Hilton Carlsbad Oceanfront Resort
At $349 a night, the rooms at the Hilton Carlsbad Oceanfront Resort are pricey, but everything is new and shiny, most of the rooms have ocean views, there's a spa and a big pool with a neighboring baby pool, and when the summer masses go home, those rates will ebb.
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SoCal Close-Ups: North County San Diego
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Activities on Hawaii's Big Island
Travelers may think of Hawaii as the land of surfboards, sunsets and mai tais, but there's a lava flow of reasons to go beyond the beaches and discover why residents say they are lucky to live in Hawaii. And, yes, some of the state's best beaches are found on the Big Island. But don't get stuck there. Do what the locals do.
-- George Fuller
-- George Fuller
Swim with the honu
There are five snorkeling areas along the Big Island's Kohala Coast: Puako Bay, Waialea Beach (Beach 69), Hapuna Beach, Mauna Kea and Mauume. You'll enjoy each for different reasons. The undersea life is abundant at all of them, and more often than not you'll encounter at least one of Hawaii's sacred honu, or green sea turtles. These protected creatures feed on the coral reefs just offshore, making an encounter likely. But even if you don't see turtles, there are thousands of brightly colored fish and even the occasional monk seal, manta ray or eel.
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Source: http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-activities-on-hawaiis-big-island-20120420,0,1448771.photogallery
Tesla Motors warns it will miss sales expectations
Tesla's Jason Noma polishes one of Tesla's new Model S sedans at Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. The company made its 100th Model S in August. / July photo by Patrick Tehan/McClatchy-Tribune
California start-up Tesla Motors warned investors Tuesday that its 2012 sales would fall about 30% below prior expectations because it is confronting "unique manufacturing challenges" in producing its Model S sedan.
The Model S sedan ranges from more than $50,000 to nearly $110,000 before tax credits. The company said it had manufactured only 255 vehicles from June through Sunday. But it still expects to make 2,500 to 3,000 in the fourth quarter.
Tesla's stock tumbled nearly 10% to $27.66 on more than four times its daily trading volume.
Tesla, which has lost $660 million in last 14 quarters, didn't back off previous projections that it would produce more than 20,000 Model S sedans in 2013 at a pace of about 400 per week.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla said the U.S. Department of Energy agreed it could delay a third-quarter interest payment due on Tesla's $465-million federal loan. But Tesla agreed to accelerate future payments on the loan.
The company said it would seek to raise up to $147.6 million through a public offering to help repay the loan, which has now been amended four times.
Tesla's warning came two weeks after one of its investors, venture capitalist Tim Draper, said in an interview that Tesla had won "the electric-car battle."
"Don't live in your reality-distortion field here in Detroit," Draper warned his audience at the Techonomy conference at Wayne State University.
Now Tesla estimates it pegged 2012 revenue at $400 million to $440 million, down from previous projections of $560 million to $600 million.
The company, founded by California entrepreneur Elon Musk, acknowledged that making cars is more complicated that it realized. Tesla said it needs to give employees better training and improve supplier quality.
"We anticipate, however, that manufacturing and supplier issues will continue to arise and need to be addressed in a timely manner," the company said.
Barclays analysts said in a research note that Tesla's filing "does elevate questions on its ability to ramp manufacturing."
The vehicle "has a number of new and unique design features, such as a 17-inch display screen, newly designed retractable exterior door handles and a panoramic roof, each of which poses unique manufacturing challenges," the company said in the SEC filing.
The company also said Monday that it is introducing a "supercharger" network on the West Coast to allow Tesla owners to quickly charge their vehicles. The company hopes to eventually introduce the network across the U.S.
Separately, Consumer Reports dinged California start-up Fisker Automotive's Karma sedan, saying the plug-in hybrid was "plagued with flaws."
"Despite the car's huge dimensions, it's very cramped inside. The overcomplicated controls are frustrating and it's hard to see out," said Jake Fisher, director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center.
Tesla's Jason Noma polishes one of Tesla's new Model S sedans at Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. The company made its 100th Model S in August. / July photo by Patrick Tehan/McClatchy-Tribune
California start-up Tesla Motors warned investors Tuesday that its 2012 sales would fall about 30% below prior expectations because it is confronting "unique manufacturing challenges" in producing its Model S sedan.
The Model S sedan ranges from more than $50,000 to nearly $110,000 before tax credits. The company said it had manufactured only 255 vehicles from June through Sunday. But it still expects to make 2,500 to 3,000 in the fourth quarter.
Tesla's stock tumbled nearly 10% to $27.66 on more than four times its daily trading volume.
Tesla, which has lost $660 million in last 14 quarters, didn't back off previous projections that it would produce more than 20,000 Model S sedans in 2013 at a pace of about 400 per week.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla said the U.S. Department of Energy agreed it could delay a third-quarter interest payment due on Tesla's $465-million federal loan. But Tesla agreed to accelerate future payments on the loan.
The company said it would seek to raise up to $147.6 million through a public offering to help repay the loan, which has now been amended four times.
Tesla's warning came two weeks after one of its investors, venture capitalist Tim Draper, said in an interview that Tesla had won "the electric-car battle."
"Don't live in your reality-distortion field here in Detroit," Draper warned his audience at the Techonomy conference at Wayne State University.
Now Tesla estimates it pegged 2012 revenue at $400 million to $440 million, down from previous projections of $560 million to $600 million.
The company, founded by California entrepreneur Elon Musk, acknowledged that making cars is more complicated that it realized. Tesla said it needs to give employees better training and improve supplier quality.
"We anticipate, however, that manufacturing and supplier issues will continue to arise and need to be addressed in a timely manner," the company said.
Barclays analysts said in a research note that Tesla's filing "does elevate questions on its ability to ramp manufacturing."
The vehicle "has a number of new and unique design features, such as a 17-inch display screen, newly designed retractable exterior door handles and a panoramic roof, each of which poses unique manufacturing challenges," the company said in the SEC filing.
The company also said Monday that it is introducing a "supercharger" network on the West Coast to allow Tesla owners to quickly charge their vehicles. The company hopes to eventually introduce the network across the U.S.
Separately, Consumer Reports dinged California start-up Fisker Automotive's Karma sedan, saying the plug-in hybrid was "plagued with flaws."
"Despite the car's huge dimensions, it's very cramped inside. The overcomplicated controls are frustrating and it's hard to see out," said Jake Fisher, director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center.
Michigan players accept responsibility for tough loss
Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson apologized to teammates regarding his poor outing against Notre Dame, but defensive lineman Will Campbell assured the quarterback that no apology was necessary. (David Guralnick/Detroit News)
Ann Arbor - Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson apologized to Wolverines fans after his five-turnover performance in a loss at Notre Dame last Saturday.
He echoed those apologies to his teammates following the 13-6 loss.
Michigan does not have a game on Saturday. The Wolverines, who are 2-2 and dropped out of the national polls, open Big Ten play Oct. 6 at Purdue.
"He addressed us in the locker room," defensive lineman Will Campbell said on Tuesday. "We told him it wasn't all on him and we need to stand behind each other and protect one another.
"We all as a defense went up to Denard and told him it's a team thing."
That was the message from Michigan coach Brady Hoke, as well.
"You make sure he understands we took 69 guys to the game, we've got 115 on this football team," Hoke said. "We're all responsible — coaches, players, everybody. He's smart enough, he's competitive enough he'll take a lot out of this game."
Asked if there was a common thread to Robinson's turnovers, Hoke was brief.
"No, not really," Hoke said.
Was there anything Notre Dame did to affect Robinson?
"No, not really," he repeated.
Hoke said Robinson has met with Al Borges, the Wolverines' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He did not reveal much about that discussion.
"Decisions," Hoke said when asked what was said to Robinson. "What else are you going to say? Decisions."
Robinson admitted after the game he clearly made some poor decisions on throws and forced some of them.
"I just told him to keep his head up," right guard Patrick Omameh said. "We understand this is a team concept."
Tailback Fitz Toussaint, who said earlier this season that Robinson gave him a great deal of support while he dealt with legal issues and a one-game suspension, has offered similar support to Robinson.
"He's our brother, we have to show him support," Toussaint said. "We all made mistakes, not just Denard. We did it as a team. We have his back through anything."
Since the loss, Robinson has been resilient.
"Denard's been Denard," Toussaint said. "He had a smile on his face and is ready to improve."
Injury update
Receiver Devin Gardner , slow to get up after hitting a metal apparatus just beyond the end zone late in the Notre Dame game, is "fine", Hoke said.
"Devin, in his own way, is mentally tough," he said. "I think he likes where he's gone to with that being a wideout."
Safety Marvin Robinson didn't make the trip to Notre Dame. Hoke said he suffered an undisclosed injury during the UMass game and realized Wednesday in practice "he just couldn't go."
Big Ten chances
Hoke called last season's 11-2 record a disappointment because it didn't include a Big Ten championship. He was asked his opinion Tuesday of Michigan's chance to win the conference.
"I think nothing's changed," Hoke said.
Does he like the Wolverines' chances?
"I like our team," he said.
Firing up the offense
Late in the Notre Dame game, Campbell was in the middle of the offensive huddle trying to fire up his teammates.
"I was just trying to get them riled up, let them know we were behind them all the way, just let them know the defense was behind them," Campbell said. "At practice if Denard sees the defense lagging, he's going to come in our huddle and tell us to pick it up. It's only right if I did the same thing to them."
Taking time off?
Just because the Wolverines don't play Saturday doesn't mean they're slacking this week.
The team has today off, will practice Thursday and Friday and have Saturday off before returning Sunday.
angelique.chengelis@detnews.com twitter.com/chengelis
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120926/SPORTS0201/209260334#ixzz27YN29rwu
Response to SARS-Like Virus an Improvement Over 2003 Outbreak
Credit: Getty Images
Health officials detected a SARS-like virus that started in the Middle East this month, but the global response is drastically different from what it was in 2003, when the world learned about the original SARS virus only after it had already taken hold of Hong Kong.
The World Health Organization announced Sunday that two cases of a SARS-like virus have been reported: a 49-year-old Qatari man in critical condition in a U.K. hospital and a 60-year-old Saudi woman who died earlier this year. They suffered from a 99.5 percent identical coronavirus that caused acute respiratory syndrome and renal failure. (Coronaviruses include a range of viruses from SARS to the common cold.)
“It took the outbreak in Hong Kong and subsequent spread to bring that to our attention,” Dr. William Schaffner said of the 2003 SARS outbreak. Schaffner chairs preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University. “The surveillance for viruses that cause disease, particularly respiratory viruses, has improved enormously over the last 10 years worldwide. What happened here demonstrates that.”
The man with the new SARS-like virus first showed symptoms on Sept. 3 and was admitted to an intensive care unit in Qatar on Sept. 7, according to a WHO statement. He was transferred to a hospital in the United Kingdom four days later, where the Health Protection Agency conducted lab testing to determine that he had a never-before-seen coronavirus similar to SARS. The U.K. informed WHO of the discovery on Sept. 22, and WHO made the announcement Sept. 23.
In short, the whole world found out about the new SARS-like virus less than three weeks after its second known victim first presented symptoms.
A decade ago, SARS infected 8,098 people from November 2002 through July 2003, killing 774 of them. It is believed that the virus began in Chinese horseshoe bats in 2002 before spreading to cats sold at animal markets for food, and spreading from there to humans. New cases tapered off and stopped around 2003, with the exception of eight new cases in China in 2004.
Schaffner said scientific and technological advances in the last ten years allowed health officials to shift from reaction to anticipation this time around. Not only are hospitals sending specimens of the viruses to labs earlier, he said, but technicians can do molecular testing that wasn’t easily or cheaply available in 2003.
Ralph Baric, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health who has studied SARS for eight years, said it’s important to realize that this SARS-like virus could actually be very different from the original, however, given that it’s named for the symptoms (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) rather than the virus’s makeup.
“In this case, this has been caught earlier, and that is probably really good news, but again at this point it’s just speculation and guessing,” he said, adding that there have been many new coronaviruses over the last 30 years.
Baric said sporadic SARS cases — like the ones we’re seeing now — probably first began in 2001, but it took until late 2002 or early 2003 for the disease to become a pandemic. The spread from China to Hong Kong was traced back to a doctor who was treating patients with SARS in China and traveled to Hong Kong for a family reunion, passing the virus to people on his hotel floor who then “seeded” other countries with SARS, Baric said.
A doctor named Carlo Urbani was treating patients in Vietnam in late February 2003 when he noticed patients experiencing a strange and severe respiratory disease. He became concerned and alerted WHO. Urbani died of SARS on March 29, 2003.
“SARS also told the entire world’s communities you can’t hide this,” Schaffner said. “You have to identify these viruses and let the world public health community know about it.”
In 2003, China was a much more “reclusive” place, and neighboring officials urged Chinese health officials not to keep the virus outbreak a secret, Schaffner said.
“When it comes to respiratory illness, you don’t need a passport,” he said. “We are all linked and we must let each other know when something is happening in our community because it could be in your community a day from now.”
HPA officials have already learned that the new coronavirus has a seven-day incubation period, which has passed since the Qatari man was admitted to the hospital. So far, no health workers have shown signs of the virus, which was a key feature of the original SARS outbreak, meaning it’s possible that this virus isn’t as contagious. The current patient is still in respiratory isolation, and his hospital caregivers are required to wear respirators, gowns, gloves and goggles.
The WHO has not proposed any travel restrictions.
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