LePage signs state budget ? Politics ? Bangor Daily News ? BDN ...

AUGUSTA, Maine ? Gov. Paul LePage has signed into law a state budget rewrite that makes up for an $80 million shortfall largely through cuts in social services.

The governor signed the bill early Wednesday, hours after the House and Senate gave their final approval to the bill.

Republicans favored passage of the budget, which they said makes structural changes in Department of Health and Human Services programs.

House Speaker Robert Nutting says the budget represents an enormous step toward the goal of getting Maine?s fiscal house in order. The Oakland Republican says it will still protect the state?s safety net for those who truly need it.

Democrats say the budget will harm seniors and working families by eliminating home visitation services, early childhood education, MaineCare for 19- and 20-year-olds and seniors? drugs.

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TB patient charged in Calif for not taking meds

In this undated photo supplied by the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office, Armando Rodriguez is seen wearing a protective mask. Prosecutors say 34-year-old Armando Rodriguez, a tuberculosis patient, has been arrested for refusing to take his medication and missing doctor appointments, and is endangering public health by not treating the airborne disease. (AP Photo/San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office)

In this undated photo supplied by the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office, Armando Rodriguez is seen wearing a protective mask. Prosecutors say 34-year-old Armando Rodriguez, a tuberculosis patient, has been arrested for refusing to take his medication and missing doctor appointments, and is endangering public health by not treating the airborne disease. (AP Photo/San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Armando Rodriguez was warned several times to continue taking his tuberculosis medicine.

At one point, authorities said, he told his case officer he stopped the treatment out of concern for his liver while binging on alcohol and methamphetamine.

So on Tuesday, authorities took the unusual step of arresting Rodriguez and charging him with refusing to comply with a tuberculosis order to be at home at certain times and make appointments to take his medication.

It's a move that divides public health officials.

"I think it's an error to confine someone in the criminal justice system for a public health crime," said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University public health law professor who drafted a model law adopted by several states struggling with the issue. "The whole intention is to protect the public's health. It's not to lay blame on someone."

Health officials say Rodriguez, 34, of Stockton has active pulmonary tuberculosis, which can include coughing up blood or phlegm and can spread through the air.

Rodriguez has been noncompliant with his treatment and could become contagious as a result, Ginger Wick, nursing director for San Joaquin County, said in a letter requesting a warrant for Rodriguez's arrest.

After failing one time to give himself the drugs, Rodriguez told a nurse he had gone on an alcohol binge and taken methamphetamine and didn't want to hurt his liver, Wick said in her letter.

Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday and is expected to be arraigned Thursday on two misdemeanor counts.

He will likely be appointed a public defender.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs. Many people have a latent form, and the active form usually only affects adults whose immune systems are compromised, which can happen from drug use.

Public health experts are divided on the issue of mandatory treatment and criminal charges for patients who don't comply with treatment orders.

Many of those who do support criminal prosecution in the rarest of cases when public health is in jeopardy oppose the jailing of patients.

Implementing mandatory treatment should be a last resort, and prosecuting someone for disobeying a public health order is unhelpful and sends the wrong message if protecting public health is the intent, Georgetown's Gostin said.

Instead, the afflicted should be given assistance such as transportation to and from treatments rather than punishment as an incentive to take their medicine, he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said laws to control the spread of tuberculosis have been in use for more than a century, though regulations differ in each state.

As many as 12,000 new cases of tuberculosis are reported in the country each year, the CDC reported. California recorded 2,317 new cases in 2011, a low since records have been kept.

Nonetheless, officials throughout the nation continue to struggle to stop the spread of tuberculosis, with several drug-resistant strains emerging in recent years.

Federal and state officials don't keep records of the number of people prosecuted for refusing to take their medicines. But some say it's exceedingly rare to file criminal charges in such cases.

San Joaquin County has had more than 30 tuberculosis prosecutions since 1984, prosecutor Stephen Taylor said, noting the county is more aggressive than other jurisdictions in prosecuting patients to get them to take their medication.

"The criminal cases we're dealing with generally involve drug users who are harder to treat and manage because the TB medicines conflict with street drugs," he said. "We have to throw these people in jail and treat them as in-patients. They don't cooperate as out-patients."

Karen Furst, San Joaquin County public health officer, said the county arranges transportation and other services to help patients stick to their drug regimen and turns to the legal system only as a last resort.

"I have to make sure that if I'm aware that somebody is in a position that could possibly be spreading a disease to another person, that I take steps that are necessary to prevent that from happening," she said.

Rodriguez was discharged in March from San Joaquin General Hospital with four medications for active tuberculosis and agreed to take the drugs under observation by a county health official on weekdays and on his own on weekends, authorities said.

He allegedly refused to take the drugs on another day and then was not at home on three occasions and missed an appointment.

Each charge against Rodriguez carries a maximum penalty of a year behind bars. In her letter, Wick said Rodriguez would need nine months of treatment.

_____

Associated Press writer Paul Elias in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Real 'Jersey Boys' to embark on national tour

FAIR LAWN, N.J. (AP) ? In a basement in a quiet suburb 10 miles west of Manhattan, the characters of a bygone era in pop music are brought to life in mellifluous four-part harmony.

Sherry is there, deciding whether or not to come out tonight. So are Dawn, the girl from the nice part of town, and Marianne, trying to understand her man.

This is hardly your average baby boomer garage band, though: Made up of former members of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, this weekend they officially launch a nationwide reunion tour as "The Hit Men" that will take them through next May.

The venues are more modest than the sold-out arenas they played to across the globe in the '70s, but don't tell that to drummer Gerry Polci, keyboardist Lee Shapiro and guitarist Don Ciccone ? they're having way too much fun.

"Guys at our age say, 'Let's go to a golf course, let's go and fish,'" Shapiro said. "We get paid to do this, to go out and have our reunion. It's great."

Spurred by the runaway success of "Jersey Boys," the Tony Award-winning 2005 Broadway musical based on the Four Seasons' career, Polci ? the lead singer on "December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)," the group's last No. 1 hit ? and the others, all in their late 50s and early 60s, decided to re-form, along with an A-list group of studio musicians, and give touring one more shot.

Over bagels and coffee recently at the house of bassist Larry Gates, which doubles as the band's clubhouse and music studio, the members marveled at the response they've received at some of the dates they've played as a test run.

The audience tends to skew toward retirement age, but the love handles and Lipitor apparently haven't killed anybody's enthusiasm.

"People are much less inhibited now," Shapiro said. "It's almost like, 'This is it; if we're not going to have fun now, what are we waiting for?'"

"We had a bra thrown on stage," guitarist James Ryan recalled.

"Granted, it was 97EEE," Shapiro chimed in to uproarious laughter. "I think it was some guy's."

Ryan, Gates and Russ Velazquez, a singer and player of multiple instruments, are the hired guns brought in to fill out the group, and they draw from a deep well of musical experience.

Ryan and Ciccone, high school buddies from New Jersey, had pop hits in the '60s as The Critters with "Mr. Dieingly Sad" and the John Sebastian-penned "Younger Girl." Ryan went on to back Carly Simon, Jim Croce, Cat Stevens and others, and carved out a career as a composer for film and TV.

Gates is a composer and producer who has worked with Grammy and Tony winners and once recorded the likes of jazz greats Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker and Bob James in his basement studio in Fair Lawn. He and Shapiro have known one another since they were 8. Velazquez was a sought-after vocalist who sang on hundreds of commercials in the '90s and has composed for "Sesame Street" and other shows.

The former Seasons have remained active in music, as well. Shapiro has worked as a producer and arranger and reaped a financial windfall by creating the "Rock 'n' Roll Elmo" toy in the late '90s; Ciccone toured with Tommy James and the Shondells and has recorded and produced. Polci has been a full-time music teacher in New Jersey since the mid-'90s after writing music for TV in California.

When they met in 1973, they were three authentic Jersey Boys barely out of their teens, and the Four Seasons were deep in debt and hadn't had a chart hit in several years. Along with Valli and songwriter Bob Gaudio, they successfully transformed the group's sound from doo-wop-influenced '60s pop to '70s disco with songs like "Swearin' To God," ''Who Loves You" and "December 1963."

"The '70s got them out of debt and made their business viable," Polci said.

The current band's set list features the gamut of Four Seasons hits dating back to 1962's "Sherry," as well as songs by other artists the members of the group have performed with. Each song is prefaced by a personal reminiscence.

"Every song has a setup, a backstory and a personal experience that somebody in the band had with the artist or the song," Gates said. "People love that, because they feel like they're getting a glimpse behind the scenes."

For the musicians, touring is a different animal this time around. The inevitable glitches are taken in stride: At one show, the power onstage went out, so the group finished the set a cappella, to a standing ovation.

"Back then, you really couldn't appreciate it," Shapiro said. "You're a young, cocky kid and it's like, 'Hey, here I am, I've arrived,' and you start to feel a little entitlement. Now, nobody's saying, 'Hey, Russ is singing two songs in the first half and I'm not,' or 'the light wasn't on me.'

"It's like we have all the magical, cool parts of it and none of the BS."

___

The Hit Men:

http://www.thehitmensite.com/

Follow David Porter at http://www.twitter.com/DavidPorter_AP

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Village People Singer Wins a Legal Battle in Fight to Reclaim Song ...

15
May

Written by admin. Posted in: Legal
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Early last year, Mr. Willis invoked a provision of copyright law called ?termination rights,? which gives recording artists and songwriters the ability to reacquire and administer their work themselves after 35 years have elapsed. The song publishers, Scorpio Music and Can?t Stop Productions, countered by arguing that Mr. Willis had no legal standing to take that or any other action because he had ?no right, title or interest in the copyright? to the songs.

On Monday, Chief Judge Barry T. Moskowitz of Federal District Court in Los Angeles rejected the song publishers? claim that Mr. Willis was not eligible to reclaim his share of ownership of ?YMCA,? whose lyrics he wrote, and 32 other songs recorded by the Village People. The companies had initially argued that Mr. Willis had merely created ?works for hire? while, in essence, an employee of the company that managed the group. They also claimed he could not reclaim his share of the song because a majority of the other copyright holders had not agreed, the issue that the judge?s ruling addressed.

?The purpose of the act was to ?safeguard authors against unremunerative transfers? and address ?the unequal bargaining position of authors, resulting in part from the impossibility of determining a work?s value until it has been exploited,? ? Judge Moskowitz wrote in his 10-page ruling. ?Under plaintiffs? interpretation, it would be more difficult to terminate an individual grant than it would be to make it in the first place.?

The termination rights provision was included in a revision of copyright law that went into effect in 1978, meaning that recording artists and songwriters can in 2013 begin to regain ownership of work whose control they signed away early in their careers, when they had little bargaining power. As a result, artists like Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, the Eagles and other big names from the 1970s will soon be eligible to reclaim ownership of recordings that have sold millions of copies and made millions of dollars for song publishers and the four major record companies. Sales of recorded music have dropped by more than half since 2000.

Stewart L. Levy, a lawyer for the publishing companies, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday: ?It should be noted at the outset that the court decision is not a ?big victory? for Mr. Willis,? because it ?did not determine the extent of Mr. Willis?s interests in the various compositions.?

?We predict when such a determination is made there will be little change from the current status that exists today,? he said. ?The case, in short, is far from over.?

In some ways, Mr. Willis and the Village People make for an unlikely test of the termination rights provision. Unlike many of the rock and soul bands of that era, the campy, gaudily costumed Village People did not come together organically, but were assembled by producers and managers, with each member assigned a specific role. Onstage, Mr. Willis usually dressed as a police or naval officer, with his band mates appearing in Indian headdresses, a sailor?s uniform or as a motorcyclist in black leather.

?This is the first case that?s interpreting the statute that deals with termination rights,? Brian D. Caplan, Mr. Willis?s lawyer, said in a telephone interview. ?The significance of the ruling is that one author who gives a grant to a publishing company has the right to recapture the copyright interest he created 35 years ago regardless of what other co-authors do or don?t do, and that the author gets back that which he created regardless of the income stream he agreed to over 35 years ago.?

Lawyers for the song publishers eventually withdrew their claim that Mr. Willis had created a ?work for hire,? so that issue remains to be formally adjudicated. But Judge Moskowitz was emphatic that circumstances exist in which musical creators, meaning both songwriters and recording artists, are entitled to ?recapture? their interest in a musical work after 35 years even if their original contract precluded them from doing so.

In Mr. Willis?s case, that means he regains partial ownership not just of ?YMCA? but also of other hits, like ?In the Navy? and ?Go West,? that have been used in films, games, television, ring tones and public performances, generating millions of dollars in royalties. The song publishers had argued that Mr. Willis was entitled only to a royalty rate of 12 to 20 percent in perpetuity because that was what he agreed to in the 1970s.

?I?m extremely pleased with the court?s determination,? Mr. Willis said in a written statement issued Tuesday. ?And I look forward to controlling my copyright interests in 2013, as the law provides.?

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BROADBAND-IP&TV ASIA 2012 ANNOUNCES YES AS THE ...

BROADBAND-IP&TV ASIA 2012 ANNOUNCES YES AS THE ?INNOVATION PARTNER?
Yes to showcase its award-winning 4G network and innovative applications in the leading broadband and IP&TV event in Asia

Broadband-IP&TV Asia, the region?s largest broadband conference, exhibition and media event, announced Yes as the ?Innovation Partner? in this year?s edition which is being held at the KL Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 15 ? 16 May 2012.

YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, offers the fastest 4G mobile internet with voice in Malaysia under its Yes brand. The company is the first mobile operator to launch an innovative, converged 4G network on a national scale to bring positive change to all Malaysians and Yes won the ?Broadband Infovision Awards? under ?Best New Service? category during the Broadband World Forum held in September last year in Paris.

Recently, on 2 May 2012, Yes launched its latest innovation, a 4G smartphone called Eclipse. The purpose-built mobile device runs on the Yes converged 4G network and it is the only phone in the world that delivers advanced 4G telephony while supporting GSM services at the same time. Eclipse delivers the ?full fidelity? mobile Internet experience and the only smartphone in the world that can facilitate carrier-grade 4-way mobile video conferencing.

Broadband-IP&TV Asia provides over 2,500 of Asia?s decision-makers in the broadcast, broadband and Internet industries with the chance to network and do business. It focuses on delivering growth in an evolving ecosystem and enhancing the customer experience for the connected consumer. Having Yes on board as the innovation partner of the conference, synergizes with the conference?s objective.

The event already includes international representation from over 150 visionary speakers and transformational players from over 62 countries, in both advanced and emerging markets, including Google, Yahoo, Amazon and NBC.

Gavin Whitechurch, Executive Director of Informa Telecoms and Media, says: ?YTL Communications has proven itself to be the right choice as our ?Innovation Partner? given its reputation as a highly innovative company. We are looking forward to have YTL Communications in Broadband-IP&TV Asia, the most comprehensive event on the new media economy ever delivered in Asia.?

Wing K. Lee, Chief Executive Officer of YTL Communications, says: ?We are proud indeed to be the ?Innovation Partner? for Broadband-IP&TV Asia 2012. Our converged 4G network has been recently recognised globally as the best new service and we will further innovate to continue bringing positive change to the world.?

Official show partners include Huawei, FiberHome, Motorola, Cisco, Adtran, Assia, Irdeto, Dune HD and Cambium Networks, further strengthening the event and the position of Kuala Lumpur as a leading central point for the telecoms, Internet and media industry.

Broadband-IP&TV Asia is divided into two broadband tracks and one IP&TV track each day, focusing on fixed and mobile broadband access innovations and developments as well as market spotlight sessions and keynotes from leading experts in Internet, social media and OTT development. The programme also provides the opportunity to be part of senior level panel discussions which provide forward-thinking and insight in to broadband and IP&TV developments in the region.

To view the full event programme and register for Broadband ? ip&tv Asia, please visit www.asia.broadbandworldforum.com or call +44 (0) 20 7017 5506. Alternatively, keep up to date with the event on Twitter @BBWorldForum.

About Yes
Yes, a brand under YTL Communications, offers the fastest 4G mobile Internet with voice service in the country. Winner of the ?Broadband InfoVision Awards 2011? under the ?Best New Service? category, Yes is a global frontrunner in mobile 4G and is the first mobile operator to bring the worlds of mobile Internet and voice together in one plan. Yes offers the lowest mobile rate in the industry and currently covers over 70% of the population of Peninsular Malaysia. With its robust 4G network and a fully-converged mobile service, Yes is one of the most advanced wireless networks in the world.

About YTL Communications
YTL Communications Sdn Bhd is a subsidiary and the communications utility of YTL Power International Berhad and part of the YTL Corporation Berhad Group. The Company provides affordable, world-class services that improve the way people in Malaysia live, learn and play. For more information, please visit: www.yes.my.

Additional Resources for YTL Communications:
Twitter : http://twitter.com/yes4g
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/yes4g
YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/yes4g

About Broadband-ip&tv Asia
Part of the successful Broadband World Series, this year?s Broadband ? ip&tv Asia brings together two of the region?s premier industry events under one banner with emphasis on monetising IP&TV and broadband. The event brings together operators, technology partners and content providers to explore broadband and IP&TV advancements in emerging and advanced markets. For further information on Broadband ? ip&tv Asia 2012 or to register to attend, go to www.asia.broadbandworldforum.com

About Informa Telecoms & Media
Informa Telecoms & Media (www.informatm.com) is the leading provider of business intelligence and strategic services to the global telecoms and media markets. Driven by constant first-hand contact with the industry, its 90 analysts and researchers produce a range of intelligence services including news and analytical products, in depth market reports and datasets focussed on technology, strategy and content. Informa Telecoms & Media also organises 125 global annual events, attended by more than 70,000 executives worldwide.

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Banding Together for Autism | Arts & Entertainment | Atlantic City ...

The inaugural three-day Elephants for Autism Music Festival will feature over 100 bands on four stages at two neighboring Atlantic City nightspots.

ATLANTIC CITY ? Probably the only issue Jerry Ryan is more passionate about besides promoting local, original music is helping autistic children interact more effectively with others and live more enriched lives.

Both are subjects close to his heart, the former because he?s long been consumed with instilling Atlantic City?s music scene with more originality and creativity, the latter because he is personally raising a son diagnosed with autism, a disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication skills.

This Friday through Sunday, May 18-20, Ryan will blend both ambitions into the inaugural Elephants for Autism Music Festival ? an event that partially takes its name from the Elephant Talk concert series and online indie-music magazine Ryan produces. The festival will take place at The Boneyard and Le Grand Fromage (two A.C. venues within short walking distance of one another), and include more than 100 bands, poetry readings, and appearances by Miss Teen New Jersey and mentalist Lucas Simmons. Among those performing are Position 9, Juggernaut Drunk, Zebras and Bulls Fight Tonight, Deardarkhead, Soul Pole, The Mahlors, and a power trio from Belgium called Pandora?s Bliss.

Pictured left: Jeremy Ryan, son of event producer Jerry Ryan.

?I have a nine-year-old son named Jeremy with autism and he?s the driving force behind what I?m doing, not only with this festival but in everyday life,? says Ryan. ?This kid has inspired me every day, and his hard work and love of music are parallel to mine. Music is a major part of our everyday lives, and our bond has grown so deep through it that we are almost like the same person. Music is not only healing my son, but also healing me at the same time.?

All of the proceeds from the festival will be applied toward creating free music programs for autistic children. Ultimately Ryan would like to establish a school or expand existing facilities that aid autistic children through music therapy.

?It?s probably all going to be done through the organization FACES in South Jersey [Families for Autistic Children Education and Support, a non-profit autism support group. See faces-autismsupport.org]. We?ll probably put the money into an account and then determine how to best use it.

?There?s a new music studio in Galloway for autistic kids run by a lady named Faith Ozan,? adds Ryan. ?She?s great, and does these storyboards of the songs that make it easier for [Jeremy] to understand. She?s studied at Berklee [College of Music in Boston] and has years of experience working with autistic kids. I?d eventually love to help expand what she?s done, but for right now the goal is to start small and just try to generate as much money as possible for free music programs.?

Right:?Members of A.C. band Position 9, Nabid Chowdbury (left) and Chris Meckes, who will be among the 100+ bands performing this weekend.

The rhythmic component of music has proven, says Ryan, to have an organizing force in the sensory systems of individuals with autism. As a result, improvements can be made in areas like auditory processing, fine- and broad-range motor skills in those stricken with autism.

?Music can be a very powerful medium for altering anyone?s state of being and changing how we actually feel,? he says. ?More specifically, music can be very effective in producing a very deep healing state of relaxation and, in the process, reduce stress, promote sleep and more.?
In the case of an autistic child, music has been shown to assist in improving self-esteem and furthering personal growth and development. It can help reinforce desired responses, assist in reducing negative responses, and increase participation in socially accepted ways.

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Five picks to be Raw's franchise player

Matt Kemp, LeBron James, Aaron Rodgers and Sidney Crosby. Aside from being exceptional athletes and among the very best in their respective leagues, all four are true cornerstones: uber-talented stars that teams can build their entire franchises around for years to come. In the world of professional sports, they're called "franchise players."

In professional sports, not every team has a franchise player. In fact, some don't even have one legitimately elite star. But in sports-entertainment, there's no shortage of Superstars who could be considered flag-bearers for the Raw and SmackDown brands, and to a larger extent, WWE as a whole.

WWE.com has tackled the undeniably tough challenge of narrowing it down to five Superstars who best fit the role of a franchise player for Raw and SmackDown. These competitors are the linchpins of their respective brands, persistently commanding the attention of the WWE Universe while capturing the distinct energy of each brand's weekly TV show.

Click through to see our five picks, and then cast your vote in WWE.com's poll?to decide who ultimately deserves to be called the franchise player for Raw.?

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