disease."

Running for a cure

Gloucester native and current Albany N.Y., resident Mark Michalsin is competing in an Albany-area triathlon tomorrow to raise money to find a cure for neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation. If you want to learn more about NBIA or if you want to send a donation to help find a cure, e-mail Michalsin at mmichalisin@nycap.rr.com.

Chunking up the big bass

By Dave Sartwell

Correspondent

Outdoors

Dave Sartwell

The boat came easily into the wind with the anchor line stretching out toward the Eastern Point Light House. The gray overcast skies and the constant howl out of the northwest made for a sort of dismal morning, but the weather report held promise for the day to come.

The big bass had been here by the groaner all week, so we started to work.

Bart pulled the half tub of herring into the center of the boat, got out his cutting board and started to carve the small baitfish into chunks. Within minutes he had a really good chum line floating out behind us.

While he did that, I rigged up the four rods that we would be using. Attaching about two feet of 50-pound test mono to the small barrel swivel at the terminal end of the line, I then used a clinch knot to tie on a small but rugged treble hook. Bart handed me a big chunk of bait, and I buried the hooks deep into the flesh.

The other three rods were similarly rigged. On one we put weight just in front of the swivel to get the herring down into the water column. We then tossed them out one at a time and let the bait drift on out behind us.

The chunks dropped just beneath the surface of the ocean, but were not down more than a few feet because the tidal current kept them active. The weighted line slipped deeper to about 20 feet. We let the spools run until the lines were out at varying lengths from 40 to 70 yards from the boat. Setting the reels, we now had four baits trailing the boat at different depths and distances.

All the while, Bart had kept up a steady line of herring chunks out the back of the boat. The oil of the chopped bait could be seen for a few hundred yards. We could only hope that the ability of the big stripers to smell bait over long distances would bring them to the feeding lane. Once there, we wanted them to follow it back to our hooked baits.

Within 30 minutes, one of the port rods dipped, and the reel began to spin. We had the brake set really soft so that the fish would take the bait deep before it felt the sting of the barb. With a quick twist the drag was set hard, and the rod pumped vigorously at least twice. Bart knew what to do.

The hook was set, and the fight was on.

I grabbed the other poles one at a time and reeled for all I was worth. We wanted to get the other lines out of the water as soon as possible to lessen the chance of tangles. Soon, all there was behind our boat was the Boston skyline, a bent pole and a sweating fisherman.

Bart leaned into the fish, and the pole bent into a satisfying arc. At first the fish had his way. Line went screaming out over the transom as the brake was overcome by the tremendous power of this huge fellow below. There was a great amount of tension on the line, but not so much as to break it.

The young fisherman was wise beyond his years. He kept the pressure on the fish without overwhelming his equipment. He let the fish run, let him waggle his head and thrash about, let him use up all of his energy by pulling against a line that ran when he jerked but worked back when he rested.

And, he was patient.

After about 15 minutes the big fish began to tire. Slowly the line began to spool back on the reel. Although the fish had never sounded, it did come to the surface and stay there. Now it was just a matter of getting him to the boat. Bart has fished enough to realize that it is here that many fishermen lose the battle. When a big fish sees the boat he will often make a sudden run. If the line or brake is set too hard, the fish can use his weight to roll on the line and break it.

This fish, however, was done. He slid in next to the boat. I reached over and caught him by the lower lip and slid him up over the side of the boat. What a monster.

Bart got out the measuring tape and ran it along the heaving side of the big linesider. Forty-three inches. We picked him up, took a picture or two and slid him into the barrel. In minutes we had re-baited, set out the lines and were adding to the chum line.

Tuna Hunter, a big boat near us, had a stern full of people regularly pulling in fish. From another boat a hundred yards to the west of us came the exited shouts of a successful angler. We watched as one fellow pulled in a fish that looked to be at least 35 inches long.

This time one of the starboard lines went off. The same struggle as before ensued. This time we were not so lucky. First he was there, and then he was gone. I reeled in the line and discovered I must have made a mistake at the knot when I tied it on before. The very tip of the line had a bunch of kinks in it, indicating that the line had pulled through the eye of the hook. My young friend appropriately made a bunch of derogatory comments that I had earned.

We fished away the morning. The wind died down, and the surface of the water pancaked out. We brought three more fish in over the transom that were all over 40 inches and let them go. A bluefish whacked a bait and then cut a line. We were lucky in that the dogfish stayed away.

I caught a seagull that swooped down and plucked up one of our baits as it was spooling out the back of the boat. Bart reeled him in and laughed as this big-winged bird kicked the stuffing out of me as I tried to get the hook out of his beak.

At 3 p.m., Bart kicked the big engine to life. We hauled in the anchor and headed toward the harbor. The ride under the three bridges and then up the Mill River was wonderfully uneventful. We filleted the fish we had kept, cleaned up the boat and washed down our gear.

Another great day on Cape Ann.

Red Sox always put fans in lather

By Bill Reynolds

Scripps

One day it's Nomar Garciaparra being traded, one of the greatest players in Boston Red Sox history, being sent shuffling off to Chicago essentially for two guys no one ever heard of.

One day it's Kevin Millar upset because he's not in the lineup, and letting everyone around him aware of it.

The next it's Nomar and Sox management firing verbal barrages at each other, each trying to outspin the other, like analysts at a political convention.

Then there's Manny Ramirez, out with the flu, complete with the speculation about whether he's really sick, or is it just another case of "Manny Flu," the mysterious disease that occasionally seems to creep into Manny's locker.

There always seems to be something.

And all the time there is manager Terry Francona with a target on his back, bombarded from pillar to post on talk shows, called everything from Grady Francona to Terry Francoma, the new scapegoat for a region's frustration.

Ah, the Red Sox.

Our daily soap opera.

"As The World Turns" in doubleknit uniforms.

Remember when we used to make fun of women who lived and died with TV soap operas, when Harry met Sally and all of that, the endless peregrinations of characters who bounced from bed to bed, crisis to crisis? Ah, but we were so much older then. We're younger than that now, right?

For the Red Sox are nothing if not a soap opera, the daily emotional journey we go through. Feeling good about the team one day, writing them off the next. That's the carousel we're all on, one that goes round and round, and where it's going to one day stop no one knows.

Up one minute, down the next. "Days Of Our Lives" in cleats.

That's the cost of rooting for the Red Sox, which might be akin to rooting for a broken heart. They aren't bad enough to totally dismiss, aren't good enough to feel secure about. So we all seem caught in the middle, waiting for that one big winning streak that's supposed to turn this season around, the run that's going to catapult this team into the playoffs, the run that's finally going to convince us this is not really a team that's been playing .500 baseball since the first of May, but merely a team that just took a while to find its rhythm.

So we all hang on the result of every game, as if each one is a referendum on the season, a precursor of how the rest of the year is going to play out.

Passions. Especially this year.

Maybe this is the price we pay for this obsession with the Red Sox, this sense that the world will not seem right unless the Sox can somehow win a World Series, sweet retribution for 86 years of never winning, the history that now stares down at every Red Sox team like an accuser.

As though every year the Sox don't win the World Series is another in a long laundry list of failure. Maybe this is the price we pay for surrendering our hearts every year to a franchise that's commonly called cursed, one that's now come to chase its own history, not just its opponents.

And the most frustrating thing? This is the season that began with such promise, expectations as high as the Green Monster. The acquisition of Curt Schilling. The acquisition of closer Keith Foulke, closer by committee sent to a graveyard. A team that had been oh so close to the World Series. All this and the dreaded Grady Little gone, too, as if Grady's banishment to the baseball woodshed was reason enough to get excited about this year.

Is it any wonder there was such optimism? The Guiding Light in a batting helmet.

From the beginning, though, this has been a team in search of an identity, a team whose doesn't seem to add up to the sum of the parts, a team that so far hasn't come close to finding last year's karma.

Blame it on the early-season injuries to Nomar and Trot Nixon. Blame it on Derek Lowe's funk. Blame it on the ongoing organizational culture where the stars are pampered like house pets, the culture that never seems to change, regardless of the manager, regardless of the ownership group. Blame it on Francona, who seems like the classic enabler in the dugout. Blame it on the old sports adage that no two years are ever the same.

Blame it on anything you want.

But now the Red Sox don't look as good as they did back in spring training, and every day seems to give us a new plot twist, new pages from the script department, the storyline that always seems to be in flux, the emotional journey that every Red Sox season has become.

The ongoing soap opera.

Howard

It's the stupid economy

By Dan K. Thomasson

Scripps Howard

WASHINGTON -- The Clintonian warning that when it comes to presidential elections "it's the economy, stupid" actually was a transposition that should have read: "It's the stupid economy."

Since 1932 (at least), the re-election hopes of incumbent presidents have hinged to a large extent on something over which they have little or no control - the nation's economic well-being. A good economy on Election Day is a leg up to another four years in the White House, and one that is not so good is just the opposite. It is that simple in American politics - even during times of war.

Now and then a candidate can blow the advantages of a long period of prosperity during an incumbent administration, as then-Vice President Al Gore managed to do in 2000. But most of the time voters are willing to forgive any number of other presidential shortcomings or indiscretions as long as they feel safe about the current and future status of their pocketbooks.

That is, of course, what George W. Bush faces as he tries to convince voters that he deserves an extended tour in the Oval Office despite an economy that once again seems to be slowing and a situation in Iraq that appears always to be going from bad to worse.

This election clearly will be decided on whether Americans believe that his claimed strengths as a fighter of terrorism override his alleged deficiencies as a fiscal leader; whether the tax cuts that he instituted were the lasting antidote for a faltering economy or merely a relatively short-lived shot of feel-good medicine. At the very least, the reductions pumped some blood back into the system when the dot-com vein ruptured.

The chances are good that if voters answer that question negatively and elect John Kerry, they will soon find that he, like Franklin Roosevelt, had no more solutions to the economy than his predecessor did. Jobs, for instance, are still going to go to the cheapest bidder overseas without a major overhaul of global policies, and that will require some dangerously draconian trade and tariff measures.

The Federal Reserve, by raising the interest rate a quarter point, has come down on the side of those who argue that oil prices mainly have caused only a temporary glitch in the economy's continuing growth mode. But that hasn't stopped Democrats from pointing out that Bush probably will be the only president since Herbert Hoover to end his first term with fewer jobs than when he began it.

Like most things in American politics, the truth rarely catches up with the myth. Running against Hoover has been at the forefront of Democratic strategy off and on for more than 70 years, so why should it change now? Never mind that FDR's New Deal programs failed to break the grip of the Depression. World War II finally returned the country to prosperity.

There are those who believe Richard Nixon might have survived Watergate had the economy been better, and that Thomas Dewey probably would have won the 1948 election had not the country still been in the throes of a new postwar prosperity.

Have Bush's chances been hurt by the latest job reports? There seems to be little doubt that a stronger recovery would have gone a long way in improving his standing in the rust-belt battleground states. On the other hand, Kerry has failed to propose any real solutions other than changes in the tax law that now encourages the exportation of jobs to cheaper overseas markets.

The truth is, an economy the size of America's is pretty much unmanageable by anyone. All any president can do is establish a positive atmosphere, use the bully pulpit and hope for the best.

Dan K. Thomasson is former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service.

LNG shipment and storage not just an East Coast problem

By Michael Fumento

Scripp

Texas-based Excelerate Energy LLC has proposed spending $200 million for the construction of an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal 10 miles southeast of Gloucester. The company is currently building a similar facility more than 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

While company officials say they hope to complete the North Shore facility by 2006, it must obtain permits from the Coast Guard and other agencies before work can begin. Elected officials including Gov. Mitt Romney and Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, have said they need more information before weighing in on the project, but it has already drawn opposition from representatives of the fishing industry locally who have expressed concerns about its safety and potential impact on marine life.

Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, one reason it provides almost a fourth of U.S. energy and heats over half our homes. But already North America can't meet the continent's gas needs. With America's growing energy requirements, the amount we'll need to import is expected to double within 20 years. If some people have their way, though, that supply - and we - will be choked off.

For shipping, natural gas is liquefied through super-chilling. This reduces the volume by 600 times. LNG also doesn't burn. At the receiving terminal, it's warmed back into a gas and piped where needed.

Currently, the United States has only four receiving terminals, none west of Louisiana. We need more and it's obvious where. California's population is huge and surging, as are its energy needs. It also has the nation's strictest environmental laws, thereby favoring natural gas. But although various companies have proposed terminal locations, over two-dozen environmental groups are fighting them all.

Why? Environmental activists hate all affordable forms of energy, no matter how clean, because it's the lifeblood of industry. To them, Saddam Hussein may be bad, but industry is absolutely evil.

Although not building a terminal "would be a recipe for unacceptable economic hardship for those who can least afford it," according to two true top-ranking California environmentalists in a recent op-ed, the activists in green paint couldn't care less. There are also the NIMBY groups, who recognize California's need for a terminal but Not in My Back Yard. They don't want any new industry near them that is heavier than, say, flower arrangement.

But such ideas can't be sold to the broader public, so other reasons are concocted. Since fear sells, naturally, activists point out that natural gas can explode.

In reality, LNG has a terrific safety record. There has never been a shipboard explosion, and while there are 113 active LNG facilities in the United States, only one has had an accident with outside fatalities. That was in 1944, caused by a holding tank that was improperly made because of a wartime shortage of materials. Further, safety technology continually improves.

Algeria had a fatal LNG explosion last year attributed to a steam boiler, but boilers are only used at the shipping end. Over 40 LNG receiving terminals operate worldwide; none has had a significant accident.

True, some proposals do have pitfalls.

For example, Japan's Mitsubishi wants a terminal in Long Beach Harbor. That's a bad place for something to go boom because it's also the location of the nation's busiest port. Since Mitsubishi also has a nasty history of price fixing regarding such things as plastic wrap, fax paper and graphite electrodes, it's natural that Californians would be worried about giving it the state's first LNG terminal.

ChevronTexaco of San Ramon, Calif., proposes a terminal near the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton, but it's still near a population center (the base), near a nuclear power plant, and it could disrupt the flow of goods and services along one of the state's major transportation corridors (Interstate 5).

Sempra Energy of San Diego wants a terminal in Baja Mexico. That's certainly out of California's back yard. But placing it in Mexico runs the risk the government could nationalize it. It could then divert some or all of the gas or simply charge whatever it feels like. Californians are also distrustful of Sempra because of its role in the 2000 energy crisis.

On the other hand, BHP Billiton plans to build a floating terminal 14 miles offshore so that there would be no impact on land, no interference with shipping - and the largest possible explosion wouldn't singe a single hair on the mainland. As one of the largest proposed terminals, it would supply almost a fifth of California's gas needs by 2008.

Yet since environmentalists are dead-set against any terminal, they're fighting even this one. And, yes, NIMBYs oppose it, although by definition it's in no one's back yard.

At some point, still another California terminal will be required. But if Ahnuld's state terminates even this one, surely the others have no chance. Then when the energy shortage hits, the consumers' fuel of choice may be burning activists at the stake.

Michael Fumento is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a nationally syndicated columnist with Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is Fumento@pobox.com

Howard

The Internet: Blessing or curse for society?

Riddle me this

Question: What would you get if all of the military computers in the world crashed?

Answer: Peace on Earth

James Stanley Hale

Beverly

Both

Just like the advent of the automobile, it's both a curse and a blessing. Yet who could live a productive life without a motor vehicle?

Imagine our society without cars. Do cars cause death? Do some people use them irresponsibly? Yes, some do - not all.

The business and communications opportunities that have cropped up because of the Internet are astounding. The Internet - like the automobile - is simply a vehicle allowing us to get from one place to another at previously unheard of speeds.

The horse-and-buggy ride that took two days turned into a two-hour drive. Who would want to go back to those days?

An e-mail takes a millisecond to travel as opposed to a stamped envelope that can take days.

However, as with a car, the young and irresponsible should be kept at bay. Our children are growing up too fast as it is.

Keith Roberts

Rockport

Users beware

The Internet today is growing, thanks to a lot of Web sites, as well as our ability to find almost everything from A to Z out there in cyberspace.

When you use the Internet, you have to be careful because you don't know who you are dealing with when you communicate via e-mail. If you do suspect anyone of using a computer to download child pornography, this person needs some form of psychiatric help.

Michael A. Daley Jr.

Danvers

Computer Age great for kids

Definitely a blessing.

Though I do not have the Internet at my fingertips like I used to, I loved the days where I could post up a newly written poem on poetry.com or watch a stick-figure experience his demise in the most comical way on stickdeath.com.

The Internet has made life so much easier for all of us in some way, shape or form. I'm not just talking about Bill Gates, who is laughing all the way to the bank with a big sack draped over his shoulder with a huge dollar sign on it, either.

It's too bad the Internet didn't come out sooner. I'm envious of the way elementary and middle school kids have it now as opposed to when I was their age. A few clicks of the mouse and they've got what they need.

I had to go to the library! I got to deal with a three-century-old woman named Delores who had Coke-bottle glasses and didn't know which way was up. I had to walk through aisles and aisles of 10-foot-high shelves and look through 55 books before I finally found what I needed.

Lucky kids today. When I was their age, I had to walk through 3 feet of snow with no shoes ... .

Christopher A. Pizzo

Salem

More trouble than it's worth

As far as I'm concerned, it's more of a curse than a blessing.

I personally know of a woman's daughter who left home for an "on-the-net" affair. She was underage and missing for a month. Thank God it ended well.

I know of a lady who was scammed out of a small amount of money via the Internet.

There are marriage problems because one spouse finds another's computer messages as happened with the mayor of Newburyport.

Add on the scams such as the Salem couple that was selling stolen goods, and the beat goes on. One can get into another's bank account, etc.

So it's a curse. It can be a blessing at times for shut-ins and friends keeping in touch from distances apart. But parents: Please check on kids' computer use!

Terry McDonald

Salem

Big factor in U.S. job losses

Yes, it's a shame that companies can operate on the Internet and do business from overseas, as do crooks, thieves and people who make threats via the Internet.

It's not a blessing, we should tax those companies using the Internet to move jobs overseas.

Mark Jones

Beverly

Internet isn't the problem, it's the people using it

Most of the problems with the Internet mentioned in your question of the week are not really problems with the Internet. They are problems with the character of those using the Internet, including the mayor of Newburyport.

There are far more benefits than problems with the Internet. I can sit here at home and read the news from my parents' hometown paper. I can read the Washington Times, the Washington Post, U.S. News, etc. I can read the Congressional Record. I can search library databases for books I want to read.

I can communicate with family and friends.

People with character flaws will still be there with or without the Internet.

Barbara Bartholomew

Ipswich

Point of comparison

When weighing its good and bad points, compare it to the automobile!

Dan Killoran

Lynn

Mixed blessing

I think that society itself has been both blessed and cursed by the Internet. I think the creators of the Internet must be absolutely horrified that they have produced a medium that has been taken over by society for pornography and pop-up advertising.

Just like any other form of communication, the Internet has been used for the evil purposes of men such as scams and child predators. I can't understand where people get the idea that this electronic form of communication has the ability to filter out dishonesty in people.

On the other hand, the Internet has been a blessing for cheap and instant communication for those who wish not to talk to others over the phone or meet to talk to them face to face. I'm from the old school of people who like to write with pen and paper, but I am slowly finding myself being sucked into the ease of e-mail.

I think the use of the Internet can be likened to the use of a television. One can use them both to educate and entertain wisely or one can find that both sometimes have very little to offer.

The biggest blessing of the Internet is online shopping and information at your fingertips. You can get anything you want and find out anything you want to know on a whim.

Going back to curses would be the privacy issue. It's amazing how many cookies are inserted by Web sites and how much spam mail one can receive in a day. I view spam in the same way as those telemarketers who call during supper. I really don't need four ads for Viagra a day unless my computer is so smart that it knows something I don't.

Dean Burgess

Manchester-by-the-Sea

Was sales tax holiday a good idea?

Today, all day, you can purchase any item valued at $2,500 or less from a Massachusetts retailer and not have to pay the normal 5 percent sales tax.

The proposal to have the Bay State become New Hampshire - where there is no state sales tax - for a day, was conceived on Beacon Hill last spring as a means of helping retailers through the summer doldrums and also attract back-to-school shoppers. Many stores were anticipating a healthy increase in traffic, with some adding staff and expanding their hours to accommodate the additional shoppers.

State officials hope the sales tax holiday will help spur the economy and allow local retailers to grab some of the business that might otherwise have gone to their competition to the north.

On the other hand, even as this big day approached, there was confusion as to how this program would work. Could consumers buy something today and pay for it later without having to pay the sales tax? (No). Does it apply to all purchases? (No. Motor vehicles, boats, meals and telecommunications services, including cell phones, are not exempted from taxation.)

During the debate on this measure, objections were also raised to the fact that rather than encourage new purchases, the one-day tax holiday would hurt early-summer sales as people held off on major purchases in anticipation of the Aug. 14 tax moratorium. And some said the state could not afford to forego even a single day of sales tax revenue.

What do you think? Was the sales tax holiday a good idea? Should the state be sacrificing money that would otherwise go to providing needed governmental services? Or should the sales tax be eliminated altogether?

River otter preserved at Halibut Point

By Spencer Baselice

Staff writer

ROCKPORT -- A river otter struck by a car near the Gloucester/Rockport line on Nugent's Stretch has been preserved in almost lifelike form at Halibut Point State Park.

The freshwater otter is rare, said Marianne Edwards, a representative of the Friends of Halibut Point.

"They're very evasive," Edwards said. "They aren't seen very often, and it's unusual that people have them."

Edwards said several groups were involved in bringing the otter to the park.

The otter was discovered about a foot from the road last summer by Vernal Pools Foundation director Richard Roth, who kept the animal because it was in near perfect condition. He put the otter in his freezer.

"It was almost as if it had died from exhaust fumes," said Edwards, who frequently talks with Roth on the phone. Edwards said she wanted the otter after Roth mentioned he had found it. She thought it would make a good exhibit for Halibut Point State Park and started calling people to help set up a display.

"A lot of people don't even know we have the otters," she said, noting that freshwater otters are different from sea otters, which are common in this area.

Edwards and the Friends of Halibut Point made arrangements to have the otter preserved by a semi-retired, local taxidermist. Halibut Point State Park staff found an old glass case to use as the otter's new home. A staff member created a sign to post near the otter, describing what types of food freshwater otters eat and where they live.

Roth said otters frequent vernal pools, which are dry in the summer but can grow to the size of small ponds. The pools are important to local wildlife populations.

"They're a lunch counter for wildlife," he said. The otters, which have a range of 20 to 30 miles, dine on the frogs, turtles, salamanders and whatever else is alive in the pools.

Roth said the otter was about 20 feet from a vernal pool when he found it. It was the first otter he has found that had been hit by a car, he said.

Art and Photo Days

About 45 artists and photographers flocked to Thacher Island on Wednesday to shoot photos and create paintings that will go on sale in September to help benefit the island.

They were scheduled to return today. Dr. Sydney Wedmore, chairman of the town's Thacher Island Committee, said a few slots may still be open for anyone interested in trying their hand at interpreting the island.

The first boat leaves the island at 8 a.m. and will make several trips throughout the morning.

Paul St. Germain, president of the private, nonprofit Thacher Island Association, said this year's art and photo days so far appear to be another success. He hopes many will come to the art sale Sept. 5 and 6 at the Old Firehouse Trust on Dock Square. Proceeds will go toward remaining projects on the island.

For more information or to reserve a spot on the launch, call (978) 546-9278.

Bill of Rights meeting

Ann-Patrice Hickey, secretary of the Rockport Bill of Rights Committee, said a second forum to discuss issues surrounding the new initiative will be held Sept. 2, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the Rockport High School auditorium

The League of Women's Voters is hosting the forum where U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Nancy Murray, who is on the ACLU board of directors, are scheduled to speak about the USA Patriot Act.

June Michaels, president of the Cape Ann League of Women Voters, has asked the public to generate questions for the forum. All questions should be mailed to her at P.O. Box 244, Rockport, Mass.

Acoustic Music in the Park

The 25th Rockport Acoustic Music Festival will be held today, across from Front Beach. The free festival is open to all ages. The rain location is in the Rockport Community House, 58 Broadway, near Five Corners.

More information can be found at www.rockportfestival.com.

The lineup for the festival is as follows:

12 p.m. -- Sound check jam

12:30 p.m. -- Will Diehl

1 p.m. -- Barry Michaud

1:30 p.m. -- Singing Sgt. Tony Hilliard

2 p.m. -- Redheaded Stepchild

2:30 p.m. -- Brian O'Connor

3 p.m. -- Deb Hardy

3:30 p.m. -- Brian King

4 p.m. -- Joanne Schreiber

4:30 p.m. -- John, Josh & Caroline

5 p.m. -- Karen Ristuben

5:30 p.m. -- Inge Berge

6 p.m. -- Sonny Fishcakes Music Revue

Pulse Pursuit will play between bands all day. Also, Fishtown Artspace will hold a musical parade through downtown Rockport at 1 p.m.

Legion concert

The Rockport Legion Band is celebrating its 71st summer concert season from 7:30 to 9 p.m. every Sunday at the Legion bandstand between Front and Back beaches. The band will play a mixture of marches, light classics and pop and novelty tunes. The next free concert is tomorrow.

The program, which is subject to change, includes:

Conductor, Robert E. Puff

Commentator, Dr. Ralph M. Mann

"Star Spangled Banner" -- Francis Scott Key

"Argonne" -- K.L. King

"Rhinefels" -- Gruenwald

"The Girl I Left Behind Me" -- Anderson

"Twilight Dreams" -- H.L. Clarke

"Our Favorite Regiment" -- D. Ertl

"Das Pensionat" -- Franz von Suppe

"Under Paris Skies" -- Arr: Harold Walters

"Little Italian Rhapsody" -- Arr: Walter Beeler

"Eisugs Marsch" -- J. Strauss

"Gypsy Love Song" -- Victor Herbert

"One O'Clock Jump" -- Count Basie

"El Alamo" -- Akers

"Annen" -- J. Strauss

"Dixieland Strut" -- Frank Cofield

"The Gladiator" -- J.P. Sousa

"What a Wonderful World" -- Arr: G. Sebesky

Bridge club scores

Recent scores for the Rockport Duplicate Bridge Club:

Saturday, July 24: First place, Marge Baker and Lynn Fitzgerald, 51<1/2> points; second place, Elaine Luongo and Gus Lawson, 50; third place, Barbara Curran and Ann Millar, 47<1/2>; fourth, Muriel Davis and pat Sylvia, 45.

Tuesday, July 27: First place, Muriel Davis and Elaine Luongo, 56; second place, Molly Foster and Joan Mann, 51<1/2>; third place, Marge Baker and Barbara Beyea, 48.

Thursday, July 29: First place, Marge Baker and Elaine Luongo, 51<1/2>; second place, Molly Foster and Joan Mann, 47<1/2>; tied for third place, Muriel Davis and Barbara Beyea/Lynn Fitzgerald and Agnes MacQuade, 43<1/2>.

Saturday, July 31: First place, Muriel Davis and Pat Sylbia, 48<1/2>; second place, Leonne Cocchiarella and Agnes MacQuade, 48; third place, Milt and Helen Lauenstein, 44; fourth place, Marge Baker and Barbara Beyea, 43.

Tuesday, Aug. 3: First place, Marge Baker and Barbara Beyea, 53; second place, Lynn Fitzgerald and Ann Millar, 50<1/2>; third place, Lib and Harry Godfried, 41<1/2>; fourth place, Alex McKenzie and Leonne Cocchiarella, 41.

Rockport Ramblings was compiled this week by correspondent Spencer Baselice.

Rockport police notes

• Police received a report of a pocket bike racing around Hodgkins Street at 7:26 p.m. Thursday, but officers did not find a bike in the area when they arrived.

• Officers spoke to people at a party on Granite Street at 12:22 a.m. yesterday, after a noise complaint.

• An ambulance took a South Street woman to the hospital at 11:13 p.m. Thursday.

Rockport goings on

Goings on and calendar announcements should be sent to the Gloucester Daily Times, Whittemore Street, Gloucester, MA 01930. The fax number is (978) 281-5748. Items can also be dropped off at the police station.

'Brighton Beach Memoirs'

Theatre in the Pines, under the direction of Nan Webber, will present "Brighton Beach Memoirs" by Neil Simon Aug. 26 through 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rockport Center for the Performing Arts, Rockport High School. Cost is $10. Tickets are available at Toad Hall Bookstore, Rockport; The Bookstore, Gloucester, and at the door. Call Carol at (978) 546-2770 for more information.

Star gazing

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will sponsor this month's star gazing program at Halibut Point State Park Friday, Aug. 20, from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Frank Sienkiewicz of the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club will present an indoor tour through the constellations of the summer and early autumn skies, followed by an outdoor viewing through telescopes. Those attending should meet at the Visitors Center. The program is free and open to the public. Call (978) 546-2997 for more information.

Rockport Art Association

The Rockport Art Association will host its fourth summer artist and photo member's exhibition Aug. 21 and run through Sept. 21. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays and holidays, noon to 5 p.m. The schedule for artist demonstrations is Aug. 19, batik with Judith Goetemann; Aug. 24, oil with Bob Blue; Aug. 26, portrait with Paul LeVeille; and Aug. 31, oil with David Curtis. Doors open at 7 p.m. Demonstrations take place at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 or free for RAA members. Call (978) 546-6604 for more information.

Bill of Rights Committee

The Rockport Bill of Rights Committee will present a forum titled "A Community Discussion with North Shore Citizens Supporting Resolutions Critical of the United States Patriot Act" Thursday, Aug. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4 Cleaves St., Rockport.

Author to speak

Award-winning novelist Andre Dubus III will speak at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Rockport Library, which will be held Thursday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. at the library. His novel titled "House of Sand and Fog" became a 2004 Academy Award-nominated film. Dubus has also written acclaimed short story collections and the novel "Bluesman." The event is free and open to the public.

Scavenger hunt

The Friends of Rockport Athletics will host its 13th annual scavenger hunt Saturday, Sept. 11, at 4:30 p.m. at the Rockport Country Club. Cost is $120 for a team of six. A Polaroid camera with enough film for 25 photos is needed. BYOB. Call Alison at (978) 282-0438 to register or for more information.

Water, sewer bills

Water and sewer bills were mailed Friday, Aug. 6, and are payable by Sept. 7. When mailing a payment, use the envelope enclosed with the bill to assure efficient processing. Town hall office hours are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. A lockbox is located inside the back door at Town Hall for after-hours payments. Call the Treasurer/Collector's office at (978) 546-6648 for more information.

Used book sale

The Rockport Community League's monthly used book sale will take place Saturday, Aug. 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Rockport Community House, 58 Broadway. Proceeds will benefit preservation of the building.

Pathways preschool

Pathways for Children will offer Pathways preschool in Rockport at the Jerden's Lane center on the campus of the Rockport Schools. The program will offer a rich school readiness curriculum, including literacy, math, science and social skills and is fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Call Theresa Folse at (978) 281-2400, Ext. 280, for more information.

Crafts fair

A crafts fair will be held today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Old Firehouse Trust, 3 Dock Square. Upcoming crafts fairs will be held Sept. 4, Oct. 9 and Nov. 27. Call (978) 546-7949 for more information.

Slide show, book signing

Local author and naturalist Russ Cohen will present a slide show based on his new book "Wild Plants I Have Known and Eaten" Thursday, Aug. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at Toad Hall Bookstore. Cohen will be available to sign copies of his book. Free wild food samples prepared from recipes in the book will be available. Call (978) 546-7323 for more information.

Beginner computer access class

The Rockport Public Library will offer an introductory class for people who want to use the library catalog and look up information online. The computerized catalog enables people to place requests and to renew materials from terminals in the library or at home. This is a one-session, hands-on class. The next class will be Tuesday, Aug. 24, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Group size is limited to five. A library card is required and prior practice with a computer mouse is recommended. Advance registration is required. Call the library at (978) 546-6934 or stop by the main desk to enroll.

Rotary lobsterfest

The Rockport Rotary Club will host its eighth annual lobsterfest today from noon to 6 p.m. at the American Legion Hall park and bandstand, Back Beach, Rockport. The event, which will take place rain or shine, will feature live music by the Cape Ann Jazz Band. Cost is $20 and includes homemade chowder, a boiled lobster dinner, corn on the cob, rolls, a beverage and watermelon. A cash menu of burgers and hot dogs will also be available. Tickets may be purchased at Granite Savings Bank, Rockport National Bank, John Tarr Store, Village Silversmith, Woodbine Antiques or from a Rockport Rotarian. Proceeds benefit local scholarships and community service projects. All are welcome. Call (978) 546-9694 or visit www.rockportrotary.org for tickets or for more information.

Acoustic music festival

The 25th annual Rockport acoustic music festival will take place tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m. in Millbrook Meadow, across from Front Beach. Admission is free. All are welcome. Visit www.RockportFestival.com for more information.

Conservation Commission

The town of Rockport, in partnership with Mass Audubon of the North Shore, will organize a volunteer-led purple loosestrife eradication effort at Waring Field and Cranberry Marsh today from 9 to 11 a.m. All are welcome to participate in this effort to stop the spread of this highly invasive, non-native species by hand-pulling the plant and their roots. The Waring Field wet meadow complex is home to a variety of grassland birds, butterflies and wildflowers. Call the conservation office at (978) 546-5005 for more information.

Priest says farewell to church he helped expand

By Anna Scott

Staff writer

IPSWICH - John Hooker stumbled into the priesthood by chance. His career as a concert organist was just taking off when a debilitating muscular disease cut it short.

Friends at an Arizona church where he was music director suggested he become a priest. Armed with a deep faith, and faced with the pain of never playing the organ again, he gave it a try.

"I was losing control of my feet and ankles, and my hands didn't always do what I wanted them to do," Hooker said. "When I couldn't meet my own standards, that's when the whole ordination thing opened up."

He graduated from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge in 1992, and stayed on as a teacher there until 1998. He came to lead Ipswich's Ascension Memorial Church in 2000.

It is his first position as a full-time rector, and it will be his last. On Sunday, his parish will celebrate both his 60th birthday and his going away party. His disease is forcing him to retire early and return to Arizona, where the dry weather is expected to help his muscle pain.

While his stay in Ipswich has been short, his trail of accomplishments is long. During his years at the helm, attendance at Sunday Masses increased 44 percent, up to about 155 people every Sunday. He created a family Mass just 30 minutes long, drawing up to 80 newcomers each week. He held healing ceremonies every Tuesday for sick parishioners.

In turn, he found a community of friends who embraced him and his partner David Bucchiere. The two married this summer after gay marriage became legal, and celebrated with church friends.

"Obviously it's not something everyone is comfortable with, so from the beginning I tried not to push it. I said my family structure doesn't have to have an impact on the church," Hooker said. "They said, 'Don't be silly. Your family is important to us.' They made it obvious to us from the beginning we would be accepted."

Stable leader

Before Hooker arrived in I