ThomasDenton

Just saw on the news where the Saudi national who was a "person of interest" turned witness was actually to be deported on Tuesday (don't know if it was last Tuesday or this coming Tuesday) for having connections to terrorist organizations and posing a national threat, but after all this came out, the government suddenly changed their mind. Probably caught a lot of flack for wanting to deport a person connected with terrorists.

FWIW this wasn't a fertilizer plant (where they make fertilizer) but a fertilizer retail facility (where they store and sell it I guess). I didn't watch the videos until now. Dang.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fertilizer-plant-explosion-leaves-more-than-100-wounded-in-central-texas/2013/04/18/14fa7cb2-a7ef-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html Explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, TX, injured an estimated 160 people and killed between 5 and 15 people. Some first responder fire fighters are reported missing. Those first responders were responding to a fire in the plant and were trying to evacuate everyone when they realized that the fire could spark an explosion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/injured-saudi-is-a-witness-not-a-suspect-in-boston-bombing/2013/04/16/791de708-a6ad-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_story.html Not sure if this is the same person in your article, but thought it was interesting. I remember not long after the bombing that the news reported that a Saudi national was arrested as a suspect....then nothing on it for a long time as they reported other suspects seen in videos/pictures.

Has anyone else been having trouble with YouTube? Seems like every time I try to watch a video now it says "an error has occured. please try again later." But luckily I've seen this video before and think it's hilarious. I love Key and Peele.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/17/17794663-feds-arrest-suspect-in-ricin-positive-letters-sent-to-obama-senator?lite The FBI arrested some guy in Mississippi who they believe sent the letters. He even put his initials in each letter.

Just saw where the hacker group Anonymous hacked the Westboro Baptist Church's Facebook page after they said they'd picket the Boston Marathon bombing victims' funerals. http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/04/17/Westboro-Baptist-Church-Facebook-page-hacked/9571366211710/

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/17/17794663-letter-sent-to-obama-tests-positive-for-ricin-officials-say?lite

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-j-winograd/peta-kills-puppies-kittens_b_2979220.html

http://now.msn.com/maryland-institutes-rain-tax-to-raise-money-for-chesapeake-bay-estuary?ocid=ansnowex

http://www.tricities.com/news/local/article_577a58ea-a200-11e2-961d-0019bb30f31a.html What's the deal with Congress? Either try and help fix the Postal Service or just get rid of it altogether. Stop making things worse!

At least it wasn't Jersey Shore. I don't think I've ever watched a more ridiculous show.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=801543&ocid=ansent11 MTV has decided to cancel Buckwild. Gandee's family support the move, but the shows producer and many fans don't.

I've got a lot of respect for VHS for all they've done for Coach P during this ordeal. Lots of schools in the area have really supported Coach P and Battle during this rough time. Post the pic on here if you can get it.

Don't forget the fight by Jim Sacco How could he not know? He had to be playing coy. Or maybe, just maybe, Kevin Perrigan didn’t want to take the spotlight off players, his kids, his athletes and shine it on himself and his struggles. He didn’t have to; the community did it for him. But, still. That night, the man they call “Coach P†claimed it wasn’t about him, his fight or the stupid, stinking throat cancer that was ravaging his body. It was a football game and it was all for the players. It’s tough to remember exactly what night it was, to pinpoint the game or to recall what he was wearing. Was it warm? What it cold? Was it a playoff game against Giles, or maybe Virginia High? Yes. It was cold. The kind of night that makes you plop $1 down for a semi-hot, kind-of brown cup of water that passes as “coffee†at a high school football game; when you pulled the cap down tight around ever-numbing ears and zipped the coat up to your chin. Other than that, it’s tough to recall. The calendar flips, warm weather turns cold and back again; dates, much like names and faces, tend to melt into one. What Perrigan said, however, is easy to remember. “It’s not about me, it’s about them.†And he said it with that off-kilter smile – the bandage on his neck pushing folds of skin up to his cheek making his face uneven. What he said boggled the mind. How could he not see it? How could he not know that, yes, it was about him? The smiles and applause showered his way as he gingerly walked down from the press box and across the field were right there, for all to hear. Each win, some player telling you that it was “for Coach P.†Wasn’t it obvious the whole community came together for him? He shrugged and smiled again, not answering. Last spring, before the John Battle softball team left the dugout for its state semifinal game in Salem, Va., the girls wondered if Coach P was there. He eventually made it, mere hours after treatment in Johnson City, Tenn., to fend off the cancerous growth that was jutting out of the right side of his jaw. Not just two hours and 43 minutes in a car to see the softball team, but 175 miles post-treatment to catch the baseball team as well. It played the same day at nearly the same time just up the street. He went there, too. “It would have been tough to miss,†he said the next day, after the Trojans lost to Eastside. After his friend, and softball coach, Ike Anderson cried on the field – not for the loss, but for his friend. Someone, Anderson said, who was like a brother. Someone, Anderson said, he would have loved to hand a trophy to. Perrigan looked tired that day in June, but on that cold night of football he looked different. The color was back in his skin and his voice sounded stronger – the peaks and valleys of a bout with cancer. And what he said made you shake your head. He didn’t know, or wouldn’t admit, what Keep on the Sunny Side – a saying that turned into a hashtag (#KOTSS) on Twitter and eventually found its way onto marquees between Exit 7 and 10 – was doing for the team and community. Seriously, coach, you don’t see it? Those people came up with KOTSS for you. He only smiled again and looked off to the football field, shook my hand and said, “See you next game?†He drove off, not waiting for an answer. It would be the last time we talked in person. “I’m not sure why the community took up my cause,†Perrigan said in March, “but it is greatly appreciated.†On Sunday, April 7, the fight got the best of Perrigan and KOTSS became Forever on the Sunny Side. Simply because you know he is. Simply because you’ll always remember.

Heard today that Coach Kevin Perrigan has passed away. He had recently been placed in hospice as his condition turned worse. Prayers go out to his family and the John S. Battle community.

I guess we'll see what happens on April 15 (the apparent date that NK is going to do....something).

I think Kim Jong Un is trying his very best to just provoke the US or SK to conduct some kind of pre-emptive strike so they can go all out and maybe get China on their side. It's starting to look like a big game of chicken.

In the CMD, Battle and GC are struggling a bit right now and I haven't heard anything on Lee. Most seem to think that it's VHS's to lose (and that's probably true), but Lebanon is playing really well right now and may take it from VHS. I just hope that Battle and GC can figure something out. GC I think is still shaking off basketball and one of their main guys might still be out. Battle is kind of young this year.

My brother broke his leg in a football game his senior year pretty much the same way, broke both the tibia and fibula, and was up walking in no time. Was just a couple of weeks and he was already walking some without crutches, so it's not too surprising (to me at least) that he's up walking in this pic. Still a gruesome injury though. Might come back from it, might not, but I'd say either way, he won't be 100%.

http://www.tricities.com/news/local/article_a2c4e3c0-9a39-11e2-b600-001a4bcf6878.html#.UViU3TAwMGM.facebook

I hope it makes a comeback, and soon. I miss watching ETSU football. I wonder where the new stadium will be?

Seems like Virginia Intermont's athletics department is doing something right (and with a lot of local athletes as well). In the last couple of years, the volleyball, mens and womens basketball, baseball, and softball teams have come a long, long way and are being competitive now. Of course, the Equestrian teams are always competitive (I think VI won something like their 15th national title last year). And on a non-athletic note, the college has brought back certain majors and sports recently and has been going through a lot of renovations to the college (just got a new roof for the gym). Financially, the college still isn't 100% where it wants to be (if you see all the bad news about those SACS reports, just know that VI volunteers to be reviewed by them and the SACS committee can't shut VI down...they just use SACS to review their finances for them as a third party), but the college is definitely way better off than it was a few years ago and isn't shutting down anytime soon. Baseball: http://www.tricities.com/sports/article_c3cf9bf0-9813-11e2-b8e2-001a4bcf6878.html Softball: http://www.tricities.com/sports/article_044a4e68-968f-11e2-9433-0019bb30f31a.html Dressage (Equine...aka horse riding): http://www.tricities.com/sports/article_2c927440-975c-11e2-bed3-001a4bcf6878.html

Couldn't remember if I or someone else had posted this on here yet (district games in bold.....at least until something else changes, lol): 8/30 @ Abingdon 9/6 Virginia High 9/13 Holston 9/20 Lebanon 9/27 @ Patrick Henry 10/4 Honaker 10/11 @ Central (W) 10/18 OPEN 10/25 Gate City 11/1 @ Lee 11/8 @ Union Not sure who homecoming will be against (my guess is either Lebanon or Honaker). Senior night is against GC.

Fort drops to D1 (1A in the new terms) next year, so it'll be 2 AA teams and 4 1A teams.