http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/ Sterling, WI News http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/688113a6639c1245270201931be1f291.html GREENWOOD Brandon Nigon put back a missed shot by Jared Yestad with one second left to lift the Greenwood boys basketball team to a 3937 nonconference win over Abbotsford in its season opener Tuesday http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/d34a65f8b7f36247d9a16d18a67990ac.html 1 2 3 4 FIRST QUARTER: Panthers 7 Packers 0 Play of the quarter: On the first play of the game the Panthers caught the Packers off guard with a flea flicker pass from Jake Delhomme to Muhsin Muhammad who had slipped behind the Packers secondary But Tramon Williams caught up with Muhammad after a 44 yard gain and knocked the http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/4444a750840a5ab7a004072fc0a0b0f5.html 1 2 3 4 FIRST QUARTER: Panthers 7 Packers 0 Play of the quarter:On the first play of the game the Panthers caught the Packers off guardwith a flea flicker pass from Jake Delhomme to Muhsin Muhammad who hadslipped behind the Packers secondary But Tramon Williams caught upwith Muhammad after a 44 yard gain and knocked the ball loose CharlesWoodson recovered on the http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/3fea0fe872efc318450e424430026e8c.html MOUNT STERLING Ky Lindsay Pasley is an eager young man in what used to be an older man's game: tobacco farmingHe recently took 20 tons of his early prepared leaf to Clay's Tobacco Warehouse in Mount Sterling due east of Lexington in the Appalachian foothills where he said he earned enough to have a nice Thanksgiving and ChristmasThe auctioneer's singsong chant still rings out at Clay's and a few other tobaccoselling sites stubbornly hanging on with limited sales but not nearly as oftenClay's is the last tobacco warehouse still conducting auctions in Mount Sterling once home to four auction warehouses Owner Roger Wilson who has watched as longtime growers have switched crops or quit farming altogether over the years hopes to sell more than 2 million pounds this season comparable to last year but down about half from the days before Congress pulled the plug on a Depressionera buyout programYet Pasley 28 wants to quadruple his acreage He has a contract to sell 10 times as much to RJ Reynolds Tobacco as he did at the auctionA decade ago tobacco seemed destined to wither as cigarette companies shelled out tens of billions to settle lawsuits with states Smoking bans then swept the country and worst of all for the smalltime grower Congress cut off the quota system four years agoAs a rebound in production this year shows however Big Tobacco and individual growers alike have proven as resilient as their leaf aided by a boost in exports primarily to Germany and Switzerland and by new marketing tactics emphasizing smokeless optionsAccording to the US Department of Agriculture production of all tobacco varieties fell 27 percent to 640 million pounds in 2005 the first year without the price support program which entitled licenseholders to a quota of the total tobacco crop capped by the USDA each year The venerable program was reeling from steep declines in tobacco demand due to antismoking effortsThis year production climbed to 805 million pounds within 10 percent of the 2004 level of 882 million pounds That 2004 output was half the production in 1997 and a third of 30 years earlier The bottom came in 2005 when growers produced 645 million poundsThe uptick has coincided with the increasing consolidation of growing onto fewer farmsWe've had so many to drop out that for the ones who stay in there are opportunities said Will Snell a University of Kentucky agricultural economistProduction of burley leaf which accounts for about a quarter of all tobacco production in the United States has lost about threefourths of its growers since the buyout Snell said Yet some operations now cover hundreds of acres a big undertaking when much of the work is still done by handIn 2004 the last year of the federal pricesupport program there were nearly 26000 farms with quota licenses to grow the more common fluecured tobacco in North Carolina still the nation's top tobaccogrowing state By this year that was down to 2500 to 3000 farms said Scott Bissette of the state agriculture department's tobacco marketing divisionUS tobacco production was valued at 13 billion in 2007 off from 175 billion in 2004 according to the USDA Domestic cigarette sales are falling by 3 to 4 percent a year a decline that has worsened since the quota system ended Smokers have felt increased pressure to quit due to smoking bans and higher prices on top of the longstanding health concerns and the social stigmaThe top two US cigarette makers Philip Morris USA and Reynolds American are aggressively searching for a smokeless product that consumers will like They are focusing on cigars moist snuff chewing tobacco and snus which comes in teabaglike pouches that users stick between the cheek and gumTo move beyond cigarettes Altria Group bought John Middleton the maker of conveniencestore staple Black and Mild cigars last year Its pending acquisition of UST whose Skoal and Copenhagen brands make it the US market leader in smokeless tobacco is expected to close during the first week in JanuaryWinstonSalem NCbased Reynolds bought the Conwood smokeless tobacco business in 2006 and sells moist snuff under the Grizzly brandRichmond Vabased Altria which also owned Marlboromaker Philip Morris International spun it off as an independent company in March It has since shifted the production of 57 billion cigarettes to overseas factories but it still buys tobacco grown in the US spokesman Greg Prager saidPrager said Philip Morris International the world's biggest nongovernmental tobacco company also buys tobacco from Brazil Malawi Italy Greece Turkey and other countries He said US tobacco remained a key component of the company's international blends though he declined to specify how much is bought from US sources citing competitive reasonsExports of US tobacco have played a big role in the crop's rebound Foreign sales peaked in 1978 at 700 million pounds but the price supports meant American farmers were undercut by developing countries such as Zimbabwe and Malawi selling tobacco for as little as a third of the US cost US exports slid to about 339 million pounds in 2005 before rising again to 398 million pounds in 2006 the USDA saidThe rebound was due to a weak dollar and rising currencies overseas said Blake Brown a North Carolina State University agricultural economistIn recent months a strengthening dollar along with a rebound in tobacco production in South America and Africa are causes for concern for export prospects Snell said And profit margins remain tight for farmers because of rising costs Snell said Whether tobacco companies offer price incentives will be crucial in determining how much US tobacco is grown he saidToday's farmers are not like yesterday's farmers that since they grew tobacco last year they're going to grow it next year Snell said These farmers will look at the market opportunities year to yearStill the US is expected to remain the world's fourthlargest tobacco grower throughout this decade trailing China India and Brazil according to the United Nations Not only has tobacco production expanded outside the Southeast to places like Pennsylvania and Missouri but farmers are feeling better about their prospectsIn 2004 69 percent of North Carolina growers in one survey said they saw a future in tobacco Two years into the buyout experience it was 76 percent according to the research conducted under National Cancer Institute grants About a third of farmers said in 2006 they would advise their children to grow tobacco up from about onefifth in 2004Pasley said he expects to produce about 500000 pounds of burley this year and that he would have produced another 150000 pounds if he'd gotten more rainMy goal is to sell 1 million pounds before I turn 30 he saidAs he sees it the best thing tobacco has going for it is demandPeople always chew and smoke he said http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/19b15d31e5b71bebb40852edd7238e51.html MENOMONIE Lynne Maslowski spends her days helping people as the director of student services for the Menomonie school districtBut in her spare time she runs her own business called Totally Wild creating lampwork beads and using them in handcrafted jewelryThis is kind of a creative outlet Maslowski of Eau Claire said of making the lampwork beads It's very different from what I do during the day It's not only fun It is therapeuticLampwork beads are created using an oxygen propane torch to melt bits of Italian or German glass rods and turning the glass around and around over a steel mandrel The steel mandrel has a bit of clay on it that the bead is built on so it can be removedThe bead is heated in a 941degree Fahrenheit kiln for six hoursIt strengthens the bead Maslowski said The beads are pretty indestructible The more advanced you get you can do beads that are encased in glass or look like a flower in glassMaslowski started making jewelry in 2000 and beads around 2002 She and Deb Zanoni of Elk Mound started a bead club with others who enjoy beads Zanoni and Maslowski will share a booth at the ninth annual Mabel Tainter Fine Arts and Craft Faire Friday and Saturday Dec 6Maslowski will display her jewelry combining her beads with sterling silver fibers Swarovski crystals semiprecious stones and Czech glassZanoni will have handmade knit scarves knit and felted purses needle felted vests blazers and sweaters She also will offer for sale felted vessels which look similar to pottery made from feltThe vessels start out as wool which is soaked in hot soapy water and then layered on a mold such as a ball until it is about a quarter inch thickThe mold is covered with nylon The mold is pushed and rolled in a bucket of very hot water in order to create friction for the wool to become felt This can take one to two hoursZanoni also uses some of Maslowski's lampwork beads on her accessoriesI just love her designs and the colors and the shapes she creates Zanoni saidZanoni a special education teacher at Memorial High School loves the texture and feel of working with fabrics Her items cost from 15 to 60Maslowski who is married with two grown children said her beads and jewelry are not necessarily for everyoneIt's a little wild she said laughing She calls her business Totally Wild for that reason I use a lot of really bright colors bright pinks oranges and turquoiseOther pieces are stark using only black and white she notedI think jewelry makes an outfit she said Wearing jewelry makes a lot of us feel more attractive and more polishedMaslowski's items range from 7 for a toe ring to 90 for a bracelet and about 65 for a pendant Prices vary depending on the number of lampwork beads and how much silver is used in the piece she saidPowers can be reached at 715 2359018 or pamelapowersecpccom http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/732a45cec28de55e4b11c8580312cf55.html To most undergraduate students at the University of WisconsinMadison the word research39;39; conjures up images of a stack of books a long night in the library and many cups of coffee But for five astronomy students this semester a research project became a portal to worlds far removed from a campus library And now instead of thinking up a title for their final paper they39;re trying to come up with a name 8212; for the galaxy http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/6106c813e7d329c6b29fb52c45ab1dec.html COLBY Kati Rau had 20 points and nine rebounds and Brittany Weiler added 15 points five rebounds and four assists as the Colby girls basketball team rolled to a 7941 win over Augusta in a Cloverbelt Conference East Division matchup Tuesday night http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/wisconsin/sterling/content/59744dd267d323abc4d422c1036eb50b.html Josh Paulick is anxiously waiting for the day that a bulldozer razes two vacant burntout homes that have scarred his neighborhood at Jefferson Street and Sterling Avenue since June