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Estelle Getty of ‘Golden Girls’ dies at 84

LOS ANGELES - Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV’s “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

“Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams,” former “Golden Girls” co-star Rue McClanahan told The Associated Press. “Don’t feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia.

“The Golden Girls,” featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff’s belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.

Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in “Maude,” Betty White in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and McClanahan in “Mama’s Family.” The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur’s character.

“Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her,” Arthur said in a statement.

When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein’s play “Torch Song Trilogy.” In her early 60s, she flunked her “Golden Girls” test twice because it was believed she didn’t look old enough to play 80.

“I could understand that,” she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. “I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast.

She came prepared for the third audition, however, wearing dowdy clothes and telling an NBC makeup artist, “To you this is just a job. To me it’s my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80.” The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys.

“The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us,” White said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

“The Golden Girls” culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.

“I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I’d say, ‘Don’t promote me, please,’” she recalled.

She also appeared in small parts in a handful of films and TV movies during that time, including “Tootsie,” “Deadly Force” and “Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story.

After her success in “The Golden Girls,” other roles came her way. She played Cher’s mother in “Mask,” Sylvester Stallone’s in “Stop or My Mom Will Shoot” and Barry Manilow’s in the TV film “Copacabana.” Other credits included “Mannequin” and “Stuart Little” (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).

“The Golden Girls,” which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.

Audiences particularly loved the verbal zingers Getty would hurl at the other three. When McClanahan’s libidinous character Blanche once complained that her life was an open book, Sophia shot back, “Your life’s an open blouse.

“I always told her she should be a standup comic. She was so funny in person,” McClanahan recalled.

“She would always say, ‘Why couldn’t we make these characters Jewish? Why am I Sicilian?’”

Getty had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel. Female comedians were rare in those days, however, and she bombed.

Undeterred, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, and while her parents were encouraging, her father also insisted that she learn office skills so she would have something to fall back on.

Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.

She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. The marriage prevailed despite her long absences on the road and in “The Golden Girls.

Getty was evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was “under 5 feet and under 100 pounds.

McClanahan said her nickname for Getty was “Slats.

“Because she was so short, itty-bitty,” she said.

In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeIdHHfBsK0

Ice Road Truckers

On the History Channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CwD7Uo_4vs

6/24/2008 

LITTLE ROCK — A semitruck driver crashed through a state highway department work zone Tuesday morning on a U.S. 67 bridge over the White River, killing himself and a worker there as flames engulfed his rig, officials said.

A northbound lane and both of the southbound lanes of the bridge, located near Ingleside, remained closed late this afternoonas state workers mourned their dead colleague and began the task of inspecting the fire damage. Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, said the lanes would remain closed until undergoing a thorough check.

“We will make sure the bridge structure itself is safe and did not suffer damage in the fire before we reopen it,” Ort said.

Ort identified the dead highway worker as Bruce Fick, 47, of Newark. Ort said Fick had worked for the highway department for 11 years and that his wife also works for the department.

The crash happened around 10:30 a.m., as a group of four state highway workers prepared to do maintenance and pressure-wash the bridge’s deck along the southbound lanes, Ort said. The workers had set up a series of tapered orange barrels or cones to mark the lane closure, as well as placed a large, flashing arrow sign mounted on a trailer to warning oncoming traffic, Ort said.

At the time of the crash, three workers stood near the south end of the bridge, while Fick either stood by or was inside a state highway department truck. Ort said the driver of the semitruck either ignored or didn’t see the warning signs, slamming through the flashing arrow sign and into the back of the department’s truck.

Both trucks burst into flames after the collision. Ort said the Fick and the semitruck driver died at the scene of the crash.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said troopers continued to investigate the crash and were not yet ready to identify the semitruck driver.

U.S. 67 runs from the Mexican border in Texas through eastern Iowa. The portion where the crash occurred has two southbound and two northbound lanes, separated by a median.

Ort said the department’s last death came in January 2007, when a worker removing a deer carcass from U.S. 67 near Jacksonville was struck on the highway’s shoulder by a passing car.

obtained from http://www.TheTrucker.com

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LITTLE ROCK — Parking, or the lack thereof, for big rigs hasn’t improved much over the past six months, according to polls conducted by www.thetrucker.com.

The unscientific polls, the first conducted last November and the most recent conducted the last week of May, showed that more than 50 percent of truckers who responded said it was extremely more difficult to find a parking place now than it was one year ago.

The percentage of truckers reporting it was extremely more difficult actually dropped from 63 percent in November to 51 percent in November, but comments from truckers indicated that parking is still a problem.
 

Here are some of those comments from the most recent poll:

“Some of the areas I am in there are no truck stops. I am in Beaufort, S.C., and the only place to park is in a large department store area and I have to pick up a load tomorrow in this town.”

“More and more places like California and such have really restricted where we can park.”

“You sometimes have to look at places not frequented by the normal trucking crowd, such as getting off the interstate and parking on the side of a two-lane road where it is not illegal.”

“You need to plan and be parked by 4 p.m. for a really good spot and by 6 to 7 p.m. for any spot on the West Coast, especially California and Washington.”

“Some nights it’s very hard. Sometimes it’s no problem on my weekly runs from Minnesota to New York City.”

At least two respondents noticed a difference in traffic:

“There doesn’t seem to be as much truck traffic as there was a year ago.”

“It seems in the last few weeks there has been more parking available. Maybe it’s just me. But it also seems there have been fewer trucks on the road.”

In the most recent poll, 5 percent said finding a parking place was not as difficult as one year ago. That percentage in the November poll was just over 1 percent.

Polls are conducted weekly on www.thetrucker.com.

WALCOTT, Iowa — Hundreds of truckers and their families have descended on the largest travel center in the U.S. for the 26th annual Shell SuperRigs competition.

The event, which runs through Saturday at the Iowa 80 Truckstop, has also offered attendees a chance to “drive” the Shell No. 29 racing car in a simulator, hear performances each day by Joey Holiday, play trucker bingo, participate in a SuperRigs “Super Dog” contest and listen to other live entertainment.

Tonight’s big event is the “Big Rig Lights” contest.

Saturday will include the SuperRigs Awards presentation, at which $25,000 in prizes will be awarded.

From the competitors, 12 trucks will be chosen to adorn the 2009 Shell Rotella SuperRigs calendar.

The prestigious competition has been held at least three times at the Iowa 80 Truckstop and one other time at a truck stop belonging to the Iowa 80 Group.

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The trucking firm Jevic Transportation Inc., of Delanco, announced that it was ceasing operations after 27 years, a victim of high diesel and insurance costs as well as the tightened economy. The 1,500-employee national firm, with about 1,000 in Burlington County, making it one of the county’s largest employers, said it would deliver all freight already within its system before closing entirely.

Peter A. Robinson, director of marketing and corporate communications, said the company had been feeling pressure from the economic downturn for months and had been reducing positions for some time. “When you are a carrier, you see the recession coming before anyone else,” he said. “Customers are shipping less.” Tiffany Wlazlowski, spokeswoman for the American Trucking Associations, said that rising fuel costs had placed huge pressures on trucking firms. “For many motor carriers, fuel is now equal to labor as the highest expense,” she said. “The trucking industry spent $112 billion on fuel in 2007, and we’re on pace to spend $141.5 billion in 2008.” Since Jan. 1, 2007, diesel fuel prices have risen from $2.67 a gallon to $4.52 today, according to AAA. In a letter to employees, Jevic’s management said it had been seeking “financing or other alternatives that would have enabled it to continue operations. However, it has been unsuccessful, due in part to unforeseeable tightening of the credit markets.” Jevic is owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc., a leveraged buyout and investment fund in Boca Raton, Fla. Officials from Sun Capital Partners did not return calls. George Meehan, a Jevic driver hired in 2007, said the shutdown was a surprise. “Nobody seemed to be aware of anything coming up,” said Meehan, who had gone on disability in January and was preparing to return to work. Pat Prior, 56, a supervisor in the pricing department, said employees were given the news at department meetings today morning. Many broke down in tears, she said. Prior said that employees generally thought that they were well-treated and believed that they were well-paid. “No one can bad-mouth the company; it was a good company,” said Prior, who had worked at Jevic for 17 years. Citing rising costs, the company told customers in February that it would increase rates 5.9 percent for most business. Then, in April, Jevic said it would close four of 10 loading facilities across the country in a realignment of operations. Robinson said there were some signs, such as increased orders for corrugated boxes, that the economy and industry might recover later this year or in 2009, but not apparently soon enough for Jevic to survive. Jevic was founded by Harry Muhlschlegel and his wife, Karen, in 1981. The business was referred to as a less-than-truckload carrier, in which single trucks would make deliveries for multiple customers on one route. Though not unique to Jevic, it was a concept that Muhlschlegel built upon. At one time, the company had loading facilities in Delanco; Chicago; New York; Charlotte, N.C.; Houston; Los Angeles; and other cities, and its distinctive blue-and-white trucks could be seen around the nation. By adding a computer-assisted scheduling system, an innovative approach for loading trailers, and developing an intensely solicitous relationship with customers, the company became one of the nation’s fastest-growing LTL carriers by the mid-1990s. The company said that, for most Jevic employees, today would be their last day of employment, but that a limited number would stay on during the wind-down period. David H. Gorman, Jevic president and chief executive officer, said that the company’s Web site would remain active and would be updated for customers tracking shipments. In a letter to Jevic customers, Gorman said: “I regret to inform you that Jevic Transportation Inc. will be discontinuing operations. The current high fuel costs, economic downturn, increasing insurance costs, and tightening credit markets have made this decision necessary. “Jevic will stop providing pickup service effective Monday 5/19/08. However, we will continue operating to deliver all freight within our system prior to closing. “We greatly appreciate the loyalty of our many Jevic customers,” he added. Besides new business systems, Jevic added other distinctive innovations: Its drivers carried business cards, just like senior managers. It was known for good pay and benefits, and thus had little difficulty filling the ranks of its drivers. Moreover, it made a point of bending over backward to get new customers, and to keep them in the fold.

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HOW TO USE IM2YOU on GayTruckstop:
The Instant Messenger (IM) system is designed to connect people in a safe , secure private environment. IM is for Gold members only. From any profile, or on the search results, you may add (online) users to your IM.  You are encouraged to add your friends to your friend lists as IM2YOU will notify you when your friends login to Gay Truckstop.
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HOW TO IM WITH THE OTHER:
You can do this several ways. You can make the person a friend or add them to your hotlist. Or you can choose the  “ADD TO IM” icon in the search result or profile view page, which will bring up a private IM window with them. Or, you can choose the   “ADD TO IM” icon in IM2YOU either in the IM2YOU window, or in the “currently online” listings. All of these methods will add a user to your IM2YOU list, so you can send them a private message. You can send private messages in the main IM2YOU notification window or bring up a private window. You can also use IM2YOU as a shoutbox or privately 1 on 1 with others. If used as a shoutbox your message will goto all, and anyone can read it.

NOTE: It is suggested , if you IM someone that is online, to send them a message that your attempting to IM with them. We designed IM2YOU so its not a bothersome gadget.

IM2YOU not only is a Instant messenger, but its the core engine for Notifications on GayTruckstop. IM2YOU will notify you when you receive a kiss, or new message, a im waiting, friends waiting to be added and so on.

If the other is online that person will be notified with a beep and the IM2YOU LOGO on the main screen will flash. This will only beep once, wich is why we suggest, sending off a message to the user first that your on IM and waiting for them. You can open up IM windows by clicking  “ADD TO IM” from the search results or from their profile or on the main IM2YOU notification window.
 
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HAVE YOUR SOUND ON:
Our IM system notifies you of new friends, kisses, mail and new IM’s waiting for you. It will flash and will sound a beep instantly. We recommend that you have your audio on for best performance of IM2YOU. Though, if you dont like the sound, IM2YOU does have a feature to turn the sound off.

See screen captures below!

Regards,
TruckerJeff
Webmaster
GayTruckstop.com Network™

4/18/2008

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Senator John McCain’s recent proposal for a three-month “gas tax holiday” would have a devastating effect on America’s roadways, according to the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA), a national roadway safety organization.

    “Almost 43,000 people die on our highways every year, and the key programs designed to reduce that number and save lives are funded by the federal user fee. Suspending that revenue source would certainly lead to the suspension of those life-saving programs,” said ATSSA President Henry Ross today.

    The current federal-aid highway program, that is funded by the 18.4-cents-a-gallon user fee, includes monies specifically targeted toward roadway safety. The “Highway Safety Improvement Program” provides about $1.25 billion annually to the states to make their roadways safer. Federal guidelines ensure that these funds are spent on safety improvements.

    For example, many motorists have probably noticed the increased use of median cable barrier in states across the country. This life saving device prevents errant motorists from crossing a median at high speeds and killing or severely injuring themselves or other drivers. It has been determined to be 94 to 100 percent effective.

    “The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has estimated that the average motorist would save about $28 annually. ATSSA is confident that American road users would gladly pay $28 a year to ensure that their mother, father, sister, brother or child would get home safely,” said Ross.

    Since 1969, ATSSA has represented companies and individuals in the traffic control and roadway safety industry. Over 1,600 ATSSA members provide the majority of features, services and devices used to make our nation’s roadways safer. These include pavement markings, road signs, work zone traffic control devices, guardrail, and other roadside safety features. ATSSA is headquartered in Fredericksburg, Va.