Daily Archives: October 15, 2021

DENMARK, Wis. (NBC 26) Some teams reward their top players with helmet stickers. Others give out the game ball. This season, Denmark High School is starting a new, more unique tradition.

Each Tuesday, the Vikings' four players of the week each get to take a swing at "The Rock," a one-ton granite boulder that sits right outside Denmark's field.

"It's pretty metaphorical but it's also an actual rock so that's our mantra of the year," senior linebacker/fullback Kenny Satori said.

"I've swung at it a couple times and it's fun every time," senior lineman Owen DeGrand said.

"The Rock" was taken from a nearby quarry. After players missed out on several valuable team bonding experiences last season due to COVID-19, head coach Tom Neuman said he wanted to find something new to bring the team together.

He said the idea was inspired by UW-Whitewater. The Division III powerhouse has used the slogan "Pound the Rock" for years.

"It all goes back to the Stonemasons," Neuman explained. "It's not the 101st blow that splits the rock. It's the 100 that came before it."

A reminder to the team to play not only for themselves, but for others that make up the past and future of the program.

"It comes down to this: The ones that came before us and the ones that came after," DeGrand explained. "So it's the kids that don't have the experience. They have never been in this spot for a conference championship. And we are. So now it's up to us to bring it back for them."

"That's kind of the mentality I wanted these guys to take," Neuman said. "Come to practice every day, work their hardest.

"There's going to be adversity that's as big and as heavy as that rock. But if we keep hitting it, then we can get through anything."

The Vikings have a chance to claim their first conference championship since 2007. They play arch-rival Luxemburg-Casco Friday night. If the Spartans win, they win the North Eastern Conference outright. If the Vikings win, the two teams will share the conference title.

The game will be televised on Sports Showdown. Coverage starts Friday at 7:00 p.m. on WACY TV-32.

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Denmark football 'pounding the rock' all the way to potential conference title - WGBA-TV

(Photo: DenisTangneyJr/iStock)Newburgh, New York

Population: 34,293

Newburgh was once dubbed the murder capital of New York, and while the small city on the Hudson River still has its challenges, a wave of investment from New York City transplants is driving a revival. A citywide trend is transforming vacant lots into parks and historic buildings into restaurants, boutique hotels, and artist studios. An event space called Lodger hosts dinners and art shows in a former undertakers office; Wireworks is a new coworking hub and artist studio in a renovated factory; and Graft Cider ages brews in an old textile plant. The town is also near the regions best adventures. Stewart State Forests 20-plus miles of singletrack are just west of town, the multi-pitch trad routes of the Shawangunk Mountains (a.k.a. the Gunks) are 30 minutes north, and the Hudson River offers paddling galore only steps from downtown. G.A.

Population: 2,806

The state recently began an initiative that pays remote workers $12,000 to move to certain townsand also covers a years worth of outdoor recreation. The smart ones will skip the perks and head straight for Fayetteville. Sitting on the edge of our newest national park, New River Gorge, with a footprint not much bigger than its small town square, Fayetteville has two world-class rivers in its backyard, the New and the Gauley, as well as more than 3,000 sport and trad routes on sandstone cliffs, paddling on nearby Summersville Lake, and a growing network of mountain-bike trails that starts on the edge of downtown. G.A.

Population: 1,004

Old Fort, surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest and located at the base of the Black Mountains, emptied out when manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas beginning in the eighties. Now some of those buildings are humming with life again. In 2019, Kitsbow Cycling Apparel renovated a former hosiery factory and moved its operations there. Last year, apparel and gear brand Triple Aught Design made the same move to town. Other warehouses are being turned into breweries, coffee shops, and CrossFit gyms. And the great outdoors is just minutes away. The tallest mountains in the East rise above 6,000-plus feet starting from the edge of downtown, offering gravel grinds, road climbs, trophy-trout waters, and ridgetop hiking and backpacking. A new 42-mile multipurpose trail system is in the works, and recreation gems like Kitsuma and Catawba Falls await. G.A.

Population: 24,565

Located in the middle of the Flathead Valley, about 30 miles southwest of Glacier National Park, Kalispell has been the regions agricultural and industrial hub for decades, but several new projects are shifting to tourism and sustainability. The city recently broke ground on the Kalispell Parkline, replacing old railroad tracks to develop a two-mile-long linear park and multi-use trail. The industrial businesses that used to occupy the towns center have moved to the outskirts, making room for stores, restaurants, and multi-family housing. The city wants to keep Kalispell affordable for locals who have called it home for generations. G.A.

Population: 5,000

This out-of-the-way place, located at the eastern end of Highway 50 an hour northwest of Great Basin National Park, has a thriving mountain-bike scene thats only getting better. To add to the 50 miles of existing singletrack that starts at the edge of downtown, the local trail club and tourism bureau are building 51 more miles: a 30-mile stretch south to 10,936-foot Ward Mountain, and a 21-mile system north to the Garnet Hill Recreation Area, a rockhounding site. Both projects, funded by a grant from the International Mountain Biking Association, are expected to be completed in a few years. G.A.

Population: 1,047

A lot of locals left Rangeley, 120 miles north of Portland, six years ago, when the Saddleback Mountain ski resort closed. Those who stuck around focused on diversifying the areas outdoor draws and capitalizing on its location along the shores of 6,000-acre Rangeley Lake. Locals opened a brewery and bike shop, and in December 2020, Saddleback Mountain reopened under new ownership. It now has a lift system that serves a 440-acre area with 2,000 feet of vertical drop and numerous fat-bike trails. If thats not enough, Sugarloaf, the largest ski resort in the East, is located just 29 miles away and has a 450-acre expansion in the works. G.A.

Population: 28,878

Desert Hot Springs has always been about relaxation, thanks to numerous mineral-water pools that dot the parched landscape. Recently, it has leaned into another natural form of leisure: marijuana. The historic spa town, 100 miles east of Los Angeles, was the first in California to legalize cultivation. The decision saved it from bankruptcy by generating a viable tax base, and in December the town council voted to lean further into cannabis tourism by legalizing the sale and consumption of weed at entertainment venues and hotels. As for the great outdoors, Desert Hot Springs sits just south of both Sand to Snow National Monument and Joshua Tree National Park, and the brand-new, 12-mile Long Canyon Trail connects less-frequented areas within the two sites. G.A.

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Where to Live Now (and in the Rapidly Changing Future) - Outside

Oxford Mail readers have been discussing the reliability of bus services in the city.

We asked readers on the newspapers Facebook page: Have you noticed more buses being cancelled recently?" and they responded with their views.

Bus companies sometimes put out warnings to passengers that services will be delayed if roadworks are causing gridlock.

On September 21, there were major delays across the city centre due to roadworks and Oxford Bus Company tweeted a warning to passengers that services were being delayed by 90 minutes.

Read again: Police find stash of illegal cigarettes

The company said at the time: The city is now gridlocked this evening as well, we are currently experiencing severe delays of up to 90 minutes on some routes.

The 3/3A, City5 and Abingdon services are most affected. Thank you for your patience during these difficult conditions.

Major roadworks on Botley Road undertaken by Thames Water have now been completed, which has significantly reduced traffic delays.

There were also bus cancellations and delays due to congestion in the city centre in October 2019.

Oxford Bus Company at the time warned its passengers: Traffic on Botley Road and Abingdon Road showing no signs of easing. Congestion is also affecting Frideswide Square/Rail Station and St Giles and Banbury Road.

Some readers on Facebook criticised bus services while others said they had not experienced any particular problems.

One former bus driver commented, saying he had received abuse from a minority of passengers and this had forced him to quit.

Read more: Headteacher's warning about bridge

GARRET COYLE: I left because I was fed up with abuse from passengers, not all passengers I may add, but when too much abuse takes its toll and then I felt myself getting angry most days and having re occurring nightmares due to my service in the army, only one option I had and that was to leave the industry.

A lot of passengers were great, but some are very ungrateful for the job we try to do and keep everyone happy.

ALAN BEAMES: The fastest way to improve the health of Oxford residents would be to cancel them all (the buses).

JOANNA HORTON: Alan Beames Not everyone can walk or drive a car.

THOMAS SAUNDERS: Alan Beames great lots more cars on the road more traffic and pollution.

OXFORD MAIL READER: They are literally never on time.

OXFORD MAIL READER: Thats because of car drivers causing traffic jams.

Try doing the job before moaning about buses being late.

LISA LING: Why are they cancelling buses?"

ROSY REED: That was happening so bad before Covid on the Aylesbury to Oxford 280.

ABBEY CASTANHEIRA: Yes - so annoying when not notified.

JAMES KIRTLAND: Not enough buses.

STEPHANIE HANCOCK: Yes - the X3 from the John Radcliffe keeps being changed to Abingdon instead of the six-minute Barton Park route.

CHRIS DRISCOLL: Yes - its annoying not being notified. Has happened twice now.

NIKI GILES: Cancel them all.

KAREN ELLWOOD: There are not enough drivers and the drivers they have are working flat out for weeks without a day off to help.

NICK ROCKALL: Yes one out of service.

CRAIG SMITH: Bus drivers are jumping on to HGVs with the better rates of pay.

MICHAEL LARMAN: Craig Smith but HGV drivers are refusing to drive for a living because of poor rates of pay and long hours. You couldnt make it up.

KATHRYN WHITBY: Good Lord! That cancel culture is endemic!

PHIL REAY: I cannot say I have. Is it time to panic, is that where this is leading where we have sit-ins on buses?

GOWHARA NOOR: We need buses on electric with no drivers.

MICHAEL LARMAN: Cancelled? The evidence Im seeing is they are now doing a door to door service!

JULIAN PHILP: Lets all panic ride the buses.

OXFORD MAIL READER: Bus crisis - go and buy a few.

LEE BENNETT: Well in 2016 around 122 bus services were cancelled.

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How reliable are bus services? Readers have their say - Oxford Mail

Autism in Motion (AIM) Clinics will host a socially distanced Trick-or-Treat event for the Conway autism community. The sensory-friendly event will take place at the AIM Clinics therapy center at 815 S. Donaghey Avenue in Conway from 1-3 p.m. Oct. 30.

AIM Clinics is a leader in the field of ABA therapy and holds a two-year accreditation from Behavioral Health Centers of Excellence (BHCOE).

The AIM Clinics Trick-or-Treat event is open to the public and is free for all community members. It will offer an autism-friendly alternative to traditional trick-or-treating.

Children will be able to trick or treat and receive traditional Halloween candy, sensory toys and other therapeutic items in a sensory-friendly environment. Children are encouraged to wear their own comfortable, sensory-friendly costumes to the event.

AIM Clinics therapists will be stationed throughout the event to provide support and share information on autism services and therapy.

At AIM Clinics, we are committed to providing opportunities for children and teens with autism to engage in community events, AIM Clinics Community Director Ali Thomas said. The flashing lights, spooky noises and trick-or-treating can be challenging and get in the way of festive fall fun. Events like our annual trick-or-treat can help those with sensory sensitivities enjoy important community celebrations in a way that works for them.

The event is free and open to the public. All programing will be special needs-friendly.

About AIM Clinics

The Conway clinic boasts intentionally-designed early childhood therapy spaces, an extraordinary teen space, an autism-friendly sensory room, a large active play space and custom-designed therapy rooms. These features will allow clients to work on language development, functional communication skills, fine and gross motor skills, social skills and other daily living skills to grow and work toward independence.

AIM Clinics Conway belongs to the AIM Clinics family of 29 clinics nationwide. Three of these clinics are located in central Arkansas: one in Conway and two in Little Rock. All locations are now enrolling and accepting new clients. The Conway clinic is currently recruiting clients who will attend the day program and early intervention services. This program is specific for children who are 6-years-old or younger.

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Autism in Motion Clinics to host Trick-or-Treat event - Log Cabin Democrat

Can Tom Brady at 44 years of age possibly replicate his 400+ yard, five touchdown performance against Miami on short rest against the Eagles tonight? Can the Eagles find a way to win another one if the offense once again fails to muster 300 yards like they did in their comeback win over Carolina?

Lets jump into this NFL Week 6 Thursday Night Football matchup with a look at the best Bucs vs. Eagles player props picks.

Unless we totally miss our mark, on a short week with key injuries on both sides of the ball, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to want to win this game the quickest and easiest way possible. If Tom Brady has to throw for 300+ yards, then something went wrong for Tampa Bay. Think of this game like the New England one, but with the added short prep/recovery factor. The Patriots tried to keep everything in front of them and force the Bucs to beat them with the run game. Tampa obliged, rushing the ball 30 times for 120 yards with Brady going just 22-43 for 269 passing yards, his second lowest total of the season.

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Brady similarly failed to top 280 passing yards against Atlanta, also the only game aside from the New England matchup in which he failed to complete over 30 passes.

Regardless of Bradys hand injury, we dont see head coach Bruce Arians risking his teams season by dropping Brady back 40+ times against a talented Philadelphia defensive line if he doesnt have to. Its even less likely to happen when you consider Philadelphias opponents have completed the tenth least passes per game against (21.8), while attempting the sixth fewest (31.6).

Most notably, the Eagles boast the NFLs third best pass defense, allowing just 194.8 yards per game through the air in 2021, a number that drops to just 150.0 yards per game at Lincoln Financial Field, the leagues second best mark.

Leonard Fournette only rushed the ball 12 times against Miami, despite the blowout victory. With Ronald Jones and Giovani Bernard also dependable backs, we expect to see a run-centric attack by the Buccaneers in this one. After all, they will be facing the third-worst rush defense in football, one that allows 142 yards per game on the ground.

Why risk the health of the best quarterback in the history of the game when you can potentially pound the rock 40 or more times and still come away with a win? Arians is smart enough to realize that and if this one gets out of hand like Sundays win over the Dolphins, Blaine Gabbert could even come in for mop up duties, sparing us cheap late yardage tacked onto Bradys stat line.

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It may be about time to make the statement that DeVonta Smith has officially arrived. We had to wonder a bit after the disappointing three-catch, 28-yard performance against Dallas in primetime, but Smith, who was still targeted six times in that game, responded with two huge performances since.

Smith hauled in seven catches against both Kansas City and Carolina, good for 122 and 77 yards, respectively. His 10 and eight respective targets in those games were both team highs, continuing a streak of at least six targets in each game to begin his NFL career.

And, now, the rookie gets to face off against the leagues worst pass defense which allows 314.4 yards per game through the air. With the Bucs often leading games by large margins, opponents are averaging 45 pass attempts against Tampa in 2021, easily a league high.

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Following right in tow is our crucial statistic, completions against, with Tampa Bay allowing more than five more catches per game than any other team (32.8). With Smith now firmly set as Hurts favorite target and facing a depleted secondary playing without starting safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and without two of its three top corners (Sean Murphy-Bunting and Carlton Davis), the Eagles wide receiver should find a ton of opportunities to top this prop bets requirement.

At least one player has caught seven or more balls in every single game against Tampa Bay this season. Smith is the best bet the Eagles have to join this list and the rookie should continue his emergence toward stardom with an active game this Thursday evening.

With Rob Gronkowski still recovering from a rib injury, Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard move to the top of the tight end depth chart in his absence. As we expect a run-heavy attack for Tampa to protect its star quarterback and shorten this game for its aging team (third oldest in the NFL) on the limited rest ahead of Thursday nights, Brate should find himself on the field most often, being the better blocking tight end of the two.

Brate was already the teams first choice as the blocking tight end option in 12 personnel where two tight ends are on the field with two receivers. He has been a dynamic red zone weapon throughout his career and caught the most balls at the tight end position for the Bucs during last seasons playoff run.

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With the Bucs presumably content to pound the rock all night against one of the leagues worst rush defenses, this should set Brate up for some touchdown opportunities off play-action near the goal line.

The Eagles have allowed four touchdowns to tight ends in the last three weeks and have given up nine touchdowns of six yards or less this season, including eight in the last three weeks alone. Five of those eight were passing touchdowns. That will be prime real estate for Brate in this one.

Tampa Bay has amassed four touchdowns to tight ends this season and has scored 13 touchdowns already from 11 yards out or closer. Interestingly, 8 of those 13 were passing touchdowns (61.5%), proving Brady isnt bashful throwing the ball in these spots. Look for Brate, a seeming decoy, to find paydirt in this one.

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The Top Bucs vs. Eagles Player Props Picks - Crossing Broad

Bob Mehr|Memphis Commercial Appeal

When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Daniel de Vis began contemplating a biography of B.B. King one of the most iconic figures in American music he was shocked at what he discovered.

I was stunned when I realized a major bio on him hadnt come out since 1980, when Charlie Sawyer published his book on B.B. And B.B.s own memoirs were almost 25 years old. It felt like there was an opportunity there to tell a big story. I love books that take a huge important person and explain why they are so well known, says de Vis who will discusshis new book, King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King, during a free event at Memphis Listening Lab on Saturday.

For de Vis, each of his books have come with a personal connection. His first biography, Andy and Don a dual portrait of the professional and personal relationship between Andy Griffith and Don Knotts was a matter of family, as de Vis is Knotts' brother-in-law. His next book, "The Comeback," about cycling legend Greg LeMond, was inspired by de Vis's father, a native of Belgium who was a major cycling enthusiast.

de Vis ultimately came to write Kings story through his love of the blues. Raised in Chicago, he grew up seeing the citys great bluesmen in concert as a teenager and studied music before becoming a successful newspaper journalist.

I was always a kind of frustrated music writer. I knew wanted to write some kind of music book. And, for me, B.B. was the ultimate topic. I think hes the only true blues superstar, says de Vis. When you look at his career, he played something like 17,000 gigs in 90 different countries… its incredible. I mean, we sold the foreign rights to this book in places like Estonia. That tells you the reach he had.

de Vis began work on the King book in 2018 three years after Kings May 2015 passing and started his research in the Delta, Memphis and the Mid-South where the musicians early roots lay.

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Riley B. King was born Sept. 16, 1925, in Berclair, Mississippi, between Itta Bena and Indianola. The great-grandson of a slave, his childhood was filled with heartbreak, as he lost most of his family by the time he was a teen. Blues music through the records of Lonnie Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson and via his cousin, the slide guitar master Bukka White had a profound effect on the young King who, between work at the local cotton plantation, would spend Saturday afternoons picking and playing on the street corners of Indianola.

By the late 40s King had moved to the Bluff City, where he soaked up the city's hothouse musical atmosphere. It was the big city to him, says de Vis. He made two pilgrimages to Memphis. The first one was aborted, as he wasnt able to get the foothold he wanted. So he returned to Indianola and returned to life there. But he eventually came back to Memphis for good in 1949.

Before long, he went knocking on the doors of Memphis Black-oriented radio station WDIA, where he made his name as a performer and radio personality. King would rise through the regional entertainment ranks, recording at Sam Phillips fledgling Memphis Recording Service, and releasing his first sides for the Modern and R.P.M. labels. He scored his first hit record, the chart-topping R&B number 3 OClock Blues, in 1952.

B.B. was a citizen of the world, says de Vis, but Memphis was massively important to his history. It was the center of his universe, as much as Chicago was the center of Muddy Waters'or Howlin Wolfs universe.

One of the most interesting aspects of King of the Blues is how it recognizes and contextualizes the fact that King was heralded more, at least initially, as a vocalist than a guitar player.

Throughout B.B.'s early career as an entertainer, in the Black R&B genre, he was almost never celebrated for his guitar work, he was known as the greatest blues singer, over and over again in hundreds of clippings. His fans, the African American press, almost took it for granted that he played guitar, says de Vis.

Its hard to get your head around that now because there was so much adulation for his guitar work later on. But all the way up to (1964s famed) Live at the Regal album hes introduced as ladies and gentlemen… the worlds greatest blues singer.

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It would, however, be Kings innovations as a guitarist that stand as his greatest legacy.

Historically speaking, B.B King created a role for the guitar, for the electric guitar, at the absolute center of popular music, says de Vis. I think its because of B.B. that you have these successive generations of guitar heroes. Guitar was a backbench instrument in 1949 when B.B. recorded his first sides. There werent very many people playing guitars and leading combos. The R&B charts were filled with singers, and singers who played piano or saxophone. The guitar was not at the front and center of R&B music then.

B.B. took this lineage of people who had developed a solo guitar style starting with Lonnie Johnson and Charlie Christian and T-Bone Walker and his big innovation was the idea of the guitar being an extension of his voice, his own singing voice. That set him apart from all the others. He took the vibrato of classical violin and added in the cry of the Hawaiian steel guitar, the plaintive sound of early country and the exhortations of Bob Wills band, and he created this vocal style of solo guitar."

His work would come to resonate profoundly in Britain, where a generation of budding rock guitarists from Eric Clapton to Jeff Beck to Jimmy Page felt his impact in the 1960s. "All these guitar players started listening to him," says de Vis, "and a decade and a half later he was repurposed as a guitar hero.

Beyond the creative aspects, King of the Blues offers a deep investigation into Kings personal life and history as well, and de Vis provides a wealth of new revelations. One claim in the book which Kings estate has pushed back against is that none of Kings 15 children were his. de Viss research suggests that an accident as a boy left King unable to have children of his own, though he would eventually accept numerous paternity claims and support a contingent of sons and daughters.

The way I see it is that B.B. lost his own family when he was young. He was an only child, his brother died in infancy. His mother left his father when he was 5. Then his mother died when he was 10. His grandmother died when he was 14. His family just vanished and evaporated. So I think he spent the rest of his life trying to build a family, says de Vis.

Its really lovely and actually quite poignant that he built and supported this family and he didnt care whether they were his children or not. He embraced every single paternity claim without question… until he didnt. There was a point that he stopped and said the familys full, were done. The fact that they probably werent his biological children is fascinating. I think he just loved and cherished the idea of having a family.

The book also looks at howKing became the blues'biggest starand how he managed to remain a relevant musical figure for seven decades.

Starting in the late-60s with his crossover to the white rock market, and his biggest chart triumph with 1969s Top 20 hit and Grammy-winning single The Thrill Is Gone, King would become a kind of ambassador for the genre, exposing the music to its biggest audiences through his appearances on television, in film and on the road. He continued to tour tirelessly until the end of his life, spending an average of 250 nights on the road most years.

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Every decade brought a kind of renewal for him, says de Vis. In the late '60s he began playing places like the Fillmore, for white pop fans, and then he toured with the Rolling Stones in 1969. By the end of the 1970s, he had his first big comeback LPs as a record maker, working with producer Stewart Levine and the Crusaders, and then by end of the '80s he was working with U2, who worshipped him. He was able to be reinvigorated and reintroduced to mainstream audiences every so often.

Over the course of his career, King would record some 80 albums, and de Vis notes that there'sa scope and breadth to those recordings thats often overlooked.

Considering hes the greatest blues artist, its striking how many dozens of records he made that dont sound anything like 12-bar blues. Some of the really great records he made with (producer) Bill Szymczyk at the close of the 60s or Stewart Levine in the late-70s, theres tons of stuff on those records that doesnt sound like blues. Hes branching out to funk and jazz and rock, all these genres, and at times hes very far removed from Delta blues, says de Vis.

Thats a big part of why he stayed on top for so long. He kept stretching into these different areas. That's why his story is so interesting too hereally was an innovator and a visionary.

Daniel de Vis discusses "King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King"

6:30 p.m. Saturday at Memphis Listening Lab, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 269

The event is free. For more information go to MemphisListeningLab.org.

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'King of the Blues': New revelations mark definitive B.B. King biography - Commercial Appeal