La. farms await a new generation

LAFAYETTE, La. -- About 70 percent of U.S. farmland will change hands within the next two decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts.

America's farmers are aging, and with about 52 percent of the country's land made up of small farms and ranches, it will be up to new generations of farmers to keep the industry growing.

In Acadiana, it has become harder and harder to find young people interested in farming, said Ricky Gonsoulin, Iberia Parish president for the Louisiana Farm Bureau.

"Who could blame them?" he added.

"I am very concerned about the amount of the young people that are getting into agriculture, specifically the row-crop business," Gonsoulin, 47, said. "Way back when you had several young people getting out of college or trade school and getting into this business to make a living. Now the price and production costs are rising, the commodity prices are falling. It's a challenge. Your back's against the wall."

Gonsoulin's family has been farming sugar cane for generations, which has put them at an advantage, he said. New farmers just breaking into the business must rely on hefty bank loans to get started.

Longtime rice farmer and Evangeline Parish Farm Bureau president Richard Fontenot, 44, said the cost to start a 1,000-acre row-crop farm, which is a relatively small business, could range from $500,000 to $1 million.

"A new tractor alone costs about $200,000. Pre-owned equipment can cost in the $150,000 range," Fontenot said.

And that, Gonsoulin said, doesn't include land.

"If you don't have a parent or an in-law that is currently farming where you can inherit the farm or agree to terms to buy the farm out, it's almost impossible to get a loan to go into business as a new farmer," Gonsoulin said.

C.R. "Rusty" Cloutier, president and CEO of MidSouth Bank, said his company offers loans for agriculture, but seldom gets new farmers.

That doesn't mean it can't be done.

In 2003, New Iberia brothers Hugh, 38, Mike and Chris Andre, both 29, set out to begin their sugar cane farming business.

Their family had no background in agriculture, Mike Andre said.

"Our dad worked in the oilfield and our mom is a schoolteacher," Mike Andre said. "The only farming background that we have is Hugh started farming with his best friend's daddy when he was real young. When he was 10 years old, he used to go around the farm on a tractor."

Their company, HMC Farm LLC, now farms on roughly 5,000 acres in Vermilion, St. Martin and Iberia parishes.

Like Gonsoulin, Mike Andre said new farmers face more challenges than they did even a decade ago.

For cane farmers, the introduction of Mexican sugar into the American market has driven prices down for U.S. sugar, Andre said. Another major obstacle is unpredictable weather, he said.

"Our biggest thing that we are relying on is Mother Nature. If we don't get the optimum weather then we don't grow a crop. The last three years have been excellent," he said. "But prices have been going down. You can grow the best crop in the world. But if you don't get paid for product it doesn't matter."

Rising fuel and equipment costs also affect production, he said.

The Agriculture Department estimates that nationwide, the number of family farms has grown 4 percent after decades of decline. But most of these farms are small operations.

According to the department's Ag Census, there has been a small increase in large family farms and non-family farms, but fewer mid-level farms. Organizations such as Agriculture of the Middle, which is led by a committee of four state university representatives and the Rural Advancement Foundation, are trying to revive the middle sector of agriculture and supply chains.

Last fall there were 339 students enrolled in Louisiana State University's College of Agriculture. The enrollment rate is significantly less than other colleges at the university. LSU's College of Engineering, for example, had 645 students enrolled in the fall 2013 semester.

Ralynn O'Brien, 19, a LSU freshman and daughter of an Iowa, La., rice farmer, said she thinks young farmers will continue to emerge. As the state president for Future Farmers of America, she said she has been able to travel around the country and meet with teens who are considering a career in agriculture.

"It's actually surprising because it's definitely not an easy job," she said. She said she recently spoke with a new FFA member who said he plans to take on the family business.

"His dad grows sugar cane and he said that something that really spoke to him is the FFA creed. One line of it says 'For I know the joys and discomforts of agriculture life.' He said that it really stood out to him," O'Brien said. "He's seen his family go through the good times and the bad times.

"Even though he's seen all that, it is something that he wants to do because he couldn't imagine his life growing up without it."

State FFA reporter Emily Hartzog, 19, is studying agriculture education at Louisiana Tech University. She said her father was a teacher and her grandfather grew watermelon in Angie, a village in Washington Parish.

There are only a handful of students at Tech who share her major, she said, but there is a statewide need for agriculture educators.

"Agriculture is the foundation of our nation. One thing that a lot of people don't understand is where their food comes from and where their clothes comes from," she said. "It all starts with the farmer. Where would be without American farmers?"

Now with a 10-year-old business that spans three parishes, Mike Andre and his twin brother, Chris, have a lot to celebrate. But it has not been an easy journey, he said.

"It was a tough start, especially the first five years," he said. "But we are still in the game.

"Make sure it's what you want to do because farming is not a simple life," he advised. "It has its perks. But it's not simple. You are worried about weather. You are worried about prices. You are worried about your labor. There's always worry going on, which is true for any job."

"But it's a little bit different when you've got to rely on Mother Nature."

Asian stocks tumble as Ukraine tensions intensify

BEIJING -- Asian stocks tumbled Monday as tensions over Russia's military advance into Ukraine and the impact of possible sanctions by Western governments intensified.

Oil surged to near $104 per barrel on concern Russian supplies might be disrupted.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index dived 1.7 percent to 14,585.13 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.6 percent to 22,691.54. Taipei, Seoul, Sydney and Singapore also fell.

On Wall Street, futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 indexes were off by an unusually large 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Traders were jittery over warnings by Washington and other governments that Moscow, an oil exporter, might face sanctions after it seized control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

"Economic war with Russia, if this escalates, would take a toll on the global economy," said Carl B. Weinberg of High Frequency Economics in a report.

China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the trend, adding 0.8 percent to 2,071.62 despite a survey showing manufacturing weakened in February and employers cut jobs.

Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.9 percent to 8,563.26 and Seoul's Kospi shed 0.9 percent to 1,962.03. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4 percent to 5,380.3. Manila and Jakarta also fell.

Most Asian economies depend on imported oil and gas, making them sensitive to any turmoil that might disrupt supplies.

Monday's losses were a reverse from last week's gains in many global markets.

In Europe, Germany's DAX gained 1.1 percent on Friday and France's CAC 40 rose 0.3 percent. The S&P added 0.3 percent for a record high. The Dow Jones average added 0.3 percent.

Benchmark U.S. crude for April delivery was up $1.21 to $103.80 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 19 cents in the previous session to close at $102.59.

In currency markets, the euro rose to $1.3777 from $1.3767 late Tuesday. The dollar rose to 101.41 yen from 101.40 yen.

Arby's gets Pharrell's hat for $44K in eBay bid

NEW YORK -- Arby's has won the bid for Pharrell's famous hat.

The fast food restaurant announced Sunday it paid $44,100 for the Vivienne Westwood hat, made famous when Pharrell wore it at the Grammy Awards in January.

The Arby's logo uses a design similar to the brown fedora, which became a trending topic on Twitter after Pharrell sported it.

The producer-rapper-singer put the hat on eBay two weeks ago. The earnings will support his charity From One Hand to Another.

Pharrell tweeted thanks to the buyer Sunday, to which Arby's replied: "You're welcome. We're HAPPY to support a great cause & get our hat back."

Pharrell wore a similar hat when he performed at the Academy Awards on Sunday. His No. 1 hit "Happy" was nominated for best original song.

Nebraskans see heating bills rise in winter cold

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Most Nebraskans are seeing higher heating bills because this winter's bitter cold weather sent natural gas prices up after more was being consumed.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports (http://bit.ly/1hCPNlw ) natural gas prices are up because of the strong demand.

James Martin of Lincoln says his latest bill of $142 is nearly double the $82 bill he paid at the same time last year.

David Turner says the higher heating cost hurts his budget because his pay hasn't gone up to cover it.

Black Hills Energy's Jeff Sylvester says the price increase for natural gas should ease once warmer weather arrives.

The utility that serves about 200,000 customers in eastern Nebraska says this winter has been about 10 percent colder than normal and 23 percent colder than last year.

DeGeneres' selfie crashes Twitter

LOS ANGELES -- Ellen DeGeneres' goal of setting a retweet record with her star-studded selfie was achieved before the Oscars telecast was even over.

During a comic bit, the Oscars host prevailed upon actor Bradley Cooper to take a picture with her and several other stars crowding around, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Long before midnight Sunday, the photo had been retweeted more than 2 million times, breaking a record set by President Barack Obama with the picture of him hugging First Lady Michelle Obama after his re-election in 2012.

Twitter also sent out an apology because all of the retweeting disrupted service for more than 20 minutes after 10 p.m. ET.

Health database requirement cut from bill

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Lobbying behind closed doors, Washington's largest health insurance company persuaded Republicans in the state Senate to gut a widely supported bill that aimed to reveal health care price and quality information to consumers.

The battle pits Premera Blue Cross against a broad coalition representing just about everyone who buys, uses, provides or shapes health care: small and large businesses, consumer advocates, tribes, hospitals, doctors, nurses, the governor, the insurance commissioner, the agency that governs insurance for state employees and the poor, and even Premera's competitors.

That coalition seeks more than sunlight on the industry's finances; it also backs a comprehensive new statewide plan to change the way the industry operates.

The battle focuses on House Bill 2572, which passed the state House of Representatives and came up for a hearing Thursday in the Senate Health Care Committee. After some fiery testimony, committee Chairwoman Randi Becker, R-Eatonville, stripped the bill's most controversial section and passed it on to the Ways and Means Committee for further action. She did so without explanation. A lobbyist for Premera stepped to the microphone and thanked her, but said little about the reasons for his gratitude.

The controversy involves the original bill's provision to create an "all payer claims database." Loaded with statewide health insurance claims, the database would allow people to compare what health care actually costs and how well it turns out - procedure by procedure, hospital by hospital. It would answer questions like these: What would a knee replacement or childbirth cost, and who does it best?

So far, 14 states have created such databases, and the systems are operational in at least 10.

Rep. Eileen Cody, D-West Seattle and the bill's sponsor, said, "My goal is to make sure people can see who are the lowest-cost and highest-quality providers."

Medical costs for common procedures vary in Washington - by as much as 500 percent from one provider to another. So says the Washington Health Alliance, which has operated a claims database containing information only from insurers who submitted information voluntarily. HB 2572 would have made it mandatory for insurers to submit their data.

Big businesses such as Boeing and Alaska Airlines support creation of the database because they hope it would help them identify a path to cost-effective care for their employees. Boeing, for example, rattled Seattle-area hospitals when its health plan began offering to fly cardiac patients to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which has been praised for the cost and quality of its care.

Small businesses support a claims database, as well.

At Thursday's hearing, the fiercest comments came from Patrick Connor of the National Federation of Independent Business. NFIB fought the Affordable Care Act, Connor noted, and often aligns with Republicans. But on this issue, he told Becker, "It is very, very frustrating . each time we come forward asking for more transparency, more access to information, the concerns of the health insurance carriers about not wanting to participate seem to trump those of the consumers who desperately need more good information to help control health care costs."

His organization checked with insurance carriers in states that operate claims databases, and the carriers "have no complaints," Connor said.

Referring to objections Premera has raised in its closed-door lobbying with legislators, Connor said: "Not one of these Chicken Little complaints about price setting, price fixing, about . privacy, have come to pass."

Contacted by The Spokesman-Review, Premera spokesman Eric Earling explained the company's point of view: "We support transparency. We'd like to see more of it." But, he said, price information is not "actionable" for a particular consumer unless it is presented together with information about the consumer's own coverage details such as deductibles and co-pays.

In addition, it would be "complicated, potentially expensive and time consuming" to create a claims database and comply with its data submission requirements, he said. Meanwhile, he said, his company is busy trying to comply with existing requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act.

Finally, Earling said, the rates Premera has agreed to pay to its networks of health care providers are "proprietary." If providers such as hospitals could see the full range of reimbursement rates, Earling said, they might use the information to demand higher payments, ultimately driving health care costs up instead of down. So, he said, Premera is working to show the cost of care only to its own customers.

That argument provoked a response from state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, who has worked for several years to create a state health claims database: "They're capturing a customer first before they tell them what the costs are. If you can't get information, then something is very wrong with the market."

Dorothy Teeter, director of the state Health Care Authority, oversees health insurance for state employees and those on Medicaid. According to Teeter, "we don't have a competitive marketplace in health care." When consumers shop for an automobile, they can obtain information about quality and price. But when consumers shop for a knee replacement, "you don't actually know the price of something or the quality of the outcome."

"When you blind people to the actual prices, what you are doing is the opposite of a healthy marketplace," Teeter said. "Then you are hampering a shift of the market . to a sweet spot of price and quality."

With Teeter at the helm, the state has already won a $3.4 million federal grant to begin creating a claims database. Without the provisions Becker stripped from HB 2572, the database could proceed but it would only contain information from insurance carriers that choose to participate. That, Teeter said, would provide an incomplete and potentially inaccurate picture of the health care market.

The battle over the database, however, is only one item in a much larger reform agenda aimed directly at health care's high cost.

The agenda is described in a 278-page state Health Care Innovation Plan that emerged in December and was funded by a $1 million federal grant. Nineteen states created plans like this one, and now these states, including Washington, are seeking federal implementation grants that could be as large as $50 million per state.

Backers of the plan represent a who's-who of Washington state: insurers such as Group Health and Molina, hospital systems such as Providence and University of Washington Medicine, big employers such as Boeing, and reformers such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The plan projects $730 million in savings over three to five years. It aims to replace fee-for-service medicine with an "accountable" payment system. Fee-for-service is said by critics to make care more expensive; the more tests and procedures a provider conducts, the more money the provider makes. An "accountable" payment system would create comprehensive networks of care providers and pay by the number of patients covered, with financial rewards for providers who provide lower costs with better health outcomes.

Teeter's agency, according to the plan, will lead the way. Counting Medicaid clients and state employees, her agency oversees health coverage for 1.7 million people, a fourth of Washington's population. Today, 90 percent of the health care providers for those residents are paid on a fee-for-service basis. By 2019, the plan calls for 80 percent of state-financed health care and 50 percent of the commercial market to switch from fee-for-service to outcomes-based payment.

A claims database, Teeter contends, would shine a light on the current system's inefficient pricing and create market pressure for change.

Maine gov seeks to get rid of wind energy goals

AUGUSTA, Maine -- More than five years ago, Maine set ambitious goals to spur wind power development aimed at helping wean the state off fossil fuels. But now Republican Gov. Paul LePage says the targets don't really help the state and are so far out of reach as to be meaningless, so why have them?

A bill recently introduced by the governor would do away with the megawatt targets and replace them with goals to expand economic opportunities and lower electricity prices. Wind proponents call it an attack on renewable energy but LePage's administration says it will spark a conversation about how the state can bolster its energy policy to benefit Mainers.

"If we are going to have wind development, how can we maximize the benefits to Maine people who are struggling with very high energy costs and ... promote economic development at the same time?" said Patrick Woodcock, director of the governor's Energy Office.

Woodcock has floated the idea of removing the wind energy generation goals in the past, but this is the first time a bill has been introduced. A public hearing on the measure will be held Wednesday.

Under the 2008 law signed by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, Maine has sought to produce at least 2,000 megawatts of electricity through wind projects by 2015 and 3,000 megawatts by 2020, or enough to power about 900,000 homes.

The goals have long been viewed as lofty, but proponents say they're essential in attracting investment.

While Maine leads New England in wind power generation, the state currently produces only about 450 megawatts of it, or enough to supply about 175,000 households. To meet its 3,000 megawatt goal, about 600 more wind turbines — roughly three times as many in Maine now — would need to be built, according to a recent report from the conservation advocacy group Maine Audubon.

Democratic Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland, who often clashes with the governor on renewable energy issues, said the proposal seems to be part of LePage's continued attack on wind power, pointing to the administration's maneuvering to halt Statoil's offshore wind project last year.

"(The bill) takes away years of work around setting these goals and inserts one man's interpretation of what he'd like to see around wind," Alfond said. "What he appears to be doing is creating more barriers and lots of ambiguous language about the future of wind."

Renewable energy advocates say stripping the megawatt goals could send a negative message to investors about Maine's commitment to wind power. They claim that wind development has already had significant economic benefits for the state and it will become more affordable and create thousands more Maine jobs as the state inches toward its goals.

"At what amount will the administration become supportive of wind power? What's the rate benefit that they're looking to see so that they'll stop criticizing the industry?" said Jeremy Payne, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association.

Anti-wind group Friends of Maine Mountains, which is backing the governor's bill, contends that officials didn't realize the amount of push back wind projects would receive when the goals were written. Several proposed projects have been challenged by citizen opposition groups who've raised concerns about the impact on the scenery and on wildlife.

The bill introduced by Republican Rep. Lance Harvell of Farmington on behalf of the governor faces an uncertain future in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. But it has bipartisan support with Senate Democratic Leader Troy Jackson of Allagash as a co-sponsor.

Woodcock said wind power has a future in Maine and rejected the notion that the bill would have any effect on that. There is an enormous appetite for wind power in southern New England and Maine has a robust wind energy resource, he said. But the current goals aren't helping Maine achieve what the law intended, which is to provide economic development and lower energy costs through wind, he said.

"My job as energy director is to maximize the benefits for the people of Maine," he said.

Survey: China manufacturing weakened in February

BEIJING -- China's manufacturing weakened in February and employers cut staff at the fastest rate in nearly five years, a survey showed Monday, adding to signs growth in the world's second-largest economy is cooling.

HSBC's factory purchasing managers index fell to 48.5 on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 show activity contracting. That was down from January's 49.5.

China's economic growth has slowed steadily as communist leaders try to reduce reliance on trade and investment and encourage growth based on domestic consumption.

"This calls for policy fine-tuning measures to stabilize market expectations and steady the pace of growth," said HSBC economist Hongbin Qu in a statement.

Fewer new orders led manufacturers to cut staff for a fourth month in the fastest reduction since March 2009, the survey showed.

Chinese economic indicators can be distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls at different times during January and February each year. This year's holiday fell in February, as it did in 2013, making data from the two months easier to compare with last year.

"We think the slowdown is genuine," said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report. "Tighter monetary conditions over the last few months are likely to have weighed on manufacturing activity."

A separate PMI issued Saturday by a Chinese industry group, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, fell to 50.2 for February, just above the cutoff for a contraction and its weakest pace in eight months. It was down from January's 50.5.

The HSBC has larger number of private companies in its sample, while the logistics federation has a bigger share of state companies.

NV store reopens, day after pickup drives into it

LAS VEGAS -- A Las Vegas grocery store reopened Sunday morning, a day after a woman in her 80s drove her pickup into it, sending nine people to hospitals with minor to moderate injuries.

Police are investigating the cause of the 2:50 p.m. accident at a crowded Food 4 Less store that caused another 17 people to be treated at the scene for cuts, scrapes and bruises.

Police Lt. Ken Romane told the Las Vegas Review-Journal (http://bit.ly/1mPmcuE ) there were no life-threatening injuries.

He says the woman was driving through the parking lot when "for some unknown reason" her pickup went through the front door and ended up in the rear of the store.

He says the accident caused "significant property damage."

The driver, whose name wasn't released, stood outside the store afterward. She didn't suffer any visible injuries and she wasn't taken into custody.

Disney ends funding to Boy Scouts over gay policy

LOS ANGELES -- The Walt Disney Company will cut funding to the Boy Scouts of America beginning in 2015 because of a policy that bans gay adult leaders in the organization.

The Boy Scouts organization is "disappointed" by the decision, which will affect the organization's ability to serve children, Deron Smith, a Boy Scouts spokesman, said in a statement Sunday. Disney does not provide direct funding to the Boy Scouts, but it donates money to some troops in exchange for volunteer hours completed by Disney employees, he said.

"We believe every child deserves the opportunity to be a part of the Scouting experience and we are disappointed in this decision because it will impact our ability to serve kids," he said.

David Jefferson, chief spokesman for The Walt Disney Company, did not respond to calls or emails.

Disney's decision came to light after the president of a local Boy Scout council based in Orlando, Fla., where Disney World is based, sent a memo alerting local troops to the decision.

The memo was posted on the website of Scouts for Equality, an organization that is critical of the Boy Scouts' policy to ban adult gay troop leaders.

The Boy Scouts lifted a ban on gay youth last year.

Sleiman-Hezbollah spat clouds policy talks

BEIRUT: Long-simmering tension between President Michel Sleiman and Hezbollah burst out into the open at the weekend, as the two sides engaged in harsh rhetoric over whether a resistance clause should be included in the Cabinet’s policy statement.

The unprecedented level of tension between Sleiman and Hezbollah, whose ties have already been strained over the conflict in Syria, has cast a pall of gloom over the tough job of a seven-member ministerial committee tasked with drafting a policy statement.

The committee, which includes March 8 and March 14 ministers, will hold its eighth session Monday, but is still bogged down over the resistance issue as the rival factions remained at odds over whether a clause legitimizing Hezbollah’s armed resistance against Israel should be mentioned in the document.

Now, the Sleiman-Hezbollah diatribe is expected to further complicate the committee’s mission and deepen political divisions after the party’s harsh criticism of the president’s stance on the controversial tripartite formula of “The Army, the people and the resistance” Sunday sparked an outpouring of support from the March 14 coalition for Sleiman.

The crisis began Friday when Sleiman implicitly blamed Hezbollah’s support for the tripartite resistance formula for the delay in approving the Cabinet’s policy statement, an essential move before the government can go to Parliament to seek a vote of confidence.

In an address at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, the president said: “All sides should not cling to wooden [inflexible] equations that hinder the release of the [Cabinet’s] policy statement.”

Hezbollah hit back at Sleiman, saying the president needed “specialized care” because he could no longer differentiate between gold and wood.

“With all due respect to the presidency’s position and what it represents, the speech we heard yesterday [Friday] makes us believe that the Baabda Palace in the days left [of the president’s term] needs a specialized care because its occupant can no longer differentiate between gold and wood,” Hezbollah said in a terse statement Saturday.

Hezbollah officials have long described the tripartite formula as a “golden” one, arguing that the formula was the best defense strategy to protect Lebanon against a possible Israeli attack.

Sleiman used his Twitter account to swiftly retort to Hezbollah’s response by underlining the need for all the parties to adhere to the Baabda Declaration.

“The Baabda Palace needs to recognize the decisions that have been taken unanimously at its headquarters, namely the Baabda Declaration,” Sleiman tweeted.

Hezbollah’s criticism of Sleiman drew a deluge of support for the president mainly from March 14 ministers and politicians.Deputy Speaker Farid Makari slammed Hezbollah’s “provocative statement” and praised Sleiman as a man made of gold.

“Such [Hezbollah’s] statements are not only offensive to the president and the post of the president, but also to the positive, calm atmosphere that led to the birth of the Cabinet,” Makari said in a statement. “What we have in Baabda Palace today is a president made of gold.”

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi condemned Hezbollah’s verbal attack on Sleiman and the presidency post. Rifi said in a Twitter post that he had contacted Sleiman to express support for his “national principles.”

Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb said he was surprised by Hezbollah’s statement which, he said, contained “remarks offensive and humiliating for the presidency post and the president.”

“It is not permissible to refer to the president as the occupant of Baabda Palace because President Michel Sleiman is the president of all Lebanon,” Harb said in a statement. “[Hezbollah’s] statement indicates that Hezbollah has lost the spirit of democracy.”

Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi, who represents the Kataeb Party in the Cabinet, called on the Lebanese to rally behind Sleiman in the face of Hezbollah’s campaign against him.

Azzi said Sleiman’s remarks on the “wooden equations” did not mean the tripartite formula of “The Army, the people and the resistance,” but all formulas that have obstructed political life in Lebanon since 1960, such as “veto power” and the “king minister.”

Responding to Hezbollah’s statement that Baabda Palace needed specialized care,” Azzi told LBCI TV: “Baabda Palace really needs care and support because this palace symbolizes the highest constitutional authority in Lebanon.”

“President Sleiman’s speech conforms with the Constitution and his constitutional oath. Therefore, we must respect him more instead of challenging his stances,” he said.

Azzi, a member of the ministerial committee, warned that failure to reach agreement on the policy statement would plunge the country into “a political crisis.”

The ministerial committee charged with drafting a policy statement is slated to meet again at 6:30 p.m. Monday in yet another attempt to narrow differences over the thorny issue of the resistance. The committee, which had agreed on “a satisfactory formula” over the Baabda Declaration, has failed in seven sessions to reach a compromise over the resistance issue.

March 14 ministers demand that the issue of the resistance be placed under state authority, thus denying Hezbollah the right to use its weapons at will against any Israeli attack as had happened in the past. However, this demand has been rejected by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies.

Committee member Health Minister Wael Abu Faour from MP Walid Jumblatt’s parliamentary bloc called for a very concise policy statement, saying the resistance’s relationship with the state was the remaining contentious issue.

“The main point that is still raising debate in the ministerial committee is the stance on the resistance’s arms and its relationship with the state,” Abou Faour said.

Noting that the right to the resistance has been agreed upon by all the parties, he said: “What remains is the relationship of this resistance with the state and the formula under which the resistance will be given freedom of movement.”

Hezbollah vowed not to budge on the resistance clause to be included in the Cabinet’s policy statement.

Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah said since the 1989 Taif Accord, the right of the resistance against “the Israeli enemy to liberate the land and defend the country” has been consecrated in policy statements of previous governments.

“We have a national deep-rooted equation whose slogan is the resistance ... We cannot be lenient or discuss any of the letters in this resistance in the policy statement,” Fadlallah told a rally in south Lebanon.

Global, internal crises blocking policy statement

Hezbollah’s unprecedented criticism of President Michel Sleiman after he spoke out against the “Army, people, resistance” formula has precipitated a new stage in internal relations, in which demands are escalating fast.

On the eve of the eighth round of talks aimed at drafting a ministerial statement, Hezbollah sought assurances from those involved on the legitimacy of two points: its weapons and its involvement in the Syrian conflict fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Sources at Baabda Palace refused to comment on Hezbollah’s statement, citing the need to respect the plurality of opinions and the rules of democracy.

However, a high-ranking source close to the presidency told The Daily Star, “The entire issue revolves around one point, the Baabda Declaration, and Hezbollah is challenging its international legitimacy by refusing it. It is flouting the interests of the Lebanese, and placing the successive conferences to support Lebanon in the danger of not taking place for the simple reason that the principles of the declaration have become a necessary condition for the provision of a safe and stable environment that allows for securing aid for Lebanese authorities.”

But those familiar with the vagaries of the Lebanese political scene know that this sudden escalation right after the “quick” formation of a Cabinet is aimed at preparing for the next round of internal conflict: the presidential elections.

Even before Sleiman’s comments, information from multiple parties revealed the ministerial policy statement debate had about a month to produce a consensus before the current Cabinet is turned into a caretaker one to run the country’s affairs until the results of the Syrian conflict become clearer.

Political sources revealed that a number of regional and international developments had also contributed to local tensions, the most prominent of which was the failure of the Geneva II talks and its negative repercussions on Syria.

Sources also pointed to the effect of the crisis in Ukraine, including Russia’s intervention and Western warnings to Moscow about the consequences.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to take advantage of his participation in the International Support Group for Lebanon next Wednesday to meet with his American counterpart John Kerry and discuss the consequences of the Ukrainian conflict with him.

On a domestic and regional level, the Israeli air raid on the Syrian-Lebanese border targeting a Hezbollah post and a weapons convoy has also contributed to the stalled negotiations of the ministerial statement. This development was complicated by the tough stance taken by the head of Iran’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee Alaeddine Boroujerdi, which saw him confirm his country’s support for the resistance’s actions in both Lebanon and Syria. To make matters worse, the Israeli raid was followed by a Syrian airstrike on the outskirts of Arsal and Syrian rebels firing rockets at Brital.

All of these factors have shifted priorities and escalated the internal situation, prompting the most recent incident, which saw the March 8 bloc use the president’s statement on national constants at the Holy Spirit University to justify its political escalation and obstruct the drafting of the policy statement.

It seems the Lebanese political scene has reverted to being a mailbox for fiery messages.

United States Ambassador David Hale, however, is continuing to encourage the resolution of the ministerial statement issue, especially given that this government won’t have enough time to implement any of its clauses. Sources also suggest that the U.S. supports a solution that would see the statement gutted of any controversial points and limited to general goals.

This was proposed by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and backed by Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour is working on this, under the mandate of Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt.

Hezbollah main suspect in Golan Heights rocket attack

NAQOURA, Lebanon: The rocket attack on an Israeli post over the weekend is widely believed to be retaliation for airstrikes on a Hezbollah target near the Lebanese-Syrian border, security and military sources told The Daily Star Sunday.

A report in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said the attack occurred Friday night, but wasn’t discovered until Saturday morning.

“Two rockets exploded near an IDF outpost on Mount Hermon. It was discovered Saturday morning. No damage or injuries were caused,” the newspaper said.

“At first it was thought the rockets were ‘spillover’ from the internal Syrian conflict, but later the possibility that the rockets were fired by Hezbollah in response to Israel’s alleged airstrike on its munitions last week was raised.”

Multiple military and security sources, who refused to speak on the record due to the sensitivity of the situation, told The Daily Star that the rocket attack was most likely staged by Hezbollah in retaliation for last week’s airstrikes.

Israeli planes bombed an area controlled by Hezbollah on Lebanon’s eastern border on Feb. 24, apparently targeting a “qualitative” weapons shipment to the party, a security source told The Daily Star last week.

The source said Israeli planes launched four rockets on the Janta area in the mountains separating the Lebanese village of Nabi Sheet from the Syrian border.

Fearing a retaliation, the Israeli army command consequently raised its alert level, with Yediot Ahronot reporting, “Troops on the Golan Heights were also instructed to raise the level of alert out of concern retaliatory strikes will come from the Syrian side of the border.”

The rising tensions also led the Israeli military to change the type of vehicles used by troops patrolling the border, according to the Israeli newspaper, and Israeli soldiers securing the border were given armor-protected Humvees instead of the light defenders usually used.

The newspaper said the alert level was also extended to Israeli embassies around the world.

Separately Sunday, a security source said that stray gunfire from Israel had damaged a vehicle in south Lebanon, adding that there were no casualties in the incident.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least one bullet struck a car belonging to Hussein Ali Tohem in the Bint Jbeil village of Ramieh.

They said the source of the gunfire was the Bayyad area on the Israeli side of the border, where the Israeli army was believed to be conducting military exercises.

The Israeli army spokesperson said his command was investigating the incident. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said it was investigating the report.

“The situation in the region is calm,” he said.

The Israeli army alert continued on the borders with Lebanon, with its soldiers deploying camouflaged in the orchards near the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line and in the occupied Shebaa Farms. Israel was also conducting regular drone flights above Lebanon’s southern regions.

AUB officials to meet students over tuition hikes

BEIRUT: The American University of Beirut student body will be meeting with the officials from the institution sometime early this week to discuss demands to drop a proposed tuition hike, a representative for the students’ movement said Sunday.

“We will have a meeting with the administration at the beginning of this week,” Jinane Abi Ramia, AUB’s Student Faculty Committee’s vice president, told The Daily Star.

She also said the students would not be holding a strike Monday.

Abi Ramia said she received a message from the administration Sunday in which university President Peter Dorman expressed his readiness to meet with the committee after hundreds of students turned out last week to protest a planned tuition hike scheduled to take effect next year.

The students had given the university until last Saturday to respond to their demands, but the deadline was postponed after a separate issue with the faculty had to be dealt with first, Abi Ramia said.

The committee set to meet with the students is comprised of Dorman, Provost Ahmad Dallal and Dean of Student Affairs Talal Nizameddin.

AUB’s administration has defended the tuition hike as a necessity, saying that the university did “not possess huge endowments” and “must rely on student tuition” to be able to keep its staff, provide financial aid and manage its operations.

Although she said it was too early to predict the outcome of the meeting, Abi Ramia was adamant about one thing: “We will not compromise on our demands.”

Car bomb provider killed in Yabroud, Syria

BEIRUT: A man wanted for helping orchestrate a car bomb plot involving a female terrorism suspect has been killed in Yabroud, a province of Syria where Hezbollah is fighting alongside the regime, a security source told The Daily Star.

Though his body has not yet been returned, funeral prayers were carried out in Arsal for the man, identified as Hussein Mohammad Ammoun, the source said.

Ammoun was wanted for allegedly providing an explosives-laden car that was stopped by Lebanese Military Intelligence last month on the Arsal-Labweh road in the Bekaa Valley last month.

The car was being driven by Joumana Hmeid, who was formally charged by Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr for involvement with Al-Qaeda-linked groups.

Ammoun was buried in Yabroud, a province straddling the Lebanese-Syrian border and the site of battles between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad’s regime, including Hezbollah.

Meanwhile in the latest disruption to life in the southern suburbs linked to the Syrian crisis, two centers for filling gas canisters in the area have been ordered to shut down after authorities received information they could be targeted by terrorist attacks, a security source told The Daily Star.

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said in a statement that he ordered the centers, one in Bir Hasan and the other in Ouzai, shut down temporarily starting Monday.

“As a result of investigations with some detainees with regard to suicide attacks to assassinate Lebanese figures, primarily Speaker Nabih Berri and former Minister Wiam Wahhab, information was uncovered that suicide attacks were being planned against gas centers in Ouzai and Bir Hasan,” Machnouk said.

The gas containers will be removed from the centers.

“In order to prevent gas shortage in Beirut and the southern suburbs, Machnouk contacted centers in Shoueifat and Dora to meet the demand, knowing that one of the gas centers there belongs to MP Walid Jumblatt, who had suspended its operations,” the minister added.

Security measures were beefed up near Berri’s residence Friday in the Ain al-Tineh neighborhood of Beirut following media reports that a suicide attack was being planned to assassinate the Amal Movement leader.

Two local dailies reported that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades planned to kill the speaker by sending suicide bombers to attack his residence.

According to the reports, Mahmoud Abu Alfa, a member of the Abdullah Azam Brigades who is currently in custody, told interrogators that he was tasked by Sheikh Sirajeddine Zreiqat, a senior figure in the group, with devising a plan to attack Berri’s residence.

Abu Alfa confessed that he monitored Ain al-Tineh more than once, estimated the intensity of the explosives needed to destroy the gates of Berri’s residence, and conveyed this information to Zreiqat.

Abu Alfa and a relative, identified only as “Hasan,” were apprehended in the Beirut area of Al-Tariq al-Jadideh last month.

Both were reportedly tasked with monitoring the area around former Environment Minister Wiam Wahhab’s house in Bir Hasan.

Wahhab is an ally of Syria.

The Abdullah Azam Brigades has claimed responsibility for the two double suicide attacks that struck near the Iranian Embassy in Bir Hasan on Nov. 19 and Feb. 19.

The group has declared war on Hezbollah and Iran over their role in the Syrian war, and has carried out several attacks in predominantly Shiite areas associated with the party.

In other security incidents reported around the country, the Lebanese Army also detained Sunday a wanted man after cornering the suspect in a neighborhood of the northern city of Tripoli.

The Army opened fire in the air and launched a mortar bomb to prevent the suspect from fleeing the Tripoli neighborhood of Mankoubin, where he was later detained.

The Army briefly blocked the roads leading to the neighborhood but reopened them shortly after detaining the man.

Media reports said some residents had tried to help the suspect escape.

Waves of weapons smuggling in north Lebanon

WADI KHALED/JABAL AKROUM, Lebanon: A weapons smuggler stands by the edge of Jabal Akroum in Akkar, along Lebanon’s northern border with Syria, watching events unfold across the divide.

Sometimes he hears the roar of bombs, at other times the staccato of bullets. He points his index finger to where the unruly sounds emanate from and explains the geography of the area surrounding the fighting in the Syrian border town of Tal Kalakh.

The Syrian town is made up of mostly Sunni neighborhoods, in which some Alawite families also live. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime forces as well as those loyal to the opposition share power throughout the town.

All smuggling roads lead to the Homs province village of Qalaat al-Hosn, the furthest point in Syria that can be seen from Lebanon. The village is under the control of the opposition, says the smuggler, who goes by Ghassan.

“That is where the weapons and fighters must go,” he adds. He sits down on a ledge to rest before explaining how the smuggling routes operate in the northern border.

Ghassan, like all smugglers, is suspicious of journalists.

“You all look like security agents or as though your relations with security agents are good,” he tells The Daily Star sarcastically.

Prior to agreeing to the interview, Ghassan had asked The Daily Star to leave behind all identifying possessions, including cameras, recorders and, of course, smartphones.

Like all those who live by the border, Ghassan has adapted to a simple way of life that is often mired with hardship and cruelty. This is the norm for most of Akkar’s residents, who depend on smuggling to get by.

Before the Syrian uprising erupted in 2011, smugglers would export electrical equipment, fuel and medication to Syria, and had become accustomed to a life defined by their illicit trade. Today, however, smuggled goods flow to Syria from Lebanon and include everything, notably weapons and fighters.

The influx of fighters from north Lebanon to Qalaat al-Hosn is no longer news, though the numbers vary. Most have used the Jabal Akroum and Wadi Khaled routes to cross the border, entering where the geography is flat and Lebanese villages abut Syrian ones. When one moves closer to the Dabbabiet al-Zara crossing, things become more difficult for smugglers due to the Alawite villages on both sides.

Ghassan explains that the smugglers’ routes have altered somewhat since the battles in Qusair and the siege in Syrian areas bordering Arsal and Hermel in the Bekaa Valley region.

“The main line for smuggling used to be Arsal, but this has stopped in the last few weeks because of security operations and the surveillance carried out by the [Lebanese] Army,” he says.

On the northern border, smugglers have resorted to using small vans for transporting heavier goods. Operations in the north were relatively low in number when routes from Arsal were accessible.

Ghassan relates smuggling operations to the waves of the sea: They fluctuate in intensity according to the dynamics on the ground in Syria. As smuggling goods from Arsal became more difficult, operatives had to shift their sights toward northern border areas of Lebanon.

Concerning the networks and how they function, Ghassan said that in the beginning when the borders were established, residents of villages straddling them naturally turned to smuggling to make a livelihood and gained more experience as time passed.

“With the beginning of the Syrian crisis, fighting groups would ask for all types of ammunition and weapons, including light weaponry and even hunting rifles. But today, the circumstances have changed, and those who undertake risky operations can be counted on one hand. They are divided between Jabal Akroum and Wadi Khaled, including the villages scattered in between,” he says.

Nowadays, light and medium weapons are readily available, and smugglers are finding new routes to transport them.

Groups have also managed to seize many weapon storage units from the Syrian army, which has significantly affected smuggling activities, he adds.

Regarding the types of weapons being smuggled, Ghassan says groups fighting with the opposition request “all kinds” and buy them without even asking about the price. “But today, requests are limited and difficult. ... At one point, they asked for B7 and RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] 7D launchers, which hit targets more accurately and which are used to strike armored vehicles.”

But the most significant weapons being requested are B29 launchers.

“The opposition fighters have been trying very hard to gain access to [B29 launchers] as ... this type is unavailable in Lebanon, save for Hezbollah-affiliated groups, and here I am drawing attention to the fact that we used to obtain some special weapons from Hezbollah’s allies in the north. But we could not provide these [to the opposition],” he says.

It is important to note the complex organization of smuggling operations: Syrian groups request certain items from individuals who are able to secure goods and who have gained their trust. These suppliers then look into ways to transport the items into Syria. The operation does not end upon merely crossing the border, but includes transporting the goods to a designated checkpoint within Syria. The rates the smugglers charge increase in proportion to the distance the delivery point is from the border.

To curb smuggling operations, the Syrian army regularly switches out its battalions along the borders to ensure that its officers don’t fall prey to bribery, the primary means by which such operations succeed, according to sources knowledgeable about smuggling in the area.

Most of the smugglers could not be interviewed directly by The Daily Star, but some information was made available. The most significant of which was that explosives are now being brought across the northern border region, which has already been occurring in Arsal. Syrian weapons traders, who once crossed the border into Lebanon in order to transfer weapons, have been completely absent as of late, as orders for simple machine guns have been replaced by orders for advanced rocket launchers.

Conversely, security measures have forced a number of smuggling operations to halt, the most notable example of this being the ambush in Tal Kalakh that led to the killing of 17 young fighters from Lebanon. Smuggling operations have become more complex as a result, as many fear traps set up by the Syrian army.

According to smugglers’ accounts, Lebanon’s northern border has recently witnessed an increased movement of goods from Syria into Lebanon, after the Syrian regime allegedly gave instructions to Alawite villages of Akkar to transfer weapons, such as Kalashnikovs and PKCs, from Tartous and Safita into Lebanon. These arms have been used in the clashes between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli.

The smugglers confirmed that these operations garnered attention and led the authorities to make arrests in the towns of Abboudieh and Al-Hissa, along the border, as the weapons being brought into Lebanon were considered more dangerous than those smuggled into Syria because they have been used against Bab al-Tabbaneh residents.

Pipeline protesters arrested at White House

WASHINGTON -- Police are arresting a couple hundred people who strapped themselves to the White House fence on Sunday to protest the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The protesters were mostly college students who participated in a peaceful march that began at Georgetown University and ended outside the White House. They chanted "climate justice now" and carried signs such as "don't tarnish the earth" in their efforts to convince President Barack Obama to reject the pipeline. They say it will contribute to global warming.

Protesters were passionate but quite orderly. Police were waiting for them with buses and vans to speed the process. The protesters cheered as U.S. Park Police warned them that blocking the sidewalk or strapping themselves to the fence would lead to their arrest.

Construction lag drives up home prices in Calif

LOS ANGELES -- Construction on new Southern California homes is lagging and that's driving up prices for would-be middle-class homebuyers amid a reduced inventory.

The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday (http://lat.ms/1pQV11v) that developers are still wary about putting up new construction despite a boom in prices in the past year.

Southern California's supply of new homes dropped to about 2,200 at the end of last year - about one-tenth of what was available in 2006, just before the market collapsed.

Analysts say about 15,000 new homes will be sold this year in the six-county region, or 58 percent less than the 20-year average.

The slow investment in new homes has caused prices to freeze up after a quick recovery last year because buyers can't find a home they want at the right price.

Vt. loves renewable energy, except when it arrives

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Getting energy from the sun, wind and forests fits with Vermont's sense of itself as clean, green and independent. But when it comes time to build and live with the projects that make it possible, things can get complicated.

The state's own comprehensive energy plan contemplates a future of electric cars and renewable sources providing 90 percent of its energy needs. And Vermont was recently rated No. 1 in solar industry jobs per capita.

But strong opposition from citizens' groups to a wind-power project in Lowell, the recent vote by property owners to reject a proposed wind farm in northeastern Vermont, and a ruling by state regulators against a proposed wood-burning power plant in southern Vermont have some questioning the state's willingness to turn talk into action.

"It's time for Vermont to grow up and get real on the future, and the future is renewables," said David Blittersdorf, co-owner of another wind-power project, Georgia Mountain Community Wind.

Vermont is not alone in its ambivalence. Cape Wind has been battling legal challenges and the Massachusetts permit process for more than a decade as it looks to build the nation's first off-shore wind farm in Nantucket Sound. It now appears on track and announced a $600 million tentative financing deal this past week.

The giant Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, in the Mohave Desert near the Nevada-California border, opened this past month, but only after years of legal tangles, including a fight over the fate of a species of desert tortoise.

Vermont has not always been friendly to more traditional energy sources, either.

The state's lone nuclear plant is to close at the end of the year. Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Corp. says it is doing so for economic reasons. But Gov. Peter Shumlin, state lawmakers and vocal anti-nuclear groups had been trying to close the plant for years.

The Vermont Public Interest Research Group, a large and powerful consumer and environmental lobby, is fighting a plan to extend a natural gas pipeline that now serves just northwestern Vermont. It complains that using natural gas causes the carbon emissions blamed for climate change, and that the gas is being extracted in Canada with environmentally damaging hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a practice banned within Vermont's borders.

But if big energy installations have drawn fights, renewables — long described as "alternative" energy sources — haven't had a free ride, either. Even some solar installations have come under fire, despite their lack of carbon emissions and their apparent immunity from the charge levied at wind turbines that they kill birds and bats.

When developers proposed an array of solar panels on a south-facing field in Charlotte, south of Burlington, 75 people turned up at a public hearing. Eighteen spoke — all in opposition.

The state Public Service Board eventually approved the project, ruling 13 months ago that its economic and environmental benefits outweighed what some neighbors called a visual blight on a stunning rural landscape.

The board ruled the other way last month on a plan to use wood cut from Vermont's forests to fuel an electrical generating station in North Springfield, saying wood is inefficient as a generation fuel and that heavy truck traffic would disrupt the surrounding neighborhood.

And some want to toughen the regulatory review process further. Legislation has been working its way through the Vermont Senate that could strengthen the hand of local residents and regional planners in reviewing new energy projects. Its prospects look dim in the House, however.

Annette Smith, founder of the group Vermonters for a Clean Environment and an outspoken critic of many energy projects, argued for a collaborative, community-based process, in which residents of a community or region gather to discuss their energy needs and how to meet them.

"It's merchant developers coming in and saying, 'We're going to do this project whether you want it or not, and we've got the bucks," she said.

Gabrielle Stebbins, executive director of the industry group Renewable Energy Vermont, said the money is what is missing from Smith's idea.

"No one expects that they should be able, within our current capitalistic structure, to own a nuclear plant. But people seem frustrated if there is a large renewable energy project that is built and they don't own it," Stebbins said.

Industry officials e agreed, though, that smart developers make sure community residents are informed early in the development process and that their concerns are taken seriously.

"Critical to a successful project is working with communities to develop a project that not only creates cheap, clean energy but also benefits the local community," Christy Omohundro, director of eastern state policy for the American Wind Energy Association, said in an email.

'Non-Stop' lands at No. 1 at weekend box office

By DERRIK J. LANG The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Liam Neeson has grounded the "The Lego Movie."

The action star's airliner thriller "Non-Stop" arrived in first place at the weekend box office, effectively ending the Warner Bros. animated film's three-week blockade at the top spot. The Universal film stars Neeson as a federal air marshal on a doomed flight. "Non-Stop" ascended in its first weekend with $30 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"I think the fact that audiences were ready for a suspense thriller was a lot to do with the film's success, and obviously Liam is an absolute box office draw," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "One of the main reasons people were coming to see the film was Liam."

Fox's "Son of God" debuted closely behind "Non-Stop" in second place with $26.5 million. The film recounts the story of Jesus' life using footage from the production of History Channel's 10-part miniseries "The Bible." Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak, noted it was a strong showing because box office predictions for "Son of God" were wildly varied.

"It's difficult to track religious- and faith-based films, as we learned with 'The Passion of the Christ,' " Dergarabedian said. "If the expectation is that Hollywood should make more movies like this, then the audiences who want these movies have to vote with their dollars. It's only then that Hollywood will wake up and see this as a viable genre that people will want to see."

"Son of God," which features Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado as Jesus, is the first of several religious-themed films set for release this year, including next month's "Noah" starring Russell Crowe and "Exodus" with Christian Bale planned for December.

"The Lego Movie," which features the voices of Chris Pratt and Elizabeth Banks as characters from the block-building toy franchise, came in third place with $21 million in its third weekend, bringing its total domestic haul to $209.3 million.

A few contenders up for Oscars at Sunday's 86th annual Academy Awards received a boost at the box office. Dergarabedian said the box office for "12 Years a Slave" was up 72 percent and for "Dallas Buyers Club" was up 44 percent over last weekend. Both films are vying for the best-picture trophy at the Oscars, as well as several other honors.

---

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, latest international numbers are also included.

1. "Non-Stop," $30 million.

2. "Son of God," $26.5 million

3. "The Lego Movie," $21 million.

4. "The Monuments Men," $5 million.

5. "3 Days to Kill," $4.9 million.

6. "RoboCop," $4.5 million.

7. "Pompeii," $4.3 million.

8. "Frozen," $3.6 million.

9. "About Last Night," $3.4 million.

10. "Ride Along," $3 million.

---

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://bit.ly/M4KQ9i.

Germany: Putin accepts Merkel contact group idea

BERLIN -- The German government said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accepted a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel to set up a "contact group" aimed at facilitating dialogue in the Ukraine crisis.

Merkel raised the idea in a phone conversation in which she accused Putin of breaking international law with the "unacceptable Russian intervention in Crimea." German government spokesman Georg Streiter said in a statement that Putin also accepted the idea of setting up a fact-finding mission.

A Kremlin statement said Putin defended Russia's action against "ultranationalist forces" in Ukraine and insisted measures taken so far were "fully adequate." It said Putin directed Merkel's attention to the "unrelenting threat of violence" to Russian citizens and the Russian-speaking population.

It didn't refer specifically to Merkel's proposal but mentioned a need to continue "consultations in both a bilateral ... and multilateral format with the aim of cooperating to normalize the socio-political station in Ukraine."

Earlier Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe could be asked to put together a fact-finding mission to determine what is really happening in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

He added that an international "contact group" — involving European countries and perhaps the United Nations along with Russia and Ukraine — could be part of the solution. Streiter said the group could be led by the OSCE — a body that includes 57 countries, among them European Union nations, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

"In the end, the result must be that Russian soldiers return to their barracks," Steinmeier told ARD television.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss the crisis.

Steinmeier stressed dialogue rather than possible action against Russia, and said there are differences among leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations over Moscow's future in the club.

"Some say we must now send a strong signal and exclude Russia," he added. "Others say — I am more with them — that the G-8 format is actually the only format in which we from the West still speak immediately with Russia, and should we really sacrifice this one format?"

"I think we have to see that we contribute to de-escalation in Ukraine," Steinmeier said.

Retiree travels far to help Conn. Special Olympics

BERLIN, Conn. -- Months before the 2014 Special Olympics Connecticut Winter Games began this weekend, Bud Meyers, a retired transportation supervisor at Connecticut Light and Power, left his home outside Hardy, Neb., for the 1,500-mile drive to Simsbury to make snow and do other jobs.

He's made the trip every year since 1993.

Meyers, who worked at CL&P from 1960 to 1993, says he volunteers to help the developmentally disabled athletes.

"I do it for the athletes," he said. "We're not paying enough attention to the athletes," he said. "They're intellectually challenged people. They didn't ask for this."

The Special Olympics on Saturday and Sunday have drawn more than 250 athletes. They are joined by hundreds of volunteers, coaches and spectators.

The cross-country skiing and snowshoeing athletes rely on Meyers and volunteers who are connected to CL&P and parent company Northeast Utilities, to make snow in the absence of natural snow.

He gets some financial help, he said, but he would not give details.

Meyers said his involvement dates to the early 1960s when he saw the conditions of the old Mansfield Training School. It was closed in 1993 and patients were sent to more updated facilities and institutions or were cared for at home.

Meyers, 75, arrived in Connecticut on Dec. 28 and says he will head home on Tuesday. He makes the 24-to26-hour drive in one shot without stopping overnight.

"I'm just careful and I keep plugging away," he said.

Forestry forum planned in Hammond

HAMMOND, La. -- The annual Florida Parishes forestry forum is scheduled for March 14 at Southeastern Louisiana University.

The forum is sponsored by the LSU AgCenter and is designed to provide information on new markets and state and national issues that could benefit or affect local forest landowners.

Topics to be covered include emerging markets for wood energy, Louisiana weather, exporting pine sawtimber, state and national forestry issues, and potential market effects caused by new wood energy markets.

Registration is $25 per person if done by Thursday and $40 after that date.

Sessions will be held in the University Center.

More information is available by calling 225-683-3101 or emailing bchandler@agcenter.lsu.edu.

AP Sources: Bills talks with Byrd reach standstill

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- People familiar with contract talks between the Buffalo Bills and safety Jairus Byrd have told The Associated Press that negotiations have stalled, and no further discussions are scheduled.

The people spoke Sunday on the condition of anonymity because neither side has publicly discussed negotiations.

The Bills face a deadline Monday to apply a franchise tag on Byrd and retain the three-time Pro Bowl player's rights before free agency opens March 11.

One person said, Buffalo offered a multiyear contract that would have paid Byrd about $30 million over the first three seasons. The full value and length of the Bills' offer were not revealed.

Byrd played under a one-year, $6.9 million franchise tag last season. The price would increase to about $8.4 million if the Bills tagged him this year.

Mass. health care lobbying totals from 2007-2013

What some of the top hospitals, insurers, unions and health care groups spent lobbying Massachusetts lawmakers between 2007 and 2013:

1. Massachusetts Hospital Association: $4,751,767

2. Partner's Health Care: $4,483,976

3. Massachusetts Association of Health Plans: $4,289,017

4. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts: $3,361,740

5. Massachusetts Nurses Association: $2,762,524

6. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care: $2,682,964

7. Tufts Associated Health: $2,599,319

8. Massachusetts Medical Society: $2,305,776

9. Children's Hospital: $2,165,709

10. Tenet Healthcare/Vanguard Health Systems: $2,113,136

CMS Energy sends 65 people to aid Kentucky utility

JACKSON, Mich. -- One of Michigan's s leading power companies says it's sending dozens of employees to Kentucky to prepare for a severe ice storm forecast to hit the area within hours.

CMS Energy Corp.'s Consumers Energy union says about 65 of its workers were leaving its Jackson service center around 8 a.m. Sunday heading for Louisville, Ky.

The power company says they'll be helping Louisville Gas and Electric with a storm expected to hit the area Sunday evening.

CMS Energy says it dispatched the utility crews, technicians, mechanics and supervisors under the Great Lakes Mutual Assistance organization. That group helped CMS Energy during Michigan's December snowstorm.

CMS Energy provides electricity and natural gas to about 6.5 million of Michigan's 10 million residents.

Natural gas to power garbage trucks

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Natural gas-powered garbage trucks that are expected to emit less pollution will be rolled out in Baton Rouge, an area that has struggled to meet federal ozone pollution standards.

Garbage disposal company Waste Management says it will replace 40 diesel-powered trucks in its Baton Rouge fleet with to those using compressed natural gas.

The company has 53 trucks that collect waste from East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension, Pointe Coupee, Tangipahoa, East Feliciana and West Feliciana parishes, spokesman Warren Guedry Jr. tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/1obVKH1).

The conversion, expected to start later this year and be complete by May 2015, will mean the trucks will not be using 320,000 gallons of diesel each year, are expected to be cheaper to operate and will make less noise.

Home health cuts to hit harder in rural Oregon

BEND, Ore. -- Advocates for the home health care industry say the 14 percent cut in Medicare payments it will see over the next four years is unprecedented and could result in a loss of services for thousands of homebound seniors and disabled individuals in Oregon.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, calling upon authority afforded by the Affordable Care Act, issued the final rule in November that carries 3.5 percent cuts in payments from 2014 to 2017 to providers who support patients in their homes, ensuring they take their medications and providing certain therapies.

The federal agency estimates 40 percent of providers will see negative margins in 2017 as a result of the cuts, but those in the industry say the impact will be much worse in Oregon, where the far-reaching rural regions make the cost of doing business much higher for providers, who are forced to drive long distances to reach clients.

An analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Avalere Health found that 72 percent of Oregon's home health providers will see negative margins in four years, the highest besides Alaska, at 75 percent.

"These patients can't leave their homes and so the caregivers have to go to them," said Eric Berger, CEO of Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare, a group that advocates on behalf of home health providers. "It's a whole lot more expensive for that to occur day in, day out in Oregon than it is in, say, Rhode Island."

By contrast, only about 14 percent of home health providers in Rhode Island — the smallest state by area — are expected to see negative margins, according to Avalere Health.

PQHH estimates the cuts will amount to $22 billion over the next four years and could result in more than 15,000 clients in Oregon and nearly 1.5 million nationwide losing services because nearby agencies had to close.

Eric Alexander, the CEO of Partners in Care, a home health provider in Bend, predicts the cuts will take a mid-to-high five-figure toll on the nonprofit organization. That's on top of a nearly $300,000 cut last year due to federal government sequestration and smaller Medicare cuts in previous years.

Even though these Medicare cuts are bigger than they've been in the past, they are nothing new to Alexander. In fact, being forced to find new efficiencies is just the nature of doing business in health care today, he said.

"As Medicare squeezes down on the operating costs of these organizations, at some point, we've got to be viable and sustainable in order to help the overall goal of reducing the costs of health care in this country," Alexander said. "It doesn't happen by magic. You've got to be a really effective and efficient provider — but you've still got to be in business."

About 40 percent of Partners in Care's clients are in its home health program. Another 60 percent receive hospice care, Alexander said.

Holli Holland, the director of St. Charles Home Health Services, said providers like hers, which are backed by the support of a larger organization, will fare better under the cuts than smaller ones will.

If small agencies in rural parts of the state such as Eastern Oregon need to close, there may not be others that can serve homebound patients in that region, Holland said. That's because an Oregon regulation limits home health providers to serving within a 60-mile radius.

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, has been vocal about his dismay over the cuts. His planned visit to St. Charles Home Health in Redmond on the subject this month was canceled due to weather.

Both Walden's parents and his wife's parents received home health care, which he said allowed them to stay home and stay healthy longer.

"I've just seen it firsthand and I know it's efficient and affordable and effective," he said.

Walden said he's spoken with home health providers in Grants Pass, Medford and elsewhere in the state that are trying to evaluate what the cuts mean for them.

"I haven't met with anybody that said they'll actually go out of business, but they're going to have to make some dramatic changes to make these cuts," he said.

A regulation that took effect about two years ago requires a physician to verify that a patient is homebound in order for Medicare to pay for home health services.

That's put a strain on home health providers, who don't get paid for the care they provide unless the patient sees a doctor, Holland said.

"A lot of times that happens because the patient is sick and can't get to the doctor. . We really don't have control over it," she said.

Walden introduced legislation that would allow nonphysician providers, including nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants, to approve home health services.

Holland said she thinks that would help home health providers deliver better care.

"Right now we kind of, in some situations, have our hands tied because we can't get the physician to sign it or we can't get the patient in to see the physician," she said, "and that's kind of a barrier to care for the patient."

The irony in this new round of Medicare cuts is that keeping patients in their homes rather than in more expensive settings like nursing homes or hospitals actually reduces health care costs, Alexander said.

"We really look to home health to keep the readmissions to hospitals down by giving them great care at home," he said. "That saves clinics, physicians and the overall system money."

Proposed cuts pack big impact for Wisconsin city

By HENRY C. JACKSON The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- To see the impact of strategic military decisions on local communities, look no further than Marinette, Wis.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's vision for leaner, more versatile military targeted the littoral combat ship, the marquee product of the city's biggest employer. And that could mean lost jobs in Marinette, a city of roughly 11,000.

"It's been hanging out there," Marinette Mayor Denise Ruleau said. "I think the community is aware that we have two 10-ship contracts. That it will supply them with five years' worth of work."

But Hagel's proposal to cancel 20 of a planned 52 ship orders raises questions about the five years after that. Marinette has a relatively diverse economic base, but its biggest employer is Marinette Marine, which builds the littoral combat ships with defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

About 2,000 jobs in Marinette are directly linked with the littoral combat ship program. The current projected overall cost to the Navy for the littoral combat ship program is roughly $34 billion.

Ann Hartnell, the executive director of the Marinette County Association for Business and Industry, said dozens of other businesses across Wisconsin and the region, like parts suppliers, also would be affected by the cuts.

"I'm not going to worry until the cuts are final and I think that's kind of the attitude of everyone I know," Hartnell said. "We know it may be coming."

Marinette Marine has other projects besides the combat ships. But state officials big and small have strongly resisted efforts to cut the program. This week, both of Wisconsin's senators, Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson, said they would fight to preserve the program, as did the region's congressman, Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wi

Ribble said the debate over the program wasn't over.

"The future of the (littoral combat ship), or its next iteration, is far from settled and there are numerous debates and discussions that will be occurring in the days and weeks ahead," Ribble said.

The ships also are built in Mobile, Ala.

Speaking Monday, Hagel questioned the ships' capabilities against more modern weaponry. He said the ships were designed to "perform certain missions ... in a relatively permissive environment." And he said the Navy needed to determine whether the ships had enough protection in an era with more advanced military technologies.

The ships have critics in Congress, too.

At a Senate confirmation hearing for a deputy defense secretary earlier this week, Arizona Sen. John McCain cited a 2013 General Accountability office report on the program's cost overruns.

In Marinette, residents dispute the negative assessments. "These sound like versatile ships," said Hartnell. "The Navy needs to be modernized."

The shipbuilding contracts have helped bring about improved infrastructure and commercial development and created interest from other businesses, hotels and developers, Ruleau said.

"We have a lot of things in the works, other retail developments, people who are looking because of the new developments with Marinette Marine," she said.

To be sure, Marinette is not relying only on its shipbuilding industry. The town and surrounding area have other manufacturing sites that make parts for planes and helicopters, and a paper production facility. A University of Wisconsin campus in located within city limits.

Ruleau says flatly that she doesn't worry about her town even if the proposed cuts to ship orders go through.

"I don't think there's an immediate sense of emergency or concern," she said.

Hagel said the proposed cuts will be included in President Barack Obama's budget for fiscal year 2015, which will be submitted next week. Congress would then have to approve the budget.

Even as the fate of program is debated in Washington, production of the existing contracts continues. And the town continues to celebrate it.

Last week, Marinette hosted a keel-laying ceremony for one of the ships under construction, the USS Sioux City. The ship is scheduled to be on the water by this 2016.

"It was a very, very nice event," Ruleau said. "It was well attended. So hopefully that is overriding this a little bit."

She added, "My hope is always that people are always going to focus on the positive."