kimblr.com

Thrash metal outfit Shadows Fall [ tickets ] has lined up a spring headlining tour as the band continues to support its most recent studio release, last year’s “Threads of Life.”
The two-time Grammy nominees will kick off the two-week outing April 13 in Buffalo, NY. The trek will hit 14 cities–with no off-days between shows–and includes an April 18 appearance with fellow metal acts Unearth and Otep as part of radio station WSOU’s 60th Anniversary celebration in Sayreville, NJ.
Following the headlining portion of the schedule, the band tackles an April 27 slot at Worcester, MA’s 10th annual New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. The group’s complete schedule is included below.
The Springfield, MA-based band is supporting its major-label debut on Atlantic Records, “Threads of Life,” which surfaced last April, netting the group its second Grammy nod for the disc’s first single, “Redemption.” The song spent 12 weeks in the Active Rock Top 40, according to a press release.
The album’s second single, “Another Hero Lost,” peaked at No. 40 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart. Both songs are streaming at Shadows Fall’s MySpace page.
The metal quintet, which formed more than a decade ago in Springfield, MA, received its previous nomination for the song “What Drives the Weak” from its 2004 studio set, “The War Within.”
[Note: The following tour dates have been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before tickets go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]

livedaily.com

TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) - The presidential candidate of Taiwan's ruling party stepped up his rhetoric in the election campaign, saying his rival's platform of further economic ties with China could endanger the island.
Frank Hsieh, who is standing for the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), fired salvos at Ma Ying-jeou's proposal to form a 'common market' across the Strait.
The proposal, first raised in 2005 by Vincent Siew, then an economic advisor to President Chen Shui-bian of the DPP and now running mate of Ma, calls for the lifting of barriers for free flow of goods and personnel between the states.
But Hsieh said the move would be tantamount to 'a China market,' which suggests Taiwan is part of China's territory.
Should that happen, 'the 200 million jobless Chinese could flock to Taiwan… and lots of people here would lose their jobs,' he told a rally outside a Buddhist temple in Taipei.
Hsieh also questioned the wisdom of Ma's plan to recognize diplomas issued by Chinese schools. But Siew flatly rejected the accusations, saying: 'Taiwan is a sovereign state… we could by no means allow in Chinese labor at the expense of Taiwanese workers.'
The proposal of Ma, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) candidate, was modelled on the European Union's Common Market, Siew said, adding that no European country had lost its sovereignty.
Ma has centred his campaign on economic issues, pledging to revive the island's economy, which he said had been stagnant under DPP rule over the past eight years.
A poll by television network TVBS indicates that Hsieh trails Ma by about 20 percentage points leading up to the March 22 elections.
Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

hemscott.com

In his nearly 30-year career, Marvin Winans has seemingly done it all: He’s won six Grammy awards, performed on stages worldwide and been hailed as one of the most important and influential figures in gospel music with his singing group, the Winans.
You would think there were few barriers left for the 50-year-old Marvin Winans to cross, but you are wrong. Amazingly, Sunday will mark Winans’ first-ever solo concert, which gives some of the “American Idol” wannabes more solo stage experience than Winans.
Sure, he has popped up to perform a song here and a song there over the years, either with his contemporaries or on his own. But Sunday at the Fox Theatre will be the first time Winans has ever performed a full-blown solo concert with his name prominently displayed at the top of a marquee.
“I think I may be a little nervous,” says Winans, seated behind his desk inside his office at Perfecting Church on Detroit’s east side earlier this week. “Going on stage without my brothers being behind me is a little scary.”
His brothers are, of course, members of legendary gospel act the Winans, comprised of Marvin, twin brother Carvin, Ronald and Michael Winans. But after Ronald Winans died in 2005, due to heart complications following a heart attack eight years prior, Marvin Winans knew his group would never be the same, and he set about recording his first solo album, “Alone But Not Alone.”
The album comprises some songs that Winans had sitting around for more than a decade, and some that are brand new.
“I had written so many songs, I told (Ron) if the name wasn’t going to be ‘Alone But Not Alone,’ it would be ‘Songs That No One Else Would Sing But Me.’”
“Alone But Not Alone” — which includes “Joy,” which was recorded with Ronald before his death — was released in September and received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album (it lost to native Detroiter Fred Hammond’s “Free to Worship”).

detnews.com

1:06 p.m. - Gov. Felix Camacho told fellow members of the Pacific Basin Development Council the federal government is not adequately preparing Guam for the impending military build-up, according to a release from his office yesterday.
“There has not been an adequate amount of coordination by the federal government to ensure Guam is able to deal with the influx of the U.S. Marine Corps and other military forces over the next decade,” Camacho said.
The release states the PBDC is a nonprofit organization, established in the early 1980s, by the governors of the CNMI, Guam, American Samoa and Hawaii. Camacho yesterday presided over the group’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C.

guampdn.com

BIG SPRING, Texas — The mayor of Big Spring, Texas, said four people were hurt in an explosion that rocked an oil refinery Monday morning.
It shook buildings miles away.
A spokesman for the refinery’s owner, Alon USA, said all of the workers have been accounted for.
He said one worker was hurt, but Mayor Russ McEwen put that number at four and said one of the workers was sent to a burn unit.
The company said the fire that was sparked by the blast is under control.
It sent black smoke billowing into the sky and shut down area schools and an interstate highway.
There was no immediate word on what caused the explosion.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

wdsu.com