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Introduction middle elevations
Finca Dos Lados Reforestation Project, Costa Rica
2 Comments on Finca Dos Lados Reforestation Project, Costa Rica
For the past two years, every time I have seen Sara Clark on a Birding Club of Costa Rica field trip, she has asked me when I was going to come up and visit her farm/reforestation project in the mountains above Grecia. Last week, I finally got the chance to accept her invite, walk the hilly trails of her land, and survey the local avifauna. Because Sara was so wonderfully kind to give us a ride up to her place, I was also able to bring my wife and daughter.
The trip up to Finca Dos Lados was a typical one for rural areas of the Central Valley. On paved roads that formerly felt the heavy wheels of painted, wooden ox-carts, we twisted and turned our way up and down hills and over small bridges on our way to our destination. The scenery was typical for the western central valley; fields of sugar cane, rows of coffee bushes (some shaded by a few trees, others blazed by the tropical sun), lush, wooded ravines, small towns, and "development".
Just about the only forest left in the central valley are riparian remnants because of the tremendous pressures that a growing population has placed on the land and past government incentives to "improve" the land by actively deforesting it. The fruits of this sad "improvement" were all too apparent as we ascended a ridge to Sara's place from Sarchi and passed near eroded cattle pastures with few cows and even fewer trees. Forests used to cover those slopes. Moist tropical forests with Three-wattled Bellbirds, trogons, Long-tailed Manakins, monkeys, and more. Now the barren slopes hosted non-native, domesticated ungulates, their parasites, and not much else because landowners in the area didn't know of any other way to use the land.
On a bright note, the days of encouragement to "tame" the land in Costa Rica by turning it into an unwholesome pseudo-savanna are a thing of the past. Nowadays, the incentives are for reforestation and maintaining the forest already growing on your land. The government doesn't pay out a huge amount for doing this but at least it's a step in the right direction.
Finca Dos Lados is in this program and has planted hundreds (maybe thousands?) of trees including several wild avocados (the preferred food of Resplendent Quetzals). Because Sara's land is mostly growing back from bare pasture, there isn't a huge number of bird species present. There are more than when non-native grass was one of the only plants around though, and there will be a lot more in the future since her land acts as one of the biological corridors between the forests of Volcan Poas and Juan Castro Blanco National Park.
Note the difference between Finca Dos Lados on the right(where reforestation is occurring), and neighboring land on the left (overgrazed by cows).
Here we are arriving at the entrance to Finca Dos Lados.
On the way in, we stopped at this shrine surrounded by vegetation that has grown up in just seven years. This was a birdy spot with Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrushes, Gray-breasted Wood-Wrens, Slate-throated Redstarts, Acorn Woodpeckers, and of course the true to its name, Common Bush Tanager.
One of the many Common Bush Tanagers at Finca Dos Lados.
I don't think the tanagers were the most common bird species though. That distinction, goes to the Mountain Elaenia.
Mountain Elaenias rule at Finca Dos Lados, Costa Rica. These small Empid-looking flycatchers were truly living large in the young second growth. I would say that around 70% of the birds I saw or heard were this species.
Other common birds were Red-billed and Band-tailed Pigeons.
Always nice to see a tree of Band-tailed Pigeons. As a kid, for me, this was one of those "western" birds that lived too far away in the coniferous forests of the west to even dream of seeing.
A closer look.
Near the pigeons, I was lucky to have this stunning Black-thighed Grosbeak pose for pictures.
Finca Dos Lados is set up nicely for researchers and volunteers who would like to help out, or carry out studies related to cloud forest regeneration or migration between the Pacific and Atlantic slopes. There are several bunk beds, a big kitchen, and several trails that access the continental divide and cloud forest on the Caribbean Slope. There are areas of primary forest although it takes a few hours of hiking to access it. I hope to survey those forests some day.
Standing on the continental divide.
Looking onto the Caribbean slope from the divide. I could hear either a Collared or Orange-bellied Trogon calling from the forest below. We also got glimpses of Zeledonia in this area.
Sooty-capped Bush-Tanagers (such as the one above) were common here along with Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Flame-colored Tanager, Black-billed and Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrushes, Sooty Robin, Yellow-thighed finch, Black and Yellow Silky, and Slaty Flowerpiercer.
Despite intently looking and listening, and being entertained by the duetting of Prong-billed Barbets that echoed throughout the valley during my stay, there weren't any signs of bellbirds. With the number of fruiting trees that have been planted, though, future visitors to Finca dos Lados will probably get the chance to hear their loud, clanging calls.
Hopefully, Miranda will be one of them.
Tags Band-tailed Pigeon, Black-thighed Grosbeak, Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge, Common Bush-tanager, Costa Rica, Flame-colored Tanager, Mountain Elaenia, reforestation, Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager
Birding Costa Rica identification issues
Costa Rica Birding: Trogons
6 Comments on Costa Rica Birding: Trogons
Trogons. The name given to these fancy, emblematic birds with glittering plumage seems to fit them. A unique word for a unique family of birds. So what does the name of this family mean? "Iridescent wonders"? "Extremely cool birds"? No, "trogon" is derived from the Greek word for "gnawing" or "nibbling". Yes, that's right, if you saw an Elegant Trogon in Ramsey Canyon, Arizona, you were apparently looking at an Elegant Gnawer. All I can say is thank goodness that the trogon species known as quetzals are called "quetzals" (which is a Nahuatl word meaning "tail feather").
In typical ornithological fashion, the trogons were not named after their obvious stunning beauty, but got their name from their manner of making a nest. Nest-building is more like nest-excavating for the Trogonidae in Costa Rica and elsewhere. Despite their lack of a strong bill, for millions of years, the trogons have managed to raise viable young in cavities that they nibbled or gnawed out of rotten wood and termite nests. Although many nesting holes were probably started by woodpeckers, excavating a nesting cavity still seems like quite an accomplishment with those rather blunt bills.
Close up of a trogon's "gnawing bill".
In any case, the strategy of gnawing or nibbling out a nesting cavity has worked for the trogons and hooray for that (!) because these are ALWAYS wonderful birds to watch. I mean who wouldn't get a kick out of seeing a trogon? They have this comical manner of moving their heads around to look in all sorts of directions while perched in an upright position, look like nothing else on Earth, and usually have glittering, colorful plumage. AND when birding in Costa Rica, the ten different species that occur are fairly easy to see, especially when vocalizing (which seems to be most often from February to July).
The ten species of trogons to see when birding in Costa Rica are (from easiest to least easiest):
Gartered Trogon: One of the smaller trogons in Costa Rica, these guys are pretty darn common. This edge species mostly occurs in humid lowland areas but also ranges up into the dry northwest and the western part of the Central Valley. Listen for its call:
violaceous trogon1
and watch for it at the edge of forested areas, semi-open areas, and in second growth.
Male Gartered Trogon from Manzanillo, Costa Rica.
Female Gartered Trogon from Rancho Oropendola, Costa Rica.
Black-headed Trogon: Slighter bigger than the Gartered, the Black-headed Trogon reaches the southern limit of its range at Carara National Park. It is mostly found in the Pacific northwest and is also pretty easy to see because of the open nature of its habitat (dry forest edge). Although it resembles the Violaceous Trogon, it has a much more staccato call (and sounds more like (and is more closely related to) Baird's and White-tailed Trogons), has an unbroken, bluish eye ring, and lacks barring on the tail. Watch for it in any wooded area on the Pacific slope north of Carara (you can also see it along the Meandrico Trail at Carara along with four other trogon species (!)).
Male Black-headed Trogon from Carara National Park, Costa Rica.
Slaty-tailed Trogon: This big, hulking trogon is almost the size of a quetzal. Because of its size, colorful plumage, and conspicuous red-orange bill, it just looks unreal. Incredibly, it's also pretty common and easy to see in lowland rainforest such as at La Selva or Carara.
Male Slaty-tailed Trogon from Achiote, Panama.
Male Slaty-tailed Trogon from OTS La Selva, Costa Rica.
Orange-bellied Trogon: A bit smaller than the Slaty-tailed, the Orange-bellied Trogon is most common in the cloud forests of northern Costa Rica (such as around Monteverde). It also occurs further south (including western Panama) but is mostly replaced there by the closely related Collared Trogon.
Male Orange-bellied Trogon from El Silencio Lodge, Bajos del Toro Amarillo, Costa Rica.
Female Orange-bellied Trogon from Lost and Found Eco-lodge, Panama.
Collared Trogon: Except for a red, instead of orange belly, this trogon resembles, acts, and sounds a lot like the Orange-bellied Trogon. It is pretty easy to see in Tapanti National Park and other cloud forests of the Talamancas. This species has a very wide range from southern Mexico to Amazonia. Although it looks similar throughout its range, Amazonian birds sound noticeably different from Central American birds (it would be interesting to see a molecular phylogeny of this species with sampling throughout its range).
Sorry, no photo of Collared Trogon! Imagine an Orange-bellied Trogon with a red belly.
Resplendent Quetzal: Yes, this crazy looking bird is a species of trogon. Because there are so many tours you can take to reliably see a quetzal, it almost made the top of the list as the easiest trogon to see when birding Costa Rica. Although they aren't as guaranteed as when taking a quetzal tour, you have a pretty good chance of running into one in any area of extensive highland forest in Costa Rica. For more information see my post about this spectacular bird.
Black-throated Trogon: The same size as a Gartered Trogon, this bird is pretty common but it's not as easy to see as the other trogons because it sticks to the interior subcanopy and upper understory of lowland rainforest. Listening for their rather inconspicuous vocalization of three, short, low-toned, descending whistles is a good way to find them in any of the lowland rainforest sites.
Male Black-throated Trogon from Achiote, Panama.
Baird's Trogon: The male is one heck of a beautiful bird! A southern Pacific slope endemic, the Baird's Trogon is only found from Carara National Park to the Panamanian border. Although it isn't very rare in lowland, primary rainforest, since so much of this habitat has been replaced with non-trogon friendly pastures and oil palms plantations, it is considered to be a near-threatened species. It's kind of uncommon in Carara (I think it used to be more common in the past), but is more frequent in wetter forests of the hills above Carara (especially at the little visited Cangreja National Park), and further south.
Male Baird's Trogon from La Cangreja National Park, Costa Rica.
Lattice-tailed Trogon: This large trogon replaces the Slaty-tailed in the wet, mossy, foothill forests of the Caribbean slope. It's not all that rare in this habitat, but because those forests are so dense, and because there are so few accessible sites to see this species, it isn't sighted as often as the other trogons. If you do go birding in Costa Rica, however, you should make an effort to see the Lattice-tailed Trogon because it only occurs there and in western Panama. The best spots to see it are at Quebrada Gonzalez, Braulio Carrillo National Park, and at Rara Avis.
Lattice-tailed Trogon from Rara Avis, Costa Rica.
Elegant Trogon: Although you have a fair chance of seeing this species if you bird gallery forest in Santa Rosa and Guanacaste National Parks, it's more common in many other parts of its large range (northwestern Costa Rica north through Central America and Mexico to southern Arizona). Hence no picture for this one either!
White-tailed Trogon. Wait, that's not in the book! It might be someday though. I have heard of a few reports from Manzanillo that could end up being this species, so if you bird down that way, send me whatever notes you take and pictures you get of any trogon that you think is a Black-headed.
Male White-tailed (Western) Trogon from Achiote, Panama.
Tags Baird's Trogon, Birding Costa Rica, Black-headed Trogon, Black-throated Trogon, Costa Rican trogons, Orange-bellied Trogon, Resplendent Quetzal, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Violaceous Trogon
Birding Costa Rica high elevations Introduction middle elevations
Cloud forest birding in Costa Rica: birds in the mist
No Comments on Cloud forest birding in Costa Rica: birds in the mist
In the wet lowlands, it's always humid and the rain can arrive as a steady misting sprinkle or as (most often) as a sudden downpour with billions of huge drops that pound the zinc roofs with sodden fury. It's so wet that if you don't make an effort to dry out the clothes in your closet, your wardrobe will be supporting its very own ecosystem of molds and fungi (I once had mushrooms growing on my backpack in Amazonian Ecuador). If you visit the rainy, lower elevations of Costa Rica, especially on the Caribbean Slope where 6 meters per year can fall (that's about 18 feet for us metric illiterate Americans), you can expect to get wet even with an umbrella or poncho but you probably won't have to worry about fog.
For that, you have to head upslope into the cloud forest. Just as humid as the rainforests of the lowlands but with cooler temperatures, this is where the clouds that water the lowlands like to hang out. With a blanket of thick moisture blocking the sun and providing a constant aerial mist that waters an amazing abundance of plants, living is this life zone is probably like residing in a rather cool, shaded greenhouse. It would be challenging to deal with the constant moisture but you could cultivate orchids instead of roses would also have a heck of an interesting yard list. At least this is how my birding friend Janet Peterson and I felt while birding the Varablanca area last week.
Inspired by Skutch's accounts of studying Lovely Cotinga and Three-wattled Bellbirds in the same area, we searched for fruiting Lauraceae tree species that might attract these fancy, uncommon birds. Although we didn't get lucky in finding a single fruiting Lauraceae, nor did we hear a single bellbird, it was still a beautiful day of birding in Costa Rica.
Deforestation since Skutch's time equates to fewer bellbirds and cotingas but a lot more meadowlarks.
The views up there were stunning.
One of our best spots was at a site along the road between Poas and Varablanca not too far from the Poas Volcano Lodge. While the smells of home-cooked food and the usual sounds of rural Costa Rica (chickens clucking, roosters crowing, a dog or two barking, someone hammering, a bit of music) reached our ears from nearby houses, we watched a fair variety of cloud forest species in trees that grew out of a ravine next to the road. This meant that we could look straight into the canopy of these trees but because we were in the cloud forest life zone, we mostly watched birds through a shifting veil of mist.
Band-tailed Pigeons were common. We could hear them flapping their way around but they rarely landed within view. Maybe this one felt safe because it thought it was blending into its cloudy surroundings.
There were also a few Dark Pewees around.
Other birds were building nests nearby such as the Mountain Elaenia. This has to be one of the most common highland flycatchers. They thrive in edge habitats and sometimes seem to outnumber Rufous-collared Sparrows.
Our favorite sighting, though, was of a pair of Golden-browed Chlorophonias that were building a nest in a bromeliad on a nearby tree. You almost always hear this little gem before you see it and when birding in dense forest often don't see it at all. They make a soft, short whistled call that is easy to imitate and often brings them in close. Due to their cloud forest habitat, their brilliant emerald, powder blue, and bright yellow plumage often looks as muted as their call until the mist lifts and they suddenly shine like some incredible forest jewel.
A female in the mist.
And a male in the mist.
The male Chlorophonia trying to blend in with a bromeliad.
And then as the mist lifted a bit, the male's colors became more bright.
Other birds in the vicinity were Wilson's Warbler (a common winter resident of the highlands),
Slate-throated Redstart,
and Flame-colored Tanager.
Mountain Robins provided a background soundtrack throughout the morning. To me, they sound more like some type of yellowthroat than a thrush. Click the following link to listen to one that singing at the ravine: mountainrobin1
Past the ravine, we ventured down the Cinchona road a bit. The road is good up to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens but beyond that is officially closed because of the threat of landslides. Despite a large, obvious sign that warned of the danger, a number of cars and motorcycles just drove right on past on their way to the lowlands. I suspect that one could drive the road all the way to Sarapiqui, but why risk your life? Stick to birding the upper part like we did and you should see a good number of species in any case. Some of the other good birds we saw were:
Resplendent Quetzal- one heard and a female seen as it flew across the road near Carrizal,
Blue-throated (Emerald) Toucanet- several of these beautiful birds,
Prong-billed Barbet,
Green Violetear and Coppery-headed Emerald at flowering Inga species,
Spot-crowned Woodcreeper,
Red-faced Spinetail,
Tufted Flycatcher,
and Spangle-cheeked Tanager,
Although we didn't see any cotingas, I bet they are still up there somewhere. Hopefully I will figure out where the fruiting Lauraceae are on my next visit to the area.
Tags Birding, cloud forest, Costa Rica birding, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Prong-billed Barbet, Slate-throated Redstart, varablanca, Wilson's Warbler
Birding Costa Rica birding lodges endangered birds lowlands mangroves Pacific slope
Birding at Cerro Lodge, Costa Rica- a good site for Yellow-billed Cotinga
6 Comments on Birding at Cerro Lodge, Costa Rica- a good site for Yellow-billed Cotinga
The Yellow-billed Cotinga is an endangered species that only occurs on the Pacific slope of Costa Rica and western Panama. Although range maps in field guides show it occurring from the Rio Tarcoles (at and near Carara National Park) south to Panama, don't expect to run into this cotinga at most sites along the coast because the actual distribution of this frugivore is much more spotty than is indicated. It's localized distribution is due to it being restricted to areas where mangrove forest occurs near rain forest
Although records indicate that they wander in search of fruit, you are far more likely to encounter this species in the canopy of or close to mangroves. This is in contrast to its Caribbean slope cousin, the uncommon (but far from rare) Snowy Cotinga. Ranging from Honduras south to western Panama, the Snowy Cotinga isn't too difficult to see in areas of lowland forest, forest edge, and riparian corridors. Although it has certainly declined because of deforestation, if one considers the paucity of Yellow-billed Cotinga sightings compared to encounters with Snowy Cotingas, the Snowy appears to be weathering destruction of rainforests much better than the Yellow-billed.
There appear to be very few sites where Yellow-billed Cotingas occur on a regular basis. Even in some areas with mangroves and rain forest (such as at Baru) they are either absent or extremely rare. Due to our near complete lack of information about the natural history of Carpodectes antoniae, no one really knows what this bird needs although its absence at sites such as Baru could possibly be explained by mangroves there not being old enough or the mangrove forests simply not being extensive enough to support a population of Yellow-billed Cotingas.
It should come as no surprise then, that their stronghold is in the extensive, old growth mangroves of the Sierpe River and Golfo Dulce areas of the Osa Peninsula. The mangrove forests in these areas are beautiful, old growth forests that echo with the songs of "Mangrove" Yellow Warblers, the screeches and squawks of parrots and macaws, and the piping calls of Common Black Hawks. The area around Rincon is where I saw my first Yellow-billed Cotingas in 1999. Foraging with Turquoise Cotingas in fruiting figs, their white plumage stood out against the evergreen rain forest on the nearby hills. On a side note, the birding at Rincon was fantastic with Great Curassows and Marbled Wood-Quails calling from the hillside, White-crested Coquettes foraging in flowering Inga sp., and well over 100 species recorded in a day.
Until recently I saw them on very few occasions elsewhere; a bird or two working its way up rivers in the Osa Peninsula, or very infrequent sightings in Carara National Park. Lately though, I have been seeing Yellow-billed Cotinga on just about every visit to Cerro Lodge (contact me for reservations). The birds are from a population that nests in the mangroves near the Tarcol River. Although this population hasn't been surveyed (admittedly a difficult task to undertake because they love the canopy and don't sing), it's probably very small and might only be composed of ten birds. This is pure speculation on my part but there are very few sightings of Yellow-billed Cotinga from Carara and vicinity (and most are of individual birds) despite there being a high number of birders and guides that work in the area.
At Cerro Lodge, I and others, have seen one male perched in a distant snag at the edge of the mangroves. It (or a different male) also sometimes comes closer to the lodge. The bird is usually so far away that it is difficult to see without a scope but is easy to pick out because of its brilliant white plumage.
The view from the restaurant where the male Yellow-billed Cotinga has been regularly seen. If you visit Cerro Lodge, you might see it by scanning all of the treetops from here.
I have also seen a female perched in a tree near the parking lot for Cerro Lodge, and a male was recently seen just down the road as it descends to the flood plain of the river. As Cerro Lodge is located somewhat near the Tarcol River, and based on other observations of this species, I suspect that the birds are foraging in the riparian growth along the river, or are using the river as a corridor to forage in the forests of Carara.
Luckily, the female was very cooperative and let me take a bunch of pictures.
For the past few years, the folks at Bosque del Rio Tigre have been doing surveys for Yellow-billed Cotingas and are also involved with other studies of this highly endangered species. To help with its conservation, what is needed now are more studies that can help elucidate its natural history, as well as better protection of mangrove forests and rain forests in southern Costa Rica and western Panama. To help with conservation of Yellow-billed Cotinga, follow the link to Bosque del Rio Tigre and contact them. Also, if you see this species, please email me your notes on where you saw it, the time of year, the habitat it was using, and its behavior (especially foraging). Who knows-maybe there are certain fruiting trees that can be planted that would help this species.
Although Yellow-billed Cotingas has been regular at Cerro Lodge, these may be sightings of just 1-3 individuals. I suspect that there are so few of this species in the Carara area because there is so little habitat between the mangroves and the national park. In contrast to when rainforest adjacent to the mangroves likely provided food and cover for a number of Yellow-billed Cotingas (as at Rincon de Osa where several have been seen together), once that forest was converted into stark pasture, the few fruiting trees left near the mangroves supported far fewer (if any) cotingas, and birds were required to move around more in search of food (with a subsequent higher degree of nest failure and mortality as a result).
Although land owners in the area can't be expected to reforest their pastures, hopefully, they will be willing to accept the planting of various fruiting trees used by this rare species.
Tags Birding, Cerro Lodge, Costa Rica, yellow-billed cotinga


Hi there, welcome back to my blog. Today I am sharing a simple tutti frutti cake recipe.
I made this recipe with my homemade tutti-frutti. This is a really soft and very simple cake recipe with vanilla flavor.
Grease the tin (rectangular tin 10"x4.3''x2.8'') with oil or butter. Then line with a parchment/butter paper.
Preheat the oven at 180-degree Celsius for 10 minutes.
Coat tutti frutti with a tablespoon of all-purpose flour. This is to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake. Keep this aside.
Beat the egg white for 2 minutes or until it turns airy and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar little by little and beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. It may take 5 minutes.
Beat this for 5 minutes or color changes to pale yellow. Add oil and beat well. You can add milk to this at this time.
Sift the flour with baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the egg yolk mixture. Fold and mix well. Add tutti frutti and mix well. do not over mix.
now add Egg white in three additions. Gently fold and mix well.
Cake batter is now ready. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and tap the tin to remove the air bubbles if any.
Sprinkle some tutti frutti at the top of the batter.
Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes at 180 degrees Celcius preheated oven, or bake until a toothpick inserted should come out clean.
Let it cool down to the room temperature and remove from the tin. Slice and enjoy..


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Q: how to Enable/Disable Mandatory fields in struts2 web page through UI In my web Page suppose 10 fields are there, in which 4 fields are mandatory.
At run time anyone can enable few fields that is not mandatory into mandatory. When next time restart application it should show that fields as mandatory and no business logic for newly added mandatory fields
( I want to make 2 more fields mandatory through UI and no business logic for newly added mandatory fields only it will show,please fill this fields.)

A: Every action is associated with a package. So package_name and action_name uniquely identifies your action and would make a good key for a required_attribute table.  In the database you'll store the PK and setter properties (string names of setters) along with the user id.
You will create a RequiredFieldService which will access the database.
RequiredFieldService interface will probably contain:
public void setRequiredActionFieldsPerUser(String namespace, String action, Class<T> actionClass, List<String> requiredSetters, int userId); //The class is passed in to make it easier to use reflection (or preferably Apache bean utils to verify that the setters actually exist)

public List<String> getRequiredActionFieldsPerUser(String namespace, String action, int userId);//if you provide a Class in the parameters you can test if the interface has changed and throw an exception, or simply remove those attributes from the db

I would use the above service in my validate method, because I think I would like to customise the error messages but if you simply want to produce a standard error an interceptor could work which would set the field error messages (although it would be easier to get the validate method working first).

The above takes care of validation but does not take care of the UI part, which requires an admin interface.  You will want something that can show all the actions in your project (something like the config browser plugin) upon selecting an action it will display all the public setters for which you'll be able to select with a set of check boxes which ones are required. With such a set of selections and the implementation of the above interface you should be good to go.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
PHOTO:Star file
Kentucky May Sue Feds If They Walk From USEC Site
By Bill Hughes
PADUCAH, KY - Governor Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway look poised to take legal action against the U.S Department of Energy if they ignore their responsibilities at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Recent revelations that nuclear waste from the DOE plant in Ohio may now be at the Paducah site, coupled with the reluctance of the department to consider Expressions of Interest (EOI) in the site from outside companies, is leading some to believe the department is preparing to turn its back on the property, and simply use it for a nuclear waste storage facility.
Conway was part of a committee led by Gov. Paul Patton that worked in the late 1990's and early 2000's to increase funding for cleanup at the Paducah site, but after a change in Presidency, funding returned to earlier lower levels.
But Conway says Paducah is a Federal superfund site, which means there is a tri-party agreement between the DOE, EPA and the state of Kentucky. Conway says if the DOE does not comply with clean-up requirements in that contract, there is legal recourse.
Conway said his department is checking documents to determine if that involves arbitration, filing statements or a lawsuit, but he recently met with Gov. Beshear and shared his opinion.
"They have to clean that facility up. They're not going to leave a huge nuclear legacy there near Paducah, and then just shutter the plant, pay some contractor to lock it up, and keep it under key. And they're certainly, certainly not going to bring additional nuclear waste and use it as a dumping ground," Conway said.
He said the state is prepared to file a lawsuit or take whatever steps are necessary to hold the DOE accountable. He's also noticed an apparent double-standard.
"You know the Federal Government, they're awful good in a state like Kentucky where we have coal and low electricity rates, they're awfully good at trying to pass costs on to private industry and drive our costs up to achieve their goals, but when the clean-up is on their nickel, they don't want to do it, and I think that is hypocritical, and we're going to try to hold their feet to the fire," Conway said.
Beshear was in Paducah Tuesday, and said Paducah's community action group and state government are going to stay on top of the situation. His two priorities are to find a way to keep the site operating in some way to keep jobs there, and to make sure that the DOE fulfills its commitment to clean the site as they shut down operation. This will increase the possibility of another company's eventual use of the property.
Beshear said,"I'm going up on Monday, July 8 to meet with the new Secretary of Energy Moniz, and I want to find out what their thinking is on what the future of this plant is. I want a commitment from them to clean this place up. I want a commitment from them to move their RFP (Request for Proposals) process forward to get another company in here to work for a while and create jobs. And you know, if we don't get their attention by talking, then the Attorney General and I are determined to get their attention in another way, so stay tuned."
The two Kentucky Democrats are using strong language about a federal government that is currently being run by the same party, so this action (or inaction) by the DOE appears to have struck a nerve.
Published 12:17 AM, Wednesday Jun. 26, 2013
Updated 02:07 PM, Thursday Jun. 27, 2013
View (3) Comments
Name: don t.
guess that's what they had in mind with pork barrel spending cuts, ya thunk?
Name: Mike C.
Well now, isn't that interesting.......Governor Steve and his helper are upset at their anointed one's administration, and Barack Hussein Obama and his helpers will, I'm sure have nothing to help Kentucky or, more specifically, the Paducah area. The real question is what can Paducah and Kentucky do for BHO.....and the answer is nothing.....so his answer is..."too bad". Politics 101 (Now just answer the questions at the end of the chapter!) :(
Name: M G.
State and local gov. loved when that tax dollar was coming in, praising PGDP. Boy.....soon to be no taxes coming in, they can't bash it enough!!!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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German Hoops
Covering Basketball In Germany!
League Facts
Danilo Barthel Proves White Men Can Dunk Dunking The Fraport Skyliners Past Bonn 78-53
Last season, Ted Scott who hails from Jeff Gibbs country Columbus, Ohio was unleashing his deadly three pointer in small arenas in Portugal against teams like Fiscia, Alges or Ovarense, but this season, the American who adores sweet candy like Justin Bieber does Captain Crunch and is known as the candy man has joined forces with the Fraport Skyliners and quickly showed his special Ohio basketball talent as he netted 20 points in his debut in Trier. He had to wait 13 days until he could finally make his home debut in the Fraport arena. One could see it with his eyes in warm ups that he was as focused to help his team win and fascinate the home crowd with his swish shot as Seatle Sea Hawks Richard Sherman was to twittering hostility against the New England Patriots after their win, wrestling legend Hulk Hogan suing for 100 million about a sex tape or Felix Baumgartner was to breaking the speed of sound. Scott helped propel the Fraport Skyliners past the Telekom Baskets Bonn 78-53 and was very excited talking about his first game in the Fraport arena. "It was crazy in the arena. The fans were very loud and I felt very comfortable playing my first game here. The arenas were a lot smaller in Portugal, but still a good atmosphere like here. I am a little sad that my shot, but I didn´t worry too much about that, because the most important thing was that we won", stressed Ted Scott. Scott played 24 minutes netting seven points on 3/11 shooting and two rebounds, but his teammates are very happy to have him on the floor. "Scott is a scorer and forced the opponents defense to play a different way. When he is on the floor, everything opens up", added Fraport Skyliner guard Johnathan Jones. In a blowout win like this, the Fraport Skyliners also learned it can win without getting a 20 point game from Scott. "Tonight it was about finding guys at the right moment and getting them into scoring situations. We showed a team effort. Scott is a fearless shooter and even on a night like this, if he misses eight shots, then he will shot the ninth shot with the same amount of confidence. He always shoots with confidence", warned ex LTi Giessen 46er Zach Peacock.
The Fraport Skyliners came into their second home game with a 1-4 record sitting in the dark and lonely cellar of the Beko BBL standings in 18th place and wanted to finally celebrate their first home win. 4,780 fans wanted to see the game. After their collapse in the second quarter in Trier two weeks ago, the club had a complete turnaround in Bremerhaven playing a lot better, but not being able to close the door in crunch time losing on an 8-0 run by the Eisbaeren. The Fraport Skyliners returned to the Fraport Skyliners and controlled the game for 40 minutes and showed that they are nothing like an 18th place Beko BBL team. The team got all around good production and Skyliner head coach also gave the three young Germans Danilo Barthel, Johannes Voigtman and Konstantin Klein added minutes as they combined for 50 minutes. "We played a very good game with high intensity. We played with a lot of discipline on defense and kept up the intensity as well. It is always important to do this since we don´t have the physical presence of other teams. Bonn is very good on transition and we did a good job not taking bad shots and letting them get out on transition. But Bonn also didn´t have their best day against us", stressed Fraport Skyliners assistant coach Eric Detlev. The Telekom Baskets came into the game with a 2-2 record after losing their last game at home against 2008 cup winner Artland Dragons in which Beko BBL top assist man Jared Jordan was halted to three assists. The Fraport Skyliners must of watched extended video of the Artland game as they kept 2007 Los Angeles Clippers NBA draft pick Jared Jordan to two assists. After the loss, Jordan had a soft voice trying to explain what went wrong with his team. "We got down early and couldn´t match their momentum. I have to give Frankfurt credit. They played great defense and hit shots. We didn´t come to compete. We didn´t make shots and didn´t show the fight. I played awful and didn´t do my job. The team relies on me to get them going. I cant remember making only one assist in this league", stressed Telekom Baskets Bonn guard Jared Jordan.
It was the first game for the Fraport Skyliners without Kamil Novak, but he made the trip to Frankfurt and helped root on the team that he had worked for as sport director for the last ten years. Before the game, the young German guns were having their own chats as Danilo Barthel was getting updated from Jonas Wolfarth-Bottermann about what is going on in Bonn, Johannes Voigtman was talking with Florian Koch and Eric Detlev who coached the Rhondorf Dragons before coming to the Fraport Skyliners was conversing with his ex players that he helped shape with Wohlfarth-Bottermann and Fabian Thuelig. Fraport Skyliners captain Marius Nolte and seven time Beko BBL allstar Chris Ensminger were talking possibly about their playing days in Paderborn. Fraport Skyliner mascot also had his wife on the sidelines again with Skygirl. The Fraport Skyliners got on the board first as Ted Scott unleashed his deadly jumper, but the Telekom Baskets Bonn weren´t intimidated by his piercing eyes and returned with a 5-0 run as Wolfarth-Bottermann hurt Frankfurt on the boards controlling an offense rebound and getting a put back and Patrick Ewing junior made a three pointer. The Fraport Skyliners tied the score at 5-5 with a high rainbow shot by Danilo Barthel, but got burned the next time down by Benas Veikalis that got an easy layup with no help defense around. With Bonn leading 7-5, the Fraport Skyliners exploded on a 10-0 run to lead 15-7. The run was started by Marius Nolte getting atypical lay up being set up nicely by Devin Gibson and Dion Dowell showed again that he can score in bunches as he did in Artland dropping two three pointers. Frankfurt kept up the consistent scoring in the last minutes as Scott nailed a difficult three pointer over Andrej Mangold and American Johnathan Jones hit a layup with a few seconds to play with his left hand. After one quarter, the Fraport Skyliners led 20-13. "Bonn didn´t shoot very well and Frankfurt shot well quickly getting a good lead. Frankfurt had problems on the sustaining the defensive rebound as Bonn had four offensive rebounds. All in all it was still an open game", said basketball expert Kamil Novak. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 54% from the field and 67% form outside while the Telekom Baskets Bonn were shooting 33% from the field and 17% form outside. Bonn had the nine to four rebound edge, but four turnovers and Frankfurt only two turnovers.
The Fraport Skyliners didn´t waste any time in the second quarter getting off on the right foot going on a 8-2 run to lead28-15. After a slow first quarter, Zach peacock hit his first two shots with a lay up and jumper from the wing while Dion Dowell danced Kyle Weems dizzy with his moves and finishing with Weems looking for his jock strap somewhere in the parking lot. Jones then fed Peacock with the perfect lob pass and two more points. Frankfurt continued to have a good rhythm while Bonn was far from any rhythm. Frankfurt had a perfect mix of inside out basketball and had sufficient on ball pressure. Bonn changed their game a bit bringing in German energy player David Mccray as he made the Bonn game faster and they went on a 9-5 run to cut the Frankfurt lead to 33-24. Mccray started the run with a coast to coast run, Beko BBL rookie Kyle Weems hit an off balance jumper in the corner over Dowell and a pull up jumper. Benas Viekalas hit a contested three pointer. Bonn was also able to stay in the game on account of four missed free throws by the Fraport Skyliners. Frankfurt closed out the second quarter with a 9-2 run to lead comfortably 41-26. Peacock and Gibson scored inside as Bonn really had problems closing the lane and Scott hit a last second jumper before halftime. "Frankfurt started very well, but the story were the many Bonn turnovers. Bonn had ten turnovers at halftime which is too much. Frankfurt did a good job with only four turnovers", stated basketball expert Steven Clauss. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 58% from the field and 50% from the three point line while the Telekom Baskets Bonn were shooting 38% from the field and 22% from the three point line. Bonn had the 16-11 rebound advantage. Frankfurt had four turnovers and Bonn ten turnovers.
If there was one game where the Fraport Skyliners learned from was the loss in Trier. Last weekend in Bremerhaven, the team came out strong from halftime and against Bonn, the team arrived on the court with even stronger intensity than the first half while Bonn remained static and flat. The Fraport Skyliners jumped out on a 8-2 run to lead 49-28. Just like to begin the second quarter, it was Zach Peacock again that had a hot start with a jumper and a pretty running hook shot. Devin Gibson connected on free throws and getting behind the zone defense with a lay up. 2008 NBA draft pick of the Sacremento Kings Patrick Ewing made a spectacular reverse lay up. With this quick start by the Fraport Skyliners, Bonn head coach Michael Koch made a sweeping change inserting five new players. It didn´t help much as the Fraport Skyliners continued their potent play going on a 11-2 run to extend their lead to 61-30. After an off balance shot by Mccray, the Fraport Skyliners reacted with Klein free throws. He then made the hustle play of the game making a steal, but then losing the ball to Fabian Thuelig, but the German came back getting the ball back with a steal. Not only was Frankfurt shooting well, but also doing the little things on the court. Jones then made a jumper, three pointer and two free throws making seven points in a row. Dowell then hit a three pointer completly breaking the neck of Bonn as Frankfurt led 61-30. Ensminger then scored inside and then it was Dowell again hitting a three pointer as the Fraport Skyliners led 66-34. "Muli Katzurin had the right words in the halftime. Frankfurt came out hungry and played even stronger. The Frankfurt defense continued to fight while Bonn fell apart and started to hang their heads", answered basketball expert Steven Clauss. "We kept up the intensity and stopped them from getting out on the transition", added Dion Dowell. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 56% from the field and 50% from the parking lot while the Telekom Baskets Bonn were shooting 34% from the field and 17% from the parking lot. Bonn had the slight 21-20 rebound lead, but 16 turnovers while Frankfurt had seven turnovers.
The game was as good as decided going into the fourth quarter as the Telekom Baskets Bonn were able to play better winning the quarter 19-12. Muli Katzurin also rested some of his starters and gave extended minutes to his German PRO B players. Danilo Barthel started off the fourth quarter with a bang driving home a dunk that woke up even the last Bonn fan who might have fallen asleep waiting for that Patrick Ewing dunk to finally happen and the lack luster play of Bonn. Barthel split the zone defense dunking and giving Frankfurt the 68-34 lead. "Danilo will get a surprise from us for that dunk. We need something like that each game", stressed ex Eisbaeren Bremerhaven American Zach Peacock. Barthel was laib back as always after the game, but his eyes lit up like a small boy meeting Lebron James when asked about the dunk. "I should send Jacob Burtschi the video of the dunk. I didn´t even see Ewing coming. It was a nice dunk giving team push. I put this dunk at the top of my list", stressed Danilo Barthel. The Telekom Baskets Bonn who didn´t have much to cheer about in the first three quarters got going going on a 7-0 run to cut the Frankfurt lead to 68-41. Robert Vaden who had been kept quiet scored inside, Jordan who couldn´t rely on his pass had to shoot more making a three pointer and Veikalas founding Ewing back door for two quick points. Bonn continued to score going on a 8-4 run to cut Frankfurt lead to 72-49. Jordan scored on a reverse lay up getting a back door pass from Vaden and Weems connected on a three pointer again. Time was running down as in the last minute fans saw Jordan hit a fade away jumper, Quantez Robertson make a dunk that seemed unnoticed and Weems hit another jumper. The young Germans had played most of the fourth quarter and did a good job coming from the bench. "The German came in and stepped up big. Johannes Voigtman did a good job against Chris Ensminger", added Zach Peacock. When the buzzer finally rang, one could see many happy faces on the Fraport Skyliners as the Telekom Baskets Bonn disappeared into the locker room. "Frankfurt deserved to win this game. Bonn did win the last quarter showing that they didn´t totally hang their heads. It is very difficult to tally come back in one quarter when you are down thirty points. Frankfurt dominated the game and one never had the feeling that Bonn would come back. Bonn has a lot of homework after this loss", stated basketball expert Steven Clauss.
The Fraport Skyliners were led by Dion Dowell with 17 points. Zach Peacock chipped in with 14 points. Devin Gibson and Danilo Barthel added ten points combined. The Telekom Baskets Bonn were led by Kyle Weems with 13 points. The Fraport Skyliners did a great job keeping Jared Jordan to nine points and only two assists. "We wanted to contain Jordan. We knew that when he penetrates, he likes to kick out the ball. We did a good job limiting him form getting into the paint by staying on him and keeping our hands up", stated Johnathan Jones. The Fraport Skyliners shot very well at 51% from the field and 41% from outside having a consistent rhythm on offense. Their defense gave Bonn fits letting them only get 53 points. Despite losing the rebound battle 30-26, the rebounding improved from the last games. "We did a good job for the most part on the defensive rebound limiting them to one shot", stated Johnathan Jones. "We worked on boxing out drills all week long. There were many long rebounds where our guards could have been more aware", added Zach Peacock. All in all, it was a huge win for the Fraport Skyliners as they will travel to Bamberg with a lot of self confidence. "Our biggest strength today was keeping our turnovers down. We did a good job taking care of the ball", warned Johnathan Jones. The Brose Baskets Bamberg welcome the Fraport Skyliners November 5th.
Posted in BBL and tagged Danilo Barthel, Frankfurt Skyliners, Telekom Baskets Bonn on October 29, 2012 by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber. Leave a comment
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Josh Richardson averaged 10.3 points this past season.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee guard Josh Richardson understands the skepticism surrounding his team, but he doesn't agree with it.
Richardson is the lone returning starter and one of only four returning scholarship players from the Tennessee team that went 24-13 and reached an NCAA regional semifinal last season. A 6-foot-6 senior, Richardson believes the Volunteers can withstand a tumultuous offseason that featured a coaching change and multiple transfers.
"We feel like we're going to be picked toward the bottom of the league," Richardson said. "We don't like how that sits with us. We're going to come out and surprise a lot of people."
Tennessee's chances of surprising depend on whether Richardson builds on his breakthrough postseason performance, as he averaged 19.3 points in four NCAA tournament games.
New coach Donnie Tyndall wants Richardson to emerge as a leader. He's even joked about the situation with reporters.
"If he doesn't lead our team, I'm kicking him off," Tyndall quipped. "It's that simple."
Richardson faces quite a burden as the only Tennessee player who averaged more than five points per game for the Vols last season, but he isn't the type of person to get consumed by pressure.
"He's never been the type of person who really lets things stress him out," said his father, Micheal Richardson. "He's one who looks for solutions to his problems. ... I always taught him just to make a decision and go with it."
Richardson's father is a retired firefighter. His mother is a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Air Force reserves and an ordained minister. That family environment helped Richardson develop into a well-rounded person whose interests go beyond basketball.
After arriving on campus, Richardson took up longboarding, a form of skateboarding. He started playing the piano much earlier than that.
"I picked it up when I was way young, like in fourth grade," Richardson said. "I didn't like it when I was younger, so I quit. Then when I was in 10th grade, my grandma passed. Every time she came over, she wanted me to try to play the piano for her. So after she passed, I decided to pick it up [again] for her."
Richardson now is focusing on leading a roster full of newcomers. Richardson's teammates say his postseason performance has boosted his confidence.
"He's definitely on a different level than he was last year," sophomore guard Robert Hubbs III said.
The Vols need Richardson to provide stability to a program adjusting to a new coach. Richardson says he knew nothing about Tyndall before the coach's arrival at Tennessee, but he has quickly warmed up to the new staff.
"He's a guy that I'm guessing will be picked second- or third-team all-league preseason," Tyndall said. "He played with a ton of confidence at the end of the year. We want him to carry that over into his senior season."
Now he's going into his final season ready to lead.
"God throws adversity your way to see how you handle it," Richardson said. "I knew what I was getting into this next year."