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NRPA Awards $400,000 in Grants to Park and Recreation Agencies to Combat Obesity and Chronic Diseases

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Healthy Communities Program, is pleased to announce the communities chosen for the association’s 2011 Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental changE (ACHIEVE) program.

Ashburn, VA (Vocus/PRWEB) February 07, 2011

The(NRPA), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Healthy Communities Program, is pleased to announce the communities chosen for the association’s 2011(ACHIEVE) program.

NRPA awarded grants in the amount of $40,000 to 10 park and recreation agencies in the U.S. to promote policies, systems and environmental change strategies—focusing on issues including physical fitness and obesity, nutrition and tobacco cessation—to advance the nation’s efforts to prevent chronic diseases and related risk factors.

The ACHIEVE program aims to promote improvements including increased access to healthy food options such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains at schools, worksites, places of worship and in the general community; and, infrastructure improvements to connect community sectors to foster and promote non-motorized transportation, among others.

The 2011 NRPA ACHIEVE grantees are:Annapolis Recreation and Parks, Annapolis, Md.Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department, Corpus Christi, TexasCity of Helena Parks and Recreation, Helena, Mont.City of Miamisburg, Miamisburg, OhioCity of Rock Hill Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department, Rock Hill, S.C.Van Buren Township Parks & Recreation, Belleville, Mich.Yuba City Parks & Recreation Department, Yuba City, Calif.The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Greenbelt, Md.Grand Forks Park District, Grand Forks, N.D.Bismarck Parks and Recreation District, Bismarck, N.D.

ACHIEVE encourages the development of collaborative partnerships in all sectors of a community, and aims to combine public health expertise from the state and local levels with the experience of organizations—such as park and recreation agencies—that have expertise in providing community support and outreach.

“ACHIEVE is about changing not only the way we react to our health, but also the way we think from the beginning in terms of our long-term wellbeing,” said Barbara Tulipane, CEO of NRPA.“By promoting policies that improve access to nutritious foods and physical activity in local communities, we can prevent health problems before they happen and increase our overall quality of life.”

Through a partnership between NRPA, the National Association of County and City Health Officials

(NACCHO), the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA), a total of 40 U.S. communities in 24 states were chosen to be ACHIEVE communities for 2011.The 2011 communities will build upon the successes of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 ACHIEVE communities.

For more information on ACHIEVE, contact Zarnaaz Bashir at 703.858.4746 or zbashir(at)nrpa.org.

The National Recreation and Park Association is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing park, recreation and conservation efforts that enhance quality of life for all people.Through its network of 20,000 recreation and park professionals and citizens, NRPA encourages the promotion of healthy lifestyles, recreation initiatives, and conservation of natural and cultural resources.For more information, visit .For digital access to NRPA’s flagship publication, Parks & Recreation, visit .

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Amy KappNational Recreation And Park Association703.858.2151Email Information

Umberger, Huselius lead Jackets 4-3

COLUMBUS, Ohio – R.J. Umberger scored twice and assisted on both of Kristian Huselius' goals, including the game-winning tally with 4 minutes left, to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets past the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Saturday night.

With the Blue Jackets trailing 3-2 and 6:16 left, Umberger tied it with a nifty move and a snap shot. He then fed Huselius on a 2-on-1 break, with Huselius tucking a wrist shot inside the near post and past goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.

Magnus Paajarvi had a career-best two goals for the Oilers, who lost their fourth in a row — both goals coming on almost identical plays off assists from fellow rookie Linus Omark. Dustin Penner also scored.

Steve Mason was solid in goal for Columbus, allowing the Blue Jackets to come back from an early 2-0 deficit. He finished with 23 saves.

Huselius also assisted on one of Umberger's goals. Kris Russell also had two assists.

The win was critical for the Blue Jackets, who have little margin for error as they try to stay in the chase for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. They began the night six points out of the eighth and final qualifying spot.

On the tying goal, Umberger showed the puck to Omark and then pulled it back between the winger's skates before stepping into a shot from near the left dot.

Huselius had scored just one goal over the past 13 games and had been a healthy scratch in Friday night's 3-0 victory at Detroit.

Omark pivoted in the left corner near the goal line and whipped quick passes through the crease that Paajarvi converted for the Oilers' first and third goals. It was the first two-goal game of Paajarvi's NHL career.

The teams entered the third period tied at 2 after the Blue Jackets fought back to pull even on Huselius' first goal.

Umberger made a great effort play after Huselius was wide with a shot from the slot. Umberger collected the puck on the back boards, skated to the side of the net and sent a pass back to Huselius, who mishit the puck but it went in off Khabibulin's leg pad.

The Oilers came in last in the NHL with only 15 wins (in 51 games) and 38 points. But they needed just 7:44 to take the 2-0 lead.

After Omark's pass to Paajarvi for the first goal, Penner took a pass from Ales Hemsky and wound up on a hard one-timer from the high slot for his 17th goal while Shawn Horcoff supplied a screen of Mason.

Khabibulin, who had 30 saves, made several nice stops to preserve the lead. But the Blue Jackets finally broke through late in the first. Umberger carried the puck across the blue line along the right boards, then skated laterally through the high slot before unleashing a wrister that trickled in.

Notes: John Moore, a touted 20-year-old defenseman who was the Blue Jackets' first-round pick in the 2009 draft, made his NHL debut. ... Mason had stopped 34 shots on Friday night in Columbus' first-ever shutout win in Detroit.

BofA Merrill's "Edge-y" online venture gains converts

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – Bank of America (BAC.N) is shopping online for customers who are not quite wealthy enough to make the cut at Merrill Lynch, posing a threat to entrenched discount brokers and making some of the thundering herd at Merrill see red.

The largest U.S. bank, which has 5,900 branches and $1 trillion in deposits, created an online brokerage service last June called Merrill Edge as a key pillar of its strategy to woo the so-called "mass affluent" client with $50,000 to $250,000 to invest.

Major brokerage firms for years have shunned that stratum in favor of wealthier clients who generate fatter fees and buy more high-margin products. That's sent the mass-affluent to regional firms and to discount brokers such as Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW.N), E*Trade Financial Corp (ETFC.O) and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp(AMTD.O).

Now Bank of America wants those lower-tier customers back in its herd, while encouraging Merrill brokers to corral funds of wealthy clients who use outside discounters for some trades.

Merrill Edge gibes well with Bank of America's big base of savings and lending relationships, analysts say, and is the flip side of the bank's push to have brokers sell mortgages, insurance and other banking products to their brokerage clients.

"This gets them into a part of the market that's expanding rapidly," said Marty Mosby, a bank analyst with Guggenheim Securities LLC. "The question is whether you'll see that translate into accounts and lending."

Commercial bankers clearly see the mass affluent as a core part of their future growth. According to a fourth quarter 2010 survey of bank executives by Boston-based Aite Group, 58 percent are putting a high priority on the sector.

FAR TO GO

Since its roll-out in June, Merrill Edge has amassed $90 billion in assets, well below the $1.57 trillion at online leader Schwab.

Merrill's total includes $70 billion already with the bank from its purchase more than a decade ago of the Quick & Reilly discount broker as well as the assets of Merrill's call-center clients who were weaned from their broker relationships as the firm went upscale.

Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch during the financial crisis in January 2009 for $19 billion, and hasn't always fit comfortably into the new structure. Merrill Edge is meant to bridge some of the gaps between low-tier retail banking and the high-end private banking and brokerage services at Merrill and BofA's U.S. Trust.

"This is a strategy for retaining assets that would otherwise go to other online competitors," said Sophie Schmitt, an analyst with Aite Group. She estimates that roughly a third of Merrill's clients have online brokerage accounts elsewhere.

LIFECYCLE NICHES

Lyle LaMothe, head of Merrill Lynch's U.S. brokerage business, says the strategy is to induce clients to migrate from Edge to full-service advisers as they accumulate wealth.

"Whereas an E*Trade will say you want to deal with us this way all the time, we're looking at the lifetime progression cycle," he said in an interview.

Some Merrill brokers, however, chafe at having their employer dangle lower fees before current and prospective clients. Even more irritating for some is that they are being told to actively steer lower-echelon accounts to the lower-cost platform.

From the parent company's perspective, the effort has had some early success. Since the launch, 8,000 401(k) accounts at Merrill have been transferred to Edge.

SEGMENTATION

The migration is an extension of a broader push at Merrill, Morgan Stanley and other big brokerages to penalize clients who keep less than $250,000 in their accounts by levying maintenance and other fees. At the same time, the firms have been lowering or even eliminating payouts to brokers who serve those clients, a development that brokers say is particularly onerous for those in less wealthy localities.

Executives at Bank of America counter that the splitting is good for clients and brokers.

"What we've been very clear with is it's easier to grow your business when you're not losing relationships for poor service," LaMothe said.

Bank of America recently moved Merrill Edge from its wealth and investment management division, led by Sallie Krawcheck, to its consumer banking unit, run by Joe Price.

"We want them to be in a channel where they are getting the level of attention they certainly deserve, and that just happens to correlate most often with households that are under a certain size," LaMothe said.

The message to brokers may be taking hold, according to Aite's Schmitt.

"Initially, financial advisers were very hostile to this initiative, but now they're starting to see that clients are not moving," she said. "They are starting to see that providing clients with more choice makes them happier."

Bank of America, meanwhile, sees Edge extending its push for cheap funding by attracting low-cost deposits.

To attract customers to the concept, the bank last month subdivided its deposit account menu into four categories, with a host of perks -- including special rates on money market and CD accounts -- to customers with at least $50,000 in deposit and brokerage accounts.

BofA Chief Executive Brian Moynihan last month singled out wealth management as one of the few remaining opportunities the company had for growing its U.S. consumer business.

"Banks want to show asset growth at this stage in the industry's recovery, but assets are going to be tough to come by," said Paul Miller, a bank analyst with FBR Capital Markets. "Everybody's looking at some area or niche to focus on. At Bank of America's, it's going to be the mass affluent."

(Reporting by Joe Rauch; Additional reporting by Joseph A. Giannone in New York; Editing by Jed Horowitz)

House Republicans frustrated with Senate for not considering health-care repeal bill

After nary a peep from House Republicans while the Senate blocked hundreds of Democratic proposals during the past few years, Republicans are now expressing frustration with the upper chamber for letting their bills die too.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, perturbed that the Republican proposal to repeal the health-care law will likely not see any daylight in the Senate,that the Senate is no place for bills to die.

“I’ve got a problem with the assumption here that somehow the Senate can be a place where legislation to go into a cul-de-sac or dead end,” Cantor told reporters. “Leader Reid continues to say that he is not going to bring this up for a vote in the Senate. The American people deserve a full hearing. They deserve to see this legislation go to the Senate for a full vote.”

“The Senate ought not be a place that legislation goes into a dead end,” he reiterated later.

Except that it is. Or at least, that’s what Republicans thought a few months ago.

By February 2010, the Democrat-controlled House passedthat were left floundering in the Senate. Some eventually passed through the chamber, but many died by the end of the 111th Congress. Republicans expressed few signs of protest while bill after bill proposed by House Democrats were rejected or ignored.

When asked about the apparent discrepancy, Rep. Nan Hayworth, Republican freshman from New York, said it was a difference between “bad” bills and a “great” bills.

“They were bad bills,” she said of the hundreds of Democratic proposal passed in the House that were never signed into law. “Now I’d like the Senate to pass this great bill, which is to repeal the Affordable Care Act and then promptly follow with a replacement plan that makes sense for the American people.”

Cantor had previously challenged Reid to take up a vote on health-care repeal, which is expected to pass the House Wednesday afternoon.

“If Harry Reid is so confident that the repeal vote should die in the Senate then he should bring it up for a vote if he’s so confident he’s got the votes,” Cantor said Tuesday.

Reid, who controls the Senate schedule, has said repeatedly he has no plans to take up the measure.

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Colts will get chance to do what Cowboys couldn't

DALLAS – Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts get the chance next season to do what the Dallas Cowboys failed to do this time. They could become the first team to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium.

"It's exciting. I'm sure Dallas had to deal with those questions all year," Manning said in Dallas this week. "We have a great stadium to have the event and I know the people there are excited. Playing there, it'd be very special. ... That will be the motivation, like all teams, to get to Indy."

After the Green Bay Packers play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday, the next Super Bowl — the 46th in NFL history — will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in heart of the Indianapolis.

"Last year, I remember kidding the Dallas folks that we should have a home-and-home the next two years," Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said. "That's not going to happen, obviously."

The Cowboys (6-10) didn't even make the playoffs, getting off to such a bad start that Wade Phillips was fired midway through this season. Indianapolis won 10 games and made its record-tying ninth consecutive playoff appearance, then lost to the New York Jets.

If the Colts make it 10 playoffs in a row, they will have the opportunity for a hometown Super Bowl.

"It's certainly possible. Peyton is still at the top of his game. His supporting cast is very, very strong. I'd love to see it," Ballard said. "Some people say, 'Oh, no, you don't want that because then you won't have as many visitors.' I don't believe that. Look at Butler. Them being in the Final Four actually generated more interest."

The Colts have been to the last two Super Bowls in Miami, winning the 2007 game over the Chicago Bears and then losing to the New Orleans Saints last year.

The 2013 Super Bowl will be played in the Louisiana Superdome, the home of the Saints.

"I'd like a rematch," Ballard said.

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CENTER STARTER: Doug Legursky prepared all week like he was going to play in the Super Bowl. Good thing, because the Pittsburgh Steelers' backup guard is making his first NFL start as a center Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

Rookie Pro Bowl selection Maurkice Pouncey was ruled out of the Super Bowl because of a high left ankle sprain.

"I'm approaching it the same way I've done every game this entire year, going into it prepared as if I'm going to play," Legursky said this week. "If I don't do it that way and I get thrown in there, I'm not prepared. So I'm not going to make that mistake."

Pouncey's ankle never healed enough for him to practice this week, and he was ruled out Friday. When Pouncey got hurt in the AFC championship game, Legursky took over snapping the ball to Ben Roethlisberger.

Legursky, an undrafted free agent out of Marshall in 2008, started four games in place of injured guard Trai Essex early this season. Those are Legursky's only starts in 24 career regular-season games.

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UNDER A DOME: The Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium will be the 13th played indoors. The NFC has a 9-3 advantage in championships settled under a dome.

Pittsburgh and Green Bay won their only indoor Super Bowls. The Steelers beat Seattle at Detroit's Ford Field in 2006, and the Packers defeated New England at the Louisiana Superdome in 1997.

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SUPER FOOD FARE: Pasta bars, Texas chicken fried turkey sandwiches and sushi platters are just a few of the unique food options at Cowboys Stadium for the 100,000 or so fans attending the Super Bowl.

For heartier appetites, there will one-pound hamburgers topped with fried onions and smoked chopped barbecue. Or some chunky "Bent Buckle" Texas chili served in a sourdough bread bowl.

Looking for an adult beverage and a Super Bowl keepsake? Get both with a Texas-sized margarita known as a "Cowboyrita" served in a souvenir glass. The Mexican hot chocolate and hot Bloody Mary drinks will come in souvenir thermal travel mugs.

Food prep for Sunday included sauteing more than a ton of peaches for cobbler, grilling 15,000 Kobe beef sliders, peeling 70,000 pieces of fresh jumbo shrimp and training 250 chefs to work the different food stations in the stadium. There will be more than 3,000 concessions workers on duty.

Fans are expected Sunday to consume more than 12 tons of nachos, five tons of cheese steak and four tons of hot dogs. And wash it down with 15,625 gallons of soda, 8,000 gallons of bottled water and 160 tons of ice — enough to make three hockey rinks.

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MORE CHEESE THAN TOWELS: There have more people searching for "cheesehead hats" than "Terrible Towels" leading up to the Super Bowl. At least online.

According to Yahoo!, there were 66 percent more online searches this week about the cheesehead hats worn by Green Bay Packers fans than the Terrible Towels waved by those cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A very popular search question was "What does the 'G' in the Packers logo stand for?" Easy answer: Green Bay, the team's hometown.

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AP Pro Football Writer Jaime Aron contributed to this report.