Extreme weekend heat wave could bring temperatures above 120 to Western US

In Los Angeles, heat-related power failures snarled traffic, and in Death Valley, where temperatures hit triple digits, the forecast is could bring a record 129 degrees. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

Thirty people were taken to hospitals for heat-related injuries and illnesses Friday at a music festival in Las Vegas, authorities said, as a wave of life-threatening blistering temperatures blazed across the West.

Clark County fire personnel treated about 200 people for heat-related nausea, vomiting and fatigue Friday afternoon and evening at the Vans Warped Tour, an eclectic outdoor music festival at the Silverton Casino off the famous Strip.

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Most were given water and taken to shaded areas, but 30 had to be taken to hospitals for further treatment, the fire department said.

The high temperature officially hit 117 degrees at Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport ? equaling the airport's record ? on the same day thousands of people streamed to the casino site for the festival.

Records are similarly expected to be broken across the West and the Southwest through the weekend and into next week, the National Weather Service said, thanks to a high pressure "dome" parked over the sprawling region.

Death Valley, Calif., could even top 130 degrees Saturday through Monday, just below the world record high of 134 recorded there on July 10, 1913, The Weather Channel said.

Temperatures in Phoenix are expected to soar between 115 and 120 degrees. In western parts of Arizona, temperatures could reach 125.

Officials in Arizona warned residents to take precautions.

"If you get dizzy or lightheaded, those are some signs of dehydration. If you become confused, that's a real warning sign," Dr. Kevin Reilly of the University of Arizona Department of Emergency Medicine told NBC station KVOA of Tucson.

In Las Vegas, meanwhile, the National Weather Service warned of the potential for a "life-threatening heat event." Temperatures were expected to match those of a July 2005 heat wave when 17 people died in the Las Vegas Valley.

The extreme weather is expected to reach Reno, Nev., reach across Utah and stretch into Wyoming and Idaho, where forecasters are predicting potentially lethal hot spells. Triple-digit temperatures were forecast during Idaho's Special Olympics in Boise.

Matt York / AP

Runners take advantage of lower temperatures at sunrise Thursday in Mesa, Ariz. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada and Arizona.

Organizers urged coaches to prepare their athletes.

"The basic stuff, wearing breathable, appropriate clothes, staying in the shade as much as possible, staying hydrated is obviously a big thing," Matt Caropino, director of sports and training for Special Olympics Idaho, told NBC station KTVB. "We've put in place some misters that we're going to have at our outdoor venues."

The National Weather Service advised people to keep tabs on signs of potentially lethal heat stroke.

"Heat stroke symptoms include an increase in body temperature, which leads to deliriousness, unconsciousness and red, dry skin," it said in a report. "Death can occur when body temperatures reach or exceed 106-107 degrees."

Los Angeles was forecast to peak between the upper 80s and the lower 90s Saturday as inland communities like Burbank edge toward the low 100s. Palm Springs, Calif., no stranger to steamy summers, may peak at 120 degrees, NBC station KMIR reported. Sweltering heat also is expected for the state's Central Valley, according to The Weather Channel.

While the west remains hot and dry, the east is getting lots of rain that has resulted in flash flooding. Some of the worst flooding was in upstate New York where whole neighborhoods remain under water. ?The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.

Commercial airlines were also monitoring conditions because excessive heat can throw flights off course. The atmosphere becomes less dense in extremely high heat humidity, meaning there's less lift for airplanes ? calculations that have to be made individually for every type of aircraft.

Triple-digit heat forced several airlines to bring operations to a halt after Phoenix climbed to 122 degrees in June 1990.

Daniel Arkin of NBC News contributed to this report.

Related:

'It's brutal out there': Weekend heat wave to bake western US

Alaska sweating through brutal blast of heat

Oppressive heat hits West as storms soak East

This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:50 AM EDT

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Lionel Richie: My own songs saved me

Celebs

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper TODAY

2 hours ago

NBC

Lionel Richie says his own songs helped him.

Many people have turned to music at sad times in their lives. Singer Lionel Richie is no different -- except the music he turned to was his own.

Richie told the U.K. Mirror that in the 1990s, he was going through a divorce and fighting depression

"Then a friend said to me: ?Lionel, I have some inspirational tapes I want you to listen to,'" Richie recalled to the newspaper. "He handed me my own songs with certain ones underlined and I started listening to my lyrics ? this time from the point of view of someone who needed that message.

?I used to look out into the audience and wonder why that guy was crying to one of my songs and now I get it -? it just hits something in your core," Richie said.

The singer also admitted that he wasn't always there for daughter Nicole when she was growing up. ?When Nicole was young I was trying to become Lionel Richie," the singer said. "I wasn?t there as much as I should have been. ... These days we are incredibly close and I am a very proud grandfather. She?s a wonderful mother.?

Richie will start his first U.S. tour in a decade this fall. "I have never had a job in my life," he told the Mirror. "This is still my hobby and I want to use the gift for good."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/lionel-richie-my-own-songs-saved-me-depression-6C10488483

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Car buyers appear unfazed by stock market gyrations

Autos

Joseph Szczesny The Detroit Bureau

June 28, 2013 at 10:10 AM ET

Keith Srakocic / AP

In this Wednesday, May 8, 2013 photo, a row of new 2013 Ford Fusions is seen at an automobile dealership in Zelienople, Pa.

It seems like the recent stock market tumble, and the perception that interest rates are rising, are, at most, background noise to American car buyers.

Sales of new cars and trucks continue to move along at a steady clip during June, according to new estimates from J.D. Power & Associates and LMC Automotive. A monthly sales forecast based on direct dealer data indicates new-vehicle retail sales are showing no signs of letting up at the start of the summer selling season.

New-vehicle retail sales in June are projected to come in at 1,118,800 vehicles, which represent a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate of 13.2 million units, a healthy increase of 500,000 from the May SAAR. Retail transactions are the most accurate measure of true underlying consumer demand for new vehicles.

Total light-vehicle sales in June 2013 are expected to grow by 12 percent from June 2012 to 1,380,800 units. Fleet sales in June are just 19 percent of total sales. Fleet volume for the month is projected at 262,000 units.

Adding together retail and fleet business and the overall SAAR is expected to reach 15.7 million units this month. That?s a big jump from the 14.5 million vehicles sold in 2012 ? a five-year high ? and nudges by even the most optimistic forecasts for 2013, which general had set a high of around 15.5 million sales this year.

The strong selling pace continues to be matched by strong transaction prices. Thus far in June, the average transaction price of new vehicles ? what customers actually spend when both incentives and options are included ?is $28,900, the highest figure ever for June.

While sales overall are strong, not all segments are selling at the same pace. Sales of premium vehicles account for just 11.7 percent of new-vehicle retail sales thus far in June, down from 12.9 percent in June 2012.

?Although the premium segment growth has lagged non-premium, there is some good news for the industry in that the average price of premium vehicles in June is $47,000, up almost 4 percent from June 2012,? said John Humphrey, J.D. Power senior vice president of the global automotive practice. ?New premium vehicles entering the market late this year will also help bolster sales through the second quarter of 2014.?

Among other new models due for launch are the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and a trio of luxury diesels from Audi.

The underperformance of premium light-vehicle sales is largely due to the age of the models in these segments. J.D. Power calculates that the average age ? the number of months the vehicle has been in the market since it was introduced or redesigned ? of premium models sold in the second quarter of 2013 was 43 months. In comparison, the average age of non-premium models, excluding pickup trucks is only 34.5 months.

Hyundai America chief executive officer John Krafcik noted last week that competition in the auto industry is very fierce and forces manufacturers to intensify efforts to win over customers. Even the threat of higher interest rates hasn?t undermined the market?s momentum, he said.

Competition in the mid-sized segment has been particularly fierce in recent months with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Kia all introducing new or substantially updated models. The compact and subcompact segment also have seen a flood of new entries.

J.D. Power expects that by the second quarter of 2014, the average age of premium products will fall to just 33 months, as new and redesigned products enter the marketplace.

LMC Automotive continues to hold the outlook for total light-vehicle sales in 2013 at 15.4 million units, but has increased its forecast for retail light-vehicle sales to 12.6 million units from 12.5 million units, as retail sales growth expands.

More from The Detroit Bureau:

'Lola' tops 200 mph, sets EV world speed record

Terrorists may be targeting our high-tech cars

Would you buy a Chinese-made Ford

Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

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Consumer sentiment ends June to near six-year high

By Richard Leong

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment improved in late June, ending the month close to a near six-year high set in May, as optimism among higher-income families rose to its strongest level in six years, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment was 84.1 points, just slightly below a near six-year high of 84.5 in May. The late-June figure was higher than the preliminary reading of 82.7.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the final June reading of 82.8.

"Consumers believe the (economic) recovery has achieved an upward momentum that will not be easily reversed," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

He added the recent drop in stock prices and the jump in mortgage rates have not caused a deterioration in consumers' view on the economy.

"To be sure, few high or low income consumers expect the economy to post robust gains or think the unemployment rate will drastically shrink during the year ahead," Curtin said.

Consumer sentiment is considered by some economists as a predictor on consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

The latest Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan data was consistent with the June consumer confidence readings from the Conference Board released earlier this week. The research group's U.S. consumer confidence index rose to 81.4 this month, the highest since January 2008.

Household expenditures, however, have remained sluggish despite improving optimism. Consumer spending grew at an annualized 2.6 percent in first quarter, faster than the 1.8 percent pace in the last three months of 2012 but slower than an earlier government estimate of 3.4 percent.

The barometer of current economic conditions ended at 93.8 in June, down from 98.0 in May. This was above an early June reading of 92.1 and economists' forecast of 92.8.

The survey's gauge of consumer expectations ended June at its highest level since October at 77.8, up from 75.8 in May. The latest reading was stronger than the preliminary June figure of 76.7. Economists had projected a late-June figure of 77.0.

Other areas of the U.S. economy have been uneven, which economists have blamed on higher taxes and federal budget cuts. Weak overseas growth especially in China has been a drag on business activities and hiring, economists say.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago said its index on Midwest business activity posted a steeper-than-expected drop in June to 51.6. A reading below 50 points suggests business contraction.

"It's not firmly in expansion territory where businesses are ready to hire and invest," said Tim Quinlan, an economist with Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

HIGHER-INCOME FAMILIES

There was a divergence in outlook between higher-income families and lower-income ones, according to the latest Thomson Reuters and University of Michigan consumer survey.

Higher-income households showed increased optimism about their incomes and wealth, while lower-income ones reported less optimism. Families in the top third income bracket were the most optimistic since the June 2007 survey.

Rising home and stock prices likely bolstered sentiment among wealthier families, although gains on Wall Street were reduced by a recent market sell-off due to worries that the Federal Reserve might pare its $85 billion monthly bond purchases later this year.

Still, the Standard & Poor's 500 index is currently up 2.1 percent for the quarter and 12.4 percent for the year, its best first-half performance since 1998, though it is on track for its first monthly loss since October.

Domestic single-family home prices posted their biggest annual gain in seven years in April, according to data from S&P/Case Shiller released on Tuesday.

The survey's one-year inflation expectation ended June at 3.0 percent down from 3.1 percent in May and from the 3.2 percent in early this month.

The survey's five-to-10-year inflation outlook ended unchanged at 2.9 percent for a third straight month. It dipped from 3 percent in early June.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/consumer-sentiment-improves-june-135623050.html

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The Newcomer's Guide To Efficient Internet Promotion - Maynas Eric

It is no secret that there is a lot of hard work involved in Website marketing. Hard work and persistence can help your Internet promotion plan improve your bottom line. It does no good to work very hard at pointless tasks. The tips listed here will get you going in the right direction.

A client mailing list is vital. Post notification on your website to collect emails. However, if you want to be slightly more aggressive, request it in order for customers to purchase items off your site. Either way, you can use this information later to send out sales information, offer promotional materials or to ask for customer feedback.

You need to create a great site before worrying about getting it ranked. Building a great website should be your very first step in starting a web business. Once your website operates without glitches and looks great, you are ready to move forward with marketing.

TIP! To increase your ad clicks, place an image on your page that, when clicked, leads to a page that describes the item you are advertising or selling. Ensure you use the font that you use in your articles and linking it.

Split your website into sections, and have a map from which people can choose the products they?d like to see. While variety is desirable, ensure that your options are presented in an organized way.

Try putting a blog on your site and updating it regularly. Frequent blogging is a great way of keeping your potential customers informed and up to date about your business. Having a blog also makes your site larger, which gives search engines more material to index and should thus bring you more traffic.

You have everything you need to be successful with internet marketing. Fancy computer programs and overpriced get-rich-quick schemes can?t compare to a person with knowledge and the desire to get the job done. Just work hard and imagine what you can achieve when you are marketing yourself.

TIP! Use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook as a part of your Internet marketing campaign. You can use these sites to advertise new offers or to share your latest articles.

To build a good website, be as content-focused and as comprehensive as you can. Your main goal should be to teach the viewer about your product in a timely manner. Repetitive descriptions and data, facts and information that the customer will find irrelevant or even boring, should be avoided.

Video marketing is an awesome way to generate interest in your business. Incorporating an informative video onto your website is a great method for gaining the attention of your viewers. Sharing these videos should be easy thanks to social networks and blogs.

To become a successful internet marketer, you need dedication and a high work ethic rather than luck. There is no such story about a business that just got lucky in their success. Coca Cola?s success isn?t pure luck, but rather years of research and work that culminated in a wildly successful soft drink. Not at all. They did a superb job of marketing their product.

TIP! A ?squeeze page? can be an effective way to gather contact info for your mailing list. This will encourage visitors to enter their email addresses.

The majority of cellular providers permit multiple numbers to be routed to a single phone. Therefore, it is wise to get a dedicated number.

To bolster the credibility of your web business, you should try to land interviews with authorities within your niche who are well respected. The interviews can be done on video, audio, or in text form. Your interview will boost readership of your website, improve your reputation as someone in the know and give you more incoming traffic.

You should approach banner advertising differently, and go for a unique approach when designing one for your website. The more appealing and original your banner ad appears, the more people you?ll have clicking on it.

TIP! Check out what your competition is up to. You can check your competition?s site to see what they have.

Consider creating a web page for comments and customer reviews of your products and services. Customer reviews can help establish loyalty and will increase your reputation in the industry.

Add the word ?fast? in you advertisement campaigns and add language that would strengthen your products. Customers value speedy service, which is why you want to ensure that your products are delivered quickly.

TIP! If you website is static and rarely ever changes, perhaps you should consider including a blog on your site. New content gets the attention of the search engines which will increase your ranking in their listings and lead to more traffic for your site.

Offering free gifts or promotions will make your customers feel valued. Sometimes, it is easy to overlook simple things such as this, but offering freebies can keep customers coming back.

Customers will order their products faster if you give them incentives to do so. This could include free shipping, faster shipping or free gift wrapping. One way to do this is to offer free shipping to the first 100 customers who purchase a specified item. Offering incentives can encourage more people to purchase your product and promote customer satisfaction.

Are you searching for some way to do online marketing? Encourage people to give you their email address or to connect with you on social networks by advertising special offers regularly. Offer freebies or contests and ask them if you can send them future emails. A customer will provide their email if they get something in return for it.

TIP! Internet marketing ventures will not succeed through chance, only through deliberate effort and hard work can you hope to enjoy success. No one ever got rich in their own business from luck.

Employ a lot of descriptions on the site. Adjectives work very well in the world of web marketing. Be creative, and come up with your own words and site- or product-specific jargon. Make them want to revisit your site just to read what you have to say.

Write relevant content and submit it to article directories online. Make sure these articles are signed with your full name and contain information about your business. If you get published in an online magazine, include a link to your site. You can entice the editors with commissions or freebies that encourage them to publish your content.

Offer something free with your business name and logo on it. For example, if it?s a wallpaper, submit it to sites that offer free wallpapers. Many websites are available that give out free e-content and are easy to submit too.

TIP! Put customer testimonials on your site. It is easy to claim that your product is effective, but without good, solid proof, your audience may not buy it.

Many people won?t believe ad copy. For years, advertising has been misleading. Because of this, you have to show proof of what you claim on your website. Examples of this include testimonials, before-and-after photographs, and test reports. Just do not say anything that you cannot back up. You must take your customer?s word as truthful and sincere. Don?t take advantage of people. You will get a great reputation and gain customers to do business with for a long time.

Take advantage of these hints and ensure that you are making positive strides toward maximum profits. Armed with the information you learned here, and with a bit of hard work, soon you will see the results of your website marketing efforts.

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Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/the-newcomers-guide-to-efficient-internet-promotion

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We speak to writer, broadcaster and creative writing teacher Sian ...

Sian Prior is a writer, broadcaster and creative writing teacher whose essays have been published in Fairfax and Meanjin. She is currently working on her first non-fiction book.

We spoke to her about the benefits of freelancing, the importance of having something at stake in your writing, and how reader correspondence made her adjust her views on former prime minister Julia Gillard.

What was the first piece of writing you had published?

The first few articles I had published were in the Melbourne University magazine Farrago. I wrote some profiles and arts reviews and also a personal column that was published anonymously because I was embarrassed about the subject matter. An editor picked that one up and published it in a high school textbook ? the first time I was paid for my writing. Priceless encouragement. (And no I won?t tell you what it was about.)

What?s the best part of your job?

Variety. I have a low boredom threshold and being a freelancer in a range of areas (writing, teaching, broadcasting, singing, editing, event hosting, etc.) means that if I get tired of one thing, there?s always something else I can do until I feel refreshed.

What?s the worst part of your job?

Insecurity of income ? although I have got better at tolerating that uncertainty over the years. It?s worth it at the moment for the freedom.

What?s been the most significant moment in your writing career so far?

Being contacted by an editor who said she might be interested in the book I?m currently writing (the first one I actually believe I?ll finish). It?s been a painful process and it was good to be offered hope that all that work might see the light of day.

What?s the best (or worst) advice you?ve received about writing?

American essayist Ander Monson has some insightful things to say about writing. In his essay ?Voir Dire? he wrote, ?How often is something actually at stake in essays, in memoirs, in most of the non fiction I read?? How often is there actual risk involved??? Whenever I feel anxious about being too self-revealing in my writing I remind myself of those questions.

What?s the most surprising thing you?ve ever heard or read about yourself or your work?

I once received some very negative emails in response to a critical column I wrote about the former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. I was shocked but those correspondents were right. I?ve now written a piece about how my thinking changed after receiving those emails. Writing is so ridiculously self-reflexive sometimes, isn?t it?

If you weren?t writing, what do you think you?d be doing instead?

More music. More more more more more music. When I?m not rehearsing or performing music I feel like a limb is missing.

There?s much debate on whether creative writing can be taught ? what?s your view?

As a long-time teacher of creative writing I am entirely biased. You can definitely have an influence on the quality of someone?s writing by encouraging them to develop new skills and to be more self-critical with their own writing. The RMIT writing courses (where I teach) have helped to produce some breathtakingly good published writers.

What?s your advice for someone wanting to be a writer?

Take risks with your writing. Show your writing to others and take their criticisms seriously. Write every day.

Do you buy your books online, in a physical bookshop, or both?

Both. I am doing a PhD and I buy most of my academic texts online (still hard copies) but I buy my novels in independent bookshops like Readings. I don?t yet own an e-reader (always a late adopter).

If you could go out to dinner with any fictional character, who would it be and why? And what would you talk about?

Can I pass on this one? I?m happy for imaginary people to stay within the pages of a book. I?d prefer to have dinner with some flesh and blood writers. New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones, maybe. He seems like a compassionate bloke. We could talk about the fact that he has the same name as my maternal grandfather.

What?s the book that?s had the most significant impact on your life or work ? and why?

I am a passionate devotee of Margaret Atwood?s writing, both fiction and non fiction. I envy the deft way she mixes humour and political critique with suspenseful narratives. I find it hard to imagine the literary landscape of the 20th century without her books. As the weather gets weirder and weirder (with climate change) I think often about her book Oryx and Crake. If only we could clone and transplant her imagination into the minds of the world?s political leaders.

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Sian Prior is a writer, broadcaster, musician and creative writing teacher. Her essays have been published by Fairfax and in Meanjin, and she is currently working on her first non-fiction book. Sian blogs and does performing arts reviews at sianprior.com.

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Source: http://wheelercentre.com/dailies/post/70dd7326d5d6/

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Over-Engineered Speaker Cables? Nope, Actual Speakers

Do you live in a bizarre, warped, Escher-style home that's made installing a booming sound system next to impossible? The Anakonda KAN200 might look like a well shielded audio cable, but it's actually a flexible speaker designed to squeeze into spots where traditional boxy speakers don't fit, but still require jam pumping.

Flexible enough to even be wrapped around a pole, the Anakonda KAN200 can be mounted to curved surfaces or other irregularly shaped architecture, and up to 32 of them can be daisy-chained together to cover large spaces.

At over six-and-a-half feet long the Anakonda speakers are aptly named since installation is probably like wrestling a large snake, and at $900 per section they're actually not outrageously priced as far as high-end home audio gear goes. But unlike a real snake, let's hope these are properly balanced so they don't hiss. [K-array via Gizmag]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/over-engineered-speaker-cables-nope-actual-speakers-612362215

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