Michigan agriculture group launches mapping tool

LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan has launched a mapping tool designed to help the state's agribusinesses improve their operations.

The Michigan Agri-Business Association says the tool gives businesses access to information that will guide their decisions, allow them to seize opportunities for economic growth, and respond to new markets, climate change and other factors.

The interactive, web-based tool allows users to overlay a combination of historical and real-time data sets, including frost-free days, location of high-capacity wells, soil types, wind speed, topography and infrastructure.

Friday's Sports In Brief

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- NASCAR has thrived for years thanks to the personalities of some of its biggest stars and that includes an occasional feud, gesture or angry encounter on the track. But less than a week after Kevin Ward Jr. was killed during a sprint car race in New York after being struck by a car driven by Tony Stewart, NASCAR on Friday barred its drivers from approaching the track or moving cars after an incident during the race.

The new rule takes effect immediately and applies to all NASCAR series.

IndyCar reviewed its safety guidelines after Ward's death, and the protocol is similar to what NASCAR announced Friday, IndyCar spokesman Mike Kitchel said. Drivers are supposed to stay put until a safety team arrives unless there is a fire or other extenuating circumstances.

It remains to be seen how NASCAR will enforce its provision, and how much the threat of penalties will deter drivers in the heat of the moment.

Last Saturday, Stewart's car struck Ward during a sprint car race in Canandaigua, New York. After Stewart's car appeared to clip Ward's car, sending it spinning, Ward left the car during the caution period, walked down the track and was hit by Stewart. His funeral was Thursday.

Stewart, who could face criminal charges, is skipping this weekend's Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

NFL

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was suspended for the season opener against Tennessee on Friday for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

Bowe was pulled over for speeding in a Kansas City suburb on Nov. 10, and was arrested after police found a black bag containing his wallet, driver's license and two container of suspected marijuana. He later pleaded guilty to amended charges of defective equipment and littering, and his attorney said there was no admission of guilt for the marijuana charge, which was dismissed.

Bowe, who signed a $56 million, five-year deal last offseason, issued a statement through the NFL Players' Association shortly after the suspension was announced.

"I made an error in judgment. I take responsibility for my mistake and it will not happen again," he said. "I will be supporting my teammates in Week 1, and I cannot wait to get back on the field to help us win in Week 2 and beyond as we work toward our goal of winning the Super Bowl."

BASKETBALL

PHOENIX (AP) — Women's basketball stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson are engaged.

Griner proposed to Johnson and both posted it on social media, with Griner showing a photo of her on one knee with a ring in her hand in front of Johnson on her Instagram account. Griner plays for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and Johnson for the Tulsa Shock.

In the post, Griner wrote: "Last Night was a Night to Remember(,) I became the happiest person on this earth! (almost pass out but when that one word came out I came back to life) Me and my baby @missvol25 are in it for Life!"

Johnson also had a photo on her Instagram account of Griner lying in bed with an engagement ring resting on her shoulder.

Griner has embraced her role as a prominent gay athlete since finishing a record-breaking career at Baylor. She came out last year and wrote a candid memoir, "In My Skin," that was critical of college coach Kim Mulkey.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two weeks after a gruesome compound fracture of his right leg, Indiana Pacers star Paul George said Friday he remains hopeful that he can make it back onto the court late next season even though it's a longshot.

"All I can do at this point is sleep, watch TV and lay down, so it's tough for me. I'm used to being active, lifting weights, being in the gym," George said. "At the same time, I want to be part of this team. The last thing I want to do is feel like I'm not part of this team because I'm out. I'm holding out hope, just personally, because I want to be back."

Paul was injured Aug. 1 during a U.S. national team scrimmage in Las Vegas when he his right leg collided with the basketball stanchion, snapping his leg in two.

George said he has watched the replay once and won't watch it again.

Doctors have told the 24-year-old George that he is likely to make a full recovery, though it will take a full year. Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel said earlier this week they didn't plan to have George in 2014-15.

George said doctors placed pins in his knee and ankle to stabilize a rod that was inserted into the injured leg, which was broken in two places. Three days later, he returned to his suburban Indianapolis home where is now recuperating in a cast and hobbling around on crutches.

GOLF

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — Brittany Lincicome opened a three-stroke lead Friday in the wind-swept LPGA Championship, the tour's fourth major championship of the season.

The long-hitting Lincicome followed her opening 67 with a 68 to reach 9 under at Monroe Golf Club. She won the 2009 Kraft Nabisco for her lone major title and has five LPGA Tour victories.

Lexi Thompson, tied for the first-round lead with Meena Lee, dropped into a tie for second with defending champion Inbee Park of South Korea. Thompson had a 72, and Park shot 66.

That gave the United States two players at the top as the Americans go for their fourth straight major title of the season. Thompson won the Kraft Nabisco to start the run.

Seventeen-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand had a 69 to join Lee, from South Korea, and Jane Park at 5 under. Lee had a 73, and Park shot 69.

Top-ranked Stacy Lewis sputtered again with a 1-over 73 to finish the two rounds at even par.

It's the first time Americans have won the first three majors since 1999, and they haven't won four since 1992.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Heath Slocum and Scott Langley each shot 5-under 65 for the second straight day Friday to share the lead in the Wyndham Championship.

Brian Stuard, Nick Watney, Martin Laird and Andrew Svoboda were a stroke back. Watney and Svoboda shot 64, Stuard had a 65 and Laird a 66.

Ryo Ishikawa had the best round of the day — a 62 that was one stroke off the course record and included six birdies on the back nine.

Since the tournament returned to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, every two-day leader until now had been at 11 under or better.

ENDICOTT, N.Y. (AP) — John Cook birdied the final two holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the first-round lead with Olin Browne on Friday in the Champions Tour's Dick's Sporting Goods Open.

The 56-year-old Cook had eight birdies and a bogey on the En-Joie course. He won the last of his nine titles on the 50-and-over tour last year in the season-opening event in Hawaii.

Cook missed 10 weeks of the season after injuring his back in a February fall at his Florida home. He made an 8-foot putt on the par-3 17th and a 25-footer on par-4 18th.

The 55-year-old Browne birdied five of the last seven holes in a bogey-free round. He won the 2011 U.S. Senior Open for his lone Champions Tour victory.

He made birdie putts from 8 feet on the par-4 11th, 5 feet on the par-5 12th, 15 feet on the par-4 13th, 10 feet on the par-4 16th and 7 feet on the par-3 17th.

Defending champion Bart Bryant was a stroke back along with Steve Lowery and David Frost.

Bernhard Langer, the tour leader with four victories this year, was two shots back at 67 along with Sandy Lyle, Woody Austin, Jeff Sluman, Tommy Armour III, Doug Garwood, Dick Mast, Ben Bates, John Riegger and Scott Dunlap. Colin Montgomerie, a two-time major champion this season, opened with a 68.

TENNIS

MASON, Ohio (AP) — Roger Federer beat Andy Murray 6-3, 7-5 on Friday night to advance to the semifinals in the Western & Southern Open, a tournament he has won an unprecedented five times. He will face Canada's Milos Raonic.

The second-seeded Federer was on the offensive from the first point as he evened their career series at 11 wins apiece.

Murray had saved all five break points this week, holding service in 26 games. He fought off that many break points in his first two games against Federer, who kept the pressure on, broke him to go up 3-2 and served it out.

While Federer is trying to make it a half-dozen trophies in Cincinnati, Serena Williams is still trying for No. 1.

Williams reached the semifinals on Friday, needing only 58 minutes to beat Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 6-3 with a dominating performance.

She advanced a day after Novak Djokovic was upset in straight sets by Tommy Robredo, ending his quest for the only Masters title that has eluded him.

Williams will face Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 7-6 (5) to reach the semifinals in Cincinnati for the first time in seven tries.

Fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova survived a match full of poor serving and beat second-seeded Simona Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Each player had her serve broken eight times during the 2-hour, 31-minute match. Sharapova double-faulted 11 times.

She'll play ninth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, who beat Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3.

In the men's bracket, Julien Benneteau upset Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.

He will face sixth-seeded David Ferrer, who knocked off Robredo 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals for the first time in 11 appearances in Cincinnati.

YOUTH OLYMPICS

NANJING, China (AP) — Three teenage athletes from the Ebola-affected region of Africa won't be allowed to compete at the Youth Olympics in China because of the risk of possible infection, the IOC and local organizers said Friday.

All athletes and officials from the four West African nations affected by the deadly virus will be "subject to regular temperature and physical assessment" for the duration of the games, which open Saturday in the eastern city of Nanjing.

The International Olympic Committee and Chinese organizers issued a joint statement saying they had worked out a safety policy in conjunction with the World Health Organization to prevent the possible spread of the virus that has killed more than 1,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

However, athletes from the affected region will be prohibited from competing in combat sports due to "health authority guidelines" and aquatic events "based on the inability to completely exclude the risk of potential infection," the statement said.

LITTLE LEAGUE

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Mo'Ne Davis, one of two girls at the Little League World Series, threw a two-hitter to help Philadelphia beat Nashville 4-0 on Friday in the opener for both teams.

Davis, the first girl to appear for a U.S. team in South Williamsport since 2004, received rousing cheers during pregame introductions, every time she stepped to the plate, and after she struck out the final batter.

Davis had eight strikeouts and didn't walk a batter. She retired the first six batters and needed only 70 pitches to complete the game. She was hitless in three at-bats.

Philadelphia shortstop Jared Sprague-Lott hit a three-run home run in the first inning, and outfielder Carter Davis had an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth.

HOCKEY

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks re-signed forward Jakob Silfverberg to a one-year, $850,500 contract on Friday.

Silfverberg had 10 goals and 13 assists in 52 games during his first season with the Ducks, who acquired the two-way forward from Ottawa last summer in a trade for Bobby Ryan.

After scoring four goals in his first four games with his new team, Silfverberg missed 24 games early in the season with a broken right hand. He added two goals in 13 postseason games for the Pacific Division champions.

The 23-year-old Silfverberg also won a silver medal with Sweden at the Sochi Olympics last February.

Authorities detained 13 during raids on refugee gatherings

BEIRUT: A mayor of a Metn town said in remarks published Saturday that authorities had detained 13 Syrians during a raid earlier this week on several buildings housing refugees.

"In Dikwaneh, there are over 1,000 Syrians living in three separate buildings, which were raided and [security forces] arrested 13 suspects," Antoine Shakhtoura told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat.

He said there were approximately 10,000 Syrians in the district.

The mayor said the municipality had taken measures to control and monitor the presence of refugee, including imposing a curfew on them and monitoring Syrian refugee gathering locations.

"We also patrol the streets at the night to arrest those who breach security,” he said, adding that this included common criminals and not necessarily terror suspects.

"But 80 percent of Syrians in Dikwaneh are 23 years old at the most, and the majority are single with no families. Therefore, they are capable of carrying arms and fighting if there is a plan as such.”

Security sources told The Daily Star Tuesday that the detainees possessed photos of Syrian battlefields stored in their cellphones.

The raids were made in light of the last week’s clashes in Arsal, which pitted the Lebanese Army against militants from Syria, some of whom resided in informal refugee camps in the border region.

The fighting raised concerns about refugee gatherings scattered across the country, particularly in the Metn region, the source said.

Advertisement

Hospital makes house calls to high-risk patients

PITTSBURGH -- The doctor sat in Valerie Robinson's apartment and marveled at the number of pill bottles she kept in a zippered bag.

"Holy schmoley, girl!" Dr. Rick Fogle said as he sorted through the medications in Robinson's Harrison high-rise.

Checking the drugs against a list, Fogle concluded that more than half were not part of her official medical record. Within two hours, he found that Robinson's doctor had moved offices and she needed a new doctor.

Without this rare home visit, Robinson, 65, likely would have ended up hospitalized, Fogle said. To avoid this, hospitals target patients such as Robinson and send doctors to their homes, hoping to prevent readmissions.

"We go outside the walls of the hospital for early recognition of symptoms going bad," said Lori Shotts, a registered nurse who is part of a high-risk care team that tracks patients at risk for readmission to Allegheny Valley Hospital. "We want to keep the patient at home where they want to be."

The hospital's approach is fueled partly by the government's goal to curb readmissions, which cost an estimated $12 billion in Medicare spending. Three-quarters of readmissions are preventable, according to an analysis of claims data by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2012 began imposing fines on hospitals that readmit too many patients within a month of discharge. Records show Allegheny Valley in the past two years received among the steepest fines for hospitals in Western Pennsylvania — 1 percent of its Medicare reimbursement.

Penalties nationwide have averaged about $127,000 per hospital every year.

Experts say the fines have pushed hospitals to send workers to patients' homes, where they might learn some people can't get a handle on their health. The task falls primarily on nurses; it's unusual for doctors to visit homes, said Dr. Karen Joynt, an instructor at Harvard University School of Public Health who studies readmissions.

"Some patients are so complex, it makes a ton of sense for a physician to visit those homes," Joynt said.

Fogle, who began working for Allegheny Health Network in June, said most patients at risk for readmission are those who have trouble with medications — taking the wrong dosage, or trying to juggle multiple drugs prescribed by doctors who did not communicate with each other.

"It's always the meds. It's our society. Everybody thinks a pill will make them better. If one pill won't do it, they want another one. It's a pharmaceutical nation," he said.

The impetus to address readmissions at Allegheny Valley came in March 2012 when administrators noted just over 19 percent of patients were returning within a month of discharge.

They established the high-risk care team — nurses, social workers and paramedics — to meet daily and review details of recently discharged patients who they suspected might return. Most such patients are elderly with diabetes, congestive heart failure or other chronic conditions.

They do not follow specific guidelines when deciding who should get a home visit.

"It's just a feeling," said Fogle, 61, who was an Army physician in Afghanistan and is a brigade surgeon for the Pennsylvania National Guard. "If it looks like every 21 days that patient is coming back, we figure, let's hit him on Day 19 and stop him from coming back in."

Robinson fit the bill. The former mental health counselor is diabetic and was hospitalized more than 10 times in a six-month period — for symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, back pain and headaches.

When Fogle asked to look at her medications, she gave him a container with 16 pill bottles. As he checked them, she produced two plastic bins filled with medicines, ointments, vitamins and medical supplies.

"I never throw my bottles out," said Robinson, who sat on a bed in her living room, near the kitchen and a large flat-screen TV.

Fogle and Shotts discarded about a dozen of Robinson's pills bottles. Shotts pricked Robinson's finger to test her blood in a glucometer. Later she listened to her lungs.

When Robinson told Fogle that her doctor had moved to Bloomfield, he promised to make an appointment for her with another doctor.

"It's right here, right around the corner. You can power-chair over there," he joked. "Is that a deal? Keep you out of the hospital?"

She nodded and smiled. And having a physician check on her at home should help her stay healthy, she said.

"I get confused about the medicines," she said.

Officials at Allegheny Health Network consider the program successful enough to try it at other hospitals.

Readmission rates at Allegheny Valley dropped to 11.8 percent in May, the lowest since officials recorded the 19.2 percent readmission rate in March 2012.

UPMC Health Plan started a similar program about a month ago that is run by doctors from an internal medicine practice at UPMC Montefiore in Oakland. The program has enrolled 20 patients, said Dr. Jodie Bryk, who leads the program with Dr. Gary Fischer.

"We're trying to get out of the practice of you coming to the hospital to be seen," Bryk said. "Patients are better off if they stay at home."

---

Onlne:

http://bit.ly/1r4X1GV

New Orleans hatter turns 90 on the job

NEW ORLEANS -- Headgear has been good to Sam Meyer, the New Orleans patriarch and retailing legend who presides over Meyer the Hatter. Meyer turned 90 Aug. 6, and spent it working in the cluttered CBD shop that his grandfather founded in 1894.

Meyer has been on the job since 1946, when he returned from military service in World War II and joined the family business. Now he runs the store with help from two sons, two daughters-in-law, a couple of grandsons and his 87-year-old wife, Marcelle.

The family had cupcakes at the store Aug. 6 but plans a big party later this month to celebrate both Meyer's birthday and the shop's 120th anniversary, grandson Chris Meyer said.

Meyer was matter-of-fact about working on his birthday: "What else should I do after 70 years at the shop? I wasn't brought up to chase balls on a golf course or putter in the garden."

He waved at his retail empire: a long narrow room filled with customers — both tourists and locals — and thousands of hats.

Want Saints gear? Meyer has it. Want a cherry-red homburg made of beaver fur? Meyer has that, too. Want to keep your head cool with an Italian straw boater? Meyer can make you look like a gondolier.

Stock is everywhere: stacked on counters, dangling from hooks, ranked on glass-fronted shelves and hidden inside towering piles of shipping cartons around the store. On a hot August afternoon, customers wandered in from St. Charles Avenue, snagged by a storefront window filled with a hundred styles of headgear.

"Hats aren't as popular as they once were, but there are 300 million people in this country and 12 million people passing through New Orleans airport every year. To me, that means each one of these hats is going appeal to a customer," Meyer said. "As a salesman, I have to be an optimist. That's the only way to look at life — and business."

Meyer acts like he talks.

On one typical day, he patted customers on the shoulder, fetched hats from cases, joked a little, and arranged a group purchase for the Zulu Parade Dukes. The Stetson rep called, and he went to the back office, gleefully talking shop on a land line.

"How come we're not on your website with the other dealers?" Meyer teased. "I bet we're the oldest Stetson account in the U.S., even if we're not a big Western account. Don't leave us out in the cold."

Meyer's good humor isn't an act. A few weeks ago, during Essence Fest, he was all over the store, shaking hands with regular out-of-town customers. Many Essence Fest "hat guys" make the pilgrimage to Meyer's shop on every New Orleans visit.

If "Mister Sam" sells you a hat, expect to get some history, too. It's a favorite subject for Meyer, who spends most of his leisure time reading about the past.

"In 1946, this place was very different. Every customer who came through the door wore a suit and tie — and all of them were local. My father fired my oldest son because he wouldn't wear a necktie in the shop. Now, everybody is casual, and we rely on our out-of-town business," Meyer said.

Meyer is a bit of a showman, too. In the store, he changes hats constantly, often wearing the half-dozen popular styles he custom-designed for New Orleans. And, yes, he talks: calling out to his staff, greeting familiar customers, fielding questions about invoices and shipping matters.

"To sell hats, you have to be verbal" Meyer said. "I can't stand around like a sphinx. I tell customer what I think, what looks good on them — and I ask a few questions without making it seem like an interrogation. If I need to smooth feathers, I do it — even if I want to hit someone on the head. Dealing with all kinds of people is part of the job."

At Meyer the Hatter, dealing with family also is part of the job.

When Meyer was asked to model a few of his popular hat designs, his wife sailed past and whispered: "He needs a haircut."

Sam and Marcelle married in 1959 and have worked together for decades.

"Sam is an enthusiast, but sometimes he orders too many hats and we fuss at him," Marcelle said. "And Sam doesn't have the patience to put hats away — all the little details that drive me crazy. It's good that the rest of the family is here as a buffer between us."

The shop is full of such banter and genial complaining. Sam takes it all in stride.

"This is a family business. And this is the way families are. Did you expect anything different?" he asked. "If I get angry, I walk around the block — and I don't have to do that very often."

Husband of UPS pilot sues over deadly crash

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The husband of a Tennessee pilot killed in the crash of a UPS cargo jet in Alabama is suing the company that makes equipment used in the aircraft.

The Lebanon Democrat (http://bit.ly/1pwEmkB) reports that Bret Tucker Fanning is seeking $2 million in his federal lawsuit against Honeywell Aerospace.

He was the husband of UPS pilot Shanda Fanning of Lynchburg. Fanning and the flight captain died when UPS Flight 1354 crashed while attempting to land at a Birmingham, Alabama, airport a year ago on a flight from Louisville, Kentucky.

The twin-engine jet clipped trees and slammed into a hill short of the runway.

The lawsuit filed in Nashville says a faulty Honeywell Aerospace ground warning system didn't go off in time to alert the pilots.

Honeywell denies its product caused the crash.

Revel casino to close 8 days earlier than planned

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The $2.4 billion Revel Casino Hotel that opened just over two years ago as a hoped-for savior for Atlantic City's flagging casino industry will close a week earlier than originally planned, the company announced in an email Friday.

The closing will put about 3,100 people out of work.

The company previously planned to close the casino resort Sept. 10, but announced in the email that the hotel will close at 11 a.m. Sept. 1 and the casino at 5 a.m. Sept. 2. All concerts and events that were scheduled before Sept. 2 will take place as planned, but those scheduled after that date will be canceled, the company said.

"We thank all of our employees for their professionalism, dedication and hard work," the company statement said. "We know that they have provided an outstanding experience for our guests and will continue to do so through this process."

Revel opened in April 2012 as the first new casino in Atlantic City since the Borgata opened nine years earlier, and was seen as the last, best hope to provide a catalyst to jolt what had been the nation's second-largest gambling market back to life. Atlantic City has since slipped to third place behind Nevada and Pennsylvania, whose casinos touched off the New Jersey resort town's revenue and employment plunge in 2007.

Since 2006, when the first Pennsylvania casino opened, Atlantic City's casino revenue has fallen from $5.2 billion to $2.86 billion last year.

So far this year, the Atlantic Club closed in January, bought at a bankruptcy auction by the parent companies of Tropicana and Caesars and shuttered in the name of reducing competition. Caesars Entertainment will close the Showboat on Aug. 31, and Trump Plaza is due to close Sept. 16.

Revel has ranked near the bottom of Atlantic City's casinos in terms of the amount of money won from gamblers since the day it opened.

Its original owners saw it as a luxury resort that just happened to have a casino, but that strategy, as well as the only overall smoking ban in Atlantic City, turned off customers, and Revel filed for bankruptcy in 2013. That led to new ownership and a "Gamblers Wanted" promotional campaign to emphasize the company's new emphasis on its casino.

But despite some improvement, Revel's finances never recovered enough, and it filed for bankruptcy a second time in June.