Chastened Congress takes on immigration, seeks Rubio's mojo

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, including a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country.

The deal, to be announced at a news conference Monday, also covers border security, non-citizen or "guest" workers and employer verification of immigration status.

Although thorny details remain to be negotiated and success is far from certain, the development heralds the start of what could be the most significant effort in years toward overhauling the nation's inefficient patchwork of immigration laws.

President Barack Obama also is committed to enacting comprehensive immigration legislation and will travel to Nevada on Tuesday to lay out his vision, which is expected to overlap in important ways with the Senate effort.

Passage of legislation by the full Democratic-controlled Senate is far from assured, but the tallest hurdle could come in the House, which is dominated by conservative Republicans who've shown little interest in immigration reform.

Still, with some Republicans chastened by the November elections which demonstrated the importance of Latino voters and their increasing commitment to Democrats, some in the GOP say this time will be different.

"What's changed, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle ? including maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle ? that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

"I think the time is right," McCain said.

Besides McCain, the senators expected to endorse the new principles Monday are Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Several of these lawmakers have worked for years on the issue. McCain collaborated with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on comprehensive immigration legislation pushed by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, only to see it collapse in the Senate when it couldn't get enough GOP support.

The group claims a notable newcomer in Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate whose conservative bona fides may help smooth the way for support among conservatives wary of anything that smacks of amnesty. In an opinion piece published Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rubio wrote that the existing system amounts to "de facto amnesty," and he called for "commonsense reform."

According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, the senators will call for accomplishing four goals:

?Creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here, contingent upon securing the border and better tracking of people here on visas.

?Reforming the legal immigration system, including awarding green cards to immigrants who obtain advanced degrees in science, math, technology or engineering from an American university.

?Creating an effective employment verification system to ensure that employers do not hire illegal immigrants in the future, including requiring prospective workers to verify legal status and identity through a non-forgeable electronic system.

?Allowing more low-skill workers into the country and allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can demonstrate they couldn't recruit a U.S. citizen; and establishing an agricultural worker program.

The principles being released Monday are outlined on just over four pages, leaving plenty of details left to fill in. What the senators do call for is similar to Obama's goals and some past efforts by Democrats and Republicans, since there's wide agreement in identifying problems with the current immigration system. The most difficult disagreement is likely to arise over how to accomplish the path to citizenship.

In order to satisfy the concerns of Rubio and other Republicans, the senators are calling for the completion of steps on border security and oversight of those here on visas before taking major steps forward on the path to citizenship.

Even then, those here illegally would have to pass background checks and pay fines and taxes in order to qualify for a "probationary legal status" that would allow them to live and work here ? but not qualify for federal benefits ? before being able to apply for permanent residency, a critical step toward citizenship. Once they are allowed to apply they would do so behind everyone else already in line for a green card within the current immigration system.

That could be a highly cumbersome process, but how to make it more workable is being left to future negotiations. The senators envision a more streamlined process toward citizenship for immigrants brought here as children, and for agricultural workers.

The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement that the framework agreed on by the senators could provide important protections for illegal immigrants who are exploited by employers and live in "constant fear" over their immigration status.

But the ACLU took issue with the proposal to require employers to use an electronic employment-verification system, calling it "a thinly disguised national ID requirement" that would undermine employees' privacy and lead to discrimination against those "who look or sound 'foreign.'"

The debate will play out at the start of Obama's second term, as he aims to spend the political capital afforded him by his re-election victory on an issue that has eluded past presidents and stymied him during his first term despite his promises to the Latino community to act.

"As the president has made clear for some time, immigration reform is an important priority and he is pleased that progress is being made with bipartisan support," a White House spokesman, Clark Stevens, said in a statement. "At the same time, he will not be satisfied until there is meaningful reform and he will continue to urge Congress to act until that is achieved."

For Republicans, the November elections were a stark schooling on the importance of Latino voters, who voted for Obama over Republican Mitt Romney 71 percent to 27 percent, helping ensure Obama's victory. That led some Republican leaders to conclude that supporting immigration reform with a path to citizenship has become a political imperative.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senators-reach-agreement-immigration-reform-085239296--politics.html

world bank kim kardashian flour bomb hunger games box office xavier joan crawford joan crawford john goodman

Whitney Houston's mother has words for Bobby Brown

This Jan. 22, 2013 photo shows American gospel singer and author Cissy Houston posing for a portrait in New York. Houston, mother of the late singer Whitney Houston, is releasing a book, "Remembering Whitney," on Tuesday, Jan. 29. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

This Jan. 22, 2013 photo shows American gospel singer and author Cissy Houston posing for a portrait in New York. Houston, mother of the late singer Whitney Houston, is releasing a book, "Remembering Whitney," on Tuesday, Jan. 29. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

This Jan. 22, 2013 photo shows American gospel singer and author Cissy Houston posing for a portrait in New York. Houston, mother of the late singer Whitney Houston, is releasing a book, "Remembering Whitney," on Tuesday, Jan. 29. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

This Jan. 22, 2013 photo shows American gospel singer and author Cissy Houston posing for a portrait in New York. Houston, mother of the late singer Whitney Houston, is releasing a book, "Remembering Whitney," on Tuesday, Jan. 29. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

This Jan. 22, 2013 photo shows American gospel singer and author Cissy Houston posing for a portrait in New York. Houston, mother of the late singer Whitney Houston, is releasing a book, "Remembering Whitney," on Tuesday, Jan. 29. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Cissy Houston has a few words, and a few more, for Bobby Brown.

In "Remembering Whitney," the mother of the late Whitney Houston writes that from the start she had doubted whether Brown was right for her daughter. And she thinks that Whitney might not have ended up so "deep" into drugs had they not stayed together.

"I do believe her life would have turned out differently," Houston writes. "It would have been easier for her to get sober and stay sober. Instead she was with someone who, like her, wanted to party. To me, he never seemed to be a help to her in the way she needed."

"Remembering Whitney" came out Tuesday, two weeks short of the first anniversary of Houston's death. She drowned in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 48. Authorities said her death was complicated by cocaine use and heart disease.

During a recent telephone interview, Houston said she has no contact with Brown and didn't see any reason to, not even concerning her granddaughter, Bobbi Kristina. She reaffirmed her comments in the book that Whitney Houston would have been better off without him. "How would you like it if he had anything to do with your daughter?" she asked.

A request to Brown's publicist for comment was not immediately returned Monday.

Houston said she wanted the book published so the world would not believe the worst about her daughter. Cissy Houston, herself an accomplished soul and gospel singer who has performed with Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, describes Whitney as a transcendent talent and vivacious and generous person known affectionately by her childhood nickname, "Nippy." But she acknowledges in the book that her daughter could be "mean" and "difficult" and questions at times how well she knew her.

"In my darkest moments, I wonder whether Nippy loved me," she writes. "She always told me she did. But you know, she didn't call me much. She didn't come see me as much as I hoped she would."

But, "almost always," Whitney Houston was "the sweetest, most loving person in the room."

Brown is portrayed as childish and impulsive, hot tempered and jealous of his wife's success. Cissy Houston describes a 1997 incident when Whitney sustained a "deep cut" on her face while on a yacht with Brown in the Mediterranean. Whitney insisted it was an accident; Brown had slammed his hand on a table, breaking a plate. A piece of china flew up and hit Whitney, requiring surgery to cover any possible scar.

The injury was minor, the effects possibly fateful.

"She seemed sadder after that, like something had been taken away from her," Houston writes.

For years, Whitney's drug problems had been only a rumor to her mother, who writes that concerns expressed by record executive Clive Davis were kept from her by her daughter and others. But by 2005 she had seen the worst. Houston remembers a horrifying visit to the Atlanta home of Brown and Houston, where the walls and doors were spray-painted with "big glaring eyes and strange faces." Whitney's face had been cut out from a framed family picture, an image Cissy Houston found "beyond disturbing." The next time Houston came to the house, she was joined by two sheriff's deputies who helped her take Whitney to the hospital.

"She was so angry at me, cursing me and up and down," she writes. "Eventually, after a good long while, Nippy did stop being angry at me. She realized that I did what I did to protect her, and she later told people that I had saved her life."

Brown and Whitney Houston divorced in 2007, after 15 years of marriage. When she learned that her daughter was leaving Brown, Cissy Houston was "extremely relieved" and "thanking God so much I'm sure nobody else could get a prayer in to Him."

Houston has no doubt that if Whitney were alive she would still be singing and making records. Houston said during her interview that she has seen "Sparkle," a remake of the 1970s movie that came out last summer and featured Whitney as the mother of a singing group struggling with addiction. Although Cissy Houston doesn't like movies about "drugs and all that kind of stuff," she was impressed by "Sparkle."

"I thought she was great in it and all the kids were great," says Houston, who adds that the "whole movie was hard to get through."

The book, too, was painful and her grief continues. She writes that sometimes she hears a doorbell ring and thinks it's Whitney, or sees a vase in a different place and wonders if her daughter is around. Some nights, Cissy Houston wakes up crying, not sure at first where she is.

"But then I get up out of bed, wipe my eyes, wash my face, and lie back down to my sleep. Because that is all I can do," she writes. "I am so grateful to God for giving me the gift of 48 years with my daughter. And I accept that He knew when it was time to take her."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-28-People-Cissy%20Houston/id-0484569d7acd4c4daa2067cc74d06d1e

tryptophan BestBuy.com Kohls Black Friday www.walmart.com Macho Camacho Rise of the Guardians Pumpkin Pie

Lawmakers see immigration overhaul this year

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican and Democratic lawmakers were cautiously optimistic Sunday that a long-sought overhaul of the nation's immigration system that includes a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country will clear Congress this year, the result of changes in the political landscape shown in November's election.

"We are trying to work our way through some very difficult issues," said Illinois' Sen. Richard Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. "But, we are committed to a comprehensive approach to finally, in this country, have an immigration law we can live with. We have virtually been going maybe 25 years without a clear statement about immigration policy. That's unacceptable in this nation of immigrants."

Sen. Robert Menendez, who along with Durbin and Sen. John McCain, is part of the six-member, bipartisan Senate group working on a framework for immigration legislation to be announced this week, said current politics dictate that a pathway for citizenship must be included.

"Let's be very clear: having a pathway to earned legalization is an essential element. And I think that we are largely moving in that direction as an agreement," said Menendez, D-N.J.

But the package "will have the enhancement of the border security," he said, nodding to Republicans' priority to tighten borders to prevent future illegal immigration.

He also said the package would have to crack down on employers hiring undocumented workers.

Arizona Republican McCain has returned to the issue after having led a failed push to fix the nation's broken immigration system ahead of his 2008 bid for the White House.

McCain said: "What's changed is, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle ? including, maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle, that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill."

Despite making little progress on immigration in his first term, President Barack Obama won more than 70 percent of the Latino vote, in part because of the conservative positions on immigration that Republican nominee Mitt Romney staked out during the GOP primary. Asians, who immigrated to the U.S. in higher numbers than Hispanics in 2010, also overwhelmingly backed Obama. Latino voters accounted for 10 percent of the electorate in November.

Obama is to press his case for immigration changes during a trip to Las Vegas Tuesday: a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants that includes paying fines and back taxes; increased border security; mandatory penalties for businesses that employ unauthorized immigrants; and improvements to the legal immigration system, including giving green cards to high-skilled workers and lifting caps on legal immigration for the immediate family members of U.S. citizens.

In an opinion piece published online Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sen. Marco Rubio, also a member of the bipartisan Senate group, laid out his proposal to address the issue. The Florida Republican, son of Cuban immigrants, wrote that "significant progress" on enforcing immigration laws must be certified before unauthorized immigrants now in the country are allowed to apply for residency and "get in the back of the line."

Rep. Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican candidate for vice president, said he backs Rubio's proposal.

"Immigration is a good thing. We're here because of immigration. We need to make sure it works," Wisconsin's Ryan said.

If Republicans fail to act, they will pay the price in elections for generations, McCain warned.

"Well, I'll give you a little straight talk: Look at the last election... We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours for a variety of reasons," McCain said.

McCain and Menendez spoke with ABC's "This Week," Durbin appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and Ryan was on NBC's "Meet the Press."

___

Associated Press writer Philip Elliott contributed to this report.

___

Follow Michele Salcedo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/michelesalcedo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-27-US-Immigration/id-486347c8918a4dc4b6db3b3360ee16cb

Lauren Perdue tagged Heptathlon London 2012 shot put London 2012 Track And Field Jordyn Wieber michael phelps

Video: Stocks Surge to Start 2013

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50346775/

twin towers gizmodo cnet iPhone 5 9-11 Chris Brown Tattoo Innocence of Muslims

'Tennessee Waltz' singer Patti Page dies at 85

FILE - This 1958 file photo shows singer Patti Page. Page, who made "Tennessee Waltz" the third best-selling recording ever, died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2012 in Encinitas, Calif. She was 85. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - This 1958 file photo shows singer Patti Page. Page, who made "Tennessee Waltz" the third best-selling recording ever, died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2012 in Encinitas, Calif. She was 85. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2009 file photo, singer Patti Page performs the Tennessee Waltz during halftime of a NCAA college football game Tennessee and Ohio in Knoxville, Tenn. Page, who made "Tennessee Waltz" the third best-selling recording ever, has died. She was 85. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, file)

FILE - This 1958 file photo shows singer Patti Page. Page, who made "Tennessee Waltz" the third best-selling recording ever, has died. She was 85. Page died Jan. 1, 2013, in Encinitas, Calif., according to her manager. (AP Photo, file)

FILE - This 1958 file photo shows singer Patti Page. Page, who made "Tennessee Waltz" the third best-selling recording ever, has died. She was 85. Page died on New Year's Day in Encinitas, Calif., according to her manager. (AP Photo, file)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Unforgettable songs like "Tennessee Waltz" and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window?" made Patti Page the best-selling female singer of the 1950s and a star who would spend much of the rest of her life traveling the world.

When unspecified health problems finally stopped her decades of touring, though, Page wrote a sad-but-resolute letter to her fans late last year about the change.

"Although I feel I still have the voice God gave me, physical impairments are preventing me from using that voice as I had for so many years," Page wrote. "It is only He who knows what the future holds."

Page died on New Year's Day in Encinitas, Calif., according to publicist Schatzi Hageman, ending one of pop music's most diverse careers. She was 85 and just five weeks away from being honored at the Grammy Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Recording Academy.

Page achieved several career milestones in American pop culture, but she'll be remembered for indelible hits that crossed the artificial categorizations of music and remained atop the charts for months to reach a truly national audience.

"Tennessee Waltz" scored the rare achievement of reaching No. 1 on the pop, country and R&B charts simultaneously and was officially adopted as one of two official songs by the state of Tennessee. Its reach was so powerful, six other artists reached the charts the following year with covers.

Two other hits, "I Went To Your Wedding" and "Doggie in the Window," which had a second life for decades as a children's song, each spent more than two months at No. 1. Other hits included "Mockin' Bird Hill," ''Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte," and "Allegheny Moon." She teamed with George Jones on "You Never Looked That Good When You Were Mine."

"I just loved singing with Patti and she hit notes I never dreamed of," Jones said Wednesday in an email to The Associated Press. "We cut some songs together and it was a great time. She'll be missed by lots of folks and everybody needs to know how great she was. Patti was a wonderful singer with a real special voice."

So special, Page managed to maintain her career when most singers of her generation and their more innocent songs were shoved aside by the swinging hips of Elvis Presley. Page proved herself something of a match for the nascent rock 'n' roll crowd and its obsession with sex, continuing to place songs on the pop charts into the 1960s and the country charts into the '80s.

Page never kept track, but was told late in life that she'd recorded more than 1,000 songs. That's not what she had in her mind growing up as young Clara Ann Fowler.

"I was a kid from Oklahoma who never wanted to be a singer, but was told I could sing," she said in a 1999 interview. "And things snowballed."

She was popular in pop music and country and became the first singer to have television programs on all three major networks, including "The Patti Page Show" on ABC. In films, Page co-starred with Burt Lancaster in his Oscar-winning characterization of "Elmer Gantry," and she appeared in "Dondi" with David Janssen and in "Boy's Night Out" with James Garner and Kim Novak.

She also starred on stage in the musical comedy "Annie Get Your Gun." Her death came just a few days after the conclusion of the run of "Flipside: The Patti Page Story," an off-Broadway musical commemorating her life.

In 1999, after 51 years of performing, Page won her first Grammy for traditional pop vocal performance for "Live at Carnegie Hall ? The 50th Anniversary Concert." Page was planning to attend a special ceremony on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles where she was to receive a lifetime achievement award from The Recording Academy.

Neil Portnow, the Academy's president and CEO, said he spoke with Page and she had been "grateful and excited" to receive the honor. "Our industry has lost a remarkable talent and a true gift, and our sincere condolences go out to her family, friends and fans who were inspired by her work."

Page was born Nov. 8, 1927, in Claremore, Okla. The family of three boys and eight girls moved a few years later to nearby Tulsa.

She got her stage name working at radio station KTUL, which had a 15-minute program sponsored by Page Milk Co. The regular Patti Page singer left and was replaced by Fowler, who took the name with her on the road to stardom.

Page was discovered by Jack Rael, a band leader who was making a stop in Tulsa in 1946 when he heard Page sing on the radio. Rael called KTUL asking where the broadcast originated. When told Page was a local singer, he quickly arranged an interview and abandoned his career to be Page's manager.

A year later she signed a contract with Mercury Records and began appearing in nightclubs in the Chicago area.

Her first major hit was "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming," but she got noticed a few years earlier in 1947 with "Confess."

She created a distinctive sound for the music industry on that song by overdubbing her own voice when she didn't have enough money to hire backup singers for the single.

"We would have to pay for all those expenses because Mercury felt that I had not as yet received any national recognition that would merit Mercury paying for it," Page once said.

"Confess" was enough of a hit that Rael persuaded Mercury to let Page try full four-part harmony by overdubbing. The result was "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming." The label read, "Vocals by Patti Page, Patti Page, Patti Page and Patti Page."

"Tennessee Waltz," her biggest-selling record, was a fluke.

Because Christmas was approaching, Mercury Records wanted Page to record "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" in 1950.

Page and Rael got hold of "Tennessee Waltz," convinced that a pop artist could make a smash hit out of it. Mercury agreed to put it on the B-side of the Christmas song.

"Mercury wanted to concentrate on a Christmas song and they didn't want anything with much merit on the flip side," Page said. "They didn't want any disc jockeys to turn the Christmas record over. The title of that great Christmas song was 'Boogie Woogie Santa Claus,' and no one ever heard of it."

"Tennessee Waltz" became the first pop tune that crossed over into a big country hit.

The waltz was on the charts for 30 weeks, 12 of them in the top 10, and eventually sold more than 10 million copies, behind only "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby at the time.

She received the Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music in 1980. She also is a member of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

In her later career, Page and husband Jerry Filiciotto spent half the year living in Southern California and half in an 1830s farmhouse in New Hampshire. He died in 2009.

Page is survived by her son, Daniel O'Curran, daughter Kathleen Ginn and sister Peggy Layton.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-02-Patti%20Page/id-99dee5b7d5de454c9516c9b7b762f131

China abc glock earthquake abc news msnbc meteor shower

Congress tightens belt, trims spy budget for 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress has drastically trimmed the budget for U.S. spies and satellites for 2013, though not quite as deeply as the White House wanted.

In one of the last votes of the year, House lawmakers voted Monday 373-29 in favor of a Senate-passed bill to slightly boost the president's $72 billion budget request for intelligence agencies including the CIA, adding extra cash for the counterterrorism fight against al-Qaida, and the counterintelligence fight against foreign governments trying to spy on the U.S.

That's down sharply from roughly $80 billion in 2012, which marked the peak of intelligence spending since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"The bill holds personnel levels, one of the biggest cost drivers, generally at last year's levels," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich. "Even so, the bill adds a limited number of new personnel positions for select, high-priority positions, such as FBI surveillance officers to keep watch on terrorists."

The House Intelligence Committee's ranking member, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., said the bill "invests in personnel and programs that are working and cuts things that aren't."

The bill was stripped of several measures meant to block the leaking of classified information, including a provision that would have limited which government officials could brief journalists on intelligence. The measures had been drafted after lawmakers objected to a series of news stories that anonymously quoted senior administration sources describing sensitive intelligence programs, such as the process by which targets are chosen for lethal drone strikes overseas.

The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says the measures were taken out to get the bill passed but that the issue remains a problem.

"Unfortunately, I am certain that damaging leaks of classified information will continue, and so the committee will need to continue to look for acceptable ways to address this problem," Feinstein said Friday after the Senate version of the bill passed.

The legislation, if signed into law by President Barack Obama, will require the White House to inform Congress when it decides to share classified information with reporters, giving lawmakers a heads-up before they read about it in the media.

___

Dozier can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KimberlyDozier

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-01-US-Intelligence-Budget/id-2cb03a892642466cbe3ae49f09689c14

Univision josh hamilton pnc alicia keys Susan Rice American Airlines the Who

Professional Property Management and Maintenance | Celeste Bright

Owning real estate can be a lucrative and memorable venture as you monitor the development and success of your investment over time. This can also be a very stressful process with money to collect, tenants to find, and areas to update and maintain. If you own a property but also have other responsibilities and projects, you probably don?t have the time to properly manage your investment. Look to hire a responsible property management and maintenance company to help correct this problem. Property managers can help in the process of finding tenants, receiving rent, and communicating with the residents of the property. We always work diligently to be the source of the finest property maintenance services you can find anywhere. We know that unique forms of real estate require unique procedures and we can think outside of the box. Call us today for a great solution to your property maintenance questions.Property Manager Utah

Rental Management

Source: http://celestebright.com/professional-property-management-and-maintenance-2/

taco bell taco bell Breezy Point Seaside Heights nj transit PSEG hocus pocus

A Checklist for Effective Blog Writing in 2013

In today?s Internet world, especially in 2013, content is (will be) king?and it?s only going to grow in importance. Thanks to changes in search algorithms, an emphasis on authorship and the growing power of Google+, content is quickly becoming more and more important in the eyes of search engines.

Related: The Evolution of Google+

To make sure your content is up to par, here?s a checklist for creating effective blog content?because while blogging doesn?t equal content marketing, it is a crucial part of any winning content strategy.

Start with Your Goal

Know why you?re writing your blog?is it to draw new traffic? Create an online community? Find new business? That goal informs all your other decisions, so keep it at the forefront of your blogging efforts.

Run Through This Checklist

Think of the following list as a run-through of what your blog needs to be effective:

• Title: Keep the title tag under 70 characters for best search results.

• Meta Description: Make the meta description a concise summary of your page. (Tip: If you?re using WordPress, a plugin like All in One SEO Pack can make it easy to customize your title and meta description within your post editor.)

• Headers and Subheaders: <h1>, <h2>, and <h3> tags (and so on) give search engines a basic hierarchy of your content, allowing you to prioritize what matters most.

• Introduction: Make the beginning of your blog post interesting and attention-grabbing.

• Relevant Images: The Internet is a visual place, so images make your posts more interesting to readers. Pictures grab readers? attention, clarify a message, and more.

• Relevant Internal Links: Use your blog posts to point to other content?include links to past articles or other content that relates to what you?re saying. Work it into your text or use a related posts plugin at the bottom of posts. Not only does this get readers digging into your archives, but it also adds more value to your writing.

• Relevant External Links: In the blog community, readers like to see you?re promoting others? content. Link to content that relates and is relevant to what you have to say, as is appropriate.

• Organization: Shorten long chunks of copy into shorter, more scannable bits. Generally speaking, online readers respond best to content they can scan.

• Social Media: While you don?t want to turn social media into a nonstop channel for self-promotion, you can use it to promote posts from time to time. In fact, promoting your content on Facebook and Twitter is a powerful way to spread your message and increase your influence.

• Call to Action: Remember your goal above? Find ways to coax readers to take the step you desire, whether that means subscribing to a newsletter or buying a product. Come right out and ask them to do it in creative ways within your content.

• Comments: The most engaging blogs feel like a discussion?readers comment and expect a response. So get involved in your comments. While you don?t have to respond to every person, make it a habit to respond to questions at the very least.

What do you think? This list is not exhaustive?what else goes into quality blog content? What have you seen that?s important?

Photo credit:?adjuice.co.uk

Bio: Shanna Mallon?is a writer for?Straight North, a Chicago Web design firm providing specialized SEO, Web development, and other online marketing services. Follow?Straight North on Twitter?and?Facebook.

3 found dead in Calif. apartment blaze; 3 injured

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? A couple and their granddaughter were killed and three others were injured ? including a police officer credited with saving at least one person ? in a late-night fire at a Northern California apartment complex, authorities said Sunday.

The officer and firefighters called to the complex shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday found people trapped in an apartment on the second floor of the building, San Jose Fire Department Capt. Mary Gutierrez said.

The police officer, who has not been named, entered the burning apartment and pulled at least one person to safety, Gutierrez said.

"He was one of the first on the scene," Gutierrez said. "He had a fire extinguisher, entered the burning apartment and performed at least one rescue. He got somebody out of that burning apartment."

After firefighters put the fire out, the bodies of a man, a woman and a child were recovered, Gutierrez said.

A woman who escaped the fire told the San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/12Rk1Kp ) she lost her parents, Bulmaro and Mariana Maldonado, and 4-year-old daughter Kyra in the blaze.

"I just woke up, and the room was on fire," Cecilia Maldonado said.

The police officer was one of three people taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, Gutierrez said. She did not know the condition of the officer or of the two other people hospitalized. Their names have not been released, and San Jose police did not immediately return a call seeking information about the officer.

The Mercury News reported the injured included a relative in the apartment, 23-year-old Juan Carlos Maldonado, who was sent to the intensive care unit.

The fire destroyed the family's apartment and damaged one below. It left 56 people in the complex homeless, and authorities said they could be allowed back in their apartments after a few days.

They were assisted by the American Red Cross, with about half being put up in hotels, said Red Cross spokeswoman Kathleen Maclay.

Meanwhile, investigators were looking through the rubble of the apartment and interviewing witnesses as they tried to determine what sparked the fire.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-found-dead-calif-apartment-blaze-3-injured-215704208.html

walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham williams syndrome

Deadline passes for 'fiscal cliff' (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/274169307?client_source=feed&format=rss

declaration of independence 4th Of July 2012 Zach Parise Spain Vs Italy Euro 2012 tiger woods erin andrews erin andrews