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August
2002
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Kevin
hopes his fame will help fight state's environmental battles
back up
Source: Kentucky.com
By: Heather Svokos - HERALD-LEADER POP CULTURE WRITER
"You come out of the Daniel Boone National Forest at about
8,000 feet and on the horizon, instead of seeing green mountain-scapes
and rocks and sandstone and limestone cliffs, all of a sudden you
see, as if the mountain were a stick of butter, literally, it's like
someone took a butter knife and sliced the entire top off of a
mountain. All you see is rocks and dirt. It's like a moonscape. It's
like you're looking at Mars."
This, from a guy whose public persona is more known for making young
girls shriek and swoon than it is for waxing poetic on the evils of
mountaintop removal.
But if you look just beneath the slick, bump-and-grind veneer of the
eldest Backstreet Boy, you'll find a 30-year-old man with a solemn
commitment to the environment.
Back in June, his interest in the cause earned him non-Backstreet
headlines. It also stirred up an old debate: do celebrities and
politics mix?
The brouhaha began when the Kentucky-reared pop star was added as a
last-minute witness at a congressional hearing, and a U.S. senator
announced he would boycott the hearing.
The issue before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
was mountaintop removal mining. The practice, which has become
common in Kentucky and West Virginia, shears off the top of a ridge
or mountain to expose a coal seam, pushing dirt and rock into nearby
valleys and waterways.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, did indeed boycott the hearing,
saying the last-minute inclusion of Richardson as a witness made a
mockery of the committee and the issue.
"It's just a joke to think that this witness can provide
members of the United States Senate with information on important
geological and water quality issues," Voinovich said in June.
"We're either serious about the issues or we're running a
sideshow."
Richardson testified anyway, but the comments stung.
The musician grew up in Estill County, in the mountains of the
Daniel Boone National Forest. For the last few years, he's been
schooling himself on such issues as water quality and mountaintop
removal strip mining. In December 2000, he started Just Within
Reach, an environmental foundation. He's part of several other
environmental initiatives, including one started with Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. -- the Kentucky Riverkeeper, a fledgling organization
for river restoration.
"I was really frustrated," Richardson said from Los
Angeles, where he's now recording the new Backstreet Boys album.
"It's a shame that he (Voinovich) didn't do more research on me
before he made those comments -- I think he made himself look bad.
He didn't know I grew up in Appalachian Kentucky, that I grew up in
those Appalachian mountains, that my grandfather was a coal miner,
and that I have a vested interest in that hearing.
"I have flown over those sites, I've seen the damage, and what
it's doing to those mountain ranges in West Virginia and Kentucky
and Tennessee. They're raping the Appalachian mountain range for
profit."
Richardson, who owns a farm near Lexington, says it's also a shame
Voinovich didn't attend the hearing.
"He could've cross-examined me. I'm not a scientist but I am an
eye-witness. I had every right to be there as a native Kentuckian
and a concerned citizen and the head of my own environmental
foundation."
Voinovich's office didn't return a phone call seeking comment for
this story.
Some personal reasons
The singer was motivated to start Just Within Reach partly
because of his then-recent marriage to actress Kristin Willits.
"We want to have children," he said at the foundation's
launch in December 2000. "I want them to grow up healthy and
have clean water to drink."
Instead of "sitting around on my butt worrying about
problems," he said then, "I thought I'd use my status as a
celebrity to ask more questions and maybe change things."
Just Within Reach is run by Richardson; his wife; his brother, Tim;
and friends Jim and Vicki Hanna of Los Angeles.
Vicki Hanna sees nothing wrong with working the celebrity angle.
"The way we see it, the regular citizens who live with it
(mountaintop removal) have been trying to get the government to act
for years and years," said Hanna, the foundation's director of
programs and publicity. "So then they get a celebrity
spokesperson and Kevin says: 'You're right, that is why I'm
here.'
"Kevin has spent a lot of time the last two years educating
himself on the topic. He wants the senator to quit talking so much
about the celebrity thing and get to work on the issue."
'We have the laws'
And the issue, to Richardson, isn't about dismantling the coal
industry.
"I realize that coal is an important part of the Eastern
Kentucky economy, and I'm not trying to eliminate the coal
business," he said. "What I'm trying to bring attention to
is the lack of responsibility of the coal companies, who are
destroying the water tables, destroying homes and communities,
destroying people's lives."
When mountaintop removal pushes dirt into valleys, it creates
"valley fill," and covers streams for miles. "The law
says anytime you pollute a watersource, it is illegal,"
Richardson said.
Last May, a U.S. District Court judge in Charleston, W.Va., agreed.
Richardson is part of another group -- Kentuckians for the
Commonwealth -- whose lawsuit spurred Judge Charles Haden II to
order a halt to new mining permits. His ruling is being
appealed.
"We have the laws," Richardson said. "They just need
to be enforced. But the Bush administration has provided the coal
companies with a loophole, by asking the Army Corps of Engineers to
redefine 'valley fill' so they can get around the Clean Water
Act.
"There's a way to mine coal responsibly so it doesn't have as
bad an environmental impact. The Environmental Protection Agency is
not keeping an eye on anything."
The lament of the coal industry is that tighter regulations will
cost jobs. "Haden's ruling will shut down mining in Appalachia,
both surface and underground mining," Kentucky Coal Association
President Bill Caylor said in May.
"That's not true," Richardson says. "If they take
care of the environment and restore what they tore down, there will
be more jobs and it'll leave the community with hope for other
things. Literally, these mountains are being torn down. It's so sad.
It doesn't have to be like that."
'People listen'
The Backstreet Boy might be a thorn in the side of detractors
like Voinovich, but some, like Alan Banks, are thanking their lucky
stars for Richardson's involvement.
Banks, director of the Center for Appalachian Studies at Eastern
Kentucky University, got to know Richardson through the Kentucky
Riverkeeper, a coalition dedicated to Kentucky River restoration,
advocacy and education.
"It's been a great surprise that he has the level of commitment
and compassion that he does," said Banks, who's also on the
Riverkeeper board. "One thing I said to him, I said: 'Kevin, I
really respect you as a Backstreet Boy, but I respect you a whole
lot more as an eco-warrior.' And he just sort of puffed up, you
know?"
It doesn't hurt that where Richardson goes, cameras follow. "He
can talk about when he was growing up (in Kentucky) and what his
mother taught him, and people listen," Banks said. "He
helps give the whole issue legitimacy. He's just a powerful voice --
not necessarily for anything radical -- but for cherishing our
natural resources, for following the law, for looking at the clean
water act as a powerful weapon."
Despite Richardson's passion and knowledge, some will continue to
dismiss him as the boy band singer who dabbles in a cause.
"A lot of people, whether it's on this issue, or anything,
because I'm a Backstreet Boy, they assume I'm some young kid who has
no clue about anything," he said. "I seem to be prejudged.
I'm a 30-year-old man -- I'll be 31 in October. I've been to 37
countries around the world in the past 10 years with our group. I've
seen a lot with my eyes."
That still won't matter to those who think politics are best left to
politicians and "experts."
At the time of the June hearing, Voinovich said the trend of
celebrities testifying was "disturbing" because it uses
celebrity witnesses to gain media attention at the expense of
substantive testimony.
"Politicians don't like it when celebrities show up in their
designerwear and their glasses and expound on things," said
actress Annie Potts, another celebrity Kentuckian, and a former
spokesperson for the American Arthritis Foundation.
"Politicians think: 'This is not within your ken. Hey, this is
bureaucrats' business, for heaven's sake.'
"I know that there's a lot written about ours being a celebrity
culture, but I think we're lucky to have people like him
(Richardson)," Potts said. "This kid sounds like he knows
what he's talking about. You know, they're heroes to a lot of kids,
and kids will follow their example. So if he's an environmentalist,
they'll want to look at that, too.
"I think it's very dangerous to criticize anybody for putting
their time, money and heart into a good cause. I mean, what's to
criticize there? I think they should be applauded."
Richardson's Backstreet Boy cousin, Brian Littrell, has his own
cause, and his own foundation in partnership with St. Joseph
Hospital: the Brian Littrell Healthy Heart Club for Kids. But
Littrell's cause hasn't ruffled many feathers.
"He likes to keep his views kind of private, and we don't
really discuss politics," Richardson said of his cousin.
"This is kind of a battle of mine."
And one he plans to continue in the political arena, whether
Voinovich and Co. like it or not.
His next strike? Coordinating flights over coal fields with Sens.
Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who
already have accepted his invitation, said Vicki Hanna of Just
Within Reach.
Hanna added: "If Sen. Voinovich thinks that Kevin Richardson is
going to shut up and go away, he's very badly mistaken and
misinformed."
-
Nick
Carter Live with Y100's Kenny and Footy
back up
Source: www.y100miami.com
Nick will be on Y100's Kenny and Footy In the Morning at 8 a.m.
Friday 23rd August ET to premier his new single "Help
Me".
Kenny and Footy interviewed Nick Carter "LIVE". Click
here to hear it. Nick is coming to Miami to join the guys
in studio THIS FRIDAY! Stay tuned for your chance to meet Nick, and
make sure to register above for FRONT ROW seats.
FRONT ROW SEATS TO SEE NICK CARTER
Do you wanna sit in the FRONT ROW on Friday morning when Nick
Carter is at Y100 to see Kenny and Footy?
-
'Nick
Carter Racing' Wins Cleveland Offshore Super Vee Race
back up
Source: www.apbaoffshore.com
Fond du Lac, WI -- Mercury Racing powered 'Nick Carter
Racing' won the Super Vee contest at the 'Cleveland Offshore Grand
Prix,’ August 11. Driver Bob Carter and throttleman Lee Murray
averaged 92.66 mph to win the event. The race was round five of the
2002 APBA Offshore Pro Series presented by Mercury Racing. Lake Erie
was unusually calm for the two-day event. 'Media Master,' a 37’
Outerlimits hull piloted by Matt Beck with Greg Quirk on the
throttles, averaged 88.31. mph to place second. Both ‘Nick Carter
Racing’ and ‘Media Master’ are powered by twin Mercury Racing
Super Vee race engines coupled to Mercury Racing Dry-Sump Six
Drives/Lab FinishedTM propellers.
Super Cat
The father and son team of Mark and Paul Nemschoff averaged 109
mph to win the 10-lap, 95-mile Super Cat event in their 40-foot MTI
hull ‘Tommy Bahama.’ ‘Team Virgin,’ 39’ MTI hull owned and
driven by Todd Klindworth of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, placed
second. ‘Defending Super Cat National and World Champion ‘Drambuie
On Ice’ and ‘WHM Motorsports’ rounded out 3-4. ‘Drambuie On
Ice,’ winner of two of the first four races, leads the Super Cat
points chase with 567 points. ‘WHM Motorsports,’ is second with
546 points. ‘Tommy Bahama’ rounds out third with 534 points. ‘Team
Virgin’ and ‘WHM Motorsports’ are powered by twin Mercury
Racing Super Cat race engines coupled to Dry-Sump Six drives.
Super Cat Light Inboard
‘Dirty Duck,’ a 38’ MTI hull piloted by Slug Hefner and Alvin
Heathman, averaged 95.96 mph to win the Super Cat Light Inboard
event. ‘How Sweet it Is,’ a 36-foot Eliminator hull piloted by
Brent Leach with John Peterson on the sticks, placed second. ‘Liquid
Metal,’ and ‘In Mocean Again’ rounded out 3-5. All were powered by twin
Mercury Racing HP500 EFI engine packages.
Super Cat Light Outboard
John Robinson and Paul Whittier hammered the throttles on their
triple Mercury 2.5 EFI Offshore Race outboard powered Skater hull
‘Snakeman Racing’ to win the Super Cat Light Outboard race. ‘Critical
Lift,’ a 36-foot Skater hull piloted by Ted Zoli with Gary
Ballough on the sticks, placed second. ‘Money Shot,’ a 32-foot
Skater hull piloted by Steve Armstrong and Shawn Mobley, rounded out
third.
Factory 1
‘Team B.R.E.’ won the Factory 1 event. ‘H2O Motorsports/PropCo
Propellers.com, a 28-foot Warlock hull piloted by David Carruth and
Steve Wessinger, placed second. ‘Typhoon’ rounded out third.
Factory 2
‘Harwich Concrete/Pier 57,’ a 35-foot Fountain hull piloted
by Mark O’Duggan and Christopher Wickstrom, averaged 83.54 mph to
win the Factory 2 event. The 38-foot ‘Team Donzi,’ with Douglas
Valentine and Michael Stancombe piloting, placed second. ‘R&S
Offshore,’ ‘Total Marine/Sirius Satellite,’ and ‘Herbott
Racing For a Cure’ rounded out 3-5. All were powered by twin
Mercury Racing HP500 EFI engine packages.
Round six of the 2002 APBA Offshore Pro Series presented by Mercury
Racing is the Allen Samuels Chevrolet Powerboat Shoot-Out, August
23-25, in Corpus Christi, TX.
-
This
Week in 1999: BSB
back up
Source: MTV.com
This week in 1999, MTV News handed the Backstreet Boys a bunch of
camcorders to record their lives and show everyone what a
"normal day" for them was like. Of course, not much is
normal when you're constantly being chased by girls who want to rip
your clothes off, as the guys attested while filming each other
drinking tea, talking on the phone and picking their noses ...
"It's a great feeling to walk out the hotel and kind of get
pushed around and mobbed," the group's A.J. McLean said.
"I love the attention, so it's not like it's anything bad for
me. I think it's cool. I'd be really worried if we didn't have that,
'cause then you kind of know something's wrong."
"Any guy in my position would definitely enjoy all the
attention the girls give us," Nick Carter added. "So we do
love it. I'm not gonna lie and say I don't."
-
Backstreet
Boy Nick Carter Turns Up The Guitars For Solo Bow
back up
Source: Launch
By: Darryl Morden, Los Angeles
Backstreet Boy Nick Carter's single "Help Me" hit the
airwaves Tuesday (August 20) with his first solo album, Now Or
Never, due in stores on October 29. Matthew Gerrard ( Mandy Moore)
and Michele Vice-Maslin co-wrote "Help Me," and Gerrard
produced it.
Carter, who at the age of 22 is the youngest member of the boy band,
said he's showing his rock 'n' roll influences on the album, and
that includes turning up the guitars. "Yeah, I wanted to put
more guitars in it, definitely. A little harder, a little newer.
Just different, just very different," he said. "I've been
playing guitar lately and you know, I'm probably going to start
playing when I perform onstage. And y'know, the drums I've been
playing since I was, 12 years old."
Now Or Never features tracks written by Carter, the Matrix, Mark
Taylor (Enrique Iglesias), Steve Mac (Westlife), Max Martin, and
Rami.
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