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Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe: ‘”The Truth’ may be a reach, but he sure lived up to his Captain’s title yesterday. Paul Pierce brought his certified ‘A’ game to a deciding seventh game against the Cavaliers. He stood tall in the Cousy-Russell-Havlicek-Bird sense, picking the most propitious moment to play his best game of the 2008 playoffs. ‘He just willed his team to victory,’ said Cleveland’s LeBron James. ‘I know that was the breakout game he was waiting for.’”
Monique Walker of The Boston Globe: “In the first-round win over the Hawks, [Ray] Allen averaged 16.1 points and shot 40 percent from the 3-point line (18 of 45). But against the Cavaliers, Allen has struggled. He was held scoreless in Game 1 and managed 9 points in Game 6. Rivers said he is not concerned with Allen’s slump. ‘I told Ray before the game, ‘What happens if you don’t take another shot in the entire playoffs and we win the world championship because they’re going to double you? You’re so valuable if that’s what they’re going to do because it’s going to open the floor for everybody else,’ ‘ Rivers said. ‘I thought Ray had no problem with it. He’s going to be better.’”
Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: “It is said that experience is important in the playoffs, but the Celtics clearly were pushing that envelope to its limit yesterday. In their hour of need, they wrote their own basketball bible. And an elderly man shall lead them. P.J. Brown — 38 years, 7 months and 4 days old — was the largest of their big men in the last quarter, going for six points and five rebounds in the quarter to guide the Celts to a 97-92 win over Cleveland. Brown didn’t miss a shot on the day, hitting all four from the floor and two from the line on the way to 10 points. We’re still awaiting official word, but he would appear to be a lock for AARP Player of the Week.”

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A shortfall in state lottery revenues means public schools won’t get any money from the lottery in March, officials said.
Lottery proceeds are down $5.5 million from July to January compared with the same period the year before. Districts got half of the money they were supposed to get in February, officials said.
The Charleston County School District receives about $287,000 per month in lottery money, but the delay in getting those funds shouldn’t be a problem, said Larry Clark, the district’s interim chief financial officer.
If the money were to go away completely, that would be more of a problem, he said. The district gets about $3.5 million a year in lottery money, and its operating budget this year is about $320 million.
The district will be able to continue operating as is until it gets the money, Clark said.
Dorchester District 2 receives an annual payment of more than $1.1 million in lottery funds and has a total budget of more than $128 million.
The district expects its March lottery payment of $140,950 will be delayed, and public relations director Pat Raynor said the district’s February lottery payment was reduced by nearly $23,500.
The delay won’t cause any program or staff cuts in March, but Raynor said officials will pay close attention to the situation and hope the funds can be returned by April.

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The chance of being hit by lightning, or winning the lottery, is in the same field as the possibility of being a high school basketball player who wins an ESPY, ESPN’s award for someone whose television sports highlight is the most outstanding of the year. Thus, the odds of being possibly a two-time ESPY winner is astronomical; but the University of Minnesota’s Blake Hoffarber might be that two-time lottery winner.
During the Big 10 Tournament game between Indiana and Minnesota, Hoffarber scored the winning basket as time ran out, converting a turnaround, left-handed push shot from thirteen feet with three Hoosiers around him after leaping to catch a 77-foot pass inbounds from the opposing baseline. The improbable play started with Minnesota down a point and only 1.5 seconds left in the game.
Minnesota had led the game by as many as 16 points, but the Gophers were missing several of their top players due to injury and foul trouble, and Indiana slowly crept back. Even though the Hoosiers missed five of their last six free throws, Indiana still scored the last six points of the final minute and a half, and D. J. White’s free throw broke the missed streak and gave his team the point lead, setting up Hoffarber’s shot.

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“We looked at 20 to 25 houses,” says Dye. After being shown a lot of big new houses that just weren’t their style, she began to doubt they’d ever find the right place. Then her realtor suggested this empty-nesters’ house on a leafy block brimming with children. It hadn’t even gone on the market yet. “We had a soul-mate-y thing with our realtor,” says Dye.
THE BEFORE PICTURE
The previous owners had layered the house with 25 years of affection. Wallpaper everywhere, tired carpeting in the master bathroom, a sunken bath and lots of mirrors. The “Love, American-Style” hot tub in the basement was a bigger problem. Even the kitchen, rehabbed in 1992, didn’t work. Its biggest stumbling block was a large, double-sided fireplace that divided the kitchen from the family room. “Both Chip and I love to cook,” says Dye. “We wanted the family room open to the kitchen.”
SIX MONTHS TO OVERHAUL AN ENTIRE HOUSE. GO!
“It’s a lot like love,” says Dye getting a bit teary about her relationship with decorator Jordana Joseph of jorje interior design and contractor Tim DeVries of Scheeringa & DeVries. The choice of interior designer was a no-brainer since Joseph had helped the couple with their Bucktown home, but finding a builder they could connect with took longer. “I was a renovation magazine junkie,” says Dye, “and everything I read said to get at least three bids, then toss out the high bid and the low one and go with someone in the middle.” In the end, DeVries was chosen not for his middling estimate, but for his can-do attitude. Most contractors were skeptical about taking out that big kitchen fireplace. But DeVries, Dye recalls, said: “This is going to be great. I love this kind of job.”

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NEW HANOVER COUNTY — After a disappointing first year, lottery sales are better than projected for 2008, so far.
A $230 million Powerball jackpot is bringing people to the Han-Dee Hugo's on Shipyard Boulevard. People are scooping up Powerball tickets and taking a look at the other games being sold.
In its first year, the lottery made $100 million less than expected for education. This year, the lottery is close to $20 million ahead of projections.
Last week, the lottery broke its single week sales record.
The latest game, the $100 million Cash Spectacular, is a scratch off game that costs $10 a ticket.
Bigger prizes and better odds are keeping people on the North Carolina side of the lottery border war with South Carolina.
“We live in ocean isle, so we used to go back and forth between south and north Carolina, now we're doing north Carolina to support education and I have kids in school,” said James Coley a lottery customer.
The Powerball prize tonight is more than $230 million. Money like that brings people into the stores, but as clerks said, it also gets people to buy other games.
To go to the Powerball website, click here.

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<strong><span class="subhead">JEFFERSON CITY | Hundreds file for office</span></strong></p><p>Missouri’s top gubernatorial hopefuls became official candidates Tuesday and several congressional seats attracted crowded primaries as filing opened for the 2008 elections.</p><p>A total of 317 Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians paid their political party dues, filled out state paperwork and drew lottery numbers from a rectangular fish bowl to determine their place on the Aug. 5 primary ballots. The winners there will move onto the Nov. 4 general elections.</p><p>The governor’s race shaped up about as expected: Attorney General Jay Nixon, U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof and Treasurer Sarah Steelman officially entered the race.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">CREVE COEUR | Kirkwood mayor’s condition improves</span></strong></p><p>Kirkwood Mayor Michael Swoboda, who was shot twice in the head by a disgruntled resident at a City Council meeting, will be discharged from the hospital. Swoboda will be released to a rehabilitation hospital today for further treatment. His friends and family say doctors are amazed at his recovery so far.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">CASSVILLE | Man charged in woman’s drinking death</span></strong></p><p>A southwest Missouri man will stand trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an 18-year-old woman during a drinking party last year. Brandon Rimes of Monett is accused of pouring large amounts of liquor and beer through a “beer bong” — a funnel and hose — into Jessica Murphy’s mouth.</p><p>The Verona girl was found dead that night. Murphy’s body was found to have a blood-alcohol level of .40 percent, five times Missouri’s threshold for intoxication.

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By Nelson Sigelman -February 14, 2008
After more than four years of dogged effort, several public hearings and one lawsuit, the Island Affordable Housing Fund (IAHF) is prepared to sell nine houses to qualified purchasers. The two- and three-bedroom houses are part of a 10-house cluster development known as Jenney Way located on 2.5 acres between Pine Street and Curtis Lane, just north of Upper Main Street in Edgartown.
The original plan called for 10 houses to be sold under affordable housing guidelines. A lawsuit by several abutters opposed to the project filed in Land Court led to a settlement and an agreement to sell one house at market rates.
In partnership with the Island Housing Trust (IHT), IAHF will sell the nine houses to households earning between 80 and 140 percent of the Dukes County median income (MI). Sale prices will range from $160,000 to $330,000.
For example, a single person earning less than $40,150 (80 percent MI) annually would pay $160,000 for a two-bedroom house. A three-person family would be able to earn no more than $53,150 to qualify for the same price.
Workers finish up a house at Jenney Way. Photos Courtesy IAHF. Click photo for larger version.
At the upper limit, a single person could earn no more than $72,400 (140 percent of MI) and would pay $290,000 for the same two-bedroom house.
The three-bedroom houses will cost between $230,000 and $330,000, depending on income and the size of the family. For example, a three-person family with a combined income of $66,500 or a four-person family with an income of no more than $73,850 would pay $230,000 for a house. At the upper (140-percent) MI level, the income limits would be $93,100 and $103,400 respectively.
The houses will be sold with a ground lease and deed restrictions meant to maintain affordability into the future. The house owners would not own the property but lease the land for a monthly fee of $50. There is also a $50 per month association fee.
The resale price of a house cannot exceed an increase in value of more than 4 percent per year. Any sale must be to a qualified buyer and be approved by the Island Housing Trust.
The houses must be owner occupied for 11 months out of the year. Long-term rentals require prior approval and cannot be in excess of carrying costs to qualified renters.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old, U.S citizens or have permanent legal resident status, and have attended a homebuyer education workshop sponsored by the Dukes County Regional Housing. There will be a workshop specific to Jenney Way on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
Prospective buyers will be chosen by a lottery. IAHF executive director Pat Manning said Edgartown residents would receive lottery preference for three of the houses.
Mr. Manning estimated the total project cost at approximately $3.5 million. The fund raised $800,000 and received an additional $300,000 in Community Preservation Act funds from Edgartown.
South Mountain Company of West Tisbury designed and built the project. Mr. Manning said the houses are the first houses certified by the U.S. Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) on the Vineyard. Four of the houses are equipped with solar electric systems and all were built to maximize energy savings.
The project was designed under special town zoning regulations as a "cluster development," which allows houses to be built closer together if the project preserves areas of open space.
An access road leads off Pine Street and past one house set off from the others, which will be sold at market rates. The road then forms a loop around which the other nine houses are located. There is no permanent parking adjacent to the houses. Instead, residents will drop off passengers and packages and park in a designated parking area.
Parking and ten shared storage sheds are located by the entrance to the housing loop. Another access road leads from Curtis Lane to the loop and provides more limited parking spaces.
Mr. Manning said the houses feature hardwood floors and are of a quality and standard that will only increase the value of the surrounding neighborhood. He expects IAHF to make a profit but said it was too soon to provide any numbers. "South Mountain did an amazing job of keeping it under budget," he said.
IAHF asked South Mountain to push to complete the project before Memorial Day. Mr. Manning said the goal was to have houses available before people needed to leave winter rentals and begin the so-called summer shuffle.
The sale of one unit at market rates deprived the community of an additional affordable unit but had the unexpected benefit of helping the bottom line. IAHF is selling the house at an appraised price of $570,000.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission approved the project as a development of regional impact (DRI) in December 2003. Four months later, in April 2004, after numerous public hearings, and much public debate, the Edgartown planning board approved the project.
Progress stopped when several neighbors, who objected to the density and argued that the project would affect their property values, went to Land Court. The case was settled in July 2006.
Richard Bluestein of the Boston law firm of Krokidas and Bluestein represented the housing fund. Mr. Bluestein, a long-time Chilmark seasonal resident and member of the IHT board, worked pro bono. He said that the only effect of the lawsuit on the project was an agreement that the one house on Pine Street would be sold at market rate.
Mr. Bluestein could not say why that one condition was enough to end the lawsuit. "The question you could ask was their stated concern that somehow having an affordable house on Pine Street would affect the value of their property, an argument we never bought into," he said. "Or was it something even darker than that, and I don’t know the answer to that question."
The end result is that the project was not delayed another year or two and it helped defray project costs, according to Mr. Bluestein. A confidentiality agreement prevented him from revealing any more details of the settlement, he said.
"I think what is most important about the settlement is that pretty much what we started with is what we ended up with," he said. "And that hopefully it stood for the idea that bringing these suits just for delay and hoping that at the end of the day we will go away is not a good reason to bring these suits."
The registration deadline for the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority homebuyer workshop is Feb. 18. The application deadline for Jenney Way is March 7. Call 508-693-4419 for more information.

mvtimes.com