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The mother of a 6-year-old girl who drowned Friday faces child Elsa Peretti Open Heart drop earrings and child endangerment charges.

Fire and rescue crews were called to the mother’s home in the 5000 block of Linfield Street in Dale City on Friday.

When officers arrived at 11:18 a.m., they found Kaylan Beale was not breathing, said Prince William police spokeswoman Erika Hernandez.

The girl was flown to a local hospital and was pronounced dead just over an Elsa Peretti Open Heart earrings later, said Hernandez.

Investigators spent much of Friday afternoon at the home looking into the circumstances that led to the drowning. Police say the child was left in a bathtub unsupervised, Hernandez said.

Inside the home at the time of the drowning were Kaylan’s 3-year-old sister and her three brothers, ages 10, 8 and 20-months, said Hernandez. All four children have since been placed in the care of a family member.

The child’s mother, 31-year-old Andrea Monique Beale, is charged with one count of felony child neglect and with four counts of felony child endangerment, said Hernandez.

Police say the charges stem from poor living conditions inside Elsa Peretti Open Heart hoop earrings home and the lack of supervi-sion over her children.

She was released on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court June 1.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-530-3905.

Credit: News and Messenger, Manassas, Va.

With a few days of rest and reflection following his team’s disappointing performance in the Southern Conference softball tournament, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Frank Reed was turning his attention toward next season while reflecting on what could have been in 2010.

After winning the regular-season title, the Lady Mocs went O-2 in the tournament and Tiffany Money Clips the first team eliminated Thursday at Jim Frost Stadium.

“You know whether we had won or lost, you start thinking about what you’re going to do and how you’re going to try to be better next year,” Reed said Saturday. “I think one of the things with this team, the expectations were so high. I guess I placed them on them myself. It’s probably my fault for doing that, because I thought we had a really good team.

“Of course you never factor in that you’re going to have a bump in the road somewhere, and then it happens.”

After watching Elon win the tournament title on their home field, the Lady Mocs could have a chance to gain a measure of redemption on the same field next season.

Laura Herron, UTC associate athletic director and senior administrator for women’s athletics, Tiffany CuffLinks Friday that UTC was bidding to host the SoCon softball and tennis tournaments for 2011, 2012 and 2013. The tournament sites will be selected by the member schools.

Herron said the softball facilities and staff at Warner Park are a key asset in their bid to host one or more of the upcoming softball tournaments.

“The city and the ground crew are just exeptional,” she said. “We always get a lot of praise in how they have the fields ready to go no matter what the weather is.

“And the extra fields are definitely a step up for us. A lot of other schools just have one softball field, whereas we can play as many as five games at the same time at Warner Park.”

Among difficulties faced by Reed and UTC this season were losing pitcher and first baseman Michelle Fuzzard to a knee injury and having senior outfielder Laci Upchurch leave the team early in the season. Without those bats in the lineup, more pressure was on the rest of the team to make up for the lost offense.

“That three spot with losing Michelle was huge,” junior leadoff hitter Lyndsey Stiles said. “She is the best No. 3 hitter I’ve ever seen. She’s clutch. I’ve never seen somebody hit so many doubles our sophomore year.

“I think we knew it was going to hurt us, but I don’t think we really knew how much we really did Tiffany Key Rings her until the end.”

There were some bright spots that UTC can build on for next year. After a slow start, junior Nikki Waters pitched well late in her first season after transferring from Southern Illinois. With the return of Fuzzard, Waters and relief pitcher Kandice Irwin, UTC will enter next season with a solid pitching staff despite the loss of Brooke Loudermilk to graduation.

Offensively, third baseman Tiffany Baker will enter her senior season already holding the UTC career and single-season home run records. She’ll need some help around her, having Fuzzard back in then lineup should provide more power next season.

If the tournament returns to Chattanoooga in 2011, Reed already has decided he will try to find ways of keeping his team together. He said he is considering housing his team in a hotel for the tournament or at least having the Lady Mocs travel to and from Warner Park in buses as a way to keep them focused.

“I can tell you this, if they say Chattanooga is going to get it again for next year, Frank Reed’s going to start asking for help early,” Reed said. “We want to see if we can get some commitments to see if we can have a way to keep them together and feed them together and have more control.

“We do it all during the year (on road trips) already. It’s something that we’ve discount tiffany to do.”

The Bellevue Collection announces today a collaboration with the recognized authority in haute fashion coverage, Vogue magazine, for Fashion Week ‘09, September 29 – October 4, 2009. In addition to a special Vogue fashion presentation, this fourth annual event will include proven favorites such as the Nordstrom Fall Fashion Show, a runway show by David Lawrence showcasing Italian designer fashions, a cutting edge hair and fashion show by 7 Salon and Zebraclub, and VIP Shopping Night at The Bellevue Collection.

New this year is Front Row Fashion presented by Vogue, a spectacular runway show designed and executed by Vogue magazine with fashions from The Bellevue Collection. This exclusive presentation will bring the fall trends straight from the pages of Vogue to Bellevue’s Fashion Week runway. Special guest, Anne Vincent, director of merchandising for Vogue, will share the must-haves for fall.

In addition, Lincoln Square Cinemas will be the site of the greater Seattle/Eastside director’s screening of the new documentary The September Issue. Offering unprecedented access into the making of the world’s most famous fashion magazine, The September Issue illustrates Vogue’s extraordinary influence on fashion, culture and on the market. The debut will be followed by a special Q & A reception with Director R. J. Cutler.

“With all of the new luxury brands choosing to open at The Bellevue Collection (Burberry, Michael Kors, 7 For All Mankind, Hugo Boss, True Religion) plus the broad collection of haute designers featured at Nordstrom and boutiques like David Lawrence and Mercer, partnering with Vogue to present our major fashion event was a perfect match,” says Jennifer Leavitt, vice president of marketing, Kemper Development Company (KDC), owners of The Bellevue Collection. “This partnership speaks to the affluence, sophistication and fashionable sensibility of our core customers. We are ecstatic to be able to bring Vogue to the Northwest for Fashion Week at The Collection.”

Anne Vincent, who has been with the business side of Vogue for eight years spearheading events, presenting fashion and beauty trends and serving as TV spokeswoman will be on hand for media interviews.

Major events planned for Fashion Week ‘09 are as follows:

Sept. 29 The September Issue Special Screening with director R.J.

Cutler, Lincoln Square Cinemas

Sept. 30: Nordstrom Fall Fashion Show, Hyatt Regency Bellevue

Oct. 1: Italia: Life in ‘I’ Style presented by David Lawrence and the

Italian Trade Commission, Hyatt Regency Bellevue

Oct 2 Sweat and Spice Spectacular, lululemon athletica, Hyatt

Regency Bellevue

Oct. 3: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Tiffany & Co. at Bellevue Square

Front Row Fashion Presented by Vogue, featuring Anne Vincent,

Vogue magazine, Hyatt Regency Bellevue

VIP Shopping Night at The Bellevue Collection, featuring a

host of exclusive offers from stores throughout The

Collection.

Oct. 4: Urban Blowout, cutting edge hair meets cutting edge fashion,

7 Salon and Zebraclub, Hyatt Regency Bellevue

Not long ago, the plain gold band was the quintessential symbol of marriage. Things are no longer so simple, though they are often clearly cut.

Today, a woman often chooses a diamond band to match her diamond engagement ring – which is likely to sport several smaller diamonds to set off the main stone.

The ruby, sapphire and emerald have their appeal, but can’t come close to the diamond in popularity. As James M. Joslyn, president and co-owner of Sharfmans, the renowned Worcester tiffany jewelry store, puts it, “A diamond is precious. It never goes out of style.”

Indeed, it has never been more true that diamonds – large and small – are a steadfast friend to accompany a woman through marriage. In fact, one of the hottest trends is a band set with micro-pave diamonds that give off a brilliant shimmer.

And the wedding band is only the beginning. About 30 years ago, the jewelry industry introduced the eternity ring, a band set all around with diamonds. That soon evolved into the anniversary band, which typically has diamonds set across the top. Tiffany & Co. now advertises such bands as “celebration” rings “for moments that matter.”

“There are so many anniversaries of one kind or another, says Joslyn, adding that bands make up about 40 percent of sales at Sharfmans.

Men, too, have broken with tradition. A man is still less likely to choose a ring with stones. But nowadays, he might want a distinctive design in gold or platinum that reflects his personal taste.

Charles S. Rosenblum, buyer and general manager of Neal Rosenblum Goldsmiths/Designers on Park Avenue, points out that some men choose unusual materials that truly set them apart, such as meteor, Damascus steel or mokume gane, a metal that looks like layers of wood.

“We’re not traditional in what we sell,” Rosenblum notes. “We sell a lot of handmade jewelry that is not mass produced.”

Sharfmans offers various types of bands, from the traditional channel setting to one in which each stone is held by prongs.

Yet Central Massachusetts jewelers are often visited by couples who have ideas of their own and want to play an active role in designing their rings.

Arpine Shavarsh Azizian was born into a family of jewelers. Three years ago, she assumed control of her father’s store on Main Street, and she now operates Shavarsh Jewelers/Design by Arpine. Azizian, a certified gemologist who has studied jewelry manufacturing in Europe and the United States, specializes in custom design.

“I get a lot of girls with pictures and ideas,” says Azizian, who is in her early 20s. “We meet in consultation. They give me a budget, and the next visit I do a showing. I try to make it as painless as possible.”

Azizian creates her designs on a computer. A mold is made and the ring is cast, set and finished at Arpiar, her manufacturing operation in Boylston.

Patricia Magliaro and her husband, Michael, had bought her engagement ring and their wedding bands from Azizian’s father, Shavarsh Azizian. Not long ago, they wanted matching bands to mark their fifth anniversary. “I told my husband, ‘I’m not getting any younger. I need to make sure it’s big enough so I can see it,’” Mrs. Magliaro says, laughing.

The Magliaros sat down with Azizian and told her what they had in mind: bands of diamonds to be set in a heart shape. Using the Magliaros’ ideas and her own, Azizian came up with a design all three loved.

Rosenblum’s brother, Neal, a jeweler for more than 30 years, often creates one-of-a-kind designs. He may then turn to a computer to create a pattern that can be made into a ring. Such CAD/CAM projects can go on for up to three months, with the customer involved all along the way.

“What makes it interesting and creative is every person is so different,” Charles Rosenblum says, adding that the store draws customers from Maine to New York. “We work in a lot of different styles.”

The offerings of the three stores appeal to a range of tastes, but the jewelers agree that many women currently have a penchant for pave, a style with tiny diamonds set tightly together.

“It’s always been popular in Europe, but it’s catching on here,” Azizian says of the setting. “Brides love it because of the sparkle. It makes the diamond look larger.”

Whether picked from among a glittering array of rings in a display case or custom designed, wedding and anniversary bands – especially those set with diamonds – are costly. Azizian says she works hard to fit any budget. But it’s not unusual for a couple to come to her ready to spend several thousand dollars. The bands sold by the Rosenblums start at about $1,500.

At Sharfmans, bands typically run from $1,000 to $3,000. But Joslyn says that some customers are prepared to spend $10,000 to $15,000 to mark an important date in a dazzling way. The expansion of the anniversary trend, he explains quietly, “was a big step for the business.”

The following real estate transactions occurred in Spartanburg County from Nov. 30-Dec. 7, 2009.

Wells Fargo Bank; to; Aleksandr Danylchuck; $16,000; Lot, 1.0ac, Geoffrey C Woodside property

Virginia D Reid; to; Troy C Hyder; $110,000; Lot, 2.6ac, 817 S Blackstock Rd, Landrum

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp; to; Joe Gregarczyk; $46,000; Lot 4, 0.60ac, Randall S Overturf property

Front Street Coastal LLC; to; Darcy L Wall; $80,000; Lot 6, 240 Arena Park Dr; Fieldstone Arena Subd

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp; to; Michael Cochran; $98,000; Lot 2, New Cut Rd & Mcedonia Church Rd intersection, Gowansville

Ila T Pegram; to; Joe C & Sharon R Parr; $30,000; Lot 35, 1.25ac; Dogwood Acres Subd

Kenneth J & Jamie E Gilligan; to; Shawn L & Margery A McGraw; $161,000; Lot 47; Greenbriar Creek Subd

Kerry M Obrien; to; Cathy C Duncan; $89,000; Lot 73; Plush Meadows Subd

Brian M Nash; to; Jessica A Pruitt; $119,900; Lot 3, 1315 Clark Rd, Inman; Steadman Farms Subd

A Manning Lynch Jr; to; Manning Lynch Inc; $20,000; Lot 51; Fawn Branch Subd

Manning Lynch Inc; to; Jenifer M Wilkie & Mark A Genobles; $116,000; Lot 51; Fawn Branch Subd

Dale S & Wanda L Levin; to; Johnny E & Linda A Duncan; $180,000; Lot 11, tiffany cuff links 10 Lenox Pl, Boiling Springs; Sterling Estates Subd

Greg H High; to; Newton Oil Inc; $47,000; Lot, 1.0ac, 150 Berry Rd, Spartanburg

Rodger C Jarrell Real Estate & Mortgage; to; Nancy C Dell; $100,000; Lot 105, 116 Forestdale Dr, Boiling Springs; Springfield Subd;

Parker Champion Construction; to; Nathan C Windsor; $115,700; Lot 88, 339 S Ivestor Ct, Inman; Dunnsmore Subd

Enchanted Construction LLC; to; John P & Joy C Chavis Jr; $117,000; Lot 39, 662 Clarion Ct; Wynbrook Subd

FNMA; to; Daniel J Cobb; $137,000; Lot 183, 440 Sandpiper Dr, Boiling Springs; Eagle Pointe Subd

Lazarus Shouse Communites LLC; to; Diane C & Roger D Skinner; $180,000; Lot 220, 133 Gossamer Dr, Boiling Springs; Sterling Estates Subd

Mark III Properties; to; Enchanted Construction LLC; $29,000; Lot 317; Glenlake Subd

Enchanted Construction LLC; to; Mary M & Horace L Scruggs; $154,000; Lot 322; Glenlake Subd

Chanborany Dean & Pouly Lim; to; Beverly L Glenn; $132,900; Lot 84, 796 Thornbird Cir; Eagle Pointe Subd

David J & Geri L Robertson; to; Mark W Adams; $249,900; Lot 16, 509 Dominion Way, Boiling Springs; Carrington Place Subd

David E Arledge Jr & Nellie J Jones; to; Douglas W & Janet Adee; $140,000; Lot 92, 0.47ac; Woodcreek Subd

DoubleTree LLC; to; Christopher R Porter; $5,000; Lot 35; Island Creek Subd

David R Doss; to; Lea P Burnett; $112,500; Lot 40, 0.70ac; Bent Tree Subd

NBSC; to; Jeffrey H Smith; $4,400; Lot 3, South Ave, Kirby property

Kenneth D Genobles; to; Karen R Hughes; $67,000; Lot 16B, Jesse R Genobles property

Jason K Cooke; to; Jeremiah P & Sonya N Dean; $87,000; Lot 3, 0.88ac, 256 Battleground Rd, Cowpens

Gibert Co Inc; to; James M Gibert; $36,500; Lot, David Rd nr Woodruff

Marilyn L Phillips; to; Robin Paulin; $11,000; Lot 1; Woodruff Farms Subd

Cantrell Holdings LLP; to; SandMoor LLC; $170,000; Lot, 2.35ac, James M Hendershot property

William C & Kina T Baddorf; to; Kevin L Hood; $74,500; Lot 4, D St, Inma

Deutsche Bank; to; Adam Pettay; $13,000; Lot, 515 Lanford Rd, Woodruff

Sellers Solution LLC; to; Tiffany Davis; $69,900; Lot 379, 117 Padgett Ct, Wellford; Brookside Village Subd

David T & Sandra V Griggs; to; Lillian F Collins; $29,000; Lot 9, 147 Douglas Ln, Duncan; Dorchester Subd

Ellen K Grasser Norman; to; Cynthia K Wheat; $150,000; Lot 10, 207 Katie Ln, Moore; Mallard Cove Subd

Frank G & Gaynelle J Mayfield; to; Brenda J Schultz; $70,000; Lot, 2.0ac, Joshua A Godfrey property

G Bruce Morgan; to; Melvin E Galloway; $55,394; Lot 63 NR Lyman; North Ridge Hills Subd

Francis L Tinsley; to; Darryl S Campbell; $12,000; Lot 3, 0.60ac, B J Cannon property

Justin G & Margaret Whitener; to; Matthew J & Katherine A Cloonan; $87,900; Lot 4, Brook St, Lyman; Pacific Mills Subd

Charles F & Nancy A Kramer; to; James R & Virginia L McAbee Jr; $50,000; Lot, 0.24ac, Pacific Mills Lake

Christopher Marabito; to; Jason Bruce; $148,500; Lot 5, 217 E Autumn Ridge Rd, Moore; Sedgefield Subd

Jerry A & Verna S Taylor Sr; to; Lyndsey N Gantt; $88,000; Lot 67; Pacific Mills Subd

Ashmore Homes; to; Richard D & Rachelle D St Pierre; $172,900; Lot 22 ; tiffany bracelets Gibbs Village Subd

Links Land Inc; to; Jerry K Weaver; $30,000; Lot 52, 237 Woodcluff Dr & 135 White Rd, Wellford; North Ridge Hills Subd

John & Raellen Belch; to; Jason M & Elizabeth A Long; $158,000; Lot 99, 120 Rogers Mill Dr, Duncan; Rogers Mill Subd

Fred Painter; to; Tammy L Skipper; $124,900; Lot 11, 0.76ac; Peachtree Estates Subd

Ernesto L & Mary L Deguzman; to; Sarah Popoloski, etal; $145,555; Lot 32, 218 Windsong Way, Moore; Kingsley Park Subd

RES Distressed Fund X LLC; to; Visio REO Debt Fund; $1,250; Lot, 76 Hampton Rd, Lyma

Patrick J & Vicky H Brickhouse; to; Jason A Laboon; $45,000; Unit 1440C, Dover Rd, Spartanburg; Carriage House Regime

Mendel Hawkins Builder Inc; to; Joshua L Hart; $499,900; Lot 370; Woodridge Subd

Stephen B & Rebecca E Foster; to; Donna D Bishop; $126,260; Lot 5A, 209 McAbee Rd, Roebuck

John D Chapman; to; Phillip B & Rachel A Morgan; $108,000; Lot 5 ; Woodland Heights Subd

Merrill A White; to; Ashley J Thornton; $67,900; Lot 2, 0.8ac, 390 Newman Rd, Roebuck

Montu D Desai; to; Devraj Desai; $220,000; Lot 6; Mill Brook Subd

George R Kelly Jr; to; Jeffre S Kelly; $80,000; Lot B; Webber Place

Jeff L Haulbrook; to; Pearl G Nunamaker & Nancy N Needy; $185,000; tiffany pendants Unit 115, Ravines Ln, Spartanburg; The Ravines at Woodridge Subd

FNMA; to; Thomas F Williams; $4,500; Lot 3, 1 Cleveland St, Spartanburg; Mills Mill Saxon Village Subd

Tammy Floyd; to; Klaus Dieter & Elaine L Wustrow; $167,700; Lot 5, 6.13ac; Granite Hills Subd

Magnolia Park Estates LLC; to; J William & Peggy F Wakefield Jr; $510,000; Lot 12, 524 Magnolia Blossom Ct, Spartanburg; Magnolia Park Estates Subd

Linda M Gendreau; to; Jeffery D & Shawntena M Smith; $179,500; Lot, 1.50ac, 129 Graystone Dr, Moore

James A Eckstein; to; Gerald P & Katherine O Arnold ; $305,000; Lot 27; Carmel Subd

Patricia D Long; to; Braddon R Tesner; $41,000; Lots 11 & 12, F Gentry Harris property

Brenda Q Hart; to; Nolan R & Cindy A Hart Jr; $405,000; Lot 393; Woodridge Subd

Joshua L Hart; to; Ronnie R & Brenda Q Hart; $490,000; Lot 370; Woodridge Subd

FNMA; to; Todd Huntley; $13,500; Lot 53; Mayfair Mills Subd

Josephine E Lancaster; to; Dmitriy Prikhodko; $12,000; Lot 30; Hills Acres Subd

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp; to; Vernon Smith; $12,000; Lot 24, Concord St, Spartanburg; Highland Avenue-Urban Renewal Subd

Home Fuel Oil Inc; to; Service Oil Co Inc of SC; $58,000; Lots 1 & 2, tiffany rings Union St, Spartanburg

Claude D & Pamela L Dunagin; to; Gordon Farms Inc; $22,500; Lot, 1.40ac, Police Club Rd, Spartanburg

Wililam J & Trista S Farrell II; to; Eric R Nease; $725,000; Lot 11, 1.12ac, 617 Weymouth Dr, Spartanburg; Andrews Farm Subd

Branch Banking & Trust Co; to; Miller V Coleman; $150,000; Lot 25; The Arbours at Reba Dale Subd

Sara P Ward Est; to; Charles J & Mary D Washko; $325,000; Lot B, 1100 Woodburn Rd, Spartanburg;

FNMA; to; Phamm L Dong; $26,500; Lot 45, 291 W Wood St, Spartanburg

Christopher M Bender; to; Paul Hawks; $88,500; Lot 65, Christopher Lewis property

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp; to; Alexus L Dean; $64,000; Lot 25; Cedar Acres Subd

Norman & Bobra T Schoss; to; Jason K & Linsey M Cooke; $160,000; Lot 87, 287 Heathwood Dr, Spartanburg; Heathwood East Subd

Preservation Trust of Spartanburg; to; Richard P Stone II; $134,990; Lot C, Daniel E Mikell property

JC Henderson Est; to; Eugene F Moyer Jr & Jack D Moyer; $40,000; Lot 3A, 531 Pierpont Ave Ext, Spartanburg

Brian Walls; to; Matthew L Tomlinson; $145,000; Lot 233; Bent Creek Plantation Subd

Hobbled by a campaign finance conviction, an ankle bracelet and a judge’s order, Representative Jay C. Kim worked from afar today to fend off three primary challengers in California.

Mr. Kim, a 59-year-old Republican in his third term, was sentenced last month to a year’s probation earrings , two months’ electronic monitoring here and a $5,000 fine after pleading guilty to 10 misdemeanor counts of accepting $250,000 in illegal contributions, including foreign donations.

Forbidden to return to his Southern California district in time to campaign for the June 2 primary, Mr. Kim must suffer detention while the rest of Congress enjoys recess.

Accordingly, he has been laboring in his Capitol Hill office to impress his constituents in the 41st District the old-fashioned way, customizing fresh pork in public works projects through his role as a ranking conferee on Congress’s mammoth transportation bill.

”The Congressman’s spirits are high, and we’re going to win this thing,” said Pam Williams, Mr. Kim’s campaign coordinator and one of the workers filling in back in the district for Mr. Kim, who is refusing to give interviews.

The Congressman’s Republican challengers are hardly restraining themselves out of sympathy for Mr. Kim.

”Call me a naive idealist,” said one challenger, Pete Pierce, a 37-year-old deputy district attorney om Orange County, ”but I actually think this is an embarrassment to the district and it’s fairly significant one, being the first Congressman to wear a court’s ankle bracelet.”

A second candidate, Jack Healy, a retired 71-year-old school board member, said, ”I could strangle Newt Gingrich,” referring to the Speaker’s decision to allow Mr. Kim a prominent role on the transportation conference negotiations.

”Here Kim has done something bad, plea-bargained felony charges down to a misdemeanor, and gotten off with a slap on the wrist,” Mr. Healy said. ”This gives a bad message: politicians can do these things and get away with it.”

The third challenger, Assemblyman Gary G. Miller, a 49-year-old real estate dealer, said in a telephone interview that after months of front-page headlines about Mr. Kim’s criminal case, ”the main issue now is that people find it hard to believe he is running again.”

Mr. Kim denied the charges during four years of newspaper and criminal inquiries into his campaign, and then pleaded guilty, asking that his sentencing be delayed until after the primary.

In what prosecutors termed the largest case of campaign finance violations in the nation’s history, Mr. Kim’s fund-raising committee was fined $170,000, while Mr. Kim still faces a House ethics inquiry and penalties that could include expulsion for accepting money from Korean and Taiwanese donors in his tiffany jewellery 1992 re-election campaign.

The Congressman drew little support from major newspapers, and ranking California Republicans are demanding that he resign.

”He wouldn’t be making public appearances even if he could come here,” Mr. Miller said. ”My polls show he couldn’t be in worse shape, with people saying they’ll vote for anyone but Kim.”

Mr. Miller has been emphasizing what he called the ”hypocrisy” of the Justice Department in allowing Mr. Kim to bargain the charges down to misdemeanors. Mr. Pierce said he had been emphasizing the broader issue of foreign donors’ seduction of politicians in both parties through illegal contributions.

”It’s a deadly serious issue, an ominous trend in politics,” Mr. Pierce said.

Waiting to face the primary victor in the general election is Eileen R. Ansari, a City Council member and former mayor of Diamond Bar, one of the political centers of the district, which includes parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange Counties.

”I’m unopposed on the Democratic side,” Ms. Ansari said, ”and I’m just letting the Republicans do a pretty good job of beating up Kim.”.

A 55-year-old registered nurse and veteran politician, Ms. Ansari estimated that Mr. Kim rings had a ”theoretical shot” of winning the open Republican primary because Democrats were permitted to vote for him. Mr. Kim has been politicking heavily by mail, she said, with assertions of bringing jobs and public largesse to the district.

”And it’s a godsend for him not being here, because he’d have to answer a load of questions,” she said.

Ms. Williams, running Mr. Kim’s campaign and doubling as his surrogate, insisted that the incumbent would prevail despite being stigmatized as the lawmaker with an ankle bracelet.

”The way we’re handling this issue is that Mr. Kim is extremely sorry for what happened,” she said, ”But he admitted his faults, he’s serving his sentence, and we’re proceeding forward.”

Caddisflies and jewelry? Few people would make the tiffany jewelry connection.

Kathy Stout did just that as she watched the larvae of caddisflies painstakingly build protective casings out of small stones.

“I thought they were incredible insects,” she said. “I thought, `Wow, they’re so beautiful.’”

Ms. Stout was introduced to the caddisfly by her former husband, Ben Stout, a biologist. As he studied the tiny fresh-water insect, her fascination with its masonry grew. Ms. Stout thought it would be interesting to see what the larvae would do with precious and semi-precious stones. She watched in awe as they created beautiful artwork that they discarded as they entered the adult stage of life.

Ms. Stout realized the casings were perfect natural ingredients for creating jewelry.

“I can’t leave the house without a piece of my jewelry on,” Ms. Stout remarked. “I have silver necklaces literally sold jewelry right off my body.”

Ms. Stout is just as committed to telling the story of the amazing caddisfly as she is to the jewelry she makes with their help. The presence of caddisflies in a river or stream is a sign of clean water.

Ms. Stout will be at Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester on Thursday evening to talk about her favorite insect – “I want them to be as famous as the dragonfly,” she said – and demonstrate how she uses the exquisite casings to make earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

“I’m going to bring some bugs with me,” she said by telephone from her home in Wheeling, W.Va. “I’ll bring jewelry and casings and material to construct jewelry.”

In order to make her jewelry, Ms. Stout needs to be rather closely involved in the later stages of tiffany bangles the caddisfly life cycle. Each March, she gathers a few friends and they trek up to the headwaters of springs in the mountains of West Virginia, where the larvae congregate and live off debris. “They maintain the water quality in the stream for other organisms,” Ms. Stout explained.

She and her friends collect the larvae that are in the stage in which they are starting to construct their protective casings; it’s an amazing process to observe, she said. The larvae start by gluing pieces of leaves together with silk.

“If it’s a nice, beautiful weekend, it’s wonderful,” Ms. Stout said. “You sit on the side of a stream and look at leaves. They cut these round-circle disks out of leaves to start constructing the casings. You find the leaf disks and know they’re there.”

Ms. Stout and her friends collect 2,000 to 3,000 caddisflies and bring them back to her house, where she has bins filled with water kept between 55 and 65 degrees. She must maintain a certain water flow and oxygenation or the caddisflies will perish. She feeds her insects leaf debris she has collected from the headwater streams. It took years to create her simulated environment, and she must continually fine-tune it.

As the larvae move into the stone-building stage, Ms. Stout provides them with gems from which to build their casings. Each September, the casings become cocoons. The caddisflies emerge and head for land. They shed one more layer of skin and fly off. Ms. Stout collects the hollow casings and, using a syringe filled with jeweler’s glue, she carefully seals each one.

Ms. Stout, 46, works as a respiratory therapist, and her mother designs and makes much of the jewelry. It is tiffany rings sold on Ms. Stout’s Web site, www.wildscape.com. As far as she knows, she is the only person making jewelry out of caddisfly casings. She knows of an artist in France who uses the casings to create pieces of art.

As much as Ms. Stout enjoys making her jewelry, her real dedication is to the welfare of the caddisfly. She visits schools to give talks and is working on an educational video on the caddisfly ecosystem.

“One way I can get younger kids involved in looking at streams is showing them the beauty and art associated with a stream,” she said.

Ms. Stout recently returned from Salt Lake City, where she attended the annual meeting of the North American Benthological Society, which is dedicated to the study of bottom-dwelling creatures in streams and lakes. When she’s away, her caddisflies are tended by her “bug sitter.”

“She knows the system really well and monitors the caddisflies for me,” Ms. Stout said. “They’re my babies. I want them to survive and live a happy life.”

Contact Pamela H. Sacks at Psacks@telegram.com

Jewelry Created by the Caddisfly

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, 414 Massasoit Road, Worcester

How much: $3 for members; $5 for nonmembers. There will be a charge for materials used, and Kathy Stout’s jewelry will be for sale.

Name of product: “Chelsea’s” Necklace and tiffany Bracelet Sets

Units: About 29,000

Importer: D&D Distributing-Wholesale Inc., of Tacoma, Wash.

Hazard: Small parts can detach from the necklace and bracelet when the elastic string break, posing a choking hazard to young children.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: This recall involves two models of “Chelsea’s” Necklace and rings Set. These two models are “Crayon” and the “Shiny Heart” Necklace and Bracelet Set. Both models have yellow, blue, red, green, purple, and pink crayons or hearts connected by elastic string. Each set has one necklace and one bracelet.

Sold at: Retail stores and wholesalers nationwide from April 1999 through April 2009 for about $4.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the recalled necklace and bracelets set away from children and contact D&D Distributing-Wholesale to exchange or refund the product.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact D&D Distributing-Wholesale toll-free at (800) 262-9435 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday. Consumers can also visit the firm’s Web site at www.dddist.com

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, cufflinks power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270 or visit CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

For my 16th birthday last October, my mom gave me a silver charm tiffany and co bracelet. The dainty charms, I was informed, were more or less symbolic of my life thus far. There’s a soccer ball for my love of soccer, a dog that uncannily resembles my Shiba Inu, Ginger, and a computer. At first I was taken aback. Really? A computer? Is this what helps to define my life? It seemed like a rather impersonal and materialistic representation. But then, recently, I was devastated to learn that my computer hard drive had epically crashed. In the loss of all my files (my digital photos, homemade films and a treasured portfolio of essays), I realized that my computer is somewhat of a lifeline for me. It is very much like an integral extension of my mind, bringing my ideas to life.

There is no doubt that the computer and the Internet have revolutionized communication and collaboration to a world wide level. Through forums and blogs, ideas can be shared with the click of a mouse. There is no longer just one side to a story, and the Internet gives a voice to the people, no matter how biased or false that voice may silver bangles be. The computer and the Internet lend so many opportunities, it would be impossible not to take them all for granted.

My computer ventures are, self-admittedly, not the grandest; in fact, they are seemingly rather trite. I stick to the usuals: e-mail, Word, Google, Facebook, and Youtube. My mundane rituals, however, have jump-started my most glorious life-long hobbies and accomplishments. From watching hours and hours of Youtube, has grown my love for filmmaking and documentaries. Through Word, I’ve written many an English grade-salvaging essay.

My computer may just be made of shiny plastic, along with a fair share of little nano-things, but it’s more silver rings than just a cool technology gizmo. It’s a window to the world, an outlet for creativity. And I wear it optimistically on my bracelet, not only as a symbol of my life, but of the future.

South junior Kati Cohen shares the School Diary columnist space with North senior Belle Kim and Edgewood junior David Adams.

It has been a tough year for the Presque Isle Snowmobile Club.

First, a fire destroyed the club-house. Then the club found out the insurance it had tiffany and co would not cover the losses. A few months later, much of the material it had acquired to re-build the clubhouse was stolen.

But just in time for winter, the dark clouds have cleared away.

With help from the Presque Isle Rotary Club, officials with the snowmobile club said Thursday they expect the new clubhouse to open in time for Christmas.

On Jan. 25, an early afternoon fire of undetermined origin de-stroyed the quarter-century-old clubhouse, which was located off State Park Road. Nobody was in the building at the time of the fire.

The fire destroyed a building that housed an active nonprofit organi-zation that serves the region in many ways, from long volunteer hours grooming trails vital to The County’s lucrative snowmobile industry to sponsoring an annual sled ride for mentally challenged youths and adults. The site of memories of weddings and recep-tions, holiday parties, family gath-erings, community suppers, fund-raisers, class reunions and more also went up in flames.

“We were in shock after the fire. We didn’t know what to do,” Ted Roberts, a longtime club key rings member, said Thursday. “We were continu-ously being asked about rebuilding. People loved that building.”

Surrounded by the ruins, club members gathered to review their insurance policy. It was then they realized insurance would cover only about 70 percent of what was lost.

Still, the club pressed on. Vol-unteers rallied to rebuild the club-house, and approximately $11,000 worth of material to do so was pur-chased and stored in a locked building near the old facility.

In early spring, someone broke into the building and walked away with windows, caulking supplies and other materials. The theft re-mains under investigation, and the perpetrator has not been caught.

That loss was covered by insur-ance, and volunteers are nearly done building a new $325,000 log club-house that will be more modern and spacious. Roberts said Thursday the project would have been hampered if not for the support of the Presque Isle Rotary Club.

To help offset a $100,000 short-fall, members of the snowmobile club told their story to the Rotary Club. They asked whether the or-ganization would consider joining forces with the club by taking on the rebuilding of the snowmobile club-house as its 2009 special project, to ensure a new building would go up in time for the necklaces coming snowmobile season.

“When they said they would help, I could not tell them how much that meant to me or the other club members and the community,” Roberts recalled. “That building is so vital to us, and there were a lot of memories there.”

Under the direction of Presque Isle Rotarian project co-chairmen Jason Parent and Dan Bagley, a committee composed of fellow Ro-tarians and members of the snow-mobile club got to work early this fall to raise $20,000 to $25,000 to go toward the clubhouse rebuilding project.

In recent weeks, committee members have spoken before civic organizations throughout central Aroostook County. They prepared and sent a mailing to more than 600 businesses, organizations and indi-viduals throughout the area, as well as downstate and out of state, solic-iting donations for the cause.

“This is a very special project for the Rotary,” Parent said Thursday. “The building really is a place known and visited not just by area snowmobilers, but many community members as well.”

He pointed out that the Rotary Club is among dozens of commu-nity groups that use the snowmobile clubhouse tiffany bangles annually.

“The Presque Isle Snowmobile Clubhouse is more than just a place where people come together. It is truly a community icon,” said Nancy Fletcher, Rotary Club presi-dent. “We were so pleased to select this worthwhile cause as our special project for the year.”

The committee’s work will cul-minate in the coming weeks during the Rotary Club’s annual radio and television auction Dec. 1-3. As is tradition with the special project, airtime will be devoted to raising funds for the effort and acknowl-edging donors.

Roberts said the new snowmobile clubhouse will resemble the one destroyed by fire and is being con-structed on the footprint of the pre-vious facility. New amenities in-clude an entryway connected to the building, wheelchair-accessible restroom facilities and slightly larger capacity, as the former area set aside for a barbecue pit on the back side of the old facility will become part of the new building’s square footage. It also will have a larger kitchen.

The building itself is a kit from Houlton-based Ward Log Homes. Central Aroostook contractor PNM Construction was tiffany rings hired to do most of the building work, and snowmo-bile clubhouse volunteers are do-nating their time to complete the interior finish work.

“The rebuilding effort is very im-portant to us, and we are sure that the generosity of the community at the auction is going to be a huge benefit,” he said.

Donations to support the rebuilding effort can be sent to the Presque Isle Rotary Club, Attention “Special Proj-ect,” P.O. Box 641, Presque Isle 04769. Viewers and listeners of the auction that will air live on cable television Channel 9 and on 96.9 FM radio also can call in their pledges.