Almost all of the early Keeping It Real TV interviews were conducted at The Bates House and Joe always opened his door to special events in support of the LGBT community and the community at large.
(04-26) 16:17 PDT Santa Clara -- The 49ers moved to shore up their depleted defensive line by picking North Carolina's Kentwan Balmer in the first round of Saturday's NFL Draft.
In the second round, they took USC offensive guard Chilo Rachal, possibly because of the unsettled status of veteran Larry Allen, who may retire.
The 6-foot-5, 298-pound Balmer was considered an underachiever with the Tar Heels until coach Butch Davis arrived last year. Then his performance picked up dramatically.
He can play either at tackle or end, and the 49ers could use help after the retirement of tackle Bryant Young and the free-agent departure of end Marques Douglas.
Balmer appeared in 10 games games last season at North Carolina, starting the final eight contests at left defensive tackle. A sprained ankle kept him out of two games early in the season, and he later re-injured his ankle in a game against Wake Forest.
In his final season at North Carolina, he took part in 59 tackles (33 solo) with 3 1/2 sacks. He also blocked two extra point attempts.
Balmer was chosen with the 29th pick, which the 49ers acquired from Indianapolis last year. The trade also gave them the Colts' fourth-round pick in return for the 49ers' second-round pick (42nd overall) in 2007.
The Raiders, who start and
end with Davis, decided outstanding talent trumped obvious need
Saturday by drafting Arkansas running back Darren McFadden with the
fourth overall pick of the NFL draft. Raiders coach Lane Kiffin admitted there was anything but a need at
running back, where Justin Fargas, Dominic Rhodes, LaMont Jordan and
Michael Bush are under contract. But, Kiffin said he and Davis agreed McFadden was just the playmaker the offense needed. "Too good to pass up," Kiffin said. The same can't be said of LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who
went fifth to the Chiefs, and Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston,
who went sixth to the Jets. That leaves the Raiders still needing to address serious needs in
the defensive line and - unless a trade happens - just four second-day
picks to work with. McFadden is considered the most dynamic athlete in this year's draft
- the exact type of size-and-speed star Davis has long craved. He has outstanding speed and incredible burst to turn short gains
into long-distance touchdowns. McFadden's ability to change directions
and accelerate makes him a strong fit in the Raiders' zone-blocking run
scheme. McFadden has yet to prove he can be an every down back, and Kiffin
doesn't expect to use him as such just yet. He wants to work him in
slowly into the Raiders offense as a rookie, much like Kiffin did
Reggie Bush at USC.SOURCE OF THIS STORY
Last year, tuberculosis increased in four of the Bay Area's five largest counties, and the San Jose area in 2006 had the highest TB rate of any large American metro area, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
From the bodies of Peruvian mummies to 21st-century tech workers,
tuberculosis has been mankind's dark partner for centuries — a highly
infectious disease that never followed the path to eradication of
smallpox and polio. One in three people worldwide are infected, and 1.7
million died last year, mostly in poor countries where people lack the
access to detection and treatment available in the United States.No case of TB is easy. The waxy-sheathed, rod-shaped,
slow-growing bacteria, if untreated, colonizes the lungs, creating such
dense cavities of disease that pieces must sometimes be excised. TB
spreads through the air; untreated, one person infects 10 to 15 people
a year, according to the World Health Organization.But among public health officials, nothing is more worrisome
than the relative handful of drug-resistant TB cases. WHO and U.S.
experts are warily watching the record level of such cases — found from
former Soviet prisons to remote provinces in China — as hints of
something even scarier on the horizon."It worries me that we're going to have increased cases of
multi-drug resistance because we have no control over the rest of the
world," said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, the public health officer for
Santa Clara County, which has had a 21 percent jump in TB cases since
2005. San Mateo County saw an 11.2 percent increase from 2006, and is
the only county in the state whose numbers have increased for five
consecutive years."The person on the street, when you go up to them and say,
'Do you know what one of our major problems is?' and they guess
everything else and you go, 'Tuberculosis,' and they go, 'No. We still
have TB? We have that?"'Treating one drug-resistant case can easily cost several
hundred thousand dollars or more — the bill often ends up with the
county health department if a patient lacks insurance. And in a growing
number of extremely resistant cases — including a few in the Bay Area —
there are no drugs that can cure the disease, raising the specter of an
infectious, incurable, potentially fatal infection.SOURCE OF THIS STORY
The new issue of Rolling Stone hitting newsstands this week features our massive Best of Rock package, which calls out 175 people, places and things ruling the rock & roll universe right now — from Best Breakthrough My Morning Jacket to Best Festival Band Radiohead to Best MC Lil Wayne (with plenty of fantastic remasters, books, venues, T-shirts, gear and much more). Check out the expanded version of the feature here.
NEW YORK (Billboard) - R&B singer Brandy has signed with Epic Records, which will release her label debut later this year, a company official said, declining further comment.
Brandy, born Brandy Norwood, was previously signed to Atlantic. Her final release for the label, 2004's "Afrodisiac," has sold 416,000 copies to date in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Brandy has not been far from the news since then. Last December, she was cleared of all charges stemming from a fatal car crash the year before, including a recommended misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge, which carries a penalty of up to a year in jail.
She had rear-ended another car while traveling on an L.A. freeway. The driver of the car, a 38-year-old mother of two, died the following day from injuries she had sustained.
Just last month, Brandy was hit with a lawsuit by a landscaping company, which alleged the singer owed her gardener $3,576 in expenses for work carried out at her property between July 2007 and February 2008. Brandy's publicist claimed the bills were sent to the wrong address.
Reuters/Billboard
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - New pop sensation Leona Lewis debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart this week, the first British woman to achieve this feat, her record label said on Wednesday.
Just three weeks ago, the 23-year-old winner of British talent show "X Factor" rewrote the history books when her song "Bleeding Love" hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
It was the first time a British female solo artist had topped the chart since Kim Wilde went to No. 1 in 1987 with a cover of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On."
"Bleeding Love" is from the album "Spirit," which sold 205,000 copies this week in the United States.
Simon Cowell, a record executive who groomed Lewis and appeared as a judge on "X Factor", called the achievement "simply incredible.
"This is the hardest market to crack and for her debut album to go in at number 1 is unbelievable," he said in a statement.
The Daily Variety trade publication said "Spirit" ranks as the biggest-selling debut by a female artist since former "American Idol" champ Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts" debuted at No. 2 with 314,500 copies in November 2005.
Lewis won "X Factor" in 2006, securing a contract with Cowell's Syco Records, which partnered on the project with New York-based J Records.
"Spirit" debuted at No. 1 in the UK last November, while "Bleeding Love" was Britain's biggest-selling single last year. Continued...
