SPC Tornado Watch 125

Note: The Aviation Watch (SAW) product is an approximation to the watch area. The actual watch is depicted by the shaded areas.

    SAW5     WW 125 TORNADO AR IL IN KY MO 181425Z - 182200Z    AXIS..90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF LINE..    40ENE MVN/MOUNT VERNON IL/ - 40SSE HOT/HOT SPRINGS AR/    ..AVIATION COORDS.. 80NM E/W /42NNW PXV - 41N ELD/    HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT..1.5 INCHES. WIND GUSTS..65 KNOTS.    MAX TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22040.        LAT...LON 38528651 33919126 33919440 38528984        THIS IS AN APPROXIMATION TO THE WATCH AREA.  FOR A    COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE WOUS64 KWNS    FOR WOU5.     

Watch 125 Status Report Messages:

 STATUS REPORT #4 ON WW 125  VALID 181845Z - 181940Z  SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES RIGHT OF A LINE FROM 30 WSW PBF TO 30 NNE LIT TO 25 NNW ARG TO 10 SW SLO.  ..MARSH..04/18/13  ATTN...WFO...LZK...MEG...PAH...SGF...  &&  STATUS REPORT FOR WT 125   SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS   ARC001-011-021-025-031-035-037-041-043-055-063-067-069-075-077- 079-085-093-095-107-111-117-121-123-145-147-181940-  AR  .    ARKANSAS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ARKANSAS	     BRADLEY		 CLAY		      CLEVELAND	     CRAIGHEAD		 CRITTENDEN	      CROSS		     DESHA		 DREW		      GREENE		     INDEPENDENCE	 JACKSON	      JEFFERSON	     LAWRENCE		 LEE		      LINCOLN 	     LONOKE		 MISSISSIPPI	      MONROE		     PHILLIPS		 POINSETT	      PRAIRIE 	     RANDOLPH		 ST. FRANCIS	      WHITE		     WOODRUFF		  $$   ILC003-047-055-059-065-069-077-081-087-127-145-151-153-165-181- 185-191-193-199-181940-  IL  .    ILLINOIS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ALEXANDER	     EDWARDS		 FRANKLIN	      GALLATIN	     HAMILTON		 HARDIN 	      JACKSON 	     JEFFERSON		 JOHNSON	      MASSAC		     PERRY		 POPE		      PULASKI 	     SALINE		 UNION		      WABASH		     WAYNE		 WHITE		      WILLIAMSON	      $$   INC051-125-129-147-163-173-181940-  IN  .    INDIANA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  GIBSON		     PIKE		 POSEY		      SPENCER 	     VANDERBURGH	 WARRICK	      $$   KYC007-039-055-075-083-101-105-139-145-157-225-233-181940-  KY  .    KENTUCKY COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BALLARD 	     CARLISLE		 CRITTENDEN	      FULTON		     GRAVES		 HENDERSON	      HICKMAN 	     LIVINGSTON 	 MCCRACKEN	      MARSHALL	     UNION		 WEBSTER	      $$   MOC017-023-031-069-133-143-155-157-181-201-207-223-181940-  MO  .    MISSOURI COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BOLLINGER	     BUTLER		 CAPE GIRARDEAU       DUNKLIN 	     MISSISSIPPI	 NEW MADRID	      PEMISCOT	     PERRY		 RIPLEY 	      SCOTT		     STODDARD		 WAYNE		      $$   THE WATCH STATUS MESSAGE IS FOR GUIDANCE PURPOSES ONLY.  PLEASE REFER TO WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION STATEMENTS FOR OFFICIAL INFORMATION ON COUNTIES...INDEPENDENT CITIES AND MARINE ZONES CLEARED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WATCHES. $$  STATUS REPORT #3 ON WW 125  VALID 181710Z - 181840Z  SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES RIGHT OF A LINE FROM 35 S HOT TO 35 NNW LIT TO 35 SSE UNO TO 35 SSW FAM TO 20 WSW SLO.  ..LEITMAN..04/18/13  ATTN...WFO...LZK...MEG...PAH...SGF...  &&  STATUS REPORT FOR WT 125   SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS   ARC001-011-013-021-023-025-031-035-037-039-041-043-045-053-055- 063-067-069-075-077-079-085-093-095-103-107-111-117-119-121-123- 125-135-145-147-181840-  AR  .    ARKANSAS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ARKANSAS	     BRADLEY		 CALHOUN	      CLAY		     CLEBURNE		 CLEVELAND	      CRAIGHEAD	     CRITTENDEN 	 CROSS		      DALLAS		     DESHA		 DREW		      FAULKNER	     GRANT		 GREENE 	      INDEPENDENCE	     JACKSON		 JEFFERSON	      LAWRENCE	     LEE		 LINCOLN	      LONOKE		     MISSISSIPPI	 MONROE 	      OUACHITA	     PHILLIPS		 POINSETT	      PRAIRIE 	     PULASKI		 RANDOLPH	      ST. FRANCIS	     SALINE		 SHARP		      WHITE		     WOODRUFF		  $$   ILC003-047-055-059-065-069-077-081-087-127-145-151-153-165-181- 185-191-193-199-181840-  IL  .    ILLINOIS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ALEXANDER	     EDWARDS		 FRANKLIN	      GALLATIN	     HAMILTON		 HARDIN 	      JACKSON 	     JEFFERSON		 JOHNSON	      MASSAC		     PERRY		 POPE		      PULASKI 	     SALINE		 UNION		      WABASH		     WAYNE		 WHITE		      WILLIAMSON	      $$   INC051-125-129-147-163-173-181840-  IN  .    INDIANA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  GIBSON		     PIKE		 POSEY		      SPENCER 	     VANDERBURGH	 WARRICK	      $$   KYC007-039-055-075-083-101-105-139-145-157-225-233-181840-  KY  .    KENTUCKY COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BALLARD 	     CARLISLE		 CRITTENDEN	      FULTON		     GRAVES		 HENDERSON	      HICKMAN 	     LIVINGSTON 	 MCCRACKEN	      MARSHALL	     UNION		 WEBSTER	      $$   MOC017-023-031-069-133-143-155-157-181-201-207-223-181840-  MO  .    MISSOURI COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BOLLINGER	     BUTLER		 CAPE GIRARDEAU       DUNKLIN 	     MISSISSIPPI	 NEW MADRID	      PEMISCOT	     PERRY		 RIPLEY 	      SCOTT		     STODDARD		 WAYNE		      $$   THE WATCH STATUS MESSAGE IS FOR GUIDANCE PURPOSES ONLY.  PLEASE REFER TO WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION STATEMENTS FOR OFFICIAL INFORMATION ON COUNTIES...INDEPENDENT CITIES AND MARINE ZONES CLEARED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WATCHES. $$  STATUS REPORT #2 ON WW 125  VALID 181625Z - 181740Z  SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES RIGHT OF A LINE FROM 45 NE TXK TO 20 ENE RUE TO 35 W POF TO 10 WNW FAM.  ..LEITMAN..04/18/13  ATTN...WFO...LZK...MEG...PAH...SGF...  &&  STATUS REPORT FOR WT 125   SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS   ARC001-011-013-019-021-023-025-029-031-035-037-039-041-043-045- 051-053-055-059-063-065-067-069-075-077-079-085-093-095-103-105- 107-111-117-119-121-123-125-135-137-145-147-181740-  AR  .    ARKANSAS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ARKANSAS	     BRADLEY		 CALHOUN	      CLARK		     CLAY		 CLEBURNE	      CLEVELAND	     CONWAY		 CRAIGHEAD	      CRITTENDEN	     CROSS		 DALLAS 	      DESHA		     DREW		 FAULKNER	      GARLAND 	     GRANT		 GREENE 	      HOT SPRING	     INDEPENDENCE	 IZARD		      JACKSON 	     JEFFERSON		 LAWRENCE	      LEE		     LINCOLN		 LONOKE 	      MISSISSIPPI	     MONROE		 OUACHITA	      PERRY		     PHILLIPS		 POINSETT	      PRAIRIE 	     PULASKI		 RANDOLPH	      ST. FRANCIS	     SALINE		 SHARP		      STONE		     WHITE		 WOODRUFF	      $$   ILC003-047-055-059-065-069-077-081-087-127-145-151-153-165-181- 185-191-193-199-181740-  IL  .    ILLINOIS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ALEXANDER	     EDWARDS		 FRANKLIN	      GALLATIN	     HAMILTON		 HARDIN 	      JACKSON 	     JEFFERSON		 JOHNSON	      MASSAC		     PERRY		 POPE		      PULASKI 	     SALINE		 UNION		      WABASH		     WAYNE		 WHITE		      WILLIAMSON	      $$   INC051-125-129-147-163-173-181740-  IN  .    INDIANA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  GIBSON		     PIKE		 POSEY		      SPENCER 	     VANDERBURGH	 WARRICK	      $$   KYC007-039-055-075-083-101-105-139-145-157-225-233-181740-  KY  .    KENTUCKY COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BALLARD 	     CARLISLE		 CRITTENDEN	      FULTON		     GRAVES		 HENDERSON	      HICKMAN 	     LIVINGSTON 	 MCCRACKEN	      MARSHALL	     UNION		 WEBSTER	      $$   MOC017-023-031-035-069-133-143-149-155-157-181-201-207-223- 181740-  MO  .    MISSOURI COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BOLLINGER	     BUTLER		 CAPE GIRARDEAU       CARTER		     DUNKLIN		 MISSISSIPPI	      NEW MADRID	     OREGON		 PEMISCOT	      PERRY		     RIPLEY		 SCOTT		      STODDARD	     WAYNE		  $$   THE WATCH STATUS MESSAGE IS FOR GUIDANCE PURPOSES ONLY.  PLEASE REFER TO WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION STATEMENTS FOR OFFICIAL INFORMATION ON COUNTIES...INDEPENDENT CITIES AND MARINE ZONES CLEARED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WATCHES. $$  STATUS REPORT #1 ON WW 125  VALID 181525Z - 181640Z  THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES ACROSS THE ENTIRE WATCH AREA.  ..LEITMAN..04/18/13  ATTN...WFO...LZK...MEG...PAH...SGF...  &&  STATUS REPORT FOR WT 125   SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS   ARC001-005-011-013-019-021-023-025-029-031-035-037-039-041-043- 045-049-051-053-055-059-063-065-067-069-075-077-079-085-093-095- 097-103-105-107-109-111-115-117-119-121-123-125-135-137-141-145- 147-149-181640-  AR  .    ARKANSAS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ARKANSAS	     BAXTER		 BRADLEY	      CALHOUN 	     CLARK		 CLAY		      CLEBURNE	     CLEVELAND		 CONWAY 	      CRAIGHEAD	     CRITTENDEN 	 CROSS		      DALLAS		     DESHA		 DREW		      FAULKNER	     FULTON		 GARLAND	      GRANT		     GREENE		 HOT SPRING	      INDEPENDENCE	     IZARD		 JACKSON	      JEFFERSON	     LAWRENCE		 LEE		      LINCOLN 	     LONOKE		 MISSISSIPPI	      MONROE		     MONTGOMERY 	 OUACHITA	      PERRY		     PHILLIPS		 PIKE		      POINSETT	     POPE		 PRAIRIE	      PULASKI 	     RANDOLPH		 ST. FRANCIS	      SALINE		     SHARP		 STONE		      VAN BUREN	     WHITE		 WOODRUFF	      YELL		      $$   ILC003-047-055-059-065-069-077-081-087-127-145-151-153-165-181- 185-191-193-199-181640-  IL  .    ILLINOIS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  ALEXANDER	     EDWARDS		 FRANKLIN	      GALLATIN	     HAMILTON		 HARDIN 	      JACKSON 	     JEFFERSON		 JOHNSON	      MASSAC		     PERRY		 POPE		      PULASKI 	     SALINE		 UNION		      WABASH		     WAYNE		 WHITE		      WILLIAMSON	      $$   INC051-125-129-147-163-173-181640-  IN  .    INDIANA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  GIBSON		     PIKE		 POSEY		      SPENCER 	     VANDERBURGH	 WARRICK	      $$   KYC007-039-055-075-083-101-105-139-145-157-225-233-181640-  KY  .    KENTUCKY COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BALLARD 	     CARLISLE		 CRITTENDEN	      FULTON		     GRAVES		 HENDERSON	      HICKMAN 	     LIVINGSTON 	 MCCRACKEN	      MARSHALL	     UNION		 WEBSTER	      $$   MOC017-023-031-035-069-091-133-143-149-155-157-181-201-203-207- 223-181640-  MO  .    MISSOURI COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE  BOLLINGER	     BUTLER		 CAPE GIRARDEAU       CARTER		     DUNKLIN		 HOWELL 	      MISSISSIPPI	     NEW MADRID 	 OREGON 	      PEMISCOT	     PERRY		 RIPLEY 	      SCOTT		     SHANNON		 STODDARD	      WAYNE		      $$   THE WATCH STATUS MESSAGE IS FOR GUIDANCE PURPOSES ONLY.  PLEASE REFER TO WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION STATEMENTS FOR OFFICIAL INFORMATION ON COUNTIES...INDEPENDENT CITIES AND MARINE ZONES CLEARED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WATCHES. $$  

Note: ?Click for Complete Product Text.
Tornadoes

Probability of 2 or more tornadoes	Mod (60%)
Probability of 1 or more strong (F2-F5) tornadoes	Mod (30%)

Wind

Probability of 10 or more severe wind events	Mod (60%)
Probability of 1 or more wind events > 65 knots	Mod (30%)

Hail

Probability of 10 or more severe hail events	Low (10%)
Probability of 1 or more hailstones > 2 inches	Low (

Combined Severe Hail/Wind

Probability of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events

High (80%)

For each watch, probabilities for particular events inside the watch (listed above in each table) are determined by the issuing forecaster. The "Low" category contains probability values ranging from less than 2% to 20% (F2-F5 tornadoes), less than 5% to 20% (all other probabilities), "Moderate" from 30% to 60%, and "High" from 70% to greater than 95%. High values are bolded and lighter in color to provide awareness of an increased threat for a particular event.

Source: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/ww0125.html

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Astronomers discover massive star factory in early universe

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Smaller begets bigger.

Such is often the case for galaxies, at least: the first galaxies were small, then eventually merged together to form the behemoths we see in the present universe.

Those smaller galaxies produced stars at a modest rate; only later?when the universe was a couple of billion years old?did the vast majority of larger galaxies begin to form and accumulate enough gas and dust to become prolific star factories. Indeed, astronomers have observed that these star factories?called starburst galaxies?became prevalent a couple of billion years after the Big Bang.

But now a team of astronomers, which includes several from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), has discovered a dust-filled, massive galaxy churning out stars when the cosmos was a mere 880 million years old?making it the earliest starburst galaxy ever observed.

The galaxy is about as massive as our Milky Way, but produces stars at a rate 2,000 times greater, which is a rate as high as any galaxy in the universe. Generating the mass equivalent of 2,900 suns per year, the galaxy is especially prodigious?prompting the team to call it a "maximum-starburst" galaxy.

"Massive, intense starburst galaxies are expected to only appear at later cosmic times," says Dominik Riechers, who led the research while a senior research fellow at Caltech. "Yet, we have discovered this colossal starburst just 880 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was at little more than 6 percent of its current age." Now an assistant professor at Cornell, Riechers is the first author of the paper describing the findings in the April 18 issue of the journal Nature.

While the discovery of this single galaxy isn't enough to overturn current theories of galaxy formation, finding more galaxies like this one could challenge those theories, the astronomers say. At the very least, theories will have to be modified to explain how this galaxy, dubbed HFLS3, formed, Riechers says.

"This galaxy is just one spectacular example, but it's telling us that extremely vigorous star formation was possible early in the universe," says Jamie Bock, professor of physics at Caltech and a coauthor of the paper.

The astronomers found HFLS3 chock full of molecules such as carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydroxide, and even water. Because most of the elements in the universe?other than hydrogen and helium?are fused in the nuclear furnaces of stars, such a rich and diverse chemical composition is indicative of active star formation. And indeed, Bock says, the chemical composition of HFLS3 is similar to those of other known starburst galaxies that existed later in cosmic history.

Last month, a Caltech-led team of astronomers?a few of whom are also authors on this newer work?discovered dozens of similar galaxies that were producing stars as early as 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. But none of them existed as early as HFLS3, which has been studied in much greater detail.

Those previous observations were made possible by gravitational lensing, in which large foreground galaxies act as cosmic magnifying glasses, bending the light of the starburst galaxies and making their detection easier. HFLS3, however, is only weakly lensed, if at all. The fact that it was detectable without the help of lensing means that it is intrinsically a bright galaxy in far-infrared light?nearly 30 trillion times as luminous as the sun and 2,000 times more luminous than the Milky Way.

Because the galaxy is enshrouded in dust, it's very faint in visible light. The galaxy's stars, however, heat up the dust, causing it to radiate in infrared wavelengths. The astronomers were able to find HFLS3 as they sifted through data taken by the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, which studies the infrared universe. The data was part of the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES), an effort co-coordinated by Bock to observe a large patch of the sky (roughly 1,300 times the size of the moon) with Herschel.

Amid the thousands of galaxies detected in the survey, HFLS3 appeared as just a faint dot?but a particularly red one. That caught the attention of Darren Dowell, a visiting associate at Caltech who was analyzing the HerMES data. The object's redness meant that its light was being substantially stretched toward longer (and redder) wavelengths by the expansion of the universe. The more distant an object, the more its light is stretched, and so a very red source would be very far away. The only other possibility would be that?because cooler objects emit light at longer wavelengths?the object might be unusually cold; the astronomers' analysis, however, ruled out that possibility. Because it takes the light billions of years to travel across space, seeing such a distant object is equivalent to looking deep into the past. "We were hoping to find a massive starburst galaxy at vast distances, but we did not expect that one would even exist that early in the universe," Riechers says.

To study HFLS3 further, the astronomers zoomed in with several other telescopes. Using the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA)?a series of telescope dishes that Caltech helps operate in the Inyo Mountains of California?as well as the Z-Spec instrument on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the team was able to study the chemical composition of the galaxy in detail?in particular, the presence of water and carbon monoxide?and measure its distance. The researchers also used the 10-meter telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea to determine to what extent HFLS3 was gravitationally lensed.

This galaxy is the first such object in the HerMES survey to be analyzed in detail. This type of galaxy is rare, the astronomers say, but to determine just how rare, they will pursue more follow-up studies to see if they can find more of them lurking in the HerMES data. These results also hint at what may soon be discovered with larger infrared observatories, such as the new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and the planned Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT), of which Caltech is a partner institution.

The title of the Nature paper is "A Dust-Obscured Massive Maximum-Starburst Galaxy at a Redshift of 6.34." In addition to Riechers, Bock, and Dowell, the other Caltech authors of the paper are visiting associates in physics Matt Bradford, Asantha Cooray, and Hien Nguyen; postdoctoral scholars Carrie Bridge, Attila Kovacs, Joaquin Vieira, Marco Viero, and Michael Zemcov; staff research scientist Eric Murphy; and Jonas Zmuidzinas, the Merle Kingsley Professor of Physics and the Chief Technologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). There are a total of 64 authors. Bock, Dowell, and Nguyen helped build the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instrument on Herschel.

Herschel is a European Space Agency cornerstone mission, with science instruments provided by consortia of European institutes and with important participation by NASA. NASA's Herschel Project Office is based at JPL in Pasadena, California. JPL contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments. The NASA Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech in Pasadena, supports the U.S. astronomical community. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

The W. M. Keck Observatory operates the largest, most scientifically productive telescopes on Earth. The two 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii feature a suite of advanced instruments including imagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs, integral-field spectroscopy and a world-leading laser guide-star adaptive optics system. The observatory is operated by a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is a scientific partnership of the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA.

###

California Institute of Technology: http://www.caltech.edu

Thanks to California Institute of Technology for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127799/Astronomers_discover_massive_star_factory_in_early_universe

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Senate vote nears, background checks in peril

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A bipartisan effort to expand background checks is in deep trouble as the Senate approaches a long-awaited vote on the linchpin of the drive to curb gun violence. As the showdown draws near, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows ebbing public support for tightening gun control laws.

In the run-up to the roll call expected Wednesday, so many Republicans had declared their opposition to the background check measure that supporters ? mostly Democrats ? seemed headed to defeat unless they could turn votes around in the final hours. Supporters seemed likely to lose some moderate Democratic senators as well.

"It's a struggle," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, conceded Tuesday.

Perhaps helping explain Democrats' problems, an AP-GfK poll this month showed that 49 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws. That was down from 58 percent who said so in January ? a month after the December killings of 20 children and six aides at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school propelled gun violence into a national issue.

Just over half the public ? 52 percent ? expressed disapproval in the new survey of how President Barack Obama has handled gun laws. Weeks after the Newtown slayings, Obama made a call for near universal background checks the heart of his gun control plan.

In a climactic day, the Senate planned to hold eight other votes Wednesday besides the one on background checks, all of them amendments to a broad gun control measure.

They included Democratic proposals to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, which are expected to lose; a Republican proposal requiring states to honor other states' permits allowing concealed weapons, which faces a close vote; and a GOP substitute for the overall gun measure.

The concealed weapons amendment, seen by advocates as protecting gun rights, was vehemently opposed by gun control groups, who say it would allow more guns into states with stricter firearms laws.

The votes were coming a day after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, badly injured in a 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., and her husband, Mark Kelly, tried galvanizing gun control support by visiting Capitol Hill and attending a private lunch with Democratic senators. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the lunch ? senators said it included emotional speeches from lawmakers ? "as moving as any" he has attended.

Background checks, aimed at screening out criminals and the seriously mentally ill from getting firearms, now apply only to purchases handled by licensed firearms dealers.

Wednesday's first vote was on an amendment by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., extending the checks to firearms sales at gun shows and online. The compromise was widely seen as advocates' best chance for winning enough GOP votes to muscle broadened checks through the Senate.

As the roll call approached, Manchin and others kept saying they were close ? but never said they had the votes they needed.

"We're close, but we sure need their help," Manchin told reporters after he and Toomey met privately with Giffords and Kelly.

In a sign that the two senators faced a steep path to victory, they were no longer considering a change to their bill that would have exempted people who live far from gun dealers.

Such people have a difficult time getting to dealers' shops to have background checks performed. The hope had been to attract votes from Alaska and North Dakota senators, and the sponsors' decision to move ahead without it suggested that their effort to win over those senators would fail.

No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin of Illinois said Democrats would need support from nine or 10 Republicans ? a daunting task.

Opponents will need just 41 of the Senate's 100 votes to derail the Manchin-Toomey background check plan.

Thirty-one senators voted last week to completely block debate on overall gun legislation. Just two were Democrats ? Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska.

If all 31 oppose the Manchin-Toomey measure ? and that is not certain ? opponents would need just 10 more votes to prevail.

So far, 11 of 16 Republicans who voted last week to let debate on the gun bill begin have said they will oppose Manchin-Toomey. That would give foes of expanded background checks 42 potential votes ? one more than they need to win.

Still uncertain was support from some Democrats from GOP-heavy states, including Max Baucus of Montana, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Baucus and Landrieu face re-election next year.

The Senate gun bill would extend background checks to nearly all gun purchases, toughen penalties against illegal gun trafficking and add small sums to school safety programs.

The AP-GfK poll found that overall, 49 percent said gun laws should be made stricter while 38 percent said they should stay the same.

Among independents, support for stricter gun laws dipped from 60 percent in January to 40 percent now. About three-fourths of Democrats supported them then and now, while backing among Republicans for looser laws about doubled to 19 percent.

The AP-GfK poll was conducted from April 11-15 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,004 randomly chosen adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

___

AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta, news survey specialist Dennis Junius and writers Henry C. Jackson, Stephen Ohlemacher and Jim Abrams contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-vote-nears-background-check-bill-peril-070640472--politics.html

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Loved ones seek word on Boston runners after blast

Justine Franco of Montpelier, Vt., holds up a sign near Copley Square in Boston looking for her missing friend, April, who was running in her first Boston Marathon Monday, April 15, 2013. Two bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 23 others. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Justine Franco of Montpelier, Vt., holds up a sign near Copley Square in Boston looking for her missing friend, April, who was running in her first Boston Marathon Monday, April 15, 2013. Two bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 23 others. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Far-flung family members, co-workers and friends frantically used social media, cellphones and even a "people finder" website Monday to try to learn the fate of participants and spectators at the Boston Marathon, where two people were killed and dozens injured after a pair of bombs exploded near the finish line of one of the world's great races.

The search was made more difficult because heavy cellphone use caused slow and delayed service. In an age connected by everything digital, the hours after the blasts produced a tense silence.

At the race, 51-year-old Julie Jeske of Bismarck, N.D., had finished about 15 minutes before the explosions and was getting food about two blocks away when she heard two loud booms. She immediately tried to call her parents, but could not place the call. A friend was able to post on Facebook that they were OK, but reaching her parents was another worry.

"I wasn't able to call and I felt so bad," Jeske said. "When I was finally able to reach them, my mom said she was just absolutely beside herself with fear."

Tim Apuzzo of Seattle said he spent an agonizing 10 minutes frantically trying to call his girlfriend, Quinn Schweizer, who was watching the marathon with her friends at the finish line. But when he kept getting a recording saying there was no service, he started to worry "because you know you have a group of people in this generation all wired in ... and quick to respond."

Finally, she was able to call him to say she was safe and that her group had left the finish line just minutes before the blast to walk to a cafe for lunch.

Google stepped in to help family and friends of runners find their loved ones, setting up a site called Google Person Finder that allows users to enter the name of a person they're looking for or enter information about someone who was there. A few hours after the explosion, the site indicated it was tracking 3,600 records.

Mary Beth Aasen of Shorewood, Wis., and her husband were using an app to track their daughter Maggie's progress along the marathon route. They didn't realize anything was wrong until a worried friend texted Aasen and asked if Maggie was OK.

The app indicated that Maggie was still moving, a relief for her parents. Mary Beth Aasen tried in vain to call her daughter for about 30 minutes before Maggie called her.

"When I talked to her she was pretty upset," Aasen said. "Physically she said she felt great but she was upset because she hadn't been in contact with her friends."

Aasen said she was waiting for Maggie to call her back with an update, but knew cellphone service was slow in the area.

"I just feel terrible for the people who haven't been in contact with their family and friends who are there," she said. "I'm praying for everyone who hasn't heard yet."

David Meixelsperger, who owns the Berkeley Running Company in Madison, Wis., finished the race about 90 minutes before the explosion. He sent an email to customers of his store and friends in the running community letting everyone know he was safe, but that he couldn't send or receive calls on his cellphone.

"At this time, all Berkeley Runners and Customers are safe," he said in the email. "We have been texting each other to seek out their whereabouts."

Kim Hauser, a substitute teacher in the Chicago area, did not know about the explosions until her students went home and she got a chance to look at her phone. There were messages from acquaintances asking, "'Is your brother OK?" She searched the news and it dawned on her why they were asking.

"I tried to call him immediately, but there was no cell service," the Frankfort, Ill., woman said. "I waited anxiously by the phone. I just felt horrible. I had a hard time holding myself together."

Five minutes became 10, then 20 ? finally, 45 minutes later she looked down to see a text from her brother, Thomas Wiora. He had crossed the finish line shortly before the explosion and was 120 yards away when it went off. But he was fine.

"I was relieved," she said. "But the whole thing was so heartbreaking."

Mary Butler of Oklahoma City hadn't been able to reach her husband, Jason Butler, who was running with his son, brother and other family members. But she said he'd posted on Facebook that he and the others were OK.

"That's all I know about it," Mary Butler said, adding she'd been trying to call since she'd first heard of the explosions. "I'm just waiting ? keep trying to call."

She declined to talk further so that she could keep her phone line open.

___

Online: http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions/

___

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; Kevin Begos in Pittsburgh; Kristi Eaton in Sioux Falls, N.D.; Dan Holtmeyer in Oklahoma City; David Mercer in Champaign, Ill.; Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee; Dan Sewell in Cincinnati and Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-15-Marathon%20Explosions-Contact/id-08a103f717034c5da0fe1317d2f58335

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Stocks ease in early trading; gold plunges

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

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The Britain that Margaret Thatcher inherited

With remembrances of the late prime minister dominating the press, it is easy to forget the economic woes and issues of identity that gripped Britain in the years preceding her rule.

By Ryan Lenora Brown,?Correspondent / April 9, 2013

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reviews the honor guard at the White House in Washington, as President Jimmy Carter follows, in December 1979.

Gerald Penny/AP/File

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?BRITAIN AT THE CROSSROADS,? blared a Monitor headline in July 1978, less than a year before Margaret Thatcher became the country?s prime minister. ?Are law and order wilting??

Skip to next paragraph Ryan Lenora Brown

Correspondent

Ryan Brown edits the Africa Monitor blog and contributes to the national and international news desks of the Monitor. She is a former Fulbright fellow to South Africa and holds a degree in history from Duke University.?

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?Political, labor storms grow louder in Britain,? warned another, in January 1979.

?Britons? patience ? wears thin,? read a third.

As both tributes to Mrs. Thatcher and attacks on her leadership have poured in since her death, it is easy to forget the near-crisis that gripped Britain in the years preceding her rule, as the economy sagged under the weight of rampant inflation and broad unemployment. During the winter of 1978-79, just before the Tories swept to power, strikes rippled across the public sector ? the infamous British ?Winter of Discontent? ?? ?in response to a government wage cap.

Meanwhile, as nationalist rumblings rose in Scotland and parliament debated stricter limits on immigration, England seemed to be descending into a crisis of confidence about its very Englishness.

As a look through Monitor archives show, this was the deeply divided Britain that Thatcher and her Conservative Party took control of in May 1979 ? beleaguered and world-weary, its patience for government tanking and its economy on shaky ground. ?

As the Monitor?s Takashi Oka reported, ?

In London?s Golden Square, behind fashionable Regent Street, a gardener lovingly tends his neatly trimmed rosebushes surrounding an Everest-high pile of black plastic rubbish bags. A cleaner from one of the smart offices surrounding the square drags over a roll of carpeting to add to the base of the towering pyramid.

Two weeks? worth of uncollected garbage is the most visible sign of the labor discontent that grips strike-weary Britain this winter.? With hundreds of schools closed, more than a thousand hospitals reduced to emergency operations only, and wage demands spreading on numerous fronts, the hard-pressed Labour government, with traditionally close ties to the unions, is facing an increasingly embittered public.

What is the government doing about all this? Why must it mollycoddle the trade unions so? Why doesn?t it show some firmness for a change?

These questions, in essence, sum up the opposition Conservative Party?s challenge to Prime Minister James Callaghan and his Labour Cabinet.?(?Britons? patience with strikes wears thin,? Feb. 8, 1979)

The strikes were just the last spasm of the economic malaise of 1970s Britain, which featured high unemployment and double-digit inflation. In Sept. 1976, Mr. Oka noted that nearly 1.5 million Britons ? 6.2 percent of the working population ? were unemployed (?Soaring joblessness challenges Britain,? Sept. 22, 1976), a number that held roughly as national elections approached (?more than 1.5 million? in ?Sunny Jim and Iron Lady about to face off in Britain,? Sept. 7 1978). Inflation averaged around 13 percent throughout the ?70s, peaking at 25 percent.

Meanwhile, as the parties debated across the aisle in Parliament, Britain also revisited its own place in Europe.

Hamilton, Scotland ? The integrity of the United Kingdom is being challenged.

It is under attack from within by the Scottish and Welsh nationalists and, in a somewhat different context, by the Northern Ireland Unionists.

It is also under attack from without, as the sovereignty of the traditional nation-state is eroded in small ? but not insignificant ? chunks by membership in the nine-nation European Community (EC). ?

Is this old continent, where the modern nation-state was born and where it fought some of mankind?s most disastrous wars, to see its gradual transformation into something neither fish nor fowl, a kind of hybrid in which the trappings of sovereignty remain but much of the content is gone.

And if such a transformation does take place, what will this do to the Britishness of Britain, the Englishness of England??(?Britain at the Crossroads: Nationalist pressure,? July 10, 1978)

If those were the looming questions that faced Thatcher as she took office, however, she had also already earned some of the fierce loyalty that still characterizes her supporters. As Oka reported shortly after Thatcher became head of the Conservative Party in 1975,

The constituency chairman?s voice range out across the hall filled to bursting with Conservative Party faithful.

"Paraphrasing William Blake," as he put it, he began with familiar words, "I will not cease from mental fight, nor shall my sword sleep in my hand.? ?

Then, swelling to a climax, ?till Margaret Thatcher is in power,? he thundered, ?in England?s green and pleasant land.?

Cheers, laughter, and applause. All eyes were riveted on the blue-eyed, golden-haired woman in turquoise-blue dress standing beside the chairman.?

?It has been said that we are a middle-class party,? she said ? ?We?re not, you know ? We?re the party of all the people who believe in independence and freedom, who believe in living up to the best of Britain and not the worst.?

?More cheers and applause,? Oka went on. ?It was a rousing partisan speech, as it was meant to be.??

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/0qBqWi1XaL8/The-Britain-that-Margaret-Thatcher-inherited

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