Two men have been arrested in Louisiana after posting a disturbing video to Snapchat, showing them slitting the throat of a helpless dog.
The video surfaced Wednesday on the social media app, which allows users to post videos to their 'Snapchat story'. The videos can be viewed by anyone who follows the user, before being deleted after 24 hours.
Hanna Gospin follows one of the users on the app and was horrified by what she saw, so she took a video of the video and posted it on her Facebook page. That video has since been viewed more than 5,000 times.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE
Two men have been arrested after posting a horrifying video to Snapchat, showing them torturing a helpless dog. Above, a grab from the video
'I'm not scratching out a name in hopes that this person will never own a dog again,' Gospin wrote about the video.
Police immediately started investigating, and the next day two men turned themselves into police for their role in the video.
The culprits have been identified as Steven Sadler and Boots Stanley of Arkansas.
In the video, one of the men is seen wrapping a rope tighly around the dog's neck while comparing himself to Michael Vick.
Boots Stanley (left) and Steven Sadler (right) now face charges of animal cruelty and conspiracy
In the next cut, the dog is seen dangling by his leash off the back of a horse - the dog's collar constricting his breathing.
The clip ends with a man - identified as Sadler - slitting the dog's throat several times with a knife.
The video does not show the dog dying, but it appears unlikely that it survived due to the area of where it was cut.
'In our line of work, we have to remain neutral but we still are human. So I would say on a personal note, yes, it was quite disturbing,' Chief Allen Campbell with the Bastrop Police told ArkLaTexHomepage.com.
After the two men were arrested, they were charged charged with a count each of animal cruelty and conspiracy. If convicted they face up to 10 years in jail and a fine of $25,000. After their arrest, the two men posted bail.
The incident reportedly happened at the Bastrop, Louisiana horse auction pen.

Arkansas men arrested for Snapchat video showing them chocking and slitting a dog's throat


WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE. Boots Stanley and Steven Sadler posted a video to Snapchat on Wednesday, showing them torturing a dog at a horse auction facility in Bastrop, Louisiana.


The Latest: Italy relents, will hold funeral in quake town
ROME (AP) — The Latest on Italy's devastating earthquake (all times local):
4 p.m.
Italy's government has heeded the anger of quake survivors and will hold a state funeral for many of the 290 dead in Amatrice, the town hardest-hit by the quake, instead of at an airport hangar 65 kilometers (40 miles) away.
A child plays in a tent camp in Amatrice, central Italy, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016 where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday. Bulldozers with huge claws pulled down dangerously overhanging ledges Sunday in Italy's quake-devastated town of Amatrice as investigators worked to figure out if negligence or fraud in building codes had added to the quake's high death toll. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Earlier Monday, survivors in Amatrice, where at least 229 people perished in the Aug. 24 earthquake, started shouting angrily after authorities informed them the funeral Mass would be celebrated Tuesday evening at Rieti airport. Townspeople yelled they wanted to have the service in Amatrice, a medieval town in the central Apennine mountains devastated by the quake. Among those incensed was Sergio Pirozzi, the town's mayor.
Shortly afterward, Pirozzi told his fellow citizens that Italian Premier Matteo Renzi had just called him and told him that Tuesday's state funeral would be held in Amatrice after all.
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3:30 p.m.
Romania's foreign ministry says it will pay to repatriate the bodies of seven Romanians who died during last week's quake in central Italy.
A statement said the bodies will arrive in Romania from Italy on Tuesday.
The ministry said Monday that 11 Romanians were among the 290 people confirmed dead in the Aug. 24 quake. One Romanian is still unaccounted for. It says the seven are the first batch to be brought back, and others may also be as well, depending on their families' wishes.
Some 8,000 to 10,000 Romanians were living in the area where the quake struck.
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12:05 p.m.
With thousands left homeless after Italy's earthquake, authorities are debating how to provide warmer, sturdier housing for them besides the rows of emergency blue tents set up in the Apennine Mountains, where even summer nights can get chilly.
Nearly 2,700 people needing shelter following the Aug. 24 temblor are staying in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by Italy's Civil Protection agency. Others are staying in a gym in the hardest-hit town, Amatrice and some are sleeping in cars near their damaged homes.
Italian architect Renzo Piano met Premier Matteo Renzi on Sunday. Speaking to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Piano proposed building temporary wooden homes near the three devastated towns in central Italy so traumatized people could stay near their roots.
No housing decisions have been announced yet.
A victim is carried on a stretcher from a collapsed building after an earthquake, in Amatrice, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. A devastating earthquake rocked central Italy early Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept. At least 23 people were reported dead in three hard-hit towns where rescue crews raced to dig survivors out of the rubble, but the toll was expected to rise as crews reached homes in more remote hamlets. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
A firefighter stands amid rubble as he watches the bell tower of Amatrice, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Firefighters work to clear a street from debris in Peschiera Del Tronto, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Firefighters work to clear a street from debris in Peschiera Del Tronto, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The door of a collapsed house in Peschiera Del Tronto, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Firefighters work to clear a street from debris in Peschiera Del Tronto, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Firefighters work to clear a street from debris in Peschiera Del Tronto, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Firefighters work to clear a street from debris in Peschiera Del Tronto, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Firefighters clear rubble in Amatrice, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Firefighters clear rubble in Amatrice, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Firefighter clear rubble in Amatrice, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Firefighter clear rubble in Amatrice, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday. Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in tents in the Apennine Mountains region. Nearly 2,700 people whose homes collapsed or left unsafe by the Aug. 24 temblor now stay in 58 tent camps or other shelters arranged by the Civil Protection agency. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Vinicio Bizzoni speaks after recovering his personal belongings from his collapsed house in Amatrice, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday. Italian authorities are vowing to investigate whether negligence or fraud in adhering to building codes played a role in the high death toll in last week¿s earthquake in Italy. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Firefighters recover belongings from a collapsed house in Amatrice, central Italy, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., last Wednesday. Italian authorities are vowing to investigate whether negligence or fraud in adhering to building codes played a role in the high death toll in last week¿s earthquake in Italy. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)


ROME (AP) — The Latest on Italy's devastating earthquake (all times local): 4 p.m. Italy's government has heeded the anger of quake survivors and will hold a...


The Latest: Italy relents, will hold funeral in quake town


A teenager has died after taking drugs at Leeds Festival .
The 17-year-old boy from Greater Manchester became critically ill after collapsing at the event shortly after 4.45pm on Saturday.
Paramedics were called after he was discovered by staff and was rushed to St James’ Hospital in Leeds by ambulance.
Despite emergency treatment, he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
Police say they believe he had taken drugs ‘immediately before he collapsed’ but they have not specified which substance.
St James’s University Hospital
Specialist officers are supporting his family as an investigation into his death is carried out.
Two other teenagers, also aged 17, have been arrested by officers in Greater Manchester on suspicion of drugs offences in connection with the incident.
Leeds Festival’s police commander, Chief Supt Keith Gilert from West Yorkshire Police , said: “Our thoughts are naturally with the family of the young man at this time.
“They were made aware of the incident by officers as soon as possible and were assisted to attend the hospital as quickly as possible.
“We will continue to support them through this difficult time.
“We are currently investigating the death and how he obtained the substance he took.
“Two males, aged 17, have been arrested in the Greater Manchester area on suspicion of drugs offences and are currently in custody.
“At this time the indications are that the man consumed drugs immediately before he collapsed."
Chief Supt Gilert added: “I would though like to take this opportunity to remind anyone attending the Festival that there is no safe way to take drugs. Taking any illegal drug carries a risk to health and we would always advise people against it, but I would ask that people are particularly conscious of the risks following this young man’s death.
IPCC investigation into Adrian McDonald taser death in 'final stages'
“In partnership with the organisers, Festival Republic, we will continue to take action against those who risk the lives of others by supplying drugs.”
A report will be prepared into the boy’s death and handed over to the coroner.
More than 80,000 music fans have gathered for the annual festival at Bramham Park in Wetherby which this year is being headlined by Foals, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Biffy Clyro.

Teenager dies after taking drugs at Leeds Festival


Police warn festival goers there is 'no safe way to take drugs'


SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is refusing to stand for the
national anthem before games because he believes the United States oppresses African Americans and other minorities.
Kaepernick sat on the team’s bench Friday night during the anthem before the Niners played host to the Green Bay Packers in an exhibition game. He later explained his reasoning in an interview with NFL Media .
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Saturday that “players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem.”
The 49ers issued a statement after Pro Football Talk initially reported on Kaepernick’s stand, saying that Americans have the right to protest or support the anthem.
“The national anthem is and always will be a special part of the pregame ceremony,” the team said. “It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose to participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem.”
Coach Chip Kelly said Saturday that he had not talked with Kaepernick about his actions or comments but said that Kaepernick also did not stand for the national anthem before last week’s game in Denver when he was injured and did not play.
“We recognize his right to do that,” Kelly said. “It’s not my right to tell him not to do something. That’s his right as a citizen.”
Kaepernick, who is biracial, was adopted and raised by white parents. He has been outspoken on his Twitter account on civil rights issues and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Kaepernick is not the first U.S.-based athlete to use the anthem for protest. In 1996, NBA player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refused to stand for the anthem, saying the United States had a history of tyranny and doing so would conflict with his Islamist beliefs. The NBA initially suspended Abdul-Rauf for his stance before it was lifted when he said he would stand and pray silently during the song.
Kaepernick said he is not worried about any potential fallout from his protest.
“This is not something that I am going to run by anybody,” he told NFL Media. “I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. … If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right.”
Kaepernick’s agent did not immediately return a request for comment.
Kaepernick is in competition to win back the starting quarterback job in San Francisco that he lost to Blaine Gabbert last season. He made his first appearance of the preseason on Friday night after missing two games with a tired shoulder. He finished 2 for 6 for 14 yards and added 18 yards on four runs.
Kelly said Kaepernick is still in the running to win the starting job and his protest won’t impact the decision.
___
Online:
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

Niners QB Kaepernick refuses to stand for anthem in protest


Victoria went on to rule for 63 years, and was our longest serving monarch until she was overtaken by Elizabeth II on tith September 2015.
BAFTA-nominated actor Rufus Sewell is cast alongside Jenna starring as Lord Melbourne, Victoria’s ﬁrst prime minister. The two immediately connected and their intimate friendship became a popular source of gossip that threatened to destabilise the Government – angering both Tory and Whigs alike.
Tom Hughes stars as Prince Albert. Appearing in the drama from episode 3, Albert immediately makes an impression on the young queen, his ﬁrst cousin. Although Victoria resisted attempts to rush her into marriage initially, her partnership with Albert was a success and they would ultimately produce nine children.
We caught up with former Doctor Who companian Jenna to find out about the drama. . .
Jenna explains one of the most useful aids to understanding Victoria was her sketchbook...
“I read her diaries but although those have her words they’re more about the rhythm of her writing and her emphasis and consciousness in a way. She’s very emphatic in her writing.
What she likes is in capital letters and underlined and it was very thorough and passionate but I think for me, the most interesting thing was her sketchbook because that is the one thing that has been untouched of her vision and what interests her and how she saw the world. I never knew Victoria was such a good artist but most of what she draws is very human and is not about grandeur or jewels or aﬀairs of state in a way it is much more about nature, horses and people, drama and opera and when she was younger the heights of passion and emotion. She drew Lord Melbourne a lot at one stage and then obviously Albert as well as a lot of landscapes. It is interesting to see the world through her eye which you feel more from her when looking through her sketches.”
What helped your transformation into Queen Victoria?
“We went through a lengthy process with the contact lenses trying to ﬁnd the right ones that would look natural and work on camera. There were a couple that made me look like a white walker from Game of Thrones but I would rehearse in the lenses and I kept them in all of the time because once you have them in, to look at yourself in the mirror and see yourself completely diﬀerently is fantastic. It was the make-up designer Nic Collins idea to go with the lenses because in all of the portraits the one thing that really sticks out are her eyes; they are so big and such a known feature about her.”
But ultimately Jenna explains it was ﬁnding the voice of Victoria that was the biggest challenge...
“As well as the relationship between crown and girl it was her voice that was most interesting because for me I start at a place of voice and can hear the voice very clearly before I play a person or character so I think ﬁnding a regal voice that was of the time, accessible but not inhibiting in a way was a challenge. I listened a lot to Emily Blunt in Young Victoria and Judy Dench in Mrs Brown and bridging that age gap.
“For speeches you had to up it a certain notch and then when behind closed doors with Albert, ﬁnding the more human elements to her because I think one of the biggest fears in period drama is being so stiﬀ that you become talking heads and you have to be mindful of the etiquette and as a girl, she is impulsive. Also taking her through an age. Beginning at 18 and growing her up and yet doing that quite quickly and in less of a marked way, going from someone who is vulnerable and actually insecure and inexperienced yet someone who has a big sense of will and who is incredibly stubborn and ﬂawed yet trying to get across her likeability through that. Trying to get her lust for life through all of that.”
Jenna tells us what it has been like to undertake such an incredible role and what she was keen to portray to an audience.
“Something we spoke about a lot was this idea of playing between state and private, between Victoria’s public face, her private face and going between those two worlds. When she is in her quarters she is undone and private. It’s about ﬁnding the human within the role of Queen and discovering the girl taking on this incredible responsibility.’
“With so much access to her diaries you know a liEle bit about what her daily life was like. On the day of her coronation, for example, she woke up at 4am and could hear the crowds outside and the cannons being ﬁred. It is so fascinating to think of her experience inside the palace and outside those four walls and what her relationship was to the public.
“So it’s about fulﬁlling that on screen, seeing her the way we see her, as queen Victoria in this role that she plays but also seeing her as the girl that she was, behind the scenes and playing between the private and public worlds.”
Queen Victoria had a vast number of hidden talents, which meant that Jenna had to learn a whole new set of skills for this role.
“It was very interesting because once I got the job it was a matter of three weeks before I had to be on horseback riding on camera, ballroom dancing and playing the piano. I managed to get some Beethoven down. I have a piano in my house and I have wanted to learn for ages so it was the perfect opportunity. Tom (Hughes) is an amazing musician, he actually really could do it all and I could do one small section and then completely fudge the rest by methods which were rather ludicrous. Apparently she sings opera but I’m not so sure I would get those skills up to par but we will see!”
Victoria start on Sunday at 9pm on ITV with a 90-minute special and continues on Monday.


Visit now for the latest out & about news - direct from The Star and updated throughout the day.


Beulah Lane
HILTONS, VA - Beulah Kate Lane, 82, of East Carter’s Valley Community, went home to be with Jesus on Sunday morning (August 28, 2016) at Nova Healthcare and Rehab Center following a lengthy illness. Calling hours will be held on Wednesday (August 31, 2016) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Scott County Funeral Home. A funeral service will be conducted on Wednesday (August 31, 2016) at 7 p.m. in the funeral home chapel with Rev. Ronnie Horne and Rev. David Gillenwater, officiating. Music will be provided by Glenwood Singers and Mountain Gospel Singers. A graveside service will take place on Thursday (September 1, 2016) at 11:00 a.m. at Holston View Cemetery with family and friends serving as pallbearers. Her grandsons will serve as honorary pallbearers. Family and friends attending the graveside are asked to meet at the funeral home at 10:15 a.m. to go in procession. You can send an online condolence to the family by visiting www.scottcountyfuneralhome.com. Carter-Trent/Scott County Funeral Home is serving the Lane family.


HILTONS, VA - Beulah Kate Lane, 82, of East Carter’s Valley Community, went home to be with Jesus on Sunday morning (August 28, 2016) at Nova Healthcare and Rehab Center following


It is not a Minnesota State Fair without politics, and Republican Chairman Keith Downey delivered on Thursday, July 25, 2016, when he said he felt his party booth volunteers will be safe from Democrats who harassed presidential candidate Donald Trump supporters last week. (Forum News Service photo by Don Davis)
ST. PAUL—Some headlines and social media posts made it sound like Donald Trump's name might not be on the Minnesota ballot on Nov. 8.
That remains a possibility, but only if a judge orders his name removed.
Former state Republican official Michael Brodkorb, now a blogger, warns that "voters should prepare themselves for lawsuits to be filed to challenge if Minnesota Republicans followed the law to get his name on the ballot."
State GOP Chairman Keith Downey told reporters at the State Fair that the party forgot to elect alternate electors, those people who actually pick a president in the country's Electoral College process. But the party's constitution allows the Republican State Central Committee to do that, he said, and everything is good since the committee voted on the issue Wednesday night.
"Lots of people on social media have lots of opinions," Downey said, brushing off any hint of a problem.
Brodkorb, however, says state law requires a convention, not the committee, to pick alternate electors.
Monday is the deadline for Secretary of State Steve Simon to finish the presidential part of the ballot, and predictions are that a lawsuit could come soon after that.
The issue has attracted some national attention.
The Fix, on the Washington Post Website, offered the headline: "How Donald Trump almost missed the ballot in Minnesota (and what that says about his campaign)."
A story by Amber Phillips explains that candidates for other parties—Legal Marijuana Now, American Delta, Democratic, Green, Libertarian and Independence—were on the ballot, but at that point not Trump.
Despite Downey's explanation, the Post says, "the bottom line is still this: The state Republican Party messed up—and Trump was the one who took the hit."
"It'd be pretty embarrassing for a major-party nominee to miss the ballot in a state..." Phillips wrote. "But to some degree, Trump has set himself for this sort of headache. He has largely outsourced the nuts and bolts of running his presidential campaign to the Republican Party, which in turn outsources a lot of the work to its state chapters."
She says that the Trump "hands-off approach" opens the campaign up for errors.
Dayton orders pollinator protection
Gov. Mark Dayton has ordered his Agriculture Department to restrict pesticides thought to kill pollinators such as bees.
In a Friday executive order, the governor said the department is to immediately begin to only allow neonicotinoid pesticides to be used when there is "an imminent threat of significant crop loss." It was not immediately clear how the order will be enforced or how big an impact it will have.
Dayton specifically ordered state agencies to stop using those pesticides whenever possible and told department heads to make sure state land is attractive to bees and other pollinators.
Insects, especially bees, pollinate crops, a vital part of the state's agriculture industry. But pollinators have been dying off, with much of the blame placed on neonicotinoid pesticides, although that suggestion remains under debate.
"Bees and other pollinators play a critical role in supporting both our environment, and our economy," Dayton said. "This order directs state government to take immediate action to alleviate the known risks that pollinators face. It also will create a new taskforce to study the issues impacting pollinators and recommend long-term solutions."
'We did good work'
Minnesota legislators are under attack from many directions for failing to enact tax cuts and fund public construction projects.
But Republican House members are firing back, essentially saying they did good work in the legislative session that ended in May even though they will not get the chance to return to a special session to complete their work.
Several GOP lawmakers sent news releases within the past week emphasizing a bill that freezes, and in some cases reduces, many state college and university tuitions.
"A good education is key to becoming a productive member of today's work force, but it's an expensive endeavor..." Rep. Dale Lueck, R-Aitkin, said in his version of the news release. "We made sure to continue student grants, tuition relief, loan forgiveness and scholarships."
Sex offender release OK'd
A Minnesota sex offender could be the first one released from a state treatment program with no conditions.
But the state could appeal the court decision to release 26-year-old Eric Terhaar, who has been in the sex treatment program six years for crimes he committed as a juvenile.
Terhaar has been in a program that sex offenders who have completed prison sentences sometimes are sent. They remain there indefinitely and so far no one has been completely released, although some got out under heavy security.
A Supreme Court appeals panel ruled that Terhaar does not need the intensive treatment the Minnesota Sex Offender Program offers. The panel openly wondered if he ever should have been committed to the program.
A federal judge has ruled the program, with more than 700 patients, unconstitutionally keeps people after their prison terms expire. State officials disagree with the decision, but at the same time are looking for ways to release some patients.
The state must decide in less than two weeks whether to appeal the Terhaar decision.

Capitol Chatter: Trump last to make Minnesota ballot


BERLIN Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged people of Turkish origin living in Germany to take part in German society and not to bring conflicts taking place back in Turkey to Germany.
Relations between Berlin and Ankara, a key partner for the European Union in stemming the flow of migrants to Europe, are already tense after Germany's parliament branded the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide and a leaked government report alleged Turkey was a hub for Islamist groups.
Germany is home to about 3 million people of Turkish origin.
"I keep saying that I'm their chancellor too and I think it's important to profess that and it's good if that is reciprocated by commitment to our country and not by bringing conflicts from Turkey to Germany," Merkel said in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.
Since a failed military coup in Turkey on July 15, tensions have mounted in Germany's Turkish community between supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and those of a U.S.-based cleric that he blames for the coup.
Erdogan backers have demonstrated in several German cities since the thwarted coup, shops have been boycotted by rival sides and hate mail has been sent to anti-Erdogan politicians.
Merkel drew criticism for an interview published in Passauer Neue Presse newspaper on Tuesday, in which she said: "We expect those with a Turkish background who have lived in Germany for a long time to develop a high degree of loyalty to our country."
Some politicians said it was unnecessarily divisive at a time of tense relations between Germany and Turkey.
Asked in the ARD interview about the loyalty comment, Merkel said her main aim was not to allow conflicts in Turkey to play out in Germany.
"But rather, those who have been living here for years and perhaps also have German citizenship, take part in the development of our country and if they want to they are very welcome to do so," she said, adding that she could not force them to do so however.
(Reporting by Michelle Martin and Joseph Nasr; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Adrian Croft)

Merkel urges Turks not to bring conflicts to Germany


Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged people of Turkish origin living in Germany to take part in German society and not to bring conflicts taking place back in Turkey to Germany.


For the Troy Daily News
MIAMI VALLEY — The American Red Cross remains on the ground, with volunteers across nearly half of Louisiana, helping thousands who lost everything in recent devastating floods—the worst natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy in 2012. To further aid community needs, the relief organization is building a new volunteer contingent to deploy “virtually” (read: working from home) to support the efforts currently underway thousands of miles away in the ravaged flood zone.
“The situation in Louisiana remains critical and so does our need to adapt by recruiting a new type of volunteer – virtual volunteers,” said Lynne Gump, executive director of the Northern Miami Valley Ohio Chapter of the American Red Cross. “I’m urging everyone to please consider becoming a new virtual volunteer. People desperately need help right now. By working from the comfort of your own home, you can make a real difference for people in Louisiana who have lost theirs.”
The organization seeks to add an additional 250 virtual volunteers as soon as possible. Opportunities include virtual caseworker and call center positions. More than 17,000 calls from people seeking information and help have already been handled.
As waters go down, the Red Cross is able to get into more and more neighborhoods, and volunteers on scene are working tirelessly to provide assistance. Nearly 90 response vehicles are fanning out through affected neighborhoods to distribute food, water and relief supplies such as personal hygiene items, insect repellant, cleaning kits and bleach. Local officials estimate more than 110,000 homes have been damaged.
To date, more than 1,900 Red Crossers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are supporting Louisiana relief efforts. Since the onset of the flooding, the Red Cross and partners have served more than 260,000 meals and snacks, in addition to distributing nearly 60,000 relief items. Mental health disaster workers are visiting shelters to offer comfort. Health services volunteers are helping with things like lost eyeglasses and medications.
To become a virtual volunteer, individuals simply visit redcross.org and submit an application. The safety of the people the Red Cross serves and the volunteers who help them is of utmost importance to the Red Cross. The Red Cross has procedures in place to track who is volunteering to help keep people safe. This includes running a background check on all volunteers who will work directly with the people who turn to us for help or have access to funds. Volunteers also sign an agreement to abide by thecode of ethics and conduct.


click to enlarge Danielle A. Scruggs
"I don't know if you've ever had pureed jalapeño in your eye, but if you can imagine 100 drunk wasps trying to attack your face, that is what it feels like," hot-sauce hobbyist Theodore Hahn says.
click to enlarge Courtesy Theodore Hahn
Of Wrath of Hahn, its maker says "there is literally no other possible fucking name for this hot sauce."
"For a long amount of time I was basically a beige-atarian. I grew up in Wisconsin in a family of Korean immigrants, and my mother cooked Korean food deliciously, but I, being a gigantic idiot, was very, very picky. It wasn't until, like, high school that I realized I should just shut the fuck up and start appreciating it. "By the time I started to get really nutso about food, I didn't have any preconceived notions as to what I should try or what was good or what was lame. All I knew was that there was so much more stuff out there that I wanted to cram into my face. And then my college years coincided almost exactly with the introduction of the Food Network."A few years ago, I went online to see if there was any way to doctor up Huy Fong sriracha. That's the rooster sauce you get at Thai or Vietnamese restaurants. I found a basic recipe, and I tinkered around for a couple years, and everything I made was terrible. I have a bottle saved somewhere that you could pour into your car and drive to Milwaukee with."Finally I got to a version that I thought people might like. It's called Wrath of Hahn, and I want to give 100 percent credit to my genius friend Holly Dunsworth for coming up with that, because there is literally no other possible fucking name for this hot sauce."Anyway, to incentivize myself to get it out the door, I told my friends, 'I will trade this for whatever you want to make—candy bars, muffins, other sauces, whatever.' I thought I'd get a couple dozen friends to do it. It turned out everybody and their mom wanted to try this hot sauce. I did it again last year, and even more people wanted to get in on it."The demand got so crazy that I realized I had to charge money. That said, there is no money in this at all. What little extra I've made I've just put into buying a fridge to store the stuff. Early this month, I'm putting up 300 jars for sale—150 of the hot sauce and then 150 of a vinegar-pepper sauce. And when they're gone, that's it."It's very laborious, blending the peppers and garlic with brown sugar and salt to ferment. I have to do it out of my folks' house, because if you try to boil and blend and process 20 gallons of fermented red jalapeños and habaneros in a condo in the South Loop, I'm pretty sure the co-op board will throw you out a window."Now I wear gloves and goggles all the time. In years past, I have taken a rather cavalier attitude towards this sort of thing and have been punished for my hubris. Once, as I was cleaning up, I had sweat drip into my eye, and I wiped it away with my fingers. I don't know if you've ever had pureed jalapeño in your eye, but if you can imagine 100 drunk wasps trying to attack your face, that is what it feels like. You're basically just flushing and flushing and flushing and then lying down and then swearing a lot in front of your Baptist mom."

Limited-edition Chicago-made hot sauce Wrath of Hahn inspires burning desire


"The demand got so crazy that I realized I had to charge money," Theodore Hahn says of his homemade hot sauce.


Access to a narrow peninsula of farmland jutting out into Stump Lake, south of Lakota, N.D., is compromised by the rising lake water. Forum News Service photo by Sarah Kolberg.
DEVILS LAKE, N.D.—The excess rain this year is one ingredient needed for spring flooding, and as residents wonder if Devils Lake could begin to swallow up land, National Weather Service meteorologists say it's too early to tell if the Red River will cause significant damage.
Grand Forks had about 3.21 inches of rain in August as of Thursday. That's about 18 inches for the year, or about 4 inches of precipitation above average counts, according to the weather service. July was the seventh-wettest month on record with 5.3 inches.
To the west, more than 19 inches has fallen in Devils Lake as of Tuesday, according to Jeff Frith, manager for the Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board. July saw 6.65 inches, the second-wettest July since 1993, which had 10.25 inches. About 4.3 inches has fallen in August as of Tuesday.
Near Starkweather, N.D., a Ramsey County city of 117 residents located about 25 miles north of Devils Lake, weather tracker Mike Connor has reported more than 23 inches, with 8.12 inches falling in July, the most that has fallen in that month since 1993. About 5.2 inches has fallen there in August as of Tuesday.
The excess rain has saturated the soil, especially in the northern Red River Valley, and as a whole, North Dakota is wetter than normal, National Weather Service meteorologist Jennifer Ritterling said. If it doesn't dry up, the ground could freeze and leave no room for the snowpack to melt except outward.
That could mean flooding for some communities around Devils Lake. The massive body of water has remained steady at about 1,450 feet for most of the year, give or take a few inches.
The rain is concerning because it is filling up the coulees near Devils Lake and causing significant inflow, Frith said. Usually flows wrap up toward the end of July, but some coulees have been running full blast the last few weeks.
It's not unusual considering the amount of rain the Devils Lake Basin has seen, Frith said.
"We have been seeing a dramatic increase in the flows in the coulees, certainly more than what we had this spring when the coulees thawed out in the spring," Frith said. "We had virtually zero flow at that time due to our drier conditions."
Heavy flow in the spring could be preceded by a wet fall, which is concerning because it could increase the elevation of Devils Lake, he said. The lake's record elevation was set June 27, 2011, when it reached 1,454.4 feet, resulting in the flooding of cropland, roads, homesteads and even small communities. The lake reached near-record levels in June 2013 when the elevation topped out at 1,426.97 feet.
Every foot the lake goes up or down puts about 10,000 acres of land at risk, Frith said.
"If we go into freeze-up with saturated soils the way they are now, the basin storage capacity up in the northern part of the basin flow, we could see a significant amount of runoff next spring and be right back where we were three or four years ago," he said. "It just sets the stage for nowhere for the snowmelt to go."
Too soon to tell
Knowing if the region, specifically the Red River Valley, will see significant flooding is like predicting the winner of the 2017 Super Bowl, Ritterling said. There are so many variables that are unknown that it is too early to tell.
"There are a lot of factors that go into spring flooding," she said.
She referred to an article written by Grand Forks meteorologist Allen Voelker. "Anatomy of the Red River Spring Flood" describes the key factors in predicting flooding for cities along the river: the freeze and melt cycle, the amount of early spring rain and late spring storms that will deplete or add to snowpack, the depth of snowpack and how much water it contains, frost depth, river ice conditions and soil moisture content.
"Out of all of those, we partially know one of them," she said of soil moisture content. "There is no way to tell at this point."
It's likely there are two to three months left until the ground freezes, and it's possible the region could begin to dry off by then. Temperatures for the three-month outlook are expected to be above average, though precipitation also could be above average, according to the weather service's Climate Prediction Center. Most of North Dakota and all of Minnesota should avoid drought through November.
"There is still a bit of fall to go through," she said.
Surprise from the lake
The Old Farmer's Almanac, which recently released its 225th issue, predicted a colder winter than normal for the Grand Forks area and North Dakota in general, but below-normal snowfall for eastern North Dakota, while the west should receive more snow.
Ritterling warned people not to put too much stock into the publication. Though it boasts an accuracy of 80 percent, its winter prediction last year was about 55.6 percent accurate.
"There are actually people who have looked into verifying The Old Farmer's Almanac against what really happened, and the results aren't very good," she said.
Devils Lake should be safe, Frith said, adding agricultural land and surrounding communities could see flooding. It would take a monumental event to surpass the record elevation, which is about 4 feet away.
"This lake has surprised and has made a lot of fools of prognosticators over the past," he said. "I wouldn't rule anything out."
With a few months to go, he said a few weeks of no rain couldn't hurt Devils Lake and surrounding cities.
"Certainly, Mother Nature can stop at any time," he said.
Flood predictions from the weather service are expected in January. When asked if people should be worried, Ritterling had some friendly advice.
"The fall is usually pretty nice," she said. "Go out and enjoy our last few months of being able to do stuff outside."

Will Devils Lake and the Red River Valley flood?


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An Islamic State flag is seen in this picture illustration taken February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
IS spokesman and head of external operations Abu Muhammad al-Adnani is pictured in this undated handout photo, courtesy the U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State/ REUTERS
BEIRUT/WASHINGTON The Islamic State group announced on Tuesday that one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, responsible for attacks overseas, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, had been killed in Aleppo province in Syria.
Adnani had been one of the last living senior members, along with self-appointed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, that founded the group and stunned the Middle East by seizing huge tracts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
As Islamic State's spokesman, he was its most visible member. As head of external operations, he was in charge of attacks overseas, including Europe, that have become an increasingly important tactic for the group as its core Iraqi and Syrian territory has been eroded by military losses.
Advances by Iraq's army and allied militia toward Islamic State's most important possession of Mosul have put the group under new pressure at a moment when a U.S.-backed coalition has cut its Syrian holdings off from the Turkish border.
Those military setbacks have been accompanied by airstrikes that have killed several of the group's leaders, undermining its organizational ability and dampening its morale.
A U.S. counter-terrorism official who monitors Islamic State said that Adnani's death will hurt the militants "in the area that increasingly concerns us as the group loses more and more of its caliphate and its financial base ... and turns to mounting and inspiring more attacks in Europe, Southeast Asia and elsewhere".
Under Adnani's auspices, Islamic State has launched large-scale attacks, bombings and shootings, on civilians in several countries outside its core area, including France, Belgium and Turkey.
The official said Adnani's role as propaganda chief and director of external operations have become "indistinguishable" because the group uses its online messages to recruit fighters and provide instruction and inspiration for attacks.
Islamic State's Amaq News Agency reported that Adnani was killed "while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo". Islamic State holds territory in the province of Aleppo, but not in the city where rebels are fighting Syrian government forces.
Amaq did not say how Adnani, born Taha Subhi Falaha in Syria's Idlib Province in 1977, was killed. Islamic State published a eulogy dated Aug. 29 but giving no further details.
INROADS INTO ISLAMIC STATE
Recent advances by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, and by Syrian rebels backed by Turkey, have made inroads into Islamic State holdings in Aleppo province, cutting them off from the Turkish border and supply lines along it.
Iraqi army advances against the jihadist group meant that Baghdad was on track to retake Mosul from it by the end of this year, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command General Joseph Votel said earlier on Tuesday.
Among senior Islamic State officials to have been killed in airstirkes this year are both Abu Ali al-Anbari, Baghdadi's formal deputy, and the group's "minister of war", Abu Omar al-Shishani. Adnani had joined the group under its founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
There are conflicting reports as to where and how he died.
A senior Syrian rebel official said Adnani was most probably killed in the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab in an air strike. Citing unconfirmed reports, he said Adnani was in the Aleppo region to raise morale as the group comes under mounting pressure.
Hisham al-Hashimi, a security analyst who advises the Iraqi government on Islamic State, said Adnani was injured in a coalition strike on Aug. 17 near al-Rai, north of Aleppo, where Islamic State is fighting Turkish and U.S.-backed Syrian rebels.
Hashimi said he died from his wounds on Monday.
Islamic State's territory around Aleppo is of particular significance to the group because it is also the location of Dabiq, where an Islamic prophecy holds the last battle between Muslims and infidels will rage, heralding the end of time.
FACE OF GROUP
Iraq said in January that Adnani had been wounded in an air strike in the western province of Anbar and then moved to the northern city of Mosul, Islamic State’s capital in Iraq.
Adnani is a Syrian from Binish in Idlib, southwest of Aleppo, who pledged allegiance to Islamic State's predecessor al Qaeda more than a decade ago and was once imprisoned by U.S. forces in Iraq, according to the Brookings Institution.
He was from a well-to-do background but left Syria to travel to Iraq in order to fight the U.S. forces there after its 2003 invasion, and only returned to his homeland after the start of its own civil war in 2011, a person who knew his family said.
He has been the chief propagandist for the ultra-hardline jihadist group since he declared in a June 2014 statement that it was establishing a modern-day caliphate spanning swaths of territory it had seized in Iraq and neighboring Syria.
Adnani has often been the face of the Sunni militant group, such as when he issued a message in May urging attacks on the United States and Europe during the holy month of Ramadan.
Adnani is likely to be succeeded in his military role by the financial comptroller of the group, Iyad al-Obaidi, also known as Saleh Haifa, a security officer and Saddam, Hashimi said.
The United States designated him a "global terrorist" this year and says he was one of the first foreign fighters to oppose U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq since 2003 before becoming spokesman of the militant group.
There is a $5 million reward on his head under the U.S. "Rewards for Justice" program.
(Reporting by Angus McDowall in Beirut, Stephen Kalin in Erbil, Iraq, Maher Chmaytelli in Baghdad, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman and Yara Bayoumy, Warren Strobel and John Walcott in Washington; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Islamic State leader in charge of foreign attacks killed in Syria


The Islamic State group announced on Tuesday that one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, responsible for attacks overseas, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, had been killed in Aleppo province in Syria.


Feds to distribute $53 million to states to fight opioids
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it will distribute $53 million to 44 states in an effort to curb opioid abuse.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell says the funding will focus on reducing over-prescribing of pain killers, increasing access to treatment and making sure the antidote naloxone is widely available.
The administration is also calling on Congress to provide $1.1 billion in new money, saying legislation recently signed into law didn't do enough to expand treatment. That bill authorized $181 million in new spending.


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it will distribute $53 million to 44 states in an effort to curb opioid abuse. Health and Human Services Secr...


Feds to distribute $53 million to states to fight opioids


LEXINGTON, Miss. (AP) — A man suspected in the slayings of two Mississippi nuns who were found dead inside a residence within the community they served has been arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder, Mississippi authorities said.
Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, of Kosciusko, Mississippi, was charged in the deaths of Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, both 68, Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said in a statement released late Friday night.
The bodies of both women were discovered Thursday after they failed to show up for work at a clinic in Lexington, Mississippi, about 10 miles from where they lived.
“Sanders was developed as a person of interest early on in the investigation,” Lt. Colonel Jimmy Jordan said in the statement.
Authorities said Sanders was being held in an undisclosed detention center pending a court appearance.
Meanwhile, in the poverty-stricken Mississippi county where the two nuns were slain, forgiveness for their killer is hard to find, even if forgiveness is what the victims would have wanted.
Held and Merrill were nurse practitioners who dedicated their lives to providing health care to people in the poorest county in the state. And as authorities sought the killer, many residents wondered how they will fill the hole the women’s deaths have left.
“Right now, I don’t see no forgiveness on my heart,” said Joe Morgan Jr., a 58-year-old former factory worker who has diabetes and was a patient of Merrill’s at the clinic where the two nuns worked.
He said Merrill would want him to forgive whoever killed the women, but he hopes the perpetrator is arrested, convicted and executed.
“She doesn’t deserve to die like this, doing God’s work,” Morgan said, shaking his head. “There’s something wrong with the world.”
Both women worked at the clinic, where they gave flu shots, dispensed insulin and provided other medical care for children and adults who couldn’t afford it.
Their stolen car was found abandoned a mile from their home, and there were signs of a break-in, but police haven’t disclosed a motive.
Authorities have not said how the women were killed, but the Rev. Greg Plata of St. Thomas Catholic Church in Lexington, where the nuns had led Bible study for years, said police told him they were stabbed.
The state posted a reward of $20,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Plata said both nuns’ religious communities have asked that people pray for the killer or killers. Asked about people’s struggles to forgive, the priest said: “Forgiveness is at the heart of being a Christian. Look at Jesus on the cross: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.'”
On Friday, a handwritten sign on the front door of Lexington Medical Clinic said it was closed until Monday.
The clinic and the nuns’ home in Durant are in Holmes County, population 18,000. With 44 percent of its residents living in poverty, Holmes is the seventh-poorest county in America, according to the Census Bureau.
The slayings did more than shock people and plunge the county into mourning. They leave a gaping hole in what was already a strapped health care system.
Dr. Elias Abboud, who worked with the sisters for years and helped build the clinic, said it provided about 25 percent of all medical care in the county.
The two nuns cultivated relationships with drug company representatives, who often left extra free samples, according to clinic manager Lisa Dew.
“This is a poor area, and they dignified those who are poor with outreach and respect for them,” Plata said. “They treated each person as a child of God.”
Merrill’s sister Rosemarie, speaking by telephone from her Stoneham, Massachusetts, home, said her sister had been in Mississippi helping the poor since 1981 and had previously worked in Holly Springs, where she used to ride around on a moped and was instrumental in locating the source of a tuberculosis outbreak.
Merrill was raised in the suburbs of Boston and came from a working-class family, her father a laborer and her mother a bookkeeper, her nephew David said. He said his aunt had worked with Held for many years.
“We always considered Margaret just part of the family,” he said. “The word ‘sister’ has many meanings, and they fulfilled all of them.”
Rosemarie Merrill said she doesn’t know what will happen to the clinic now and worries about the effect on health care in Holmes County. She said her sister and Held would often go into the clinic on Sundays after Mass or on their days off.
“It’s just going to be a disaster,” she said.
Genette Pierce, who works at a home health and hospice business a few doors down from the clinic, said: “Their patients — all of them — they’re going to be lost without them right now.”
___
Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in New Orleans contributed to this report.

Man faces 2 capital murder charges in Mississippi nun deaths


By Sandy Cohen, AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES — Revered as a comedic and storytelling genius by Hollywood’s top entertainers, Gene Wilder was a humble man who downplayed his comic gifts, was a serious director and remained deferential to his longtime collaborator, Mel Brooks.
“I am him in fantasy,” Wilder once said of playing the lead in Brooks’ films.
After Wilder’s death was announced Monday, Brooks called his colleague “one of the truly great talents of our time.”
“He blessed every film we did together with his special magic and he blessed my life with his friendship,” Brooks said in a statement. “He will be so missed.”
Related Articles August 29, 2016 Gene Wilder, star of “Willy Wonka” and Mel Brooks comedies, dies at 83, family says Wilder died Sunday night of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at age 83. His nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, said Wilder was diagnosed with the disease three years ago, but kept the condition private so as not to disappoint fans.
Though Wilder started his acting career on the stage, millions knew him from his work in the movies, especially the ones he made with Brooks, such as “The Producers,” ”Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” The last film — with Wilder playing a California-born descendant of the mad scientist, insisting that his name is pronounced “Frahn-ken-SHTEEN” — was co-written by Brooks and Wilder and earned the pair an Oscar nod for adapted screenplay.
With his unkempt hair and big, buggy eyes, Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in “Young Frankenstein” or bilking Broadway in “The Producers.” Brooks would call him “God’s perfect prey, the victim in all of us.”
But he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozing gunslinger in “Blazing Saddles” or the charming candy man in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” His craziest role: the therapist having an affair with a sheep in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex.”
Wilder was close friends with Richard Pryor and their contrasting personas — Wilder uptight, Pryor loose — were ideal for comedy. They co-starred in four films: “Silver Streak,” ”Stir Crazy,” ”See No Evil, Hear No Evil” and “Another You.”
But Wilder insisted he was not a comedian. He told Robert Osborne in 2013 it was the biggest misconception about him.
“What a comic, what a funny guy, all that stuff! And I’m not. I’m really not. Except in a comedy in films,” Wilder said. “But I make my wife laugh once or twice in the house, but nothing special. But when people see me in a movie and it’s funny then they stop and say things to me about ‘how funny you were.’ But I don’t think I’m that funny. I think I can be in the movies.”
He could be quite serious, said actress Carol Kane, his co-star in 1977’s “The World’s Greatest Lover.”
“I don’t think Gene was depressed, but he was very serious and very sensitive and not afraid to expose what many people would call a feminine side, an emotional side,” she said Monday.
A Milwaukee native, Wilder was born Jerome Silberman on June 11, 1933. When he was 6, his mother suffered a heart attack that left her a semi-invalid. He soon began improvising comedy skits to entertain her, the first indication of his future career.
He started taking acting classes at age 12 and continued studying through college. In 1961, Wilder became a member of Lee Strasberg’s prestigious Actor’s Studio in Manhattan.
That same year, he adopted the stage name Gene Wilder and made both his off-Broadway and Broadway debuts. He won the Clarence Derwent Award, given to promising newcomers, for the Broadway work in Graham Greene’s comedy “The Complaisant Lover.” A key break came when he co-starred with Anne Bancroft in Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage” in 1963.
A few years later, Brooks cast Wilder in “The Producers,” for which Wilder was nominated for a supporting actor Academy Award. Brooks also encouraged Wilder to become a director himself.
“He gave me the chutzpah to stand up on a chair and shout out: ‘I don’t know what the answer is! Somebody help me,'” Wilder told The Associated Press in a 1977 interview. “And when you can do that, people usually love you for it and rush in to help.”
He went on to write several screenplays and direct five films. He married “Saturday Night Live” headliner Gilda Radner in 1984 and they costarred in two of his films: “The Woman in Red” and “Haunted Honeymoon.”
“He was compassionate and inspirational and poetic as a director,” Kane recalled. “And clearly one of the great clowns — the Chaplin of talkies in some way, I would say.”
Wilder’s desire to tell his stories well led him to pay special attention to directing himself.
“The tendency for most directors who direct themselves is to spend too little time on themselves, oddly enough. When you can finally say, ‘Me, me,’ you want to say, ‘Oh, that’s enough of me,’ because it’s more fun to direct the other actors than it is to direct yourself,” he said in the 1977 AP interview. “When I look at the film with an audience, and I look up at the screen, I say, ‘This is what I intended.'”
___
AP film writers Lindsey Bahr in Los Angeles and Jake Coyle in New York and former AP reporter Larry McShane contributed to this story.

Comic performer Gene Wilder kept his serious side off camera


Celebration of compositions, colours, designs and formations to stun! No form of human activity appears to have been formed to arrest, entertain and motivate better than calisthenics. That is what the skyline of Osun, South-West Nigeria promises to be resplendent with as the State of Virtuous marks its 25th anniversary on Saturday 27th, August 2016.
Calisthenics is a body of exercises consisting of a variety of gross motor movements; often rhythmical and generally without equipment or apparatus. They are, essentially, body-weight training tactics.
Wikipedia explains that the word calisthenics has its roots in Greek words kálos, which means “beauty”, and sthénos, meaning “strength.”
Thus, calisthenics is the art of using one’s body weight and qualities of a body’s motion as a means to develop one’s physique as well as an art of aesthetic display.
There are numerous types of this body building exercise which include: lunges, jumping Jacks (star jumps or stride jumps), squat -jumps, sit -ups, crunches, pushups, pull-ups, dips, leg raises, hyperextensions, planks and so on.
Sports teams and military units often perform leader-directed group calisthenics as a form of synchronized physical training (often including a customized call and response routine to increase group cohesion and discipline.
Calisthenics is also popular as a component of physical education in primary and secondary schools across the world.
Either at its most elementary or at the advanced level, calisthenics’ primary motif always resonates whenever it is performed.
To say that it brings out beauty is to say the obvious. Wherever there is calisthenics display, the atmosphere turns into beautiful scenery with competing colours and designs..
It is this component of calisthenics that has been given meaning in Osun under the Government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as part of the total package of educational training for young minds.
This kind of extra-curricular development was last exhibited in the Second Republic in the old Oyo State under late Chief Bola Ige as the Governor.
The State of Osun is the first in the country to revive this sterling and rewarding initiative in about more than three decades.
The scheme seeks to instill the spirit of collaborative efforts and discipline in school children. This is by combining extra-curricular activities with academic pursuit, thus building their minds and bodies and preparing them for the future.
Besides, calisthenics trainings are also intended to increase body strength, body fitness, and flexibility of the pupils through movements such as pulling or pushing oneself up, bending, jumping, or swinging, using only one’s body weight for resistance; usually conducted in concert with stretches.
Again, proper calisthenics training will promote the growth of lean muscle mass, and increase the strength, mobility, flexibility, agility, and endurance.
Proper strength training via weight lifting routine will promote the growth of muscle mass and strength.
When performed vigorously and with variety, calisthenics can provide the benefits of muscular and aerobic conditioning, in addition to improving psycho-motor skills such as balance, agility and coordination.
It also teaches the pupils the spirit of cooperation, discipline, organization, concentration and togetherness as they perform as a group thereby working in their minds as one.
In addition to general fitness, calisthenics exercises are often used as baseline physical evaluations to test physical fitness. In other words, pupils who undergo calisthenics training will have sound minds in healthy bodies. Participants become good samples in precision, unity of purpose, social networking and above all, discipline.
This programme was conceived to enhance the emergence of a new generation of students who are physically fit, mentally sound and socially responsible and well-adjusted to the need of the society.
The programme has been so entrenched in the body system of the pupils that it has become a routine exercise and they have, on few occasions, displayed the stuffs they are made of.
On the two previous occasions the state had put up the show, the pupils had dished out breathtaking calisthenics performances at the Osogbo City Stadium.
As Governor Aregbesola would say, “Education has three aspects: the affective, cognitive a psycho-motor. It is this last aspect – the psycho-motor – that had been neglected before our government. Education is meant to be total. As we develop their cognitive and effective senses, so also we must develop their body fitness in order to have a sound mind in a healthy body.”
In the fullness of time, the child being raised in Osun today must turn out to be a model of good character, innovation and competence; the true Omoluabi to the state’s tomorrow.
On a third outing in the state, the 25th anniversary of the creation of the State of Osun awaits another spectacle of performance as colour, arrangement, cooperation, concentration, focus are all to be on display in what promises to be another historic performance in Osun.
*Owolabi, a Media Assistant writes from Osogbo, State of Osun

Osun at 25 promises spectacular calisthenics display


LEEDS UNITED’s failure to defend properly at corners again proved the club’s undoing in Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Championship hosts Nottingham Forest.
Forest took a 16th-minute lead after Leeds yet again failed to clear their lines, allowing Pajtim Kasami to fire the ball home into the top left corner.
United improved offensively after the break with Hadi Sacko blazing a fine chance over but United’s Achilles heel again proved their undoing when Damien Perquis flew through the air from another corner to head home and double Forest’s lead with 19 minutes left.
Kalvin Phillips then smashed home a sensational free-kick to give Leeds hope with seven minutes remaining but Forest finally killed the game off in the fifth minute of injury time through a clever finish from Oliver Burke from an acute angle.
Leeds began brightly with Pablo Hernandez threatening down the left wing and firing the game’s first shot wide after six minutes.
But Forest went close to taking the lead seven minutes later when a fine raking pass from Pajtim Kasami led to a corner from which Oliver Burke’s glancing header produced a decent low save from Rob Green.
United hit straight back with a corner of their own which wizzed across goal but it was a similar story at the other end two minutes as Forest took a 16th-minute lead.
Henri Lansbury’s left flank deliver was flicked on by danger man Oliver Burke and United yet again failed to clear their lines, allowing Kasami to stick out a leg and produce a deadly finish into the top left corner.
Leeds attempted to rally and Hadi Sacko’s right wing delivery forced ‘keeper Stephen Henderson into a juggling act before eventually collecting.
But Forest continued to offer by far the greater attacking threat with left winger Ben Osborn comfortably on top of his battle with Luke Ayling.
The best Leeds could offer was a 33rd-minute pea roller from Liam Bridcutt that sailed well wide.
Ronaldo Vieira was then booked for taking down Henri Lansbury on the edge of the area but Kasami’s free-kick was straight at Green.
Taylor was then in the right place at the right time to block a dangerous Kasami effort soon after.
At the other end, Forest continued to look equally shaky at defending corners but Hernandez’s 40th-minute delivery ended with Charlie Taylor smashing an ambitious volley well wide from 20 yards.
As the half time interval approached,
Hernandez then produced a fine pass to pick out Hadi Sacko in the area but the wide man was unable to capitalise and the ball was cleared.
But United then went their closest yet to scoring in first half stoppage time when Marcus Antonsson’s low effort was desperately scrambled away by Stephen Henderson.
Whites head coach Garry Monk made no changes during the break, and the restart began with another decent pass from Hernandez setting up a half chance for Chris Wood who blazed over from 20 yards.
Seven minutes later, good play from Lansbury presented a headed opportunity for Kasami but his effort lacked power and allowed Green to save.
But United then began to offer more of a threat and just shy of the hour mark, a Taylor cross caused problems before Sacko’s foul ended a threatening move.
Forest, though, went very close to doubling their lead just after the hour when United failed to clear a long throw and Osborn scrambled the ball narrowly wide.
Vieria was then very lucky to avoid a second yellow card for a rash challenge and Liam Bridcutt was booked for a similar offence soon after.
But United then squandered a fine chance after 67 minutes when Sacko showed great pace to break inside but then smashed a powerful effort over the bar.
Taylor then fizzed wide from a tight angle as Leeds continued to press but United’s main Achilles heel again proved their undoing when they conceded from yet another corner with 19 minutes remaining.
Lansbury was responsible for the right-sided delivery from which terrible marking allowed Perquis to fly through the air and head home from just four yards out.
The goal seemed to signal game over but after Antonsson had headed a half chance wide, United pulled a goal back in stunning fashion through substitute Phillips with seven minutes left.
There appeared little danger as United won a free-kick at least 25 yards out and wide on the left hand side but Phillips blasted the ball home with stunning power to the right hand side of Henderson’s net.
Forest began to panic and Liam Cooper almost leveled when heading wide from an 85th-minute corner as United aimed to salvage a draw.
A lovely move instigated by another substitute, Kemar Roofe, then led to Antonsson forcing a fine save from Henderson in the first minute of injury time.
As part of a frantic finish, Matty Cash then squandered a brilliant chance to bag Forest’s third when blazing over the bar from a counter attack and the miss almost proved costly as a 20-yard volley from Phillips dipped narrowly over.
But Forest ultimately killed the contest off in the fifth minute of injury time when Burke raced into the United area down the byline and cleverly squirmed home a clever finish across goal from a tight angle.
There was still time for United to squander another great chance when Roofe smashed the ball over from close range but the damage was done, as a third league loss from five games left United fourth bottom of the Championship going into the international break.
Leeds United: Green, Ayling, Cooper, Bartley, Taylor, Bridcutt, Vieira (Phillips 66), Hernandez (Mowatt 81), Sacko (Roofe 71), Antonsson, Wood. Subs not used: Silvestri, Coyle, Jansson, Doukara.
Nottingham Forest: Henderson, Pereira, Mancienne, Perquis (Mills 77), Lichaj, Cohen, Burke, Lansbury, Kasami, Osborn, Vellios (Cash 83). Subs not used: Smith, Traore, Veldwijk, Ward, Vaughan.
Referee: G Eltringham.
Attendance: 20,995 (1,925 Leeds).
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Nottingham Forest 3 Leeds United 1: Leeds crash to defeat at City Ground


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