Mistrial Declared in Penalty Phase of Jodi Arias’s Murder Trial

Abstract: PHOENIX — It took jurors 15 hours to convict Jodi Arias of first-degree murder in the 2008 killing of a former boyfriend, and less than three hours to deem her eligible for the death penalty. When it came time to decide her punishment, though, they could not agree, leaving the judge no option Thursday afternoon but to declare a mistrial in the penalty phase of the trial. Ms. Arias’s guilty verdict stands, regardless of what prosecutors do next. They can ask the court to impanel a new jury to reconsider whether to impose the death penalty or settle instead for a sentence of life in prison. In a statement, the Maricopa County attorney, Bill Montgomery, whose office prosecuted Ms. Arias, thanked the jury for its work and said, “We will proceed with the intent to retry the penalty phase.” In most other states with the death penalty, defendants in capital trials are automatically sentenced to life in prison if the jury does not vote unanimously. A retrial of the sentencing phase of Ms. Arias’s case would begin on July 18, Judge Sherry Stephens said in court. So far, the county has paid more than $1.5 million in legal expenses for Ms. Arias, who was assigned a public defender. Ms. Arias, 32, was found guilty this month of shooting, stabbing and slashing the throat of a former boyfriend, Travis Alexander, 30, in June 2008. She testified for 18 days as her lawyers tried to convince jurors that the killing was an act of self-defense. On Friday, the jury foreman, William Zervakos, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the lengthy testimony did not necessarily help Ms. Arias, but that he was “very sure” Mr. Alexander “mentally and verbally abused” her. The abuse, he said, was a factor for the four jurors who ultimately voted against imposing the death penalty. For now, Ms. Arias will remain at the women’s jail here, where she is housed in a 7-by-11-foot cell for 23 hours a day. Throughout the trial, a friend posted Twitter messages on her behalf, including complaints, bursts of defiance and quotes from famous writers. One such message on Wednesday, the second day of jury deliberations, quoted Walker Percy, the Southern author and philosopher: “We love those who know the worst of us and don’t turn their faces away.”

Jodi Arias
Decisions and Verdicts
Murders
Criminal Sentence
Arizona


Powder Tossed at Metropolitan Opera May Have Been Human Ashes, Police Say

Abstract: An audience member at the Metropolitan Opera sprinkled a powdery substance — what the police said may have been the ashes of his mentor — into the orchestra pit during an intermission of a performance on Saturday, setting off a police investigation and the cancellation of the rest of that opera and a production that evening. The police said at a news conference on Saturday night that they had identified the audience member, a man, through video surveillance footage and interviews with witnesses he spoke to before the afternoon performance of Rossini’s “ Guillaume Tell .” John J. Miller, the deputy police commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism for the Police Department, provided few details about the man or his mentor other than to say the man was from outside of New York and that the police were trying to contact him. The man told other patrons he was there specifically to sprinkle the ashes during the performance, the police said. Mr. Miller said the act may have been a violation of the city’s health code but that there was no criminal intent. The episode, which unfolded around 4:30 p.m. during the second intermission of the opera at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, prompted the company to cancel the rest of the show and Saturday night’s performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri.” The Met will reopen on Monday. The man was observed reaching into a black bag and sprinkling the contents into two separate places in the orchestra pit. The performance did not resume because the action was perceived as a threat, Mr. Miller said. Tests were being done to identify the powder. The person who was closest to the substance was examined, but no one was injured. “As a safety precaution, the Met canceled the remainder of the performance to err on the side of appropriate caution,” Sam Neuman, a Met spokesman, said in a statement. Audience members were first aware that something was wrong as the second intermission dragged on longer than scheduled. An announcement was made from the stage that there was a delay, said Micaela Baranello, a musicologist who was in the audience. Another audience member, Alexandra Sherman, said as the delay continued, security guards took up posts by the orchestra pit. A little later, there was a second announcement: The final act was canceled. “There was some booing, and someone shouted, ‘I want my money back!’” Ms. Baranello said. The Met said two porters who used gloves and may have handled some of the substance were taken onto the Lincoln Center plaza, where they were checked by medical technicians and then released. The orchestra pit became a crime scene. Vincent Lionti, who plays viola in the orchestra, posted a picture on Twitter noting that the performance had been canceled, and his viola case was still in the pit. “As are all of our instruments!” a Twitter account run by the orchestra replied, followed by emojis of instruments and a frowny face. The Met, like other performing arts organizations in New York, has increased security in recent years. Members of the audience are asked to open their bags when they enter the opera house, and security guards at the front doors use hand-held metal detectors. Dylan Hayden, 27, an opera fan from Toronto, said he had been standing in the lobby during the intermission and did not see the episode. He said he did not hear the chimes that usually signal the end of intermission, but that the audience eventually returned to their seats, only to wait, as a heavy security presence materialized. After the performance was canceled, the audience filed out calmly, he said. “Guillaume Tell,” which is famous for an overture that became the theme music for “The Lone Ranger,” is being performed at the Met this season for the first time in more than 80 years. Several members of the audience said they were sad to miss the fourth act, which contains some of the most beautiful music in the opera. Mr. Neuman said they were told to contact the opera about seeing a performance on another date.

Opera
Metropolitan Opera
Funerals
Gioachino Rossini,Gioacchino Rossini
Cremation


Yanks Finish April Under .500 and Under Siege From Injuries

Abstract: There are 25 players on a major league roster, and at this rate, the Yankees will be all out by Memorial Day. They have placed a prominent player on the disabled list in each of the last three days, ending a difficult month with a thud. The Yankees fell to the surging Detroit Tigers , 6-2, finishing April a game under .500 at 14-15. They have put Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez and Phil Hughes on the disabled list in successive days. Hughes, the struggling right-hander, landed there during the game with an injured right oblique muscle. Manager Joe Girardi learned about the issue Tuesday night, but he said before Wednesday’s game that Hughes had no health problems. So it goes with the Yankees, who have been beset by injuries and have not seemed shy about downplaying or denying them. Andy Pettitte, at least, has been healthy since his uneven spring training, but he could not hold a lead on Wednesday. Pettitte allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings, and the offense did not put a runner in scoring position after the first inning. Seventeen of the last 18 Yankees hitters made outs, and the Stadium crowd of 49,513 booed an effort that looked listless. “Nobody in this league’s going to feel sorry for us,” Pettitte said. “Nobody’s going to let up on us. We’ve got a team here that’s very capable of winning. That’s why our roster’s so strong. We should win, and when guys go down, we should still win. I believe that with all my heart, and I hope everybody in here believes that.” The overwhelming favorites to win the World Series in Sports Illustrated’s preseason players’ poll, the Tigers have found their footing after a 2-10 start. They have won 11 of their last 16 since then, hitting .290 in that stretch. It was just the Yankees’ luck, then, to be facing the Tigers at a time when two of their most durable players are injured. Posada is on the disabled list for the first time in his career with a damaged shoulder, and Rodriguez is there for the first time in eight years with a quadriceps injury. “It’s painful to see the lineup without me in the cleanup spot and helping my team win every day,” Rodriguez said. “Me being a right-handed hitter is a great complement to all our lefties, and when you take two guys away, it takes away a lot of the balance of our offense. But at the same time, we have guys capable of picking up the slack.” The Yankees faced the right-handed Jeremy Bonderman on Wednesday, but they will face left-handers on Thursday (Detroit’s Nate Robertson) and Friday (Seattle’s Érik Bédard). José Molina caught on Wednesday and Alberto González played third base, both going 0 for 3. “It’s difficult when you have people you expect to be in the lineup every day and they’re on the D.L.,” Girardi said. “But you have to find a way.” That was too much to ask of the Yankees against Bonderman, who knocked them out of the postseason with a victory two years ago. Bonderman retired 20 of his last 23 after a lecture on the mound from Manager Jim Leyland in his rocky first inning. “You don’t want to know what I told him, I’ll tell you that much,” Leyland said. For the second start in a row, Pettitte lost a lead in the fifth inning. Two home runs hurt him in Cleveland last Friday, and two more hurt him this time. Pettitte retired 10 in a row into the fifth, but a single by Édgar Rentería and a homer by Marcus Thames put the Tigers ahead, 3-2. It was familiar territory for Thames, a former Yankee who homered off Randy Johnson on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues in 2002. Four years later, Thames ripped three first-pitch singles off Mike Mussina to help the Tigers win Game 2 of their division series against the Yankees. Now he had victimized Pettitte, who swiped at the air with his hand after Thames’s homer landed on the net in front of the retired numbers in left field. It got worse for Pettitte in the sixth, when Plácido Polanco bashed a high pitch to left for his first homer of the season. Pettitte’s sinker, which is supposed to dart away from right-handers, was slicing into their hitting zone for the second game in a row. “That’s a ball right-handers can hit and hit hard, and it’s hurt me the last couple of games,” Pettitte said. Two singles followed, and after a double play, Carlos Guillén dribbled a ball on the grass in front of third base. Even the sure-handed González could not field it, and Gary Sheffield scored to make it 5-2. Pettitte picked off Guillén to end the inning, and he shouted into his glove, seeming much more frustrated with the runs than excited about the out. It got worse in the eighth, when Polanco homered off Kyle Farnsworth. By then, the Yankees had announced Hughes’s injury, and the message on a fan’s sign behind the home dugout said it all: “S.O.S. — All Hands On Deck.”

Baseball
New York Yankees
Detroit Tigers


Billionaires’ Yacht Rivalry Spills Into Courtroom

Abstract: Poised to skate across the waves off Anacortes, Wash., is a 90-foot, three-hulled wonder-yacht designed to crush its competitors in the next America’s Cup. With a price tag of more than $10 million, it was built for the racing team of Lawrence J. Ellison, the billionaire who runs the Oracle Corporation. But Mr. Ellison’s yacht, which launched last week with the swing of a bottle of Moët & Chandon Champagne, may not get a shot at the prestigious trophy this time around. A bruising yearlong legal battle has so far blocked his effort to challenge for the cup. Mr. Ellison’s nemesis at sea and in court is a fellow member of the billionaires’ club, Ernesto Bertarelli, the former head of a Swiss biotech company whose team, Alinghi, won the last two cup races. Of course, the America’s Cup has long attracted those with outsize egos, competitive streaks and fortunes big enough to splurge on expensive toys — like Craig McCaw, the cellphone entrepreneur, and Ted Turner, who as skipper of Courageous won the cup in 1977. But preparations for the next race have been particularly contentious. This dispute is downright arcane, which probably means enough billable hours for lawyers on the case to buy boats of their own. Mr. Ellison’s team, called BMW Oracle Racing, and several others say the rules that govern the next race unfairly handicap challengers. Those terms were negotiated last year for all competitors by the club behind Mr. Bertarelli’s team — the defending winner of the cup — and a Spanish club that officially challenged him. A trial court judge agreed with Mr. Ellison’s arguments, prompting Mr. Ellison’s team to start building the yacht, and then an appeals court reversed, effectively torpedoing it. The squabbling centers on the interpretation of a document from 1887, the “deed of gift” that set up the race. The idea was for it to promote “friendly competition between foreign countries” — a quaint notion as millions of dollars are spent on boats and almost certainly millions more on lawyers, all in pursuit of a trophy and bragging rights. “We’ve wasted a lot of time, a lot of money,” Mr. Bertarelli said in a phone interview last week from Las Vegas, where he was vacationing with his family. But “winning the America’s Cup, in my view, is not only about money and numbers.” If it were, the cost might have deterred even him, said Mr. Bertarelli, whose net worth was estimated by Forbes magazine to exceed $7 billion. (Mr. Ellison was worth three times that amount, according to the magazine.) “Unfortunately,” he said, “I’m addicted to the team and the sport and the cup, which inspires. You just get addicted to it.” But, he added, “the rational me” should have said this was nonsense. The race has taken detours through the court system before. In the late 1980s, the New Zealand team filed a legal challenge against the San Diego Yacht Club, defender of the cup, for racing a catamaran against a single-hulled boat. San Diego won on the water and, ultimately, in court. This dispute is different. “This is nastier,” said John Rousmaniere, who is writing a history of the New York Yacht Club. “There is an element of distrust here.” The date of the next cup depends on the outcome of legal proceedings in New York courts, where lawyers have been filing claims, counterclaims, motions and appeals. A decision is expected next spring. Passion for sailing runs high on both sides of the Ellison-Bertarelli dispute. Mr. Ellison, whose spokeswoman said he was not available to be interviewed, fought weather to win the Sydney Hobart race off the coast of Australia in 1998; six sailors on other boats died in the storm. He is strong-willed, so much so that his own skipper ordered him off his yacht in the run-up to the 2003 cup. Mr. Bertarelli, often the navigator on the boat his team races, has sailed competitively since his 20s. He said he “basically learned to walk on a sailboat” with his father near the family’s summer house in Italy. (His father was chief of the biotech company Serono until the junior Mr. Bertarelli took over in 1996; Merck bought the company last year. To help win the cup in 2003, he hired Russell Coutts away from New Zealand’s team. Bodyguards were hired after the team received threats from angry New Zealanders during cup finals. Mr. Coutts was then hired away by Mr. Ellison’s team. He is now in Anacortes, training on the newly launched trimaran. “I would love to get back into the racing,” he said, lamenting the litigation. “This is obviously the last thing we wanted, but having said that, I think these are really important issues.” Mr. Bertarelli says Mr. Ellison is trying to win in court what he has not been able to win, in two attempts so far, on the water.“It’s like winning no matter what. It’s almost, ‘I don’t care how I win.’ And that I can’t respect,” Mr. Bertarelli said. “I can respect someone who works really hard on the water, who works really hard in getting there, but keeps the sense of what it’s all about. It’s about a good regatta. It’s a yacht race, for God’s sake.”

America's Cup
Millionaires and Billionaires
Sailboats and Sailing
Ellison Lawrence J
Bertarelli Ernesto
Suits and Litigation


For Berra, It Ain’t Over Till ... Well, You Know the Rest

Abstract: Editors’ Note: Because In Advertising will observe Memorial Day , look for the next issue on Tuesday, June 1, rather than on Monday, May 31. One of the most-quoted Yogi-isms -- the funny yet true sayings by the baseball great Yogi Berra -- is “You can observe a lot by watching.” Well, you can certainly observe a lot about where advertising is today by watching a new campaign that features Mr. Berra. The campaign, now under way, is for the iXP Corporation, a consulting firm that specializes in helping public safety and security organizations with emergency-response systems. The campaign, by an agency in Ewing, N.J., named Stimulus Brand Communications, is centered on a three-year endorsement deal between iXP and LTD Enterprises, the Berra family company that oversees Mr. Berra’s business interests and his Web site . The ads feature photographs of Mr. Berra and offer words of wisdom in the form of Yogi-isms. Some of the sayings have been quoted for many years, while others have been written for the campaign. The idea the campaign seeks to convey is that iXP is as consistent, reliable and trustworthy as Mr. Berra, whose decades of achievement in baseball, principally with the New York Yankees, led to his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. The budget for the campaign over the three years of the endorsement agreement is estimated at $6 million to $9 million, depending on the types of media in which the ads will appear. (The financial terms of the deal with Mr. Berra are not being disclosed.) There is also a public relations effort to promote the campaign, which is being handled by Thirty Ink Media in New York and Hawthorne, N.Y. Currently, the campaign is appearing on billboards, signs in airports and the iXP Web site . Plans call for the addition of print advertising and perhaps television commercials. The campaign is indicative of the consistent demand among marketers for endorsers — particularly athletes — who have proven themselves over the long term rather than for the short-term stars of the moment. Once, it was not unusual for a baseball player who had a great World Series or a football player who helped his team win at the Super Bowl to be inundated with requests to appear in ads. But a proliferation of one-shot Charlies who subsequently fell short in ensuing seasons eventually led marketers to reconsider their willingness to sign the purported next big things to expensive contracts. That change has benefited players like Mr. Berra who stood out over many seasons in their sports. His achievements include making the All-Star team as a Yankee 18 times, playing for 10 Yankee teams that won the World Series and winning the Most Valuable Player award in the American League three times. Plus, the headline-making trouble that so many younger, active athletes keep getting into off the field has led marketers to favor older athletes whose personalities and peccadilloes are already known. In numerous instances, those athletes are, like Mr. Berra, long retired. Other examples include baseball players like Cal Ripken Jr., football players like Joe Montana and golfers like Jack Nicklaus. In fact, iXP started looking into hiring a celebrity endorser “just at the height of the Tiger Woods problem for Accenture and Nike,” says William E. Metro, president and chief operating officer at iXP in Cranbury, N.J. With so many of iXP’s potential clients in law enforcement, “we can’t just pick any celebrity because he has a name,” Mr. Metro says. “We knew what a problem it would be if we picked the wrong celebrity and Commissioner Kelly says, ‘I remember when we arrested that guy,’ ” he adds, referring to Raymond W. Kelly, the New York City police commissioner. As a result, iXP decided “we need someone who’s squeaky clean,” Mr. Metro says, along with “someone who our target would relate to.” In addition to police chiefs and other law-enforcement officials, the people who decide whether or not to hire iXP include “mayors, city managers and fire chiefs,” he adds, many of them “experienced individuals” as well as “middle aged.” That led to considering a sports figure, “but all the young ones we can’t risk,” Mr. Metro says. By contrast, with an older or former athlete, “it’s a known quantity,” he adds. “You know what you’re getting.” And seeing “one of these celebrities evokes a feeling of nostalgia,” Mr. Metro says, and takes consumers “to a happy place.” Those benefits outweigh the fact that hiring a celebrity endorser “can be spend-y,” he adds. “But it’s a way to get immediate name recognition.” In mulling over potential choices who would be appropriate for iXP, “Yogi Berra came up,” Mr. Metro says, “and we immediately gravitated to Yogi’s character: he’s humble, he’s self-effacing and he was a team leader; as catcher, he controlled the game.” “As a personal-services organization, we need to build with our clients that level of trust and confidence almost immediately to get them to put their riskiest operations into our hands,” he adds. “They have to know we’re serious from the beginning.” In thinking about hiring Mr. Berra, “the Yogi-isms immediately came up, too,” Mr. Metro says, because “many of the Yogi-isms map to a message we want to get out.” He offers as an example a well-known saying of Mr. Berra’s, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” That complements iXP’s selling point that traditional approaches to public safety need to be changed because of the new threat of terrorism, Mr. Metro explains. Another vintage Yogi-ism, “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore,” resonates for iXP, Mr. Metro says, because “municipal governments are trying to figure out how to afford emergency response solutions and do more with less.” Mr. Metro says he called the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Montclair, N.J., to see about reaching out to Mr. Berra and the director, David Kaplan, put him in touch with one of Mr. Berra’s sons, Dale. “Within a week we were meeting,” Mr. Metro recalls, “and a week after that, we had a contract.” At that point, Stimulus Brand Communications had been working with iXP on the company’s Web site, logo and collateral materials like brochures. The time had come, says Tom McManimon, president at the agency, for iXP executives to consider a campaign. “I said, ‘We’ve done a lot of things, but if the world doesn’t see you, hear you, we’ve done nothing,’ ” Mr. McManimon recalls. “In developing an advertising plan, they asked me about the value of having a celebrity.” “We had thoughts about other people” besides Mr. Berra, he says, and “not just athletes,” among them Dennis Franz, who played a cop on the ABC series “N.Y.P.D. Blue” and could presumably appeal to potential iXP clients in law enforcement. Among the values of hiring Mr. Berra, Mr. McManimon says, are that “he’s a loveable character, he’s trustworthy, he has a sense of humor and he’s big in the New York City area,” where iXP is based and does a lot of its business. And iXP can “ride a little bit of the coattails of the charm Yogi brings to the Aflac campaign,” he adds, referring to a recent humorous television commercial, set in a barber shop, in which Mr. Berra appeared with the Aflac duck. Mr. McManimon also cites the ability to link Mr. Berra’s sayings to the selling points iXP wants to get across in the campaign. The Yogi-isms “give us a platform to talk about relevant attributes,” he says, “things that make the company relevant to a prospect they’re talking to.” LTD Enterprises “gave us permission to create new” sayings, Mr. Manimon says, as well as quote from the many existing ones. For example, in one ad, a photo of Mr. Berra appears above this coined Yogi-ism: “If it’s an emergency, it’s usually urgent.” The three-year agreement with LTD Enterprises, according to Mr. Metro, is to be renewed automatically year by year “as long as we don’t do anything to besmirch Yogi Berra” and vice versa. “They said, ‘If you’re still interested after three years, we’ll be glad to talk,’” he adds. (To quote one of the best-known Yogi-isms uttered by Mr. Berra, who celebrated his 85th birthday on May 12, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”) The first billboards in the campaign went up on May 10 on sites in New Jersey, Mr. Metro says, alongside major highways like the New Jersey Turnpike, I-78 and I-287. “We hope to do a few more this year,” he adds. The billboards show a contemporary photo of Mr. Berra superimposed over an action shot from Yankee Stadium in 1956 in which he is tagging Al Pilarcik of the Kansas City Athletics. The company also plans to bring the campaign “to a number of our industry conferences throughout the year,” Mr. Metro says, to be held by organizations like the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International City/County Management Association. The campaign will appear on signs and banners at the conference hotels, he adds, and as signs in the airports in the cities in which the conferences will be held, among them Houston and San Jose. Signs may also turn up at another site that would be appropriate for a campaign featuring Mr. Berra. “We’re speaking with a couple of individuals in the Yankee organization to find the right signage we can afford at Yankee Stadium,” Mr. Metro says. “We want to be careful and do the right thing,” he adds. “This is Yogi’s house.” Mr. Metro and Mr. McManimon can only hope that any such signs go up in locations that get a lot of foot traffic but are not overly busy. After all, to paraphrase Mr. Berra, it would be a pity if the signs are posted someplace in the ballpark where no one goes anymore because it’s too crowded. • If you like In Advertising, be sure to read the Advertising column that runs Monday through Friday in the Business Day section of The New York Times print edition and on nytimes.com .

Berra Yogi
Endorsements
Advertising and Marketing


Amputees Pick Up Tennis Balls and Publicity at U.S. Open

Abstract: As the television cameras canvassed the scene and the fans glued their eyes to Serena Williams as she crushed Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic, 6-0, 6-0, on Monday, another actor on the court was feeling the glare of the spotlight at the United States Open . Ryan McIntosh, a 23-year-old amputee ball boy from San Antonio, stood on a stylish blade similar to those used by Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic sprinter nicknamed Blade Runner. Demonstrating his Army training, McIntosh stood strong, his hands clasped behind him, his stance only occasionally broken so he could fetch a ball or toss a new one to a player. It was his first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I honestly don’t think they notice,” McIntosh said of his missing leg after the match as he tossed a tennis ball signed by Williams into the air. In between matches, McIntosh has fielded dozens of interview requests, and Andy Roddick and his wife, the model Brooklyn Decker, have asked to meet him. McIntosh has become something of a celebrity here, overlooked by many but an inspiration to others. “It’s not an everyday thing to be a ball person,” McIntosh said. “But there are everyday things that you can do that some amputees don’t think that they can.” McIntosh and Denise Castelli, 26, are two amputees among the 252 ball boys and girls at the Open. Athletes with disabilities have long struggled to get the same attention as their able-bodied counterparts. The Paralympic Games , which are under way in London, are drawing a much smaller television audience than the Olympic Games. But McIntosh and Castelli, who competed against about 500 able-bodied women and men for their gigs at the Open, are getting used to time in the spotlight. “They’re celebrities like some of the players are,” said Jon Vegosen, president of the United States Tennis Association, the governing body for the sport. “Tennis is one of the only sports in the world where able-bodied athletes and athletes with disabilities can play on the same field or court. We have that in our competitions. It doesn’t matter whether you’re able-bodied or not.” For McIntosh and Castelli, it has been an unlikely journey. Castelli, who also worked at last year’s Open, was in love with softball her whole life. A native of Netcong, N.J., she played avidly as a child, eventually landing a spot at the University of New Haven. Just weeks before her graduation in 2008, during an April softball game, Castelli broke her leg. “I was standing on first base in a game,” she said, “and I took off for second and as I began to slide, I broke my leg. That’s how this whole saga began.” At first, amputation was not even a consideration, she said. “I didn’t think I was going to lose my leg, but I knew it was getting bad,” she said. Her leg failed to heal properly and became infected, her toes turning black. In November 2009, it was amputated. “It was so hard just to lay around and do nothing all the time,” Castelli said. “I felt like I was missing so many things in life because I was so sick.” After being fitted with a prosthetic limb, Castelli labored through learning to walk again. During physical therapy, “we would do a five-minute walk test and I could barely do the five minutes,” she said. “It was ridiculous. I never thought I could get to the point where I could wear my leg all day, every day without taking it off. I just worked really, really hard at it.” In June 2010, Castelli heard about a clinic in New York for athlete amputees. “I kind of didn’t want to go,” she said. “Because part of me knew that if I went and I couldn’t run, that would be it. You have this attitude in your head that yes, I’ll be an athlete again, but if I went there and I fell, then I would know that my life was never going to be the same.” She attended and found that her efforts had paid off. Her physical abilities showed promise and she was able to network with other athletes. She continued to improve and is now training for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, in California, on Sept. 15 and 16. “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself,” she said. In between working matches at the Open, Castelli said, she had been trying to sneak in running and time at the pool. “It’s been hectic.” “I don’t think people realize how physically demanding it is,” Castelli said of the ball girl job. “I know people think we stand around a lot, but the starting and stopping, there’s a lot of pressure. You don’t want to trip over your feet or screw up when you pick up a ball and drop it again, so there’s a lot of pressure on you.” McIntosh lost part of his leg in 2010 in a land mine explosion while he was stationed with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. At the time, his wife was pregnant with their son. “That was my biggest push to get back on my feet,” McIntosh said. “To raise my son as my dad raised me.” He heard about the Open opportunity while he was at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs last spring. Although he had attended a couple of tennis clinics and played sports as a child, he said his tennis knowledge was minimal. He quickly picked up the sport’s nuances and scoring rules and the technique required for ball boys, and made his way through the tryout process. (The U.S.T.A. has a military outreach program that provides training and support to military members and their families.) McIntosh also developed sympathy for the often-emotional athletes on the court. “I’ve always been athletic,” he said. “And I realize that they’re in the moment and you’re not really thinking clearly. It’s battle.” McIntosh relishes that some spectators and players do not notice his disability. But he is also eager to gain exposure. “I try and look at it not as attention for me,” McIntosh said. “I try to look at it as attention for the Wounded Warriors to get the picture out there that they can still do things that they want and try new things. That’s been my biggest thing is it’s not about me; it’s about them.”

United States Open (Tennis)
Disabilities
Tennis
Amputation
McIntosh Ryan
Castelli Denise


Tricky Task of Offering Aid to Homeowners

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The task sounds nearly impossible: create a rescue plan for homeowners that will prevent a tidal wave of foreclosures, cost taxpayers as little as possible and avoid bailing out reckless lenders and greedy speculators. At the same time, policy makers and financial regulators believe, any rescue effort should be flexible enough that if housing prices rebound, the government can recoup its costs, lenders can recover some losses and homeowners can still enjoy gains. Tough as this may seem, some Democratic lawmakers are convinced it can be done. With housing problems dragging down the wider economy, they are eager to pursue what could become the most sweeping government intervention on behalf of homeowners since the New Deal. While an initial, relatively modest housing-aid bill is likely to be approved Tuesday by the Senate, the main stage for a more ambitious plan is expected to be the House. The speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other House Democrats are pushing to aid as many as 1.5 million homeowners by expanding the availability of federally insured loans. After weeks of accusing the White House of dragging its feet on aid for everyday Americans, even as the Federal Reserve rushed to prevent the collapse of the Bear Stearns investment bank, Democrats will open hearings on their proposal this week. Skeptical Republicans, with the political tide running against them, warn that government meddling in the market may only cause more harm. The Democratic plan, developed by the House Financial Services Committee, would make available up to $300 billion in federally insured loans to help troubled owners refinance risky adjustable-rate mortgages into more affordable 30-year, fixed-rate loans — at an up-front cost to taxpayers of about $10 billion. The proposal hinges on persuading lenders to take substantial losses on mortgages written during the boom that now exceed the value of homes. Qualified lenders would then make new loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Lenders, who face the prospect of even steeper losses if huge numbers of homes go into foreclosure, say they are intrigued by the idea but want to see more details. The Democratic plan seeks to avoid helping speculators who made risky investments, as well as irresponsible home buyers who could never afford to pay off their loans. Advocates say that the program would help owners keep only the home they live in, not vacation or investment property, and that no taxpayers’ money would be used to pay down mortgages — a prospect that lawmakers realize is unappetizing to the majority of homeowners who pay their loans on time. Borrowers would have to meet stringent criteria, showing their ability to pay a new loan. They would also have to pay insurance premiums to the F.H.A., reducing the risk to taxpayers of any defaults. And if the home was sold, the government would get a share of the profit. “No vacation people, no speculators,” said Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, who is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and the principal author of the leading Democratic plan. “These are people who are guilty of having borrowed too much money for a home for themselves and their families. They didn’t shoot anybody. They didn’t rob anybody.” Mr. Frank added, “They are guilty of not having anticipated that housing prices would drop.” Under the Democratic plan, existing limits on F.H.A. loans would still apply. In the most expensive markets, like New York or the San Fernando Valley in California, that limit is $729,750. A variety of other proposals are circulating both on and off Capitol Hill, including one by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates savings and loans. That plan would give a share of any profits to lenders to compensate them for losses they took by cutting the balances of troubled loans. “There is a logic to what you have to do here,” Mr. Frank said. Aides to Ms. Pelosi, Democrat of California, also say she will press President Bush to endorse the effort at a meeting at the White House on Wednesday. And Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and the chairman of the banking committee, who tried but failed to include a similar plan in the Senate’s more modest bill, now hopes to draft separate legislation. He will begin his own hearings this week, paralleling Mr. Frank’s effort in the House. But these plans have fierce critics on all sides. On the left, advocacy groups like the National Community Reinvestment Coalition say the government should be more aggressive and become, essentially, a vulture investor, buying up defaulted loans at a discount and modifying them into more traditional mortgages that can be resold to private investors. On the right, some Republican policy makers are urging restraint, warning that the government may only make things worse by risking tax dollars to insure dubious loans and by delaying an inevitable and necessary correction in home prices. “There is a line that I believe we should not cross,” said Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee. “That line is represented by a taxpayer-funded bailout of investors or homeowners who freely and willingly entered into mortgages that they knew or should have known they could not afford.” Senior Republican aides say Mr. Shelby remains open to some Democratic proposals but intends to scrutinize them rigorously, just as he is questioning whether the Federal Reserve was right to intervene with Bear Stearns. The White House says it doubts that Democrats can help as many homeowners as they predict without risking a huge bill for taxpayers. Democrats say they realize that some homeowners in trouble can probably work their way out of the crisis without government help, and they also acknowledge that many owners are in a hole so deep that they are beyond help. Their plan would focus on a group in the middle, as many as 1.5 million people who want to keep their homes but can do so only with significant changes in their mortgage terms. About 4 million, or nearly 8 percent, of the nation’s 52 million first mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure at the end of last year. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com , estimates that 3.5 million more will run into trouble in 2008 and 2009 as home prices fall, the job market weakens and monthly payments on some loans rise. Some economists say that policy makers must act before the tide of foreclosures becomes self-perpetuating. “In the market that we have in front of us, prices decline and supply increases, driving prices down further,” said Susan M. Wachter, a real estate finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “The worst case is not a recession but a housing depression.” Supporters of government intervention acknowledge significant limits on what can be done to assist homeowners, but they say that does not excuse inaction. Banking trade groups have expressed guarded support for Mr. Frank’s plans. Floyd E. Stoner, the chief lobbyist of the American Bankers Association, says the outlines he has seen suggest that it could “put a floor under the housing market.” But central players in Washington remain divided over many issues. Mortgage companies, for instance, want to share in any future increase in home values, which Mr. Frank proposes to split between homeowners and the government. Regardless of how the program is set up, housing experts say a central issue will be the standards that administrators use in underwriting fresh loans — the nuts and bolts of any lending business. If standards are too strict, which some experts say is a problem with current F.H.A. programs, fewer people will be helped. F.H.A. Secure, a program created by the Bush administration to refinance troubled subprime loans, has backed more than 140,000 new loans since August; government administrators say it is on track to insure another 260,000 by year end. But critics say that is a fraction of the 1.6 million delinquent subprime loans and that it includes mortgages made to borrowers who are not in trouble. Conversely, if the government is overly lenient in backing loans, taxpayers could be put at risk. If the F.H.A.’s insurance reserves proved insufficient to cover defaults, the Treasury would be on the hook. Some studies show that modified loans default anew at a rate of about 50 percent. During the 1930s, when the government set up the Home Owners Loan Corporation to buy and modify defaulted loans, the agency ended up foreclosing on 20 percent of its borrowers, said Alex J. Pollock, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He said any new plan should be set up to withstand losses on a sizable number of loans. Mr. Frank said his proposal would do that by charging relatively high insurance fees, giving the F.H.A. a large cushion. The fresh F.H.A. loans will be less risky than many existing loans “because they will be smaller and at lower interest rates, but they will still be risky loans,” said Mr. Pollock, who has called for an agency similar to the loan corporation of the ’30s. “There will be redefaults, and there will be losses.”

Housing
United States Politics and Government
Foreclosures
United States Economy


Woods Encouraged by Bogey-Free Round

Abstract: NORTON, Mass. — In the on-again-off-again golf world of Tiger Woods , the question that follows him daily is whether he has resurrected his game and is ready to reclaim his kingdom, or he is still aimlessly astray and wandering alone in the dark. The answer, of course, is yes. Woods’s late-summer tour of unpredictable golf continued at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Saturday as he attacked the T.P.C. Boston course with a bogey-free second round of six-under-par 65. Saturday’s virtuoso display, which included a chip-in from off the green and a succession of accurate tee and approach shots, came a day after he shot an uneven 72. He is at five under par over all, seven shots off the lead. So again on Saturday, the question was, What’s the deal, Tiger? “As I’ve been saying, I’m in a learning curve still,” said Woods, who has seemed less perplexed by the unfixed nature of his game than those around him. “I’m still learning to put this thing together. I’m going to have off-days. Yesterday, I started off terrible, but I got it back. That was progress.” And Saturday? “More progress,” Woods said. “That’s the way it’s going to be. I’m stitching things together. I’m building something. But it’s all still a little new.” Be that as it may, some things seem old and familiar about Woods, like his confidence. Asked how much he mulled his mediocre first round Friday night, Woods answered: “Not at all. Didn’t think about it at all. I just was hungry.” Asked what he was trying to shoot Saturday, Woods replied: “Eight under. And it was there.” Asked if the final two rounds of this weekend’s tournament are important if he wants to be named to the United States Ryder Cup team, Woods smiled and said, “I figure if I play two good rounds and win the tournament, I should be all right.” Woods could have easily shot 64 or perhaps even 63 on Saturday with a couple of better outcomes on the greens. He missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th hole. On No. 17, his birdie putt from 21 feet lipped out. “Unlike some other days, I rolled it good today,” Woods said. “I had good control of the speed and the pace. I was seeing the line well. I would say I only had one poor putt, and that was on 16. I blocked that one; other than that, I’m feeling much better on the green.” Woods sank birdie putts of 8 and 12 feet on the sixth and seventh holes, made a par save on the eighth hole by sinking a putt from 8 ½ feet and narrowly missed a birdie on the ninth hole. On the 10th, he executed a difficult, multiple-break two putt from 52 feet, and he holed out a chip from behind the green from 21 feet on the 13th hole. “Just a good day,” said Woods, who was wearing a white Stanford golf shirt, a choice he said he made to commemorate the beginning of the Cardinal’s football season. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the tournament.” Woods’s No. 1 ranking is in jeopardy. Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker could vault over him. It will depend on which golfer, the off-again Woods or the on-again Woods, completes the event. “I feel pressure to play better, but no differently than before,” he said. “If anything, I am encouraged because I know I’m building on something. During the first six holes today, I didn’t miss a shot.” Woods paused, then added with a broad smile: “I mean, I didn’t miss a shot. That’s pretty good.”


Things to Do on Long Island, May 28 Through June 5

Abstract: A guide to cultural and recreational events on Long Island. Items for the calendar should be sent at least three weeks in advance to lical@nytimes.com. Comedy HUNTINGTON Jo Koy. May 28 at 8 p.m. $25 to $40. Chris Hardwick. June 4 at 8 p.m. $29.50 to $69.50. The Paramount, 370 New York Avenue. paramountny.com; 631-673-7300. PATCHOGUE Billy Gardell. June 7 at 8:30 p.m. $55 to $95. Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, 71 East Main Street. 631-207-1313; patchoguetheatre.org. WESTHAMPTON BEACH Tracy Morgan. May 28 at 8 p.m. $95 to $150. Jim Norton. June 11 at 8 p.m. $55 to $75. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street. 631-288-1500; whbpac.org. Film HUNTINGTON “The Tenth Man” (2016), directed by Daniel Burman. June 1 at 7:30 p.m. $7 and $12. Prince tribute screening: “Under the Cherry Moon” (1986), directed by Prince. June 3 at 10 p.m. “Purple Rain” (1984), directed by Albert Magnoli. June 4 at 10 p.m. $4 and $5. “Cherry Blossoms” (2008), drama directed by Doris Dörrie. June 9 at 6:30 p.m. $10 and $15. Cinema Arts Center, 423 Park Avenue. 631-423-7611; cinemaartscentre.org. ROSLYN HARBOR “Graffiti/Post Graffiti,” documentary produced in 1984. Interviews with famed art dealers and artists of the street graffiti movement, screenings at 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Through July 10. Free with museum admission, $4 to $10, children 4 and under and members free. Tuesdays through Sundays. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. 516-484-9337; nassaumuseum.org. STONY BROOK Monterey Pop Film, screening and lecture with Norm Prusslin, director of the Media Arts Minor and Media Arts Academy at Stony Brook University. June 5 at 2 p.m. Free with museum admission. Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, 1200 Route 25A. longislandmuseum.org; 631-751-0066. For Children GARDEN CITY “Happy as Clams: The Musical,” a live musical adventure set in Long Island’s Great South Bay. May 31 through June 3. $9 with museum admission, $12 theater only. “The Art of Andy Warhol,” create an original piece of art, dress up like the characters seen in paintings and view original artwork from Warhol’s Myths series. June 4 through Sept. 4. Free with museum admission, $12 and $13. Long Island Children’s Museum, 11 Davis Avenue. 516-224-5800; licm.org. PORT JEFFERSON “Cinderella,” musical by Douglas J. Quattrock. Through June 11. $10. “Shrek the Musical,” with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Through June 25. $15 to $20. Theater Three, 412 Main Street. 631-928-9100; theaterthree.com. ROSLYN HARBOR Neiman Marcus Family Sundays at the museum. Families can collaborate and create together. Through July 10. Free with museum admission, $4 to $10, children 4 and under and members free. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. nassaumuseum.org; 516-484-9337. Music and Dance BAY SHORE Flamingo Road, with special guest CoPilot. June 4 at 7:30 p.m. $20 and $25. Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy Tour, rock. June 10 at 8 p.m. $55 and $60. Y.M.C.A. Boulton Center for the Performing Arts, 37 West Main Street. boultoncenter.org; 631-969-1101. GARDEN CITY Garden City Chamber Music Society Concert, music by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and others. June 5 at 3 p.m. $15 and $20. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Central Nassau, 223 Stewart Avenue. 516-248-8855; uuccn.org. HUNTINGTON Bourbon Street Bash, featuring Cowboy Mouth. June 2 at 8 p.m. Voyage: The Ultimate Journey Tribute Band, featuring Hugo. June 3 at 8 p.m. $15 to $35. Friday Night Fever, featuring the New York Bee Gees with special guest Dancing Dream, ABBA tribute. June 10 at 8 p.m. $20 to $35. Dolan Twins, pop. June 12 at 8 p.m. $25 to $45. The Paramount, 370 New York Avenue. 631-673-7300; paramountny.com. MALVERNE Crossroads Folk Festival, with Tom Chapin and other acts. June 12, 1 to 8 p.m. $10 and $20. Crossroads Farm at Grossmanns, 480 Hempstead Avenue. 516-561-8216; crossroadsfolkfestival.com. NORTHPORT “An Evening of Music,” a concert by the Northport Symphony Orchestra featuring Symphony No. 103 by Franz Joseph Haydn as well as music by Bartok, Cohn and Brahms. June 3 at 8 p.m. Northport High School, 154 Laurel Hill Road. 631-848-8222; northportsymphony.org. PATCHOGUE Pops in Patchogue: The Atlantic Wind Symphony will present the program “A Musical Journey Through Europe.” June 5 at 3 p.m. $7 to $25. Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, 71 East Main Street. 631-207-1313; patchoguetheatre.org. PLAINVIEW North Shore Symphony Orchestra presents Brahms, Respighi, Rimsky-Korsakov and Ginastera. June 4 at 8 p.m. $12 and $15. John F. Kennedy High School, 50 Kennedy Drive. 516-252-2712; northshoresymphonyorch.org. PORT WASHINGTON “Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri,” presented by the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company. June 10 at 8 p.m. $20 and $25. Landmark on Main Street, 232 Main Street. 516-229-1427; gilbertandsullivanli.com. WANTAGH “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,” by Moisés Kaufman. June 3 through 12. $15 to $25. East Line Productions, 2123 Wantagh Avenue. 516-749-5047. WANTAGH KTUphoria, summer dance party concert featuring performances by Pitbull, Backstreet Boys, Enrique Iglesias, Mike Posner, the Chainsmokers, Bebe Rexha and more. June 4 at 7 p.m. $25 to $189. Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Parkway. jonesbeach.com; 516-221-1000. WESTBURY Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. May 31 at 8 p.m. $39.50 to $69.50. NYCB Theater at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road. 800-745-3000; livenation.com. WESTHAMPTON BEACH Richard Thompson, singer-songwriter and musician. June 3 at 8 p.m. $40 to $60. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street. 631-288-1500; whbpac.org. Image SOUTHAMPTON “Pink and Blue” (2015), oil on wood by Eileen Dawn Skretch, is in the solo exhibition “Beach Light” at the Southampton Historical Museum, 17 Meeting House Lane, through Oct. 22. For further information: 631-283-2494; southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org . Credit Gary Mamay Outdoors OLD WESTBURY Antique Car Show. June 5, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. $7 to $12. Old Westbury Gardens, 71 Old Westbury Road. oldwestburygardens.org; 516-333-0048. RIVERHEAD Brew Crew Cycles, 14-person group bike tours to the breweries in downtown Riverhead. Through November. Weekends: $35 per person, $450 for full bike booking. Weekdays: $30 per person, $350 for full bike. Brew Crew Cycles, 285 Pulaski Street. 631-722-1516; brewcrewcycles.com. RIVERHEAD 20th Annual Community Mosaic Street Painting Festival. May 29, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. East End Arts Gallery, 133 East Main Street. 631-727-0900; eastendarts.org/gallery. Spoken Word EAST WILLISTON Marilyn Weigold, author, speaks on “Peconic Bay: Four Centuries of History on Long Island’s North and South Forks.” An illustrated presentation on the evolution of the East End and book signing. June 12 at 2 p.m. Free. Community Church of East Williston, 45 East Williston Avenue. 516-538-7679; nassaucountyhistoricalsociety.org. ROSLYN HARBOR “Brown Bag Lecture.” Riva Ettus, a Nassau County Museum docent, gives a talk on Kenny Scharf, whose works are on view. Scharf is in the forefront of the urban street art movement. June 9 at 1 p.m. Free with museum admission, $4 to $10, children 4 and under and members free. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. nassaumuseum.org; 516-484-9337. SAG HARBOR Jason Elias, acupuncturist and author, speaks about energy healing and reads from his latest book, “Kissing Joy as It Flies.” May 28 at 5 p.m. Free. Canio’s Books, 290 Main Street. caniosbooks.com; 631-725-4926. SOUTHAMPTON 2016 Food Lab Conference, speakers, panels, food and demonstrations hosted by the Food Lab at Stony Brook Southampton. June 3 through 5. $75 and $150. Chancellors Hall, 239 Montauk Highway. 631-632-7000; thefoodlab.org. Theater AMITYVILLE “The Hallelujah Girls,” comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, presented by Township Theater Group. June 4 to 12. Helen Butler Hall Theater at Dominican Village. 631-213-9832. BELLPORT “Anything Goes,” a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Through June 4. $29.50 to $89. Gateway Playhouse, 215 South Country Road. 631-286-1133; gatewayplayhouse.com. COMMACK “Spamalot,” musical comedy adapted from the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Saturday evenings through June 5. $17 to $24. Star Playhouse, 74 Hauppauge Road. starplayhouse.com; 631-462-9800. EAST HAMPTON “The Underpants,” comedy by Steve Martin. June 9 through 26. $40 to $120. Guild Hall, 158 Main Street. guildhall.org; 631-324-4050. EAST ISLIP “Fools,” comedy by Neil Simon. May 28 through June 12. $19 and $21. BayWay Arts Center, 265 East Main Street. 631-581-2700; broadhollow.org. NORTHPORT “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” musical with music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan and a book by Richard Morris and Mr. Scanlan. Through July 10. $69 and $74. John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, 250 Main Street. 631-261-2900; engemantheater.com. OAKDALE Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” musical. June 4 through July 9. $16 to $40. CM Performing Arts Center, 931 Montauk Highway. 631-218-2810; cmpac.com. QUOGUE “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” comedy written by Christopher Durang. Through June 12. $10 to $30. Hampton Theater Company, Quogue Community Hall, 125 Jessup Avenue. 631-653-8955; hamptontheatre.org. SAG HARBOR Mario Cantone and Jerry Dixon present, “How Long Has This Been Going On?,” a performance of stories, songs, and laughs. May 28 at 8 p.m. $69.25 to $125.00. “The Forgotten Woman,” a new play Jonathan Tolins. May 31 through June 19. $25 to $125. Bay Street Theater, 1 Bay Street. 631-725-9500; baystreet.org. Museums and Galleries BRIDGEHAMPTON “The Golden Age of Rock ‘N’ Roll Part II,” a group show featuring paintings and photographs. Through June 5. Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The White Room Gallery, 2415 Main Street. 631-237-1481. CUTCHOGUE “Florescence Exhibit,” works by the photographers Sandra Carrion, Richard Gardner and Barbara Macklowe. Through June 19. Thursdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or by appointment. Alex Ferrone Gallery, 25425 Main Road. alexferronegallery.com; 631-734-8545. DIX HILLS “Figuratively Speaking,” group show. June 4 through 26. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Art League of Long Island, 107 East Deer Park Road. 631-462-5400; artleagueli.net. EAST HAMPTON Annual spring photography group show. June 4 through 12. Reception: June 4, 5 to 8 p.m. Ashawagh Hall, 780 Springs Fireplace Road. 631-324-5671; ashawagh-hall.org. EAST HAMPTON “Recess,” an exhibition of works by artists Leah Guadagnoli, Cody Gunningham and Heath West. May 28 through June 28. Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, 87 Newtown Lane. 631-324-5511. EAST HAMPTON New sculpture by Toni Ross. Through June 20. Free. Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Drawing Room, 66 Newtown Lane. 631-324-5016; drawingroom-gallery.com. EAST ISLIP “Poison Play,” group show. Through June 5. “Lazara,” mixed-media paintings by Caitlyn Shea. Through June 5. Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Islip Art Museum, 50 Irish Lane. islipartmuseum.org; 631-224-5402. Image PORT JEFFERSON Danny Stalter and Jenna Kavaler are in “Shrek the Musical,” with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, running through June 25 at Theater Three, 412 Main Street. Tickets are $15 to $30. For more information: 631-928-9100; theaterthree.com . Credit Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions, Inc. GLEN COVE “The North Shore Worships,” examining the area’s religious communities. Through Aug. 19. General admission, $5; members, free. Wednesdays, 2 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. North Shore Historical Museum, 140 Glen Street. northshorehistoricalmuseum.org; 516-801-1191. HEMPSTEAD “In Print,” group show. Through Sept. 18. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. David Filderman Gallery, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, South Campus, Hofstra University. 516-463-5672; hofstra.edu/museum. HEMPSTEAD “Africa: Sub-Saharan Diversity,” jewelry and masks. Through Aug. 12. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Hofstra University Museum, Hofstra University. hofstra.edu/museum; 516-463-5672. HUNTINGTON “FLORAbundance,” solo exhibition by the artist Holly Gordon. Through May 28. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Fotofoto Gallery, 14 West Carver Street. 631-549-0448; fotofotogallery.org. HUNTINGTON “Cornucopia: Still Lifes from the Collection.” Through Aug. 21. Master of Illusion: The Magical Art of Gary Erbe. Through Aug. 28. “Synapses: Threads for Thought.” Through April 9. $4 to $8; children under 10, free. Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Avenue. 631-351-3250; heckscher.org. HUNTINGTON “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow?,” new work by Tom deGruyl. Through June 11. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays, 2 to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or by appointment. Ripe Art Gallery, 1028 Park Avenue. 631-239-1805; ripeartgal.com. HUNTINGTON STATION “The End of the Roseland Ballroom,” a series of 1990s oil paintings by Seymour Ikenson. Through June 9. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. South Huntington Public Library, 145 Pidgeon Hill Road. 631-549-4411; shpl.info. JAMESPORT Textile and mixed media by Valerie Zeman and still life photographs by Harold Naideau. Through July 27. Rosalie Dimon Gallery, Jamesport Manor Inn, 370 Manor Lane. 631-722-0500; jamesportmanorinn.com. OYSTER BAY “Boat Builders and Boatyards of Long Island,” profiling a selection of the region’s boat builders and restorers, and featuring the Ida May Project’s replica of a 1925 oyster-harvesting boat. Through Sept. 4. Free. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. Oyster Bay Historical Society, 20 Summit Street. 516-922-5032; oysterbayhistorical.org. REMSENBURG “ArtRemsenburg,” summerlong weekend showcases of works by local artists, sculptors and students. Through Sept. 30. Remsenburg Academy, 130 South Country Road. 631-325-1834; remsenburgassociation.com. RIVERHEAD “Art of the Non-Dominant Hand,” painting, pastel and drawing media. Through June 10. East End Arts Gallery, 133 East Main Street. 631-727-0900; eastendarts.org/gallery. RIVERHEAD “Fullerton’s Long Island: ‘The Lure of the Land,’” photographs. Through Dec. 23. Suffolk County Historical Society, 300 West Main Street. 631-727-2881; suffolkcountyhistoricalsociety.org. ROSLYN HARBOR “Glamorous Graffiti: Basquiat, Crash, Haring and More.” Through July 10. Paintings, sculpture, full gallery installations by Kenny Scharf. Through July 10. $4 to $10, children 4 and under and members free. Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. nassaumuseum.org; 516-484-9337. SAG HARBOR Spring Preview Photography Exhibit, group show. Through June 13. Tulla Booth Gallery, 66 Main Street. 631-725-3100; tullaboothgallery.com. SAG HARBOR “Every Village Has a Story: Places,” group show. Through June 27. $2 and $6. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, 200 Main Street. 631-725-0770; sagharborwhalingmuseum.org. SAYVILLE “Flowers in My Boots,” mixed-media exhibition by various Suffolk County artists. May 28 through June 12. Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bay Area Friends of the Fine Arts Gallery, 47 Gillette Avenue. 631-589-7343; baffa.org. SETAUKET “Still Life,” an exhibition of work that encompasses the aesthetic of everyday life. Through June 17. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Gallery North, 90 North Country Road. 631-751-2676; gallerynorth.org. SOUTHAMPTON Southampton Artists Association Memorial Day Art Show, group show. Through June 5. “Winners Circle,” group show. June 7 through 28. Sundays through Thursdays, noon to 4 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. Levitas Center for the Arts, at the Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane. southamptonartists.org; 631-287-4377. SOUTHAMPTON “Beach Light: Paintings by Eileen Dawn Skretch,” landscape paintings. Through Oct. 23. $4; members and children under 17, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Southampton Historical Museum, 17 Meeting House Lane. southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org; 631-283-2494. STONY BROOK “Shiva Ahmad: Spheres of Suspension,” contemporary works in various media. Through May 31. “Webtoon: The Evolution of Korean Digital Comics.” Through May 31. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or by appointment. Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University. 631-632-4400; thewangcenter.org. STONY BROOK “Mort Künstler: The Art of Adventure.” Through May 30. “The Brush Is My Pen: Art That Tells Stories.” Through July 30. “Common Ground: The Music Festival Experience,” exhibition about music festivals. Through Sept. 5. $5 to $10; members and children under 6, free. Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, 1200 Route 25A. longislandmuseum.org; 631-751-0066. SYOSSET Paintings by Don Wilson. June 4 through 26. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Syosset Public Library, 225 South Oyster Bay Road. syossetlibrary.org; 516-921-7161. WATER MILL “Radical Seafaring,” a multidisciplinary exhibition, publication, and program initiative that will include two-dimensional works, sculptural objects, vessels, models, film and video, off-site commissions, and boat trips around East End waterways. Through July 24. “Connections and Context,” group show. Through Oct. 30. “Inscape — The Inner Nature of Things,” group exhibition. Through Oct. 30. “Process of Discovery,” works by James Brooks. Through Oct. 30. Works by Jean-Luc Mylayne, French photographer. Through Oct. 30. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Parrish Art Museum, 279 Montauk Highway. parrishart.org; 631-283-2118. WESTHAMPTON BEACH Mixed-media artwork by Julia Salinger. May 28 through July 31. Reception: May 28, 5 to 8 p.m. Hamptons Yoga Healing Arts, 8 Moniebogue Lane. 631-355-1855; hamptonsyogahealingarts.com.

Long Island
Historic preservation
Music
Museum
Photography


Open Belongs to U.S., and So Do Its Finalists (a German and a Czech)

Abstract: They played a gripping United States Open women’s final, even without whatshername — although, in truth, Serena Williams remained very much part of the tense and tangled tale. When Karolina Pliskova stunned Williams in the semifinals, she handed the No. 1 ranking to Angelique Kerber, who said, Thank you very much; I’ll take the title as well. Her 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Pliskova on Saturday put a German woman on the tournament pedestal for the first time since Steffi Graf, who continues, for the moment, to share a record with Williams for the most Grand Slam singles victories in the Open era (22). “Just amazing,” Kerber, 28, said after locking down her winner’s share, $3.5 million, to the roar of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, which had seemed to back Pliskova, perhaps out of habit of rooting for a sister. (Pliskova’s identical twin, Kristyna, had a final of her own to play on Sunday at a minor tournament in China.) But the issue of whether New York could withstand a dearth of Americans at the finish of the country’s Grand Slam — at least on the men’s side — had already been settled. Check the bottom line. For its signature event, the United States Tennis Association keeps building new and bigger venues and widening the pathways on the grounds to accommodate record crowds. On Friday, the honchos announced a partnership with the Laver Cup, the brainchild of Roger Federer’s corporate group — a team event next year that will pit Europe against the world. Going against nativist political notions, tennis seems more inclined to crash or stretch the borders. In the global sports village, folks can enjoy the grit of Stan Wawrinka in the men’s final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday, even if Wawrinka is not as graceful or as well groomed as Federer, his Swiss compatriot. The crowd packing Ashe could appreciate the late-blooming Kerber with her counterpunching southpaw strokes and grew acquainted with Pliskova mighty fast as she worked her way past a Grand Slam third round for the first time. Pliskova did not appreciate the cheers for her errant first serves in a tight fourth-round match against Venus Williams, but no one has ever confused this tournament with reverential Wimbledon. After defeating Serena Williams, Pliskova, a Czech, remarked that New York must hate her, but a city that is not determined to deport its immigrants does not resent the success of its visitors, either. Remember Roberta Vinci’s on-court interview after she stunned Serena Williams in last year’s semifinals? She had the Ashe crowd charmed by the time it was over. This is not to say that the second coming of a Jimmy Connors, a Pete Sampras or another Chris Evert would not be welcome. It is not to deny the pride and awe Americans have felt as Williams spoils them rotten in her continuing climb to historic heights. But it says that core fans — at least the majority of those in New York who trudge across the boardwalk and through the gates in the late-summer heat — intuitively understand why the days of American dominance are long gone, unlikely to return. Tennis is not golf, which at its highest men’s level remains a privileged province of the United States and a handful of other countries. But what women’s tennis does face as it moves toward a post-Serena era is the question of who, if anyone, will emerge as even a quasi-dominant champion. It is not that difficult to market Europeans in America, or anywhere, when they are as beautiful to watch as Federer, as charismatically compelling as Rafael Nadal, as athletically brilliant as Djokovic, Slam after grueling Slam. “Sports are really good, it seems, when you have the same rivalry over and over, like Fed-Nadal had back in the day, like the Lakers and Celtics, and now hopefully Cleveland and the Warriors in the N.B.A.,” the American veteran Sam Querrey said in an interview last month. “Dominance at the top is great. That’s what golf struggles with right now — you’ve got a different winner every single week, and some people start to lose interest.” There is, of course, a counterargument to be made about a wide-open field, with wealth spread socialistically around. But familiarity at the top certainly can’t hurt. It remains to be seen who Pliskova will become, although her heavy serve, her strokes and the nerves of steel that finally deserted her in the 10th game of the third set against Kerber should keep her in ascension. Kerber, meanwhile, is a deserving successor to Serena Williams and her 186-week reign as No. 1 (another record she shares with Graf), the superior player this year, with two Grand Slam titles and a Wimbledon final. A couple of years like this one, and Kerber will be recognized as one of those citizens and celebrities of the world. You know the U.S. Open imports who reached that level on the women’s side: Graf. Hingis. Clijsters. Henin. Sharapova. After a while, as long as they put on a show, who cares where they were born and which tax haven they call home?

US Open Tennis
Tennis
Karolina Pliskova
Serena Williams
Angelique Kerber


Europe’s Bike-Sharing Programs Redistribute the Wheels

Abstract: BARCELONA, Spain — In increasingly green-conscious Europe, there are said to be only two kinds of mayors: those who have a bicycle-sharing program and those who want one. Over the last several years, the programs have sprung up and taken off in dozens of cities, on a scale no one had thought possible and in places where bicycling had never been popular. The sharing plans include not just Paris’s Vélib’, with its 20,000 bicycles, but also wildly popular programs with thousands of bicycles in major cities like Barcelona and Lyon, France. There are also programs in Pamplona, Spain; Rennes, France; and Düsseldorf, Germany. Even Rome, whose narrow, cobbled streets and chaotic traffic would seem unsuited to pedaling, recently started a small trial program, Roma’n’Bike, which it plans to expand soon. For mayors looking to ease congestion and prove their environmental bona fides, bike-sharing has provided a simple solution: for the price of a bus, they invest in a fleet of bicycles, avoiding years of construction and approvals required for a subway. For riders, joining means cut-rate transportation and a chance to contribute to the planet’s well-being. The new systems are successful in part because they blanket cities with huge numbers of available bikes, but the real linchpin is technology. Aided by electronic cards and computerized bike stands, riders can pick up and drop off bicycles in seconds at hundreds of locations, their payments deducted from bank accounts. “As some cities have done it, others are realizing they can do it, too,” said Paul DeMaio, founder of MetroBike, a bicycle transportation consulting company based in Washington, D.C., that tracks programs worldwide. “There is an incredible trajectory.” The huge new European bicycle-sharing networks function less as recreation and more as low-cost alternate public transportation. Most programs (though not Paris’s) exclude tourists and day-trippers. Here in Barcelona, streets during rush hour are lined with commuters and errand-goers on the bright red bicycles of Bicing, the city’s program, which began 18 months ago. Bicing offers 6,000 bicycles from 375 stands, which are scattered every few blocks; the bikes seem to be in constant motion. “I use it every day to commute; everyone uses it,” said Andre Borao, 44, an entrepreneur in a gray suit with an orange tie, as he prepared to ride home for lunch. “It’s convenient, and I like the perspective of moving through the streets.” The expanding program in Barcelona is typical of so-called third-generation programs, which rely heavily on technology. (In its first generation, bike-sharing involved scattering old bikes around the streets, where they could be used for free; second-generation programs accepted coins.) Here, a customer buys a yearly membership for about $30 and is issued a smart card that allows the rider to remove a bike from a mechanized dock. The first 30 minutes are free, with a charge of 30 cents per half-hour after that. A bike must be returned to any bike rack in the network within two hours or the card may be deactivated. Most programs in Germany and Austria work on a different system; members receive cellphone text messages providing codes to unlock the bikes. Copenhagen and Amsterdam have had devoted bicycling commuters for many years. But the new programs have created the greatest transportation revolution in central and southern Europe, where warmer climates allow riders to ride comfortably year-round. The shared bicycles in Barcelona, Lyon and Paris are heavily used, logging about 10 rides a day, according to officials in these cities. In North America, issues like insurance liability, a stronger car culture, longer commutes and a preference for wearing helmets have slowed adoption of bicycle-sharing programs. None of the European programs require helmets. Still, Washington and Montreal are experimenting with small projects, and Chicago, Boston and New York are studying options. Perhaps the best indication that bicycle-sharing has arrived is this: Shanghai, which 10 years ago was trying to eliminate bicycles from some of its boulevards to make way for cars, opened a pilot bike-sharing stand last month. In most European cities, advertisers have been given contracts to set up and maintain bicycle-sharing programs in exchange for the rights to sell advertisements on city-owned structures like bus stations. “We provide a turnkey program,” said Martina Schmidt, bike-sharing director of Clear Channel Outdoors, which now runs programs in 13 European cities and recently started its first American program, the one in Washington. “We give the city what they’re looking for, and they give us space to sell.” Here in Barcelona, the Bicing program has had its glitches, reflecting, in part, its unexpected popularity. On Barcelona’s outskirts, users complain that the program’s racks, each with up to 36 bikes, can run out toward the end of the morning rush hour, leaving customers temporarily stranded. Likewise, docking sites downtown are sometimes full, so riders have to search for parking. Car owners complain about the removal of parking spots to accommodate new bike lanes; the city has about 80 miles of lanes, after rapidly expanding the lanes in the past two years. Barcelona’s downtown business district is in a geographic bowl, compared with most residential neighborhoods, so while many people want to ride downtown to work, fewer want to ride bikes home. Directed by controllers at a command station, Bicing’s 100 employees use trucks to rebalance the system, taking bikes to where they are needed. City officials seem a bit overwhelmed. “For the moment, it will not grow anymore,” said Ramón Ferreiro, an official with Bicing. “We now have to consolidate and start working so that maintenance is adequate, and improve the system at all levels.” Even with the growing pains, José Monllor, a graduate student, says he now rides to class instead of driving his car. “It stays in the parking lot,” he said of his car. “It’s stupid to drive.” The impact of bike-sharing on traffic or emissions is difficult to quantify because converts include people like Mr. Monllor, who would have driven, as well as those who would have taken public transportation. Officials in Lyon, one of the first cities to institute a large technology-driven bike program, estimate that bike-sharing has eliminated tons of pollutants since its inception in 2005. But more than that, they say, it has changed the face of the city. “The critical mass of bikes on the road has pacified traffic,” said Gilles Vesco, vice mayor in charge of the program in Lyon. “Now, the street belongs to everybody and needs to be better shared. It has become a more convivial public space.”

Bicycles and Bicycling
Transit Systems
Commuting
Barcelona (Spain)
Europe


The Promise of Grace Hartigan, and the Letdowns

Abstract: In 1958, Grace Hartigan was the only woman included in the influential exhibition “The New American Painting” at the Museum of Modern Art, which toured Europe and established Abstract Expressionism as the pre-eminent style in contemporary art. Her reputation as a hot young painter was set in motion, and over the following decade her work was shown in countless exhibitions at home and abroad. Soon she was in the collection of nearly every major American museum. After her early triumph, Ms. Hartigan , who died last year at 86, continued to evolve as a painter, shifting away from the pure abstraction of her early years. She had some success blurring the division between abstraction and representation, as a new exhibition at Guild Hall illustrates. But the show also reveals that few of her later works match the emotion, energy and intensity of the early abstracts. The exhibition is arranged more or less chronologically, which makes it easy to chart the artist’s stylistic evolution. The earliest pieces here, “San Miguel” (1949), “Untitled” (1949) and “Donna” (1951), trespass a little on Jackson Pollock’s territory, combining colorful smudges, swirls and splotches of paint, but nonetheless suggest a fiercely individual creative intelligence at work. It is hard to believe that all these works were produced before the artist was 30. Some interesting mid-1950s still lifes follow, noteworthy for the artist’s fusion of different painting techniques and an occasional experiment with expressive distortion. For me, these works are among the most understated but beautiful of the almost 40 paintings, watercolors and lithographs included in the exhibition, which was assembled by Mikaela Sardo Lamarche, a guest curator. They also point to the artist’s turn toward figuration, which would preoccupy her in the 1960s. The best of the paintings from the 1960s, “Male Image” (1966) and “The Suitor” (1967), are marvelously dynamic compositions, characterized by swirls of strong, semi-abstract shapes and forms outlined in black. Turbulent is a word that comes to mind, although there is also something intensely intelligent and elegant about them. Here the artist is channeling some of that earlier youthful inspiration, without the randomness and eclecticism. The figurative paintings of the mid-1970s are quite different again — different in a good way, though the colorful, childlike simplicity of the imagery may come as a bit of a surprise. I like these paintings, especially works like “Bestiary” (1974) and “Have You Ever Seen Spain?” (1974), which combine imagination and humor. The latter work, for instance, giddily jumbles together references to Spanish culture, ranging from images of women wearing folkloric costumes to Picasso paintings. Four more paintings from this period show off Ms. Hartigan’s excellent talents as a colorist, especially “Bread Sculpture” (1977) and “Dolls” (1976), both of which resemble a cross between a Matisse painting and an episode of “South Park.” The mood in these works seems more one of playful escape than any concern with social, political or aesthetic issues. From here, disappointingly, the exhibition goes downhill as it tracks Ms. Hartigan’s stylistic twists and turns over the last few decades of her life. She continued painting, even experimenting, but the results were very mixed. Here and there flashes of her former genius shine through, as in the collage “Gulf of Mexico” (1987), in which the artist uses overlapping forms and multiple layers of imagery to convey a three-dimensional coastal scene. It is an innovative, even courageous work for a 65-year-old artist, especially one whose career was built as a painter. Unexplained in the exhibition catalog or on wall labels, it is the most enigmatic and perhaps the most interesting work in the show. Alas, there are an awful lot of duds among the paintings in this exhibition, quite a few of them on loan from the estate of the artist, according to the museum’s checklist. This is disappointing, especially given that several of Ms. Hartigan’s best works are in the collections of New York museums. Ms. Hartigan is an important mid-20th-century American artist, but you wouldn’t know it based on some of the art here.


Marv Albert to Call N.F.L. Games for CBS

Abstract: Marv Albert will call N.F.L. games for CBS Sports starting this season, if there is one, but will give up announcing games for the Nets on the YES Network. Albert said the initial offer to call N.F.L. games for CBS came during the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament, which he was calling for CBS and Turner Sports, his primary employer for N.B.A. broadcasts on TNT. “It wasn’t something I was looking for,” he said. Albert will continue to call the N.C.A.A. tournament, as well as N.B.A. games for TNT. CBS has not assigned him a partner, and although he will be below Jim Nantz, the network’s No. 1 N.F.L. announcer, Albert said that he had been promised “significant games.” Albert has lengthy football experience. From 2002 to 2009, he called “Monday Night Football” on Westwood One Radio. And during a 19-year tenure at NBC Sports that ended in 1997, he called N.F.L. games with partners like Cris Collinsworth, Bill Parcells and Paul Maguire. Albert became the lead voice of the Nets in 2005 after three decades of calling the Knicks on radio and television. “It would have been nicer if the Nets had more success,” he said, “but the hope is that Deron Williams will stay and they will attract other players. And they have to get the arena done and move in there.”

Football
Television
CBS Corp
Albert Marv


Texans Re-sign Brandon Weeden

Abstract: The Houston Texans have re-signed quarterback Brandon Weeden. He joined the Texans last season after several injuries at the position. He appeared in two games with one start and helped the Texans to wins in both games. Weeden started last season with the Dallas Cowboys as Tony Romo’s backup. He lost all three starts after Romo was injured, then was released. Weeden will remain in a backup role with the Texans, who signed Brock Osweiler to a $72 million contract.

Football
Sports injury
Houston Texans
Brandon Weeden


Deadliest Day: Sherpas Bear Everest’s Risks

Abstract: NEW DELHI — The Sherpas always go first, edging up the deadly flank of Everest while international clients wait for days in the base camp below. They set off in the dark, before the day’s warmth causes the ice to shift. They creep one by one across ladders propped over crevasses, burdened with food and supplies, all the while watching the great wall of a hanging glacier, hoping that this season will not be the year it falls. On Friday, however, it did. Around 6:30 a.m., as the Sherpas were tethered to ropes, a chunk of ice broke off, sending an avalanche of ice and snow down into the ice fields on the mountain’s south side and engulfing about 30 men. The toll, at 12 dead, with four still missing, is the worst in a single day in the history of Everest, climbers and mountaineering experts said. The disaster has focused attention on the Sherpas, members of an ethnic group known for their skill at high-altitude climbing, who put themselves at great risk for the foreign teams that pay them. Among their most dangerous tasks is fixing ropes, carrying supplies and establishing camps for the clients waiting below, exposing themselves to the mountains first. A Sherpa typically earns around $125 per climb per legal load, which the Nepalese government has set at around 20 pounds, though young men will double that to earn more, guides say. Raised on stories of wealth earned on expeditions, they also have very little choice, coming from remote places where there is little opportunity other than high-altitude potato farming. Friday’s avalanche, which killed no foreigners, left many thinking about this calculation. “All the hard work is done by Sherpas, that is the reality,” said Pasang Sherpa of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association . “The client will say, ‘I did the summit three times, four times.’ That is our guest, and we have to accept it. Our job is to make a good scale for the clients, to make this comfortable. We have to do that.” “Normally our culture is like, we say, ‘The client is our god,’ ” he added. The Sherpas were spread out at an elevation of about 19,000 feet when the avalanche hit, crossing a notorious area known by some locals as the Golden Gate because of the shape of its ice formations, Pasang Sherpa said. Climbers try to pass it as quickly as possible, but they have no choice but to edge across ladders one by one, stretching the crossing to 20 or 30 minutes, he said. Typically, he added, the teams try to cross before sunrise, when rising temperatures may cause shifts in the ice. “This morning, our friends started a little late,” Pasang Sherpa said. “They arrived at quarter to seven.” Tim Rippel, who is leading a group of mountaineers on the mountain with his company Peak Freaks , wrote on his company’s website that the Sherpas had been moving slowly, hauling “the mountainous loads of equipment, tents, stoves, oxygen and so on up to stock camps.” He was on the phone from base camp just before 7 a.m. local time when an ice chunk began to fall, causing the avalanche, said his wife, Becky Rippel. Video Even as rescue teams attempted to reach victims of the Mount Everest avalanche, Dawa Yanju, the sister-in-law of a survivor, Dawa Tashi, described what happened. Credit Credit Narendra Shrestha/European Pressphoto Agency The mountaineers were following a popular southern route up Everest from the Nepalese side, but this route means they have to pass underneath the western shoulder and its moving glacier. Mr. Rippel had been watching the glacier, which is a well-known problem, in recent days but did not think it looked as dangerous as it had in the past, Ms. Rippel said. In the post on his website, Mr. Rippel described watching search and rescue efforts. “I sat and counted 13 helicopter lifts,” he wrote, “12 were dead bodies flying overhead, suspended by long-line from a helicopter.” “Everyone is shaken here at base camp. Some climbers are packing up and calling it quits. They want nothing to do with this,” Mr. Rippel wrote. Between 350 to 450 Sherpas are hired above the base camp during the two-month season, said Richard Salisbury, who works on the Himalayan Database , a record of Everest climbs. Apoorva Prasad, the founder of The Outdoor Journal , an Indian lifestyle and adventure magazine, described it as “very dirty work,” laborious and dangerous. “These are the guys going up the mountain every season in the least safe way possible,” he said. Foreigners are increasingly bringing their own guides, and, in an attempt to secure their livelihoods, Nepal this year proposed requiring outsiders to hire a local guide for any ascent above 26,000 feet. One such team hit a tense point last April , when three European climbers fought with a group of local guides between two camps. Some Sherpas said the foreign climbers had ascended ahead of their guides while they were fixing lines, violating the custom in Everest climbing. Nima Nuru Sherpa, the first vice president of Nepal Mountaineering Association , said there was little question that Sherpas take more risks on Everest, mainly because they go ahead to fix lines and set up camp for paying clients. “Today the incident happened, so we are just feeling sorry about ourselves,” he said. “The day-to-day life is very tense. We never know what will happen. So we are not at peace. It’s a scary profession, a scary job.” The Himalayan Times identified the dead as Mingma Nuru Sherpa, Dorji Sherpa, Ang Tshiri Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Phurba Ongyal Sherpa, Lakpa Tenjing Sherpa, Chhiring Ongchu Sherpa, Dorjee Khatri, Then Dorjee Sherpa, Phur Temba Sherpa, Pasang Karma Sherpa and Asman Tamang. The missing were identified as Tenzing Chottar Sherpa, Ankaji Sherpa, Pem Tenji Sherpa and Ash Bahadur Gurung. Nima Nuru Sherpa said the men’s families would consult lamas, or holy men, to determine the most auspicious time to burn their bodies. He said he knew all the men reported dead, but was closest to Ankaji Sherpa, who was a member of his association and a friend. “It’s too terrible for us, it’s very sad for us, it’s sad,” he said. “I say God will take him to the right heaven.”

Avalanche
Mountaineering
Sherpa
Mount Everest
Nepal


For Now, U.S. Bars Pacts With I.B.M.

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — I.B.M. is under investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency over an $80 million bid it made in 2006 to modernize E.P.A. financial systems and has been suspended from seeking new contracts with all federal agencies, the company said on Monday. In addition, I.B.M. said the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia had served I.B.M. and certain employees with grand jury subpoenas requesting testimony and documents on interactions between the E.P.A. and I.B.M. employees. International Business Machines, the world’s largest provider of computer services, said it learned on Friday of the temporary suspension, which it said was tied to possible violations of ethical bidding provisions on an E.P.A. contract I.B.M. had submitted in March 2006. The temporary suspension applies to all federal agencies and I.B.M. business units. I.B.M. may continue work on existing contracts as of the date of the suspension, unless a particular agency directs otherwise, the company said in a statement. An I.B.M. spokesman, Fred McNeese, said the company had been blindsided by the government suspension. The company plans to cooperate in the investigation but will fight to limit the scope of its suspension from bidding on new contracts, he said. Jonathan Shradar, an E.P.A. spokesman, said the contract at issue was never awarded. He declined to provide further details.

Environment
International Business Machines Corp
Environmental Protection Agency


With One Battle Over in Scotland, Another Begins

Abstract: AUCHTERARDER, Scotland — With one struggle concluded and another set to begin, this ancient slate-gray town in the russet-leaved approaches to the Scottish Highlands has been busy in recent days, swapping the political passions of last week for the breezier enthusiasms involved in preparing for what many local residents regard as the greatest sporting event ever to be staged in Scotland. With days to go before the first round of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, a golf resort three miles from Auchterarder, townspeople have chosen to move beyond the divisive feelings stirred by Thursday’s vote on whether Scotland should break its bond with Britain and retake the independence it lost in the Acts of Union of 1707. Fifty miles southwest, in Glasgow — one of only four districts in the 32 across Scotland that voted to secede — festering resentments erupted in scattered violence on Friday. In Auchterarder, though, there has been “nae bother” in the wake of the vote, as some here expressed it. Perth and Kinross, the central belt region that includes Auchterarder, was one of the districts that voted most strongly to reject independence, 60.2 percent to 39.8; the margin across Scotland was 10.6 percentage points. In the aftermath of the referendum, what many here refer to as “the cleanup” has progressed from taking down political emblems to grooming sidewalks and touching up the paint of local hotels, which sold out all their rooms months ago, as did almost all the hotels within 50 miles of Gleneagles; 135,000 Ryder Cup ticket holders are expected to arrive for the three days of the tournament, which begins Friday. Among business people in Auchterarder, two words have been repeated at almost every turn since the referendum result came in: “It’s over,” people said, referring both to the vote and to its bitter divisions, as a visitor conducted an impromptu poll at grocery stores, bakeries, real estate offices and main street eateries, like Cocoa Mountain. That cafe is run by Carol Wood, who is also the chairwoman of a committee negotiating with Ryder Cup officials over issues affecting the town. These include creating a sealed ring around Gleneagles for all but Cup-sanctioned vehicles, including the buses that will ferry in ticket holders from up to an hour away, and controlling through traffic on a nearby highway, which will be allowed into the town only on a restricted basis. Image A view along the main street in Auchterarder, Scotland, where locals have cleaned up the area by taking down political emblems, grooming sidewalks and touching up the paint of local hotels. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times Wood, who led a bitter fight on behalf of local companies against an earlier plan that appeared likely to stifle business in the town for two weeks or more, is more relaxed now. “We were very disillusioned,” she said, describing a feeling that local businesses would be the losers in an event that is expected to generate up to $250 million in revenue for the European Ryder Cup organization and for other businesses directly linked to the tournament in Gleneagles. One story being passed around was that the owner of a local estate had struck a deal with visiting Americans for about $170,000 to rent his mansion and its helicopter landing pad for the week. Wood said she was now satisfied that enough customers would be allowed to filter into Auchterarder to keep local store owners happy. But concerns have not abated among the townspeople. As Constable Euan Mitchell, assigned by Police Scotland as a community liaison officer for the months leading up to the Cup, handed out leaflets over the weekend declaring Auchterarder to be “open for business” during the competition, he was pressed by agitated residents who worried that they would not be able to walk their dogs, send their mail or go to church. “You’ll be fine, ma’am; you can stop for as long as it takes to post your letter,” he told one elderly woman who said she worried about getting a parking fine for stopping at a mailbox on a street where parking had been banned for the Cup. Other concerns have been raised at Auchterarder Golf Club, which has been forced to suspend play on its sixth hole for the duration of the Cup after officials ruled that “wildly errant shots” by club members could cross a boundary fence and strike players and spectators on the 15th hole of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Centenary Course at Gleneagles that will be used for the Cup. Last-minute preparations have been underway across Gleneagles. Every road and pathway has been busy with golf carts, mobile cranes and trucks. Fairways are being groomed and regroomed, with some of the tractor-drawn mowers flying two flags — one the United States’ stars and stripes, the other the blue flag of Ryder Cup Europe. The marquees, too, have a nonpartisan air, with one inscription, 30 feet high, quoting Tom Watson, the 65-year-old captain of the American team, on his delight at serving as a Ryder Cup captain for a second time, after his victory as captain in 1993. Watson’s five victories in the British Open — four of them on Scottish courses, although none at Gleneagles — have made him a hugely popular figure among visitors, both European and American, as he tries to end a run in which the United States has been defeated in five of the last six Ryder Cups. Image Working on the grounds of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, a golf resort three miles from the town of Auchterarder. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times Although local bookmakers have made Europe the favorite, the sense among many visiting the course in recent days has been that an American victory to redeem the team’s loss at the last Cup, in 2012 — when Europe won an astonishing eight of the 12 last-day singles matches at Medinah, outside Chicago, to retain the trophy by a single point, 14 ½ to 13 ½ — would be almost as much of a crowd-pleaser. Lapel buttons with Watson’s image have been even more popular than booster buttons for Rory McIlroy, a 25-year-old from Northern Ireland who will lead the European players. Since the referendum, nobody associated with the Cup management has been prepared to say that there will be no instances of political celebration or embitterment among the Scots and the English likely to predominate among the spectators — no boisterously waved Union Jacks or Saltires, no placards smuggled past the elaborate security net and no shouted slogans as the 24 European and American players stand over their strokes. A precedent of a kind was set at Wimbledon last year, when Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party, unfurled a Saltire hidden in his wife’s handbag. He waved the flag behind the back of the British prime minister, David Cameron, as Andy Murray, a Scot who grew up in Dunblane, 15 miles southwest of Gleneagles, became the first Briton to win the men’s singles title in 75 years. Murray set off something of a political firestorm on Thursday when he seemed to end his equivocation about the referendum with a last-minute Twitter post that concluded with “lets do this!” The message prompted angry retorts online from tennis fans who vowed to boo and otherwise upset Murray in future Wimbledon appearances, but the four English and Scottish golfers competing at Gleneagles have — perhaps wisely — mostly kept their own counsel on the independence issue. Perhaps the most notable declaration before the vote came from Colin Montgomerie, a Scot who is among the most successful contestants in the Ryder Cup’s history and who resides for part of the year at a home he owns near Auchterarder. An eight-time Cup competitor, as well as Europe’s nonplaying captain for its win in Wales in 2010, Montgomerie, now a regular on the senior tour, has a status, financially and professionally, that may have made it easier for him to speak out against independence. But for all that, Montgomerie, who is not part of the European team this year, took care to make his argument on strictly dispassionate grounds: the potential dent independence might make in his fortune. “Going independent would cost everyone a lot of money in Scotland,” he said in an interview published in the magazine Global Golf Post this summer. “Who’ll pay for it? The taxpayer — and that’s me, and I don’t want it.”

Golf
Scotland
Referendum
Great Britain
Ryder Cup