mimblr.com

Caladesi Island State Park has reached the summit for United States’ beaches. Coastal expert Stephen Leatherman, known as "Dr. Beach," has named the park as American’s Top Beach for 2008. Leatherman released his annual list of top-rated parks Thursday.
"Caladesi is my favorite getaway beach; the only mode of transportation on this lovely island, dominated by palm trees, is by foot," Leatherman said. "This is a great place to decompress while enjoying the powder white sand and warm, crystal clear water."
Two other Florida beaches made the list, third-ranked Siesta Beach near Sarasota and ninth-ranked Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, near Miami.
Leatherman, who is the director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research, has made a Memorial Day Weekend tradition of unveiling his list of America’s finest destinations for sand and surf.
This is the second time a Tampa Bay area beach ranked first. Fort DeSoto Park took top honors in 2005.

bizjournals.com

“Dr. Beach” – Stephen Leatherman, the beachs scientist who releases an annual list of top U.S. beaches every May – today released his 2008 roster, which includes two beaches in the Carolinas.
Leatherman, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research., ranks Hatteras Island, in the Outer Banks, as No. 8 , and Beachwalker Park, at Kiawah Island, S.C., as No. 10.
Top honors this year went to the strand at Caladesi State Park, near Clearwater, Fla. The No. 1 beach in 2007 was Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, on the Outer Banks. Caladesi Island State Park was ranked No. 2.
This is the 18th year Leatherman, a Charlotte native, has compiled his list. It is based in 50 criteria, including water and sand quality, facilities and environmental management.
The full 2008 list:
1. Caladesi Island State Park, Fla.
3. Siesta Beach , Fla.
9. Cape Florida State Park, Fla.

charlotte.com

It's that time of year again: less than three months away until the start of the California Mid-State Fair.
Tickets went on sale Friday for one of this year's big headliners: the Stone Temple Pilots. This will be the band's first tour in almost eight years.
Tickets went on sale at 10:00 a.m. this morning, and many people waited in line for hours.
“I know exactly where I want to stay, because we like aisle seats, because we like to dance and we don't want to have to sit down,” said Los Osos resident Roberta Wagner.
This will be the band's first appearance ever at the California Mid-State Fair.
Other artists scheduled on this year's line up include John Mayer, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and Rod Stewart.

ksby.com

SAN ANTONIO - Kansas guard Mario Chalmers was the hero of Monday night’s national title victory against Memphis in overtime at the Alamodome.
His three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left in regulation tied the score, 63-63, and gave Kansas the extra time it needed to pull off one of the most memorable comeback victories in NCAA Tournament history.
But the big winner of Monday’s game is going to be Kansas coach Bill Self, who before this tournament wore the label of ”Mr. Can’t Win The Big One.”
This is the same Self who couldn’t get his Jayhawks out of the first round in 2005 and 2006, losing to Bucknell and Bradley.
A bounce here, though, and a shot there, and Self will now be assured.
He can expect to double his salary, maybe quadruple it, build a new home on a lake, all because his player made a life-changing three-pointer and, a week before, Davidson’s Jason Richards missed a three that would have kept Kansas out of the Final Four.
”I don’t think just because a guy makes a guarded shot with 2.1 seconds left [it] makes me any different than if he hadn’t made the shot,” Self said Tuesday morning during a news conference at the Alamodome.
Maybe not, but Self will be a changed man.
The timing on Chalmers’ shot was perfect, but Self’s timing isn’t bad either.
He played for
and graduated from Oklahoma State, where the coach, Sean Sutton, announced his resignation April 1.
That set the stage for the school, backed by bushels-of-money booster T. Boone Pickens, to make a run at Self once Kansas’ tournament run ended.
”I would answer the phone,” Self said. ”Good gosh. I know all those people. I’m not going to lie and say I’m not going to answer the phone. But I certainly wouldn’t answer the phone unless everybody at Kansas knew exactly what was going on.”

sltrib.com

• Jackson: To Jason and Stacie Jackson, a daughter, Addison Marie Jackson, at Sparrow Hospital, Feb. 9.
• Collins: To Keith Eggleston and Heather Collins, a daughter, Jamie Jo Collins, at Hayes Green Beach Memorial Hospital, Feb. 18.
• Kohler: To Jeffrey and Melissa Kohler, a daughter, Athena Ann Kohler, at Hayes Green Beach Memorial Hospital, Feb. 20.
• Braden: To Dena Meeker, a son, Trent William Braden, at Sparrow Hospital, Feb. 27.

lsj.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The undefeated Bentley Falcons and the once-beaten Winona State Warriors, two clubs that have done virtually nothing but win over the last two seasons, will put it all on the line tonight (Mar. 27) at the MassMutual Center here in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships.With a berth in Saturday's national championship game at stake, the two teams will tip off at 8:30 pm.
The game will be broadcast by CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) and will also be available online at www.cstv.com/ncaa/divii.
Bentley, the only unbeaten NCAA men's basketball team in the nation (any division), will be looking for its first-ever trip to the title game. The Falcons are 34-0 following Wednesday's 102-92 win over North Alabama and have won 66 of 67 games since the start of last season.
The only loss over that stretch? 64-51 to Winona State in last year's Elite Eight, a game in which both clubs entered with perfect records. Winona went on to reach the national championship game for the second straight season, but saw its bid to repeat as champions denied when Barton College overcame a six-point deficit in the final 30 seconds.
Incredibly, Winona is only three points away from a 95-game winning streak. The Warriors had their Division II record 57-game winning streak snapped in last year's national championship game, and have won 30 straight since their only loss this season, 83-82 in OT to Division III St. Thomas on Nov. 24.
Bentley and Winona have two common opponents this season. Both own a win over North Alabama, the Falcons last night by ten and the Warriors 88-72 in their season-opener four-and-a-months ago.
Winona also has faced Bentley's Northeast-10 rival Assumption, a team the Falcons defeated four times by an average of 13 points. The Warriors won that one 93-74, also in early November.

bentley.edu

After catching community members using its library to look at inappropriate web sites, Winona State University has changed its public access rules.
As of Monday, community members who want to use the library must present a government issued I.D.
They also must be at least 17 years old, and anyone under 18 must have a parent or guardian with them when they are authorized.
The other main change is that each person can only use a computer for two hours each day.
According to Dr. Larry Hardesty, Dean of Library Services, people have been caught looking at pornography on at least three occasions.
He said two were registered sex offenders and one was arrested in the library for violating his parole.
Hardesty said after these incidences, they didn’t have much of a choice but to implement policies that would protect the students.
“It’s a shame because it’s just a few people doing it,” Hardesty said, “but we have to do it because those few people are disrupting and making it awkward and sometimes just uncomfortable for the majority.”
Aside from inappropriate computer usage, Hardesty said there is a problem with younger people coming in to play games and would bother others in the library.
“We had some middle school students coming in, playing games and taking up a lot of time,” Hardesty said. “They would get bored and run around the library being disruptive.”
With the new rules came new programs. Barracuda is a program that blocks certain sites, and Envision is a program that requires users to be authenticated and limits user’s time.
“We are an academic institution and there are certain things we can provide, and would like to provide,” Hardesty said. “That doesn’t mean we have to provide someone with a computer for 16 hours a day to play games or run a business.”

winona.edu

NATCHITOCHES, La. - Battling windy conditions and a Demon team that had won six straight matches heading in to Saturday, the University of Memphis women’s tennis team (6-8) fell 6-1 on the road Saturday afternoon at Northwestern State University (10-4).
Memphis trailed early in the match, losing all three doubles matches. From there, the Lady Tigers battled, with Marjorie Ondeck and Lindsey Wiseman each forcing super-tiebreaks, with Ondeck prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 at No. 2 singles for Memphis’ lone point of the match. Wiseman fell 4-6, 6-1, 10-6 at No. 3 singles.
The Lady Tigers will wrap up the Louisiana swing with a Sunday match at McNeese State.0
Northwestern State 6, Memphis 1
1. Patzer, Bogusia/Posada, Daniela (NWLA) def. Ashley Murdock/Marjorie Ondeck (UM) 8-4
2. Lange, Kathrin/Schulz, Bianca (NWLA) def. Ekin Zafir/Amanda Brown (UM) 8-4

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