“He found the Army, the Army didn’t find him. I think his passing will change a lot of lives. And I hope we take it as an example we should all strive for,“ John’s father Phil Curtis said.

On Monday, Curtis, along with a fellow soldier Andrew Meari, of Illinois, was on guard duty in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device.

Curtis and Meari were killed.

[worldnow id=5258125 width=385 height=255 type=video]

Ever since he was little boy growing up in Belmont Curtis wanted to serve his country.

Little did he know he would pay the ultimate price, but because of what he did seven of his comrades are alive today.

“John and Andy intercepted the suicide bomber and did not allow him to enter the base where far more people would’ve died,” Phil Curtis said.

Curtis was an Eagle Scout and graduated from Keystone National High School. Immediately after graduation he joined the Army.

“He sometimes talked a good game but his personality was not Rambo. He was very sweet and innocent in some ways,” his mother Pam Curtis said.

In 2009, Curtis and his sweetheart Samantha wed and gave birth to their first born child Tessa-Marie.

“John was a humble guy, but he had a very strong sense of mission and purpose. He was someone loyal to the mission and he did it well. I just going to miss him,” Phil Curtis said.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz just helped the Provo Municipal Airport receive a $500,000 grant to help turn the local airport into a regional hub. Announcing the grant today, Chaffetz said “This is an historic day for Provo, Utah County, and the surrounding region. Scheduled air service will be a tremendous economic boon and promote interstate commerce. The positive impacts will be felt across the entire region.” He also said he looked forward to hopping the first flight.

When asked about the funding, Chaffetz said he was glad to get it done without an earmark. “The grant process is open, transparent and fair,” he noted, following through on a campaign promise to reform the funding process in DC. Chaffetz has been an outspoken opponent of practice of “air-dropping” funding requests into bills, saying that worthy projects should be able to stand on their own. The Provo airport project is just one example of funding Chaffetz has been able to secure without earmarking.

Provo Mayor John Curtis said that Chaffetz was instrumental in helping to secure that grant. “It’s a great example of the system working in transparent manner to do something good for Utah,” he said. There are about six airlines currently interested in beginning regular service from the Provo airport, hopping to places like Las Vegas, Denver, LA and Seattle. “There is no question this is a game-changer,” Mayor Curtis said. “Congressman Chaffetz really went to bat for us.”

Corey Norman, Provo Deputy Mayor, said the airport was carrier ready, had the feasibility studies done and was ready to go, but needed help with funding. Chaffetz advocated for the grant awarded by the UT Department of Transportation and helped make it happen. If all goes well, Congressman Chaffetz should be able to catch that first flight in about a year.

August 6, 2010

A former Cocoa Beach High football standout who went on to help the Florida Gators win a national championship died Thursday morning after he reportedly jumped off a building in Bellevue, Wash., officials confirmed Friday.

John Curtis, 24, whose current residence was listed as Kent, Wash., died about 8 a.m. after leaping from the fourth-floor railing above a restaurant in Bellevue’s Lincoln Square.
“The cause of death was blunt-force injury to the head and torso,” said James Sosik, investigator at the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, who confirmed the Curtis’ death. “It came to us as a suicide.”
Curtis contributed to the kickoff, kick return and punt teams as UF won its second national title in school history by beating Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS title game in Glendale, Ariz., in 2007.
“It’s tragic when a young life is lost,” Urban Meyer, the Gators’ head coach, said in a statement Friday afternoon. “I’m not sure how you describe the loss of life in words. John was a great young man who was a proud member of our Gator family. We grieve for him, his friends and his family and pray for their comfort.”
The defensive back suffered a knee injury in 2008, ending his career when he was a fifth-year senior.
“He was a good guy, well-liked team member,” Gators secondary coach Chuck Heater said Friday. “Players really liked him. He was a friendly guy with the team, and just dealing with the frustrations of the injuries, which were always hard for him to deal with and accept those things, just the disappointments of all of that. But he was a respected member of our team, that’s for sure.”

from: 
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100806/BREAKINGNEWS/100806045/1006/NEWS01/Former+Florida+Gators+player+John+Curtis++24++dies

——————————————————

John Curtis was born on April 23rd, 1986 according to
http://news.priceperhead.com/college-football-news/former-florida-gators-john-curtis-died-at-24-in-apparently-suicide-11157

Each letter of the name rules 9 years of life.  Ages 0 to 27 are ruled by the sum of the month of birth and the first three letters of the name.

John Curtis     April 23rd, 1986

10 (J is the 10th letter of the alphabet) + 15 (o is the 15th letter of the alphabet) + 8 (h is the 8th letter of the alphabet) + 4 (April) = 37

So from ages zero to twenty-seven he had the number 37 going on.

37 = Deeply emotional.  Emotional wreck.  Emotional rollercoaster. 

——————————————————

April 23rd

4 + 23 +2+0+1+0 = 30 = his personal year (from April 23rd, 2010 to April 22nd, 2011)

30 year + 7 (July) = 37 = his personal month (from July 23rd, 2010 to August 22nd, 2010) = Deeply emotional.  Emotional wreck.  Emotional rollercoaster. 

When his number (37 (ruler of his ages 0 to 27)) came up, that’s when he got to live/experience what he was here to live/experience.  So unfortunately this was his month.

As previously reported at EFA, Curtis had been training with the Queensland side for a fortnight in May. At the end of stint he agreed personal terms before returning to England to arrange his move personally and a two week break after a full League Two season.

John has agreed a one year deal at United and goes straight into pre-season training ready for the start of the A-League season, beginning on the first full weekend in August. The versatility of the 31-year old to play anywhere along the back ends Gold Coast’s search for a specialist right back. Miron Bleiberg was delighted to have Curtis sign his contact earlier this week.

“John impressed everyone with his skill, agility and attitude during his short time with us last month,” Bleiberg said.

“He is a quality player with a great pedigree and will be a big asset to us. His experience and knowledge will not only boost the team as a whole, but will also be a huge benefit to our younger players.

“We’re delighted that he has agreed to join us and I’m sure he will be a big success here.

“John is a specialist in the right full-back position and that’s exactly what we’ve been looking for. He also has a sharp football brain and can adjust very well if we need to alter our tactics during a game.

“I felt last season we were missing someone who was a natural right full-back. After watching him work I am confident that we have now found the right player to fill that role for us.”

John's new home, not a bad place to have to live - Gold Coast, Queensland.

Curtis showed commitment to his new side by being in training 24 hours after arriving back in Australia.

“I’m still getting over the jetlag again and adjusting my sleeping patterns, but overall I feel pretty good and I’m enjoying the training,” Curtis said.

“Everyone has been great with me and made me feel very welcome and very at home. The lads are just brilliant and have all been giving me stick, so I guess that’s a good sign,” he laughed.

“When I first came here in May I had a fantastic time and was really impressed with the manager, the coaching staff and the players.

“The football side of everything has been first class and the club is situated in a fantastic part of the world.

“I didn’t know much about the Hyundai A-League before I came here so I had an open mind. It’s certainly a style of football that is more suited to the purists of the game and has what you could term a ‘continental’ element to it.

“There’s lots of passing and movement and it’s a lot less direct than some of the UK leagues. I’m looking forward to playing in a different competition with a different style of football. Hopefully that will suit me and I can do a good job for the team.”

Quotes taken for Gold Coast United’s official website.

The former Manchester United player has been a free agent since being released by League Two side Northampton Town seven days ago.

The 31 year old defender famously came through the United ranks as part of the FA Youth Cup winning side of 1994/95 with David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville. John also played for Barnsley, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers (where he won the League Cup in 2002).

Gold Coast United’s head coach Miron Bleiberg refused to call the arrangement with the former England under 21 a ‘trial’ but did admit if things went well the club would hold talks with Curtis.

“John is very welcome to come and spend some time with us and we are very much looking forward to having him here,” Bleiberg said.

“He has undoubted quality and is very experienced. John is coming here via a mutual acquaintance and I am not sure at this stage what his long-term intentions are.

“Anything is possible, but the plan at the moment is for John to come and train with us and we will see what happens from there.”

Gold Coast finished 3rd in the table in the A-League to qualify for the finals where they were knocked out in the first round by Michael Bridges and Newcastle Jets on penalties. United also had some financial instability at the end of the Australian season but this seems to have subsided now.

Quotes taken for Gold Coast United’s official website.

The findings suggest the election may not be quite the shoo-in for the Conservatives many are expecting, although they retain a healthy lead over their Labour rivals.

Support for David Cameron’s party has risen by one per cent to 34 per cent, Metro’s Urban Life poll of 1,600 readers reveals.

Labour, however, has climbed three points, taking it out of third place and into joint second with the Liberal Democrats. But there are still plenty of votes to be claimed, with 23 per cent of readers saying they could not decide who to support.

The four per cent rise in the number of don’t knows comes as Mr Cameron prepares to deliver his speech to the Tory Party conference in Manchester.

He will try to paint a portrait of a better Britain ahead but will warn of the ‘steep climb ahead’ to get there.

Conference season normally provides a spike in support for the major parties as they dominate the news agenda. But the Tories were prepared for a lukewarm showing in the wake of Tuesday’s speech by shadow chancellor George Osborne, warning of cuts and a public sector pay freeze.

A source close to Mr Cameron said: ‘There is still a lot of work to be done between now and the general election.’

Professor of politics at Strathclyde University John Curtis said: ‘It does look like the Tories have been hit by a doom and gloom speech by George Osborne. David Cameron now needs to add some sunshine today.

‘Metro’s poll show’s Labour is in real trouble. Last year, the party had a significantly bigger spike in the polls following its conference and, as this poll and others have shown, it has not happened this time.’

Metro’s Urban Life poll, carried out by pollsters BMRB on Tuesday, shows readers are beginning to think again about voting for the major parties following the expenses scandal.

In June, 19 per cent of readers said they would consider voting for a minority party such as the Greens or the BNP. In the latest poll, that figure fell away to just ten per cent.

KINSTON -  In my first appearance at Historic Grainger Stadium since the opening week of the season, tonight’s game wasn’t a complete disappointment.

I usually like pitching duels, but when a game opens with offensive fireworks by both teams, it doesn’t seem quite right.

The K-Tribe started Alexander Perez, a right-handed pitcher making his third start since being called up from Lake County of the South Atlantic League.

Perez,  just four days shy of his 20th birthday, came into the game sporting a 1-0 record with a sparkling 0.69 ERA, allowing only one run in his first 11 innings.

It seemed like the Advanced-A  honeymoon would quickly end for Perez, who struggled through a 20-minute first-inning, giving up two runs on three hits after striking out the lead-off batter, former East Carolina University standout Dale Mollenhauer on three pitches.

Perez recovered from his start and scattered four hits over the next five innings, and although he left the game after six innings as the pitcher of record, he did little to diminish his status as one of  the K-Tribe’s bright spots in a less-than stellar season.

But pitching even better was Anthony Carter of the Dash, the A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, as he also hurled six  innings, scattering four hits while striking out five and walking four.

Neither team excelled at the plate, manufacturing their runs in the first and struggling to take advantage of opportunities in subsequent innings.

Following Mollenhauer’s strikeout, Winston-Salem followed an eight-pitch walk to Justin Greene , who stole second, with an RBI-single to right by Jim Gallagher, a single to left by Brent Morel and a single to right by Seth Loman.

The Dash picked up their second and final run on a grounder by Salvador Sanchez, which erased Loman at second but scored Gallagher.

Kinston answered in the bottom of the first when Lucas Montero drew a lead-off walk, stole second, moved to third on a balk by Carter and scored on a n RBI-single by Lonnie Chisenhall.

After that, what had started out as a night of fireworks, fizzled out in a hurrry.

 Even the Sumo Wrestling contest was lame, as neither contestant made a serious effort to knock the other down – they looked like they were rehearsing for a dance contest.

Kinston never threatened again, with only one runner, Ronald Rivas, reaching second, that in the second inning after singling to open the inning and advancing on a walk to Tim Fedroff.

Greene reached third in the second by singling to left, stealing second, then reaching third on a two-out grounder.

John Curtis reached on a fielder’s choice in the fourth ining, and moved to second on a single by Greg Pamal, only to be picked off to end the inning.

Santo Luis picked up his 14th save of the season by fanning two batters in the ninth, while Carter improved to 9-3 with the win.

The teams  continue their three-game series Thursday night, and conclude Friday night. Kinston slipped to 9-16  in the second half of the Carolina League’s Southern Division standings and 36-57 overall, while the Dash improved to 12-11, 50-41 overall.

First Baptist Church, Hulbert, OK, graciously hosted the Meeting and everyone was impressed by the hospitality.  We enjoyed the opportunity to inspect their new worship facilities.  They provided a delicious supper of pulled pork with sides and a wonderful selection of desserts!

Rev John Curtis provided the annual Doctrinal Sermon, based on Ephesians 5.  He encouraged the church to BE the church!

I preached the annual Missions Sermon, based on II Kings 7:3-9.  You can listen to it here, or by clicking on the link below.  I encouraged believers to not keep the Good News to themselves.

Rev. Danny Gandarra, pastor of First Baptist, Fort Gibson preached the Annual Sermon, based on Isaiah 61:1-3.  He encouraged everyone to have a “Jesus Ministry”.

To do justice to the content of Bro John’s and Bro Danny’s sermon, please go HERE and HERE to listen to them yourselves.

All business was conducted without controversy.  Except for the election of second vice moderator.  That proved for some comic relief.  I was elected to serve as the Moderator for the next year.

God has truly blessed us with a wonderful Association to be involved with!  Kudos to DOM Bill Sherrill, our Associate DOM Claudio Valencia, and especially to the Associational Secretary, Wanda Haley!

Chapter Two

The Two Freaks roamed the land. No one remembers them now. How could they? Even when they were around very few ever noticed them, and then only in fleeting glimpses that could easily be dismissed as a trick of the eye, a second glance always finding them gone. They stuck to the shadows, the margins, the fringes. Occasionally they showed up at gatherings, but only the sparsely-attended ones and only for a moment. There are no records that they ever existed, but if you ask me there are traces. Here, there, and everywhere: traces. Through all the years of my 1970s childhood, the Two Freaks roamed the land.

They showed themselves to John Curtis just moments before this picture was snapped, though by the time his own less-elusive image was captured they were gone, leaving the bespectacled journeyman hurler to wonder if they’d ever been there at all. He’d been taking a pregame nap in the bullpen when summoned by the baseball card people, and while still half asleep, stumbling through the bullpen gate, he’d heard the thin flat tooting of a wooden wind instrument and saw whirling longhaired figures rushing by him, close.

“Security!” someone had yelled.

John Curtis had staggered backward, blinking, and when he’d regained his balance the blurry figures had disappeared.

He continued walking until the photographer told him to stop, then performed his guarded, flat-smiling pose, the slight wince underlaying his facial expression hinting of his growing doubts about the whole strange encounter.

“Say cheese,” the Topps photographer said.

“Just a synapse misfiring,” reasoned the college-educated lefty to himself as he pretended to be ready, glove-up, to field a screaming liner through the box.

“Got it. Beautiful. Couldn’t have been better,” the Topps photographer intoned, distractedly. He was already scanning his clipboard for the next forgettable 1976 Cardinal.

“Just a trick of the mind,” thought Curtis, meandering away.

But as John Curtis moved back toward the bullpen to await a situation hopeless enough for his long-relieving services to be necessary, he noticed that what he’d already decided was a dream had somehow left some tangible residue. The sky clouded over and it started to rain, and John Curtis went to stick his pitching hand into his back pocket and jog for cover, but as he did so he found that a big red umbrella was jutting from the rear left compartment in his pants. He hadn’t put it there. Why would he? It had to have come to him from the Two Freaks.

He pulled the umbrella from his pocket and opened it. The sudden shower beat down, making everyone else on the field scatter. John Curtis just stood there, laughing, temporarily invincible beneath the small yet inarguable miracle of shelter.

(to be continued)

'Suddenly, without warning, we were overtaken at high speed by a powerful Nissan saloon car and forced to stop. In the Nissan were four men bristling with weapons. They pulled our driver out of the car, took him to the other vehicle, and two of the robbers climbed into our car.

Both vehicles were then driven off the road, for about a mile into the scrub. The men roughly searched all our pockets and bags, took our money and passports. They then asked a few questions, and on learning that we were archeologists they demanded to know if we had any “antikas”. Of course we didn't, but they took my bag anyway so that they could check later at their leisure. They then pushed us back into our car, and I had the temerity to ask if I could have my passport back. Rather surprisingly in retrospect, the leader threw it into the car and they drove off. It was fortunate for us that this incident happened before insurgents started to kidnap foreigners.'

Yikes. I really don't know if I would have been brave enough to ask them to return my passport. I'm thinking probably not. I will say, though, that one of my career goals is to not be robbed at gunpoint. Cross your fingers for me.

I am just an ordinary person who has a rather exciting hobby , I design web sites for singers and bands.

I also paint with wax (encaustic art) and run 3 card making groups on
yahoo with thousands of members from all around the world.

I have a tea-bag folding website , and was looking for photographs of flowers to use in the designs for my site when I came across Ed Rambeau who had posted a few albums on webshots full of flowers.

I contacted him and asked if I could use his photographs and right from that initial contact Ed was lovely,polite and very helpful.

Whilst looking around his webshots albums I noticed some CD covers and asked him about them he told me that he was a singer and sang on cruise ships , he had also been in the USA Charts in 1965 with Concrete & Clay and had written songs for a number of artists.

I purchased ‘The Best of The Past’ from him and he sent me ‘The Season of The Heart’ as a present because it was coming up for Christmas.

When these CD’s arrived I was so taken aback by his singing that I asked him if he wanted a website, I am not sure why I did, because I had never written a proper web site before.

That was in November 2002 , the website was designed in a matter of days and on 5th December 2002 the website was launched, I have worked with Ed for almost 7 years and plan to take a trip to New York soon to meet him.

My work dose not stop with just the website , I then found and contacted tons of artists regarding web links for Ed, one of the people I contacted was Diane Reny who had a big hit with a song that Ed had co-written called ‘Navy Blue’ and I managed to put them back in touch with each other after 40 years.

I also joined a lot of sixties music groups and signed thousands of guestbooks and wanted to tell the whole
world about Ed Rambeau.

I have met some very wonderful internet friends over the years by belonging to these internet groups like ‘Spectropop’.

Whilst reading through messages on Spectropop in 2003 I read a post by a man called ‘Mark Wirtz’, I had no idea who he was but I liked his style, so I went to look at his web site and sent him an e-mail, Mark liked my painting and we soon because friends , I sent him a Christmas Card which I had painted and he let me download his unfinished CD ‘Love is Eggshaped’ , but we lost touch.

In September 2006 Ed and I joined mySpace to try to further promote his music, I was looking around myspace and found Mark again , After a few conversations with Mark he asked me if I would help him run his mySpace page and his website , I was delighted to be asked.

I started a fan club for Mark on Yahoo and it was going really well but Mark wanted it shut down, but I did get the chance to get to know some of Mark’s friends rather well , a DJ and Singer from Spain called John Curtis who had got to know Mark when he did an interview about ‘The Teenage Opera’ , so yes I did a web site for John, and Father and Son Tony & Anthony Rivers who had sung on Mark’s latest CD’s, Tony was in the Castaways and Harmony Grass and was a backing singer for Sir Cliff Richard for many years , after trying for a long time to get Tony to add Mark’s site to his links and helping Tony, Anthony and John Perry (a friend of Tony’s who also sang with Cliff) with their mySpace pages , I took over Tony’s web site – my work expanded.

On mySpace I sort of adopted David Stopp, a singer songwriter
from Eastborne who had posted a message to Mark about a song he had written called ‘Whatever Happened to The Beach Boys’ and also a very nice man called David Cooke (Snail) he posted so many bulletins on myspace that I checked him out and loved his music.

Snail is a wonderful artist who has a beautiful singing voice.

Groovy Uncle (who is Glenn Pragnell from the Kraven A’s)
approached me and asked if I would do his site and I love his voice and he is so very talented.

Recently I have been putting together slideshow/videos for ‘My Guys’ on youtube and as a result
Kris Ife who co-wrote a lot of songs with Mark and recorded under the name of Judd got in touch with me,I went down to meet Kris and his wife who are a lovely couple, and I now do his web site as well.

Kris Ife, his long time friend J. Vincent Edwards and Wayne S. Newton got together and formed a skiffle band
called ‘The Beaver Street Hat Band’ and asked if I would create a website for them.

A friend of J. Vincent Edwards called Tim Ambler asked me to create two slideshows for him on youtube
I have now created 9 and am mentioned on his website http://www.timambler.com

(you can see the videos here)



I was asked to create a website for a UK Country singer called
Katie Rhodes and we have since become great friends Katie is now the UK Female Country Singer of the Year

In April 2009 whilst looking for links for ‘The Beaver Street Hat Band’ – I came across a website for
‘The Black Diamonds’ and started to e-mail Tony Barter – I now do the website for them and also for a Duo which is Tony and Ian called Modern Moods. and Ian M Lindsay’s own site

I then created a website for a friend of Tony’s called Nick Holden

I have also created a sideshow for him on youtube

My Latest Site is for a 60′s Tribute Band Called Lou & The Diamonds

In September 2010 I added a new Man to my collection Andy Martin
Andy is a very talented singer from Wales.

I love them all to bits and conside myself very lucky to be associated with them all.

Rosemarie Edwards

Playoffs – 1st Round

5A
Destrehan 37 West Jefferson 12
Carencro 56 Brother Martin 20
St. Paul 28 Pineville 0
L.W. Higgins 22 Lafayette 14
Westgate 14 Sulphur 9
Barbe 28 East St. John 17
Dutchtown 34 H.L. Burgeois 21
Catholic (Baton Rouge) 35 Fontainbleau 13
West Monroe 49 Ruston 17
Acadiana 31 Central (Baton Rouge)
Hahnville 56 Huntington 8
Archbishop Rummel 34 Thibodaux 14
John Ehret 28 Slidell 9
C.E. Byrd 24 Captain Shreve 21
Mandeville 31 Jesuit 21
St. Thomas More 42 Ouachita Parish 7

4A
Belle Chase 49 Washington-Marion 47
Zachary 49 Tioga 12
Eunice 27 Ellender 14
Holy Cross 28 St. Michael 21
West Ouachita 33 Tara
O.P. Walker 28 Northside 21
Teurlings 52 Beau Chene 17
Vandebilt Catholic 35 Leesville 6
Helen Cox 42 Breaux Bridge 40 (OT)
McDonogh #35 28 Haughton 7
Benton 57 Bossier 28
Franklinton 35 Sam Houston 21
Edna Karr 14 Parkway 8
Neville 13 Salmen 7
Bastrop 56 Alexandria 7

3A
Parkview 49 Caldwell 21
Iowa 50 Richwood 40
Marksville 49 Baker 6
Amite 47 Ben Franklin 6
Lutcher 35 Catholic (NI) 7
St. Charles Catholic 42 West Feleiciana 13
Cecilia 42 B.T. Washington 12
Redemptorist 34 Wossman 0
Westlake 35 Northeast 0
Capitol 32 Bunkie 0
E.D. White 40 Loranger 17
Rayville 49 Bolton 7
Jennings 37 Winnfield 7
St. Louis 23 Rayne 20
Patterson 21 Indpendence 12
Notre Dame 43 J.S. Clark 8

2A
John Curtis 56 Mamou 0
Westminster 35 Mansfield 6
St. John 46 Loyola Prep 44
Ferriday 20 Red River 6
Newman 31 South Beauregard 28
Springfield 34 St. Thomas Aquinas 0
Kinder 33 Dunham 7
Evangel 42 Rosepine 0
Calvary Baptist 45 University 17
Sterlington 47 Port Barre 28
Springhill 49 Riverside 20
Clinton 45 Opelousas Catholic 17
Donaldsonville 42 Welsh 26
Oakdale 47 Ville Platte 20
Homer 52 H.S. Menard 22
St. James 53 Livonia

1A
Cedar Creek 54 Plain Dealing 12
White Castle 54 St. Martin’s 20
Arcadia 40 Central Catholic 34
Ouachita Christian 34 Block 7
Kentwood 36 Logansport 15
Haynesville 40 Delhi 20
West St. John 42 Acadiana Prep 14
Hamilton Christian 48 Gueydan 14
South Plaquemines 72 Mangham 6
Northlake Christian 21 Basile 14
St. Edmund 31 Southern Lab 24
Delhi Charter 49 Country Day 15
Catholic, PC 32 St. Frederick 6
Desire Street 20 Vermillion Catholic 6
Oberlin 39 LaSalle 13
Oak Grove 62 South Cameron 27