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When three of Broward County’s once powerful residents are sentenced to federal prison in the next few weeks, their fates will lie in the hands of one man — U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn.

Cohn wields great authority and power as a lifetime appointee to the federal bench in Fort Lauderdale but outside court, he’ll introduce himself as "Jimmy Cohn" in his soft Alabama drawl or gently inquire about some personal detail you’ll have assumed he’s too busy to remember.

"A true Southern gentleman" and "tough but fair" were the most common descriptions offered by dozens of attorneys who have handled cases in his courtroom and were interviewed by the Sun Sentinel.

And yes, many of them said that he doles out tough sentences to convicted criminals.

For his part, Cohn said in a rare interview that he would like to be known as "somebody that was fair and reasonable and someone who treated people with courtesy and respect and somebody who followed the law."

The high-profile sentencings start June 2 with former Broward School Board member Beverly Gallagher, who took bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as contractors. She expects a sentence of three years and one month under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors.

A week later comes one of the most hyped days of judgment in Broward County in recent times. On June 9, Cohn will sentence now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein, who faces a maximum of 100 years in prison for running a massive Ponzi scheme out of his Fort Lauderdale law firm.

On July 8,tiffany money clips on sale, former Miramar City Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman faces a maximum of 60 years imprisonment after he was convicted of bribery and extortion for taking payments in the same FBI sting that ensnared Gallagher. Experts predict he’ll serve four to eight years in prison.

Forecasting the punishment Rothstein faces is a competitive sport right now in local legal and political circles. Most bets fall in the range of 30 years to life, though the disgraced lawyer’s help in pulling off a government sting of an alleged Italian mobster has some wondering if that will win him a meaningful reduction in sentencing.

The decision lies with Cohn alone, though the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the federal probation office and the defense will all make recommendations. As a judge, Cohn is prohibited from saying what he’ll do until sentencing day.

"He’s a judge who’s prepared, he’s decisive and he plays it down the middle. The rulings cut both ways,tiffany jewellery," said Bill Matthewman, a defense attorney who represented convicted cop killer Kenneth Wilk in Cohn’s courtroom in 2007.

Cohn "will give everyone a good hearing on trial issues but once they are convicted, if they are convicted, I think he believes they are also due a tough sentence that punishes them,tiffany Pendants for sale," Matthewman said.

Cohn, 61, is a lifelong Democrat nominated to the federal judiciary in 2003 by Republican President George W. Bush and confirmed 96-0 by a Republican-dominated Senate during a bitterly partisan era. His confirmation hearing was described by the Sun Sentinel as "a striking display of harmony in a contentious arena" but Cohn said that, as a Democrat selected by a Republican president, he was unlikely to face opposition.

The position of U.S. district judge is for life and appointees are not subject to voter approval. The job pays $174,000 a year.

Before Cohn’s current job, he was a Broward Circuit judge, appointed in 1995 by Gov. Lawton Chiles, a Democrat. He scored high in attorney reviews and never attracted a challenger at election time.

Growing up in Tuskegee, Ala., during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 60s, the Cohns owned a store and were one of two Jewish families in town. There was no synagogue so Cohn, his parents and his two sisters drove 40 miles west to the Reform temple in Montgomery for religious classes. "The worst part of it was I missed the first half of the NFL game," Cohn said wryly.

Cohn witnessed and was disturbed by racism against African-Americans. At an early age, he became acutely aware that his own heritage was also perceived as alien in the South.

"You want to assimilate, you don’t want to be different, no kid wants to be different," Cohn said. "On the other hand, you want to maintain your Jewish heritage and traditions."

For Cohn, playing sports was the best way to fit in. He was a quarterback on the Tuskegee High School football team, an all-star second baseman in baseball, ran track and played basketball.

When he started the ninth grade in September 1963, his dad escorted Cohn to school but it was surrounded by state troopers because Gov. George Wallace had closed it to avoid desegregation. Cohn went to live with his aunt in nearby Union Springs where he attended the public school.

He came home the next year and attended Tuskegee High when it was fully desegregated, though with a smaller enrollment. Cohn played on sports teams that were carefully made up of an equal number of whites and African-Americans.

Cohn planned to be an accountant but soon figured out that wasn’t for him. After graduating from his beloved University of Alabama with a major in general business, he spent time in the National Guard. He’d enjoyed business law classes, so he enrolled at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. When he tried his first case as a student before a mock jury, it felt right.

"I knew this was my calling," Cohn said.

After passing his bar exams in Alabama and Florida, his sister and parents, who retired to South Florida, persuaded him to interview here. After a brief stint as a Broward public defender, then State Attorney Philip Shaler offered him a $1,000 raise — to $13,000 — to be a prosecutor. Cohn prosecuted cases from 1975 to 1978, working with two men who are still his friends, current State Attorney Mike Satz and defense attorney Richard Garfield.

Satz said Cohn is a master of putting people at ease.

"When people I know meet him casually at the gym or in a restaurant, if they mention him later they don’t say ‘your friend the judge,’ they say ‘your friend Jimmy,’ " Satz said.

Cohn has always had a winning way with jurors. In private practice from 1978 to 1995, he was a successful criminal defense, family law and personal injury attorney.

Jurors trusted his sincerity and people at the county courthouse still talk about how he won a "not guilty by reason of insanity" jury verdict on a first-degree murder case — a difficult feat under Florida’s restrictive law. The defendant, Robert Lee Endicott shot and killed a young woman in Fort Lauderdale in 1979. Endicott is still involuntarily committed 30 years later.

For anyone who has ever heard Cohn’s mellow voice, he has a surprising disclosure. He had what he calls "a bad stuttering problem" when he was a child and decided to try to overcome it, without assistance, in the ninth grade.

"There was a kid in class who had a melodious voice and he spoke very slowly. And I started to mimic him and it worked," Cohn said. He still sometimes rephrases a sentence in his head before speaking to avoid stumbling on certain words.

Cohn and his wife Kathleen, adopted their son Bill, now 15, in 1995. When the biological parents had last-minute doubts at the hospital, Cohn said he delivered "as good a final argument as I ever gave a jury" and reassured the couple they would be making an extraordinary gift — the baby the Cohns had tried unsuccessfully to conceive for years.

Intent on being a good parent, Cohn said he decided to become a judge so he could have more structure in his work life.

And it’s a very structured life. He awakes at 5 a.m., doesn’t use an alarm clock and has never overslept in his life. He’s at the gym by 5:30 a.m. and goes to bed by 9 or 9:30 p.m. "unless there’s a ball game."

In his eight years on the state bench,buy tiffany key rings, Cohn tried 770 felony jury trials, including 144 in one year, a local record only exceeded by his friend, U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas when he was a state judge. Cohn believes that his work ethic helped to get him the federal appointment.

Spending time with his wife and Bill — they particularly enjoy watching "Seinfeld" reruns together and traveling — has won out over his older hobbies. Cohn is a devoted fan of the University of Alabama’s football team and keeps a toy elephant that sings the Alabama fight song in his chambers. He plays golf less frequently these days because of a workout injury but still loves to watch the pros on TV.

His personal heroes are federal judges whose legal decisions helped end racial segregation in the South, including the late Judge Frank M. Johnson who "had the courage to follow the law when it was not popular." Cohn’s own judicial philosophy, he said, is to look to the "plain meaning of the law" as Congress wrote it.

The judge sets the tone and he insists on punctuality, courtesy and respect in his courtroom. He seems bewildered by attorneys who run late or are less than totally organized.

If there is any criticism of Cohn, it is that his insistence on tight scheduling can sometimes seem too rigid.

Salesman’s attorney, Jamie Benjamin, practically begged Cohn for more time to prepare his defense, noting that the government had investigated the case since 2004 compared to the few months that he’d had to prepare. Cohn insisted the trial proceed with only a minor delay.

Benjamin said he thinks the world of Cohn: "He’s the picture of what you want in a judge." But Benjamin said he was really frustrated by the judge’s rigidity. "It’s puzzling to see that court scheduling can ever be more important than preparing a case," the attorney said.

Cohn said he hopes he’s evolved with experience but that "lawyers are inherent procrastinators and you’ve got to set deadlines."

Some defendants in state court,tiffany cuff Links on sale, where Cohn handled career criminals who were mandated by law to receive lengthy sentences, called him "the Rocket Man" because they said "he could send you to the moon." That reputation has stuck and some attorneys quietly call Cohn’s courtroom "the launching pad" for similar reasons.

Cautiously choosing his words, Cohn said he judges each case on its merits, considering the advisory sentencing guidelines, the nature and circumstances of the crime and the defendant’s history and character.

Cohn’s close friend, Garfield, said that beneath the calm exterior, Cohn is intense, prepared and efficient.

In more than 35 years of friendship, Garfield has only seen him lose his cool after flubbing a shot on the golf course.

The two, who have very different personal styles, like to rib each other, most recently about their views on Tiger Woods’ fall from grace. They were both long-term fans but Garfield is done with Woods. Cohn said he doesn’t condone the serial extramarital affairs and empathizes with Woods’ wife, but still admires his professional excellence at golf.

With a smile, Cohn said: "There’s got to be hope of redemption, right?"

Paula McMahon can be reached at pmcmahon@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4533.

The city of Yakima issued the following news release:

Based primarily on incompatibility issues and probable negative impacts to nearby businesses, a staff report issued today by the City of Yakima Planning Division recommends denial of an application by Jamie Muffett to open "Sinsations Gentleman’s Club" at 2308 South 1st Street.

Muffett’s application now moves on to City Hearing Examiner Gary Cullier. The Planning Division’s recommendation is just part of what Cullier will take into account in reaching a final decision on Muffett’s application.

Cullier will hold a public hearing on the application next Friday, May 28th. The public hearing will be take place in the Council Chambers at Yakima City Hall and will be conducted in 2 sessions. The first session will begin at 9:00 am and the second session will begin at 1:30 pm. Anyone who wants to provide comments during the hearing can attend either of the 2 sessions.

Following next Friday’s public hearing, Cullier will have 10 business days to reach a final decision. Whatever that decision may be,thanksgiving jewelry, it can be appealed to the City Council.

The May 28th hearing conducted by Cullier will be carried live on Y-PAC,tiffany sets, Charter Cable channel 22.

In mid-March, Muffett filed an application for what is technically referred to in the City’s Adult Business Ordinance as an "Adult Dance Studio." The Planning Division’s review of Muffett’s application included analysis of relevant land use laws,shop for tiffany cuff Links, rules, and regulations, as well as consideration of input the City received from community members during a 20-day public comment period that began earlier this month.

The Planning Division’s review found that while Muffett’s application meets many of the required procedural criteria, such as parking requirements, proper zoning, and appropriate separation from churches, schools, day care centers, parks, and residential districts, "…there is no question that there will be significant secondary negative effects upon both property values and the businesses which surround this site."

Based on that finding,tiffany rings clearance, the Planning Division determined that,tiffany on sale, "…a finding cannot be made supporting the appropriateness and the compatibility of an adult business at this location and therefore it cannot be logically accommodated."

Contact: Michael Morales, Director, 575-3533

Debuskey called the episode the best time a press agent could hope to have.

Papp first offered free Shakespeare on that patch of civic grass in 1957 when the mobile theater truck broke down near the Great Lawn. He continued his new tradition in the summer of 1958. Plans for 1959 were being made, and Papp was considering asking Moses about making the tradition a permanent one. If Moses agreed, it would be so,buy tiffany Pendants, no questions asked; Moses was, and had been for nearly a quarter of a century, the most powerful man in New York. His name was a household word, not only in New York but throughout the United States, as a battler for parks and a champion of large-scale urban renewal. He raised bridges, dug tunnels, created beaches, and opened countless vest-pocket parks, all with very little oversight from either City Hall or Albany. Among his projects were the Bronx-Whitestone, Triborough, and Verrazano-Narrows Bridges; Jones Beach State Park; the West Side Highway; the Gowanus, Grand Central, Henry Hudson, Interborough, Laurelton, Northern State, and Southern State Parkways; the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel; and the Cross Bronx and Long Island Expressways. He was great and fearsome, and even his severest critics acknowledged his overwhelming influence.

Moses’s top Parks Department aide, Stuart Constable, did not like Papp. An ultraconservative,cheap tiffany necklaces, both politically and socially, he was furious that this up-from-the-streets impresario, whom he perceived as a Red demon trying to destroy American society, had been given free rein by Moses in Constable’s leafy fiefdom. Ever since the HUAC testimony, Constable had been looking for a way to scuttle Papp’s plans, and he was confident that, if he managed to make the first move, his boss would back him, because Moses always supported his aides.

The previous June, after Papp’s testimony had been reported in the press, Constable had said that no plans were afoot to drop the park productions. But the parks aide had simply been waiting for the proper time.

Early in March 1959–with Moses vacationing in Barbados–Constable abruptly announced to Papp that there would be no more free Shakespeare in Central Park. Admission would have to be charged. And what’s more, the Parks Department would get 5 percent of the income to help pay for upkeep of the grounds and other expenses supposedly incurred by the city because of the Festival. Apparently, the high heels of female theatergoers were digging up the lawn. Constable figured that to Papp, the idea of a fee was anathema. He was right. When Moses returned a few days later, he acted as Constable had expected: he supported his executive officer unflinchingly.

A desperate Papp began a series of meetings with Constable in Parks Department headquarters, in a building called the Arsenal, just inside Central Park at Fifth Avenue and Sixty-fourth Street, next to the Central Park Zoo. But the antagonistic Constable refused to budge. It was now an edict: charge money or get out.

"They supported their demand with several justifications," recalled Debuskey. "We were cluttering the park, destroying the grass and so on. Which, if you take it to its logical extreme, you would exclude any human being from the park and let the blades of grass survive in their most pristine form. It would be great for squirrels. And one does not object to that, but it was not what its original purpose was. That park only had a life when people were alive in it."

Constable was a supercilious sort, with a reddish British-army-officer’s waxed moustache. He reminded Debuskey of a "remittance man"–"from Sri Lanka or someplace, the youngest son of a family, who was a no-gooder, so they sent him down to the Bahamas or India." Debuskey recalled one unproductive meeting. "Constable had a Band-Aid on his finger. He wouldn’t look us in the eye and kept picking at this Band-Aid, and finally he said thank you for coming and goodbye. He ushered us out and he still wouldn’t look at us."

Papp, stymied, began to vacillate. Would a small fee be so terrible? At about the same time Walter Kerr,Bead bracelet, the theater critic of the New York Herald Tribune, had written a column imploring Papp to appease Moses and charge 25 cents. "Joe had to consider that he was faced with utter elimination," said Debuskey.

Debuskey hated the idea of charging a fee for the outdoor Shakespeare productions. As the Festival’s press agent, he had predicated the enterprise’s worthiness on Papp’s selfless, tireless contribution to the city’s cultural scene and the project’s overall altruistic spirit. Exchanging money, however small an amount, for admission upset the equation. It endangered the Festival’s future as a unique and pure–and pressworthy–endeavor. Madeleine Gilford recalled Debuskey complaining to her and Jack about the dilemma. "He brought us the Times and asked, ‘Where is the free Shakespeare?’ And it was on the front page. He said, ‘I got it there because it’s free. Joe wants to charge a quarter. If they charge a quarter, it will be in the back of the arts section.’"

Gene Wolsk, then the general manager for the Festival, also attended the Parks Department meetings. He considered Constable "a pompous English type. After Joe’s tenth meeting the message was the same: you can’t come in unless you charge admission."

The three men left one particular meeting at the Arsenal in low spirits and began walking dejectedly down Fifth Avenue.

"We were all very discouraged," Wolsk recalled years later.

We were on the park side, on the cobblestones. And Joe said: "Well, so we’ll charge. It’s not the end of the world. What are we gonna do? It’s the only way we’re going to perform." And Merle said: "Joe, I’ve worked for you since the beginning. I’ve worked for you a long time. I’ve knocked myself out for you. I’ve worked for nothing. I don’t mind. I’ll do anything in the world for free Shakespeare. But I can’t work for cheap Shakespeare."

The short protest moved Papp. After a few more phone conversations with Debuskey, he reconsidered.

"I really felt that this thing had to continue on in the fashion in which it was begun," recalled Debuskey.

We worked close together on this–fourteen hours a day. The conversation went on to the wee hours of the morning, where we established the position that they should not charge. My argument was, Joe, the difference between nothing and twenty-five cents isn’t two bits. Joe, your armor and your spear is "free." You can win battles if you’re free. You could lose them if you charge a quarter. You have the world on your side. You can get all kinds of concessions on stagehands, ushers, musicians, treasurers. Once you start charging money, you have union conditions you’re going to have to accept.

Papp convened his board and sent a letter to Moses. "The whole idea of charging came up for re-examination yesterday by members of our Board of Directors," Papp wrote. "It was resolved that the concept of paid admissions is utterly inconsistent with the stated objectives of the New York Shakespeare Festival–’to introduce classical theater to the vast uncommitted audiences through the free presentation of Shakespeare.’"

Debuskey’s campaign began. He rallied the city’s newspapers to their side, drawing on some of the fundamental rules [Edward] Bernays had taught him a decade back at the New School: "Find important or well placed individuals to advocate your positions, individuals who had no inherent connections with your client which would, as they were independent authorities, lend great credence to your intent; and never underrate the power of working from the bottom up."

Bernays, in fact, was watching the Moses-Papp fight closely. One day the grand old man of PR called Papp to ask which public relations company he was using. He told the stunned Bernays, "My public relations is my press agent."

Sometimes Debuskey wrote impassioned letters defending the park program, had Papp sign them, and then dispatched them to the press; at other times Papp wrote the letters and sent them to Debuskey for his comments. He had a graphic artist make up a map of the playing area in the park showing the existing walks and suggestions for additional paths to the building, illustrating an orderly flow of traffic that avoided the grass. It was sent out to the Parks Department as well as to the press.

"Joe was not afforded the protection or assistance of important personages when the argument commenced," recalled Debuskey.

In the beginning, our only weapon and mercenaries were the press. Their participation led to the voluntary contributions from all levels of the community, quite a varied conglomerate. After a healthy dose of media support we were deluged with offers of help–some genuine and some smelling to me of being self-serving. I had to fend them off. The press had to be kept in sharp focus and control. There were some well-wishers who were offended by my shouldering them aside.

Moses fumed. Accustomed to praise in the press, he unexpectedly found himself attacked in the most bald-faced manner by everyone from Eleanor Roosevelt to Hedda Hopper. "All of a sudden," said Debuskey, "he was being confronted by this little ragamuffin [Papp]." What made the turn of the tide all the more surprising was that Moses had an entire political machine behind him, built up over decades,tiffany rings clearance, while Papp was backed by a single flack with an old Underwood typewriter. Debuskey and Papp scored hit after hit. They didn’t know it at the time, but every day they bloodied Moses’s motivations and intentions, they were cementing the Festival’s civic significance, both present and future. Said Debuskey:

There was one event after another, with everyone coming aboard, and after something happened we used it, whether it was an elementary Catholic school in deepest Brooklyn who had put their pennies and nickels together along with the sisters who helped support the thing, or something else. Help came from all sides, and every time something happened it was exploited fully. And it was known as the battle of David and Goliath–little Joe Papp and big Robert Moses. And all the Shakespeare Festival had on it side was its absolutely untarnished purity of purpose. And it fended off all kinds of weaponry. I think it tortured the s— out of Moses.

Papp sought the support of City Hall, but when Mayor Robert Wagner knuckled under to the unfireable Moses, they went to court with the help of the law firm of Paul, Weiss, which worked pro bono. The case was heard quickly to try to save the summer season. Moses took the first round. However, the Festival appealed, and Papp won the appeal. Moses could still have demurred and taken the fight to the next highest court. But he gave in. Papp was victorious.

"Joe was a terrific general," Debuskey said.

The day the court decided in our favor, Papp sent a telegram to Moses inviting Moses to be his partner in producing an improved arena for Shakespeare in the Park. When Moses got the telegram, he immediately went to work on Joe’s side. Joe had said, and was absolutely convinced, that Moses was a supporter of culture and would understand and appreciate what Joe was doing–that Moses had been misled, had gone out on a limb and couldn’t get back. Joe said he would give Moses the opportunity to get back, and at that moment, when Joe could have rubbed Moses’s nose in Joe’s victory, he didn’t do that. It was part of Joe’s genius, his ability to seize the moment. He was still a modest fellow and had not become suffused with himself.

Before long, Moses would even agree to build a theater for Papp: the Delacorte.

The fight over Central Park had been harrowing,tiffany key ring, but it had also arguably made the Festival’s reputation. "The Shakespeare Festival had an identity in the theater," said Debuskey, "largely because we made all our problems public. It was the nature of it. We were able to get a lot of help that way. It was almost a pure activity. What the battle with Moses did was make Joe a veritable household name, and make the Festival significant."

For years afterward, from time to time someone would put forth the bright idea of charging for admission for Shakespeare in the Park, and Debuskey and Papp would have to make their argument all over again. "I remember Merle making arguments that were very idealistic and purist in respect to the park," recalled Gail Papp, Joe’s last wife. "There’d always be a board member who would say, ‘Why don’t you charge?’ They’d have to be reeducated."

During its decade-long run, Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project has become the kind of ambitious, multicultural ensemble and free-ranging idea that speaks to the master cellist’s searching intellect,shop for tiffany money clips, relentless curiosity and impatience with musical categories.

Inspired by the East-West exchange of culture, art and music that took place along ancient trading routes between Europe and Asia, Ma’s ensemble showcases newly composed and traditional music from Silk Road cultures and destinations, from China to Iran, Azerbaijan and Korea. Music from the Americas has also seeped into the concept, including new works by the Argentine-born Osvaldo Golijov. The ensemble employs a revolving cast of musicians and 15 players are scheduled to appear in Detroit on instruments that range from traditional violin and viola to the Chinese pipa, Galician bagpipe and all manner of percussion.

At the center of it all is Ma, the self-effacing ringleader, sharing the spotlight generously with his colleagues and teaching by example that music is about the communication of inspired emotions,shop for tiffany bracelets, the quest for new modes of expression and authoritative mastery over the fundamentals of the idiom. And with the Silk Road Project, he has found a vehicle that manages to celebrate equally our differences and our commonalities.

7 p.m. Sunday, Orchestra Hall, Max M. Fisher Music Center,tiffany bracelets sale, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-576-5111. detroitsympony.com. $25-$75.

JAZZ

Pianist and composer Herbie Hancock,rings, who turned 70 earlier this year, is one of the great jazz musicians on the planet. When he is in good company and in the mood to honor his straight-ahead roots,Beads necklace, the inspired brilliance of his improvisations can stop the world.

Of course, Hancock has always had a populist side to his personality too, and the Big-To-Do in his landmark 70th year is the recent release of "The Imagine Project," an earnest crossover CD with a global-peace theme and starry guest list including, among others, Dave Matthews, Anoushka Shankar, Jeff Beck, John Legend, Chaka Khan, Seal, Wayne Shorter and Juanes. As a jazz critic, I’m not the target audience for the album, and found it mostly mundane, lacking the sublime melodic expression, surprise and texture of "River: The Joni Letters," Hancock’s Grammy-winning marriage of jazz and adult-pop interpretations of Joni Mitchell’s music.

Hancock’s road band that arrives in Detroit next week is built to champion "The Imagine Project," with Hancock joined by guitarist Lionel Loueke, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, bassist Pino Palladino, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and vocalist Kristina Train. Hancock will surely mix in a few of his classic compositions; even in crossover mode, jazz and the spark of improvisation percolate through his conception. But don’t expect state-of-the-art post-bop from this group. (Some material calls the concert a tribute to Donald Byrd, the Detroit-bred trumpeter who gave Hancock his first big break in 1960, but at press time it remained unclear whether any specific tribute programming was planned.)

8 p.m. Wednesday, Chene Park Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater, Detroit. 313-393-7128. cheneparkdetroit.com. $22-$55.

Contact MARK STRYKER: 313-222-6459 or stryker@freepress.com

MORE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCES

Jack Wright and Bob Marsh: With the Saturnian Chamber Ensemble, 8 p.m. Fri. Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth, Ann Arbor. 734-769-2999. $5-$25.

Chicken-clucking is its own language, or is it?

(Soundbite of chickens clucking)

SIMON: Is that Yiddish they’re speaking? Oy vey. Whatever that means, which introduces the new book for children, "Beautiful Yetta, the Yiddish Chicken." And our next guest, WEEKEND EDITION’s ambassador to the world of children’s literature, Daniel Pinkwater.

Hello, Daniel.

Mr. DANIEL PINKWATER (Author): Hi,tiffany earrings clearance, Scott. I have to make a sort of insincere disclaimer.

SIMON: Yeah?

Mr. PINKWATER: In selecting books for the program, I consider various criteria. Number one, I have to like it.

SIMON: Yeah.

Mr. PINKWATER: This book I really like. Now, it also happens by chance, that I wrote it.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. PINKWATER: Now, if it were merely that, I would not have brought it in because: modest. But this one is so cool and the pictures are so good,buy tiffany necklaces, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring it in. So, I apologize for being the author,thanksgiving crafts gifts, but I say that all the time.

SIMON: Well, and tell us a little bit about the illustrator, because I understand she’s a very hot young talent.

Mr. PINKWATER: Well, hot is indeed the right word. It is Jill, the redhead, to whom I have been married lo these many years.

SIMON: Jill Pinkwater, I’ve heard of her.

Mr. PINKWATER: Jill Pinkwater. I love these pictures. Don’t you?

SIMON: Yeah. So tell us about this beautiful young chicken, Yetta, who is Yiddish speaking, yes?

Mr. PINKWATER: Well, here’s the thing…

SIMON: Yeah?

Mr. PINKWATER: …you know, growing up there was Yiddish in the background in my family, as in many families, and…

(Soundbite of clearing throat)

Mr. PINKWATER: …in our case, the parents didn’t really want us to understand it because they used it as code. It was a secret language. I guess as retaliation, my brother and sister and I all took Latin so that we could have a secret language too. So…

SIMON: Not as many punch lines in Latin though, or am I wrong?

Mr. PINKWATER: One liners fall flat. So I thought it would be fun for a kid to just have a little taste of (unintelligible) mean to be a Rosetta Stone. The kid’s not going to learn Yiddish from reading this book, but it’s an experience of translation and comparative orthography mixed in with a story that turns out to be heartwarming and nice.

SIMON: Well, let’s read it. We have some guests who are going to help us out today.

Mr. PINKWATER: Shall I begin?

SIMON: Yeah. Please.

(Soundbite of clearing throat)

Mr. PINKWATER: Yes, I will.

It is night. A truck is driving on the highway. At the wheel is Mr. Flegleman, the organic chicken rancher. In wooden crates are chickens. The chickens are afraid. The truck rumbles through the darkness.

SIMON: The truck pulls up in front of Phil’s Poultry World, and with a tear in his eye Mr. Flegleman begins to unload the crates. And Mr. Flegleman says, Goodbye, my dear chickens.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: Sorry. It’s a beautiful language, after all.

Mr. PINKWATER: Yes.

SIMON: One of the crates has a loose lid. One of the chickens is brave and clever. It’s Yetta, beautiful Yetta. She sees her chance. She struggles out of the crate and runs down the street.

Mr. PINKWATER: Yetta, beautiful Yetta, will not be sold. She will not be soup. She will not be roasted chicken on a Friday night. She is free. She is in Brooklyn.

SARAH BEYER KELLY: I’m free.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

SIMON: And then there’s the skyline of Brooklyn and Yetta exclaims…

KELLY: Where I am?

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

I don’t know why this chicken looks Jewish but she does. The streets of Brooklyn are strange to Yetta. Where is the grass? Where are the flowers? It is not like Mr. Flegleman’s chicken ranch.

SIMON: There Yetta and the other chickens led a happy life, running through the fields and eating bugs.

KELLY: Oh, my beautiful home.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: And then…

Mr. PINKWATER: And then she encounters some Brooklyn rats roughly her size. Get lost.

SIMON: And then, a bus. She says…

KELLY: Oh dear.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken) The bus nearly hits her.

SIMON: Shouldn’t that be (Foreign language spoken)?

Mr. PINKWATER: It a bus bearing down on you Scott, I think…

SIMON: (Unintelligible).

Mr. PINKWATER: (Unintelligible) sufficient. Yes.

SIMON: Right. I gather. Okay.

Mr. PINKWATER: And then she meets Brooklyn pigeons.

KELLY: Can you help me? I’m hungry.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

SIMON: And the Brooklyn pigeons say…

Mr. PINKWATER: Go back to the farm,tiffany Pendants on sale, silly hen.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: Oh my. Yetta wanders the streets of Brooklyn, lonely, confused, unhappy.

Mr. PINKWATER: Then Yetta sees a little green bird. She has never seen a bird like it.

KELLY: What is this?

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

SIMON: Sneaking up behind the bird sneakily is a sneaky cat. The cat is getting ready to pounce.

KELLY: Go away you, stinky cat.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: You know, this is not original observation; you really don’t need the English translation of Yiddish,tiffany bangles on sale, do you?

Mr. PINKWATER: Not – well…

SIMON: (Foreign language spoken) is clearly a stinky cat. Yetta hears a voice above her head.

LIANE HANSEN: Look, that chicken saved Eduardo.

SIMON: (Foreign language spoken)

Mr. PINKWATER: Yetta looks up. Sitting on telephone wires are many little green birds; they are parrots. Yes, parrots. There are flocks of wild parrots in Brooklyn – this is true. Pet parrots flew away, found each other, had parrot babies and live very well in the streets and parks.

KELLY: Parrots.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

SIMON: The parrot says…

HANSEN: The chicken saved me, and look, isn’t she beautiful?

SIMON: (Foreign language spoken) And then, parrots on the line say…

HANSEN: Come here, beautiful chicken. Sit with us.

SIMON: (Foreign language spoken)

That’s kind of a little come hither parrot.

Mr. PINKWATER: And then there’s the sequence of Yetta trying to balance on the telephone wire with some difficulty.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. PINKWATER: And then she says…

KELLY: I come from the country.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: And then she puts her arm around Eduardo and Eduardo says…

HANSEN: I love this chicken.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken) I love this chicken.

SIMON: The parrots say…

HANSEN: Please stay with us, beautiful chicken.

SIMON: (Foreign language spoken)

Mr. PINKWATER: Yetta stayed with the wild parrots of Brooklyn. They showed her how to find fruit and crusts of pizza.

SIMON: And Yetta told them – I love this illustration. Please tell Jill – of Yetta sitting down talking to a gaggle of parrots, a brace of parrots, whatever.

And Yetta told them stories of her life in the country.

Mr. PINKWATER: And chased cats away.

SIMON: In time, because she was so beautiful, and because she could chase cats, Yetta became the leader of the parrots, or maybe their mother.

KELLY: My dear children.

Mr. PINKWATER: (Foreign language spoken)

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. PINKWATER: And they are still there. You can go and see for yourself.

SIMON: I’ve got to go this weekend.

Mr. PINKWATER: Is there a parrot colony yet in D.C.? There’s one in Brooklyn. There’s several in Brooklyn, or two or three. They’ve moved to Connecticut. There’s a parrot colony in San Francisco, the same types of parrots.

SIMON: Parrot colony in Chicago.

Mr. PINKWATER: Is there?

SIMON: And unlike the parrots in New York, the parrots in Chicago vote.

Mr. PINKWATER: Very good.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: Daniel?

Mr. PINKWATER: Yes, Scott.

SIMON: (Foreign language spoken)

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: I love this chicken. The book is "Beautiful Yetta, the Yiddish Chicken." It’s written by Daniel Pinkwater and illustrated…

Mr. PINKWATER: And more importantly, it’s illustrated by Jill Pinkwater. Yeah.

SIMON: Daniel, of course, is our ambassador to the world of children’s literature, speaking with us from his home in the Hudson River Valley, where he is currently teaching local squirrels how to speak Amharic.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. PINKWATER: I take your word for that.

SIMON: We’ll mention Yetta the chicken was voiced by Sarah Beyer Kelly. In English, Daniel, of course, read Yetta’s Yiddish. Liane Hansen is the voice of the parrots in English and the voice of the parrots in Spanish.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: (Spanish language spoken) Thank you, Daniel.

Mr. PINKWATER: Great pleasure. I had fun.

(Soundbite of music)

SIMON: And you can see Jill Pinkwater’s vibrant illustrations, and listen as our WEEKEND EDITION team reads along, on our website, npr.org.

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I’m Scott Simon.

In the sleepy Chilterns town of Amersham levels of anxiety are high and rising. Even though construction of a proposed high speed rail line from London to Birmingham is unlikely to begin for at least another seven years,tiffany cuff Links for sale, its likely routing through the town and surrounding villages is already prompting doom-laden predictions from householders and businesses alike.

Judy Hyland, a 48-year-old healthcare professional, thinks construction of High Speed 2 will be just the beginning of a process that will change the Chilterns forever.

"It will create a huge cavern in beautiful green-belt countryside. I fear once the railway is built,tiffany bracelets on sale, companies will be left slavering over use of the land for other property ventures."

Her son Andy Hyland, 22, questioned the need for the line, saying: "Great Missenden and the surrounding villages will be cut up by the track which is entirely unnecessary as there are already adequate travel links from London to the north."

Others were worried about the impact on local businesses. Frances Parker, 64, who owns a bakery in Amersham, said: "I worry that the rail line will mean that the Chilterns is not such an attractive area for outsiders to experience the countryside any more,tiffany necklaces for sale, meaning that local businesses like mine will feel the knock on effect."

The overriding concern of many though is the likely effect on property prices and the ability of the government’s new pound(s)50m fund to compensate local people adequately. "I think that the value of my property will definitely decrease, says homeowner Lucy Worth,Charm bracelet, 35. "I’ve looked into the fund but I don’t meet the guidelines so I won’t receive anything despite the fact it’s extremely likely I’ll lose out."

John Potts,cheap tiffany bangles, 76, said: "The vast majority of people who will be affected are not going to see a penny [from the fund], and given the length of the track the money will be spread very thinly."

Not absolutely everyone agreed though. Peter Wicklow, 28, a human resources manager who bought property in the nearby village of Little Chalfont four years ago, is fairly sanguine. "Houses prices here are consistently high, reflecting the demand for the area, so I think overall [the line is] unlikely to significantly lower prices in the long run."

The newest romantic drama from 88-year-old French filmmaker Alain Resnais is at times confounding, achingly beautiful, tedious and clever. "Wild Grass" is a great-looking, emotionally messy motion picture.

"Wild Grass" is all over the place, especially in matters of the heart. This is intended to be a controlled chaos as presented by Resnais, an old master whose romantic dramas "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" (1959) and "Last Year at Marienbad" (1961) were best foreign-language film Academy Award nominees in their day.

He’s still exploring those places that the human heart goes when it’s in disarray, in an adaptation of Christian Gailly’s novel that follows the entanglements that form when a woman’s wallet is stolen.

That a man finds the discarded wallet and turns it in to the police seems a simple enough story. For most of us, the story would be over at this point. But this is merely a jumping-off point for a gorgeously photographed,cheap tiffany key rings, existentialist tale of longing.

The overall arc of the script is certainly that of not only a missing wallet,necklaces, but of people who are all missing something valuable in their lives. But I could never quite tell where the story was heading.

The predictable is confounded repeatedly as Georges (AndA– e Dussollier of "Tell No One") desperately attempts to meet the woman whose wallet he found. Unpredictable is a good quality in films; unfocused is not.

Marguerite (Sabine Azema, Resnais’ real-life companion) has no such interest in meeting Georges

- until an act of vandalism, an odd phone call and her own yearnings compel this shoe-buying, airplane-flying dentist to seek an adventure.

These mysterious characters remain perplexing throughout — cold, detached and distant are equal descriptions — and I found I didn’t engage their stories more because they weren’t better defined. But Resnais’ camera makes the journey a colorful, playful trip through cinematic techniques.

There are fantasy moments. There are inner monologues (Marguerite berates herself for buying more shoes; we watch as Georges practices his phone-call voice like a teen calling for a date). Lighting colors change as people’s emotions alter.

These aren’t merely flights of filmmaking fancy, but veteran flourishes that frame a heady,tiffany watche, often distracting mix of melancholy, light comedy and moments both romantic and disturbing.

These curious avenues traveled by the film may induce those who dismiss French films out of hand to cite the picture as an example of why they do so. But for others, "Wild Grass" may slowly grow on you.

WILD GRASS

Stars: Andre Dussollier,discount tiffany Pendants, Sabine Azema,tiffany earrings sale, Anne Consigny, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric

Theater: Circle Cinema

Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes

Rated: PG (some thematic material, language and brief smoking)

Quality: (on a scale of zero to four stars)

Note: in French with English subtitles

Michael Smith 581-8479

michael.smith@tulsaworld.com

Rare is the person who uses their pain to help others.,tiffany bangle

Photographer Terri Shaver, working out of her East Lansing studio, has done just that with the Oldham Project, which seeks to document women who are battling or who have survived breast cancer.

Shaver’s objectives include enlisting enough sponsors to place photo billboards around town during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Shaver said the Oldham Project was created following the loss of her sister-in-law’s two sisters to breast cancer.

Her work with another non-profit that provides free portraits to the families of babies who have died,buy tiffany necklaces, added to her love of portraiture in general, further helped inspire the Oldham Project.

Shaver then connected with Susan G. Komen Mid-Michigan Affiliate executive director Chris Pearson, and that meeting proved instrumental.

"She and I sat down and started a conversation about how we might partner together, and she was 100 percent behind the Oldham Project, what we’re doing and what we provide for the community," Shaver recalled.

Continuing event?

Shaver initially considered carrying out the Oldham Project as a one-time event, but with 47 women now on board, she has a vision for something more lasting.

She’s made some poignant photographs, including one of two sisters – one with breast cancer and one battling ovarian cancer.

"Hopefully, this won’t just be a one-time thing. It will be an annual event that we do, and it will just get better each time," she said.

If Shaver is successful in establishing a long-term foundation for the Oldham Project,tiffany key rings clearance, it will be because she has improved the understanding of breast cancer in a different way than other organizations.

"There are lots of runs, the Relays and all the kind of things that happen in town to raise awareness about breast cancer," she said.

"I want to do it in a more visual way, and I’m hoping that women can see how beautiful they will be when they’re bald,buy tiffany money clips, that they will feel comfortable when they’re photographed, and that other women will see how comfortable they are with their baldness, and – in kind of a roundabout way – that they won’t be scared of the whole process."

Sea change

The "process" – essentially the sea change Shaver would like to see – is women getting regular mammograms and other preventative care.

"That if they did find a lump they wouldn’t be afraid and not go, because they are already thinking ahead about losing their hair. Women are like that – we’re all about our hair," she said.

Shaver’s not talking in a vacuum, having already had one breast biopsy and another recent health scare.

"It’s amazing – like a car, you can go from zero to 60 in a second," she said.

"You can do the same thing in your brain when you’re facing something like that, when you even hear the word "lump" or "suspicious" or anything like that – you are instantly already planning your funeral. We just do that – I think we do that as women."

Denise Acker

One of Shaver’s first subjects was Lansing resident Denise Acker, who died Aug. 13. Acker battled cancer for more than 10 years, with her last diagnosis in December 2009.

Shaver said Acker – who had heard about the Oldham Project through a friend – contacted her while she was still a patient in the hospital.

"She was the perfect person for our first, to be our … poster child for our project," Shaver said of Acker.

The next step is to enlist sponsors, both to put photos on billboards and for other purposes.

I would like to give (these women) something. I would like to honor them, to reward them. It’s an incentive to come and do this, not just for the free pictures," said Shaver, who has already had several professional labs express an interest in donating a 16 x 20 print to their portrait subjects.

She’d like to do more,Bead bracelet, though.

"I would like enough money to go to retailers in the area and put together some goodie bags, so when they walk out the door I could give them this goodie bag of fun, enjoyable things to treat themselves with, lotions and potions and things that women love," Shaver said.

Throw a party

She would also like to throw a party for her photo subjects, envisioning the evening as a fund-raising gala where the women would be the guests of honor.

"All of our supporters would be there, and all of the people who care about the organization would be there to honor them and cheer them on in their battles," Shaver said.

The Oldham Project has also gotten help from Douglas J, who have pledged free makeup applications for up to 120 women; studio space donated by the Gillespie Group; and a donation from Dean Transportation.

"A lot of those people are involved in the community, and they see it as a worthwhile project," Shaver said.

For more info…

The Oldham Project continues through Thursday, Sept. 30. For more information or to help, go online to www.theoldhamproject.org

Faced with the threat of their sport being excluded from the Winter Olympics after 2014 because of a lack of competitiveness, women’s hockey officials have held preliminary discussions with the N.H.L. about forming an N.H.L.-supported women’s league.

"I was in a meeting just this week with the N.H.L. and all the stakeholders in women’s hockey, and I think we have the ear of the N.H.L.," Hayley Wickenheiser, 32, a Canadian forward regarded as one of the game’s greatest female players, said Thursday.

"They’re looking at it right now from a sponsorship level to get it off the ground," Wickenheiser said,watches, referring to the N.H.L. "We’re not talking about big salaries, just sensible steps to get it on the ice to entertain people and see where it can go, and then down the road having an elite, W.N.B.A.-type league."

Bill Daly, the N.H.L. deputy commissioner, said the talks had taken place over a number of months and were very preliminary, but they were aimed at setting up a "women’s league or women’s competition."

The sense of crisis for the sport emerged after the Vancouver Games. As in the previous three Olympics, it was one-sided, with Canada and the United States dominating their European opponents. Canada beat Slovakia, 18-0, in one game; the United States beat Russia, 13-0,tiffany, in another.

On the eve of Canada’s 2-0 victory over the Americans in the gold medal match, the International Olympic Committee’s president, Jacques Rogge,bracelets, said that women’s hockey "cannot continue without improvement." The comment raised the specter that the sport might go the way of softball, which was dropped from the Olympics because of the dominance of the United States.

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is thanking the men and women who serve our country in a big way by offering free golf to active or retired members of the U.S. military, and encouraging other golfers to participate in the Patriot Golf Day Program honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Individuals with valid active or retired military identification are invited to play for free on any of Sandestin’s three championship golf courses, Raven Golf Club, Baytowne Golf Club, and The Links Course this September 3-6. Golfers can call 850-267-8155 to book their tee times and are not restricted to certain times on any course.

Sandestin is also leading the way among golf courses nationwide with their participation in Patriot Golf Day. Sandestin is calling patriots including guests and local residents to action by asking them to add $1 or another amount of their choice to their green fees that will go directly to the Folds of Honor,Bead bracelet, non-profit organization that provides post-secondary educational scholarships for the children and spouses of military men and women who were disabled or killed while serving our country. The Patriot Golf Day Campaign is jointly supported by The PGA of America and the United States Golf Association. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort has promised to match every dollar that is donated in conjunction with Patriot Golf Day.

According to Rick Hileman, PGA director of resort golf operations, Sandestin is honored to open our courses in this creative way to honor the men and women who have so bravely served our country.

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort Florida offers one the most complete resort experience in North America, with a wide selection of golf options and packages for any level player. Sandestin is a 2,400-acre destination for all seasons and for all ages, located on Northwest Florida’s Emerald Coast, an area recognized as one of the top 2010 destinations in the world by Frommer’s. The resort invites guests to enter a world of 30 charming neighborhoods from the beach to the bay featuring 1,400 villas, town homes and a wide variety of hotel accommodations. A member of Beaches of South Walton, Sandestin features four championship golf courses, 15 world-class tennis courts, 19 swimming pools, a 98-slip marina, a fitness center and spa, 65,000 square feet of meeting space and The Village of Baytowne Wharf, a pedestrian village with shops,rings, dining and nightlife. Visit www.sandestin.com or call 1-877-870-5915.