Schmelz joined WDUN's "The Martha Zoller Show" on Friday to discuss the latest members being kicked out of the Trump administration Click play on the audio above for the full interview This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City Robert graduated from Potosi High School in 1964 and was drafted into the United States Army He served his country until his honorable discharge in 1969 Robert was united in marriage to Linda Koeller at the Bethlehem E&R Church in Lancaster He held a variety of jobs in his early years but spent most of his working years at John Deere Dubuque Works He dearly loved spending time with his grandchildren he touched the lives of countless people with his kindness and Joe (Kim) Schmelz; grandchildren: Ryan and Jacob Kester Noah and Courtney Fritz and Lydia and Brady Schmelz; his sister Sheila (Lonny) Marcue; his in-laws: John Koeller and Judy (Larry) Maahs; many nieces Robert was preceded in death by his father and mother-in-law Doreen (Ken) Wagner; and his aunts and uncles A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday A private family graveside service with military honors will be held at British Hollow Cemetery Martin Schwartz Funeral Home & Crematory in Potosi is assisting the family Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors 2025 at 9:34 am ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Incumbent Kristen T Sonnek-Schmelz shares why she is running for election on the Westfield Board of Education in 2025 NJ — Westfield's school board election on April 15 has four candidates running for three open seats on the Board of Education Incumbent Kristen Sonnek Schmelz is running for one of the three Opposing candidates include incumbents Robert Benacchio and Mary Wickens and newcomer Violetta Watson Are you running for school board in Westfield? Contact Alexis Tarrazi at alexis.tarrazi@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Westfield Patch Why are you seeking re-election to the Board of Education I am proud of the positive change the Board and district administration have brought to the Westfield Schools over the past 3 years and want to keep the momentum going and I all decided to re-run to ensure consistency and continued support of the administration as the District executes it’s five-year strategic plan How do you feel about offering full-day kindergarten in Westfield I wholeheartedly support the idea of Westfield offering full-day Kindergarten It is essential that the District nurtures its youngest learners’ curiosities and supports them with the highest quality education possible Those attending Westfield’s current half-day Kindergarten program receive approximately 180 LESS hours of instruction and purposeful play-time than their peers who attend full-day private programs This results in quite a large range of skill sets in our first-grade classrooms Imagine how much more productive first grade could be if the majority of students received a similar and consistent foundation in language arts The addition of a full-day Kindergarten program would also help ease the cost of child-care for our dual working parent homes and eliminate the inequities created between families who can afford to pay for a full-day private program and those who cannot What would you like to see improved in the school district The upcoming referendum captures many of the improvements I would like to see in the District one of my main goals was to support the administration in outlining a viable way to bring full-day Kindergarten to the District The upcoming bond referendum will allow the District the necessary funds to create the space required to bring full-day K to fruition while also updating and modernizing all of its facilities to make the District’s classrooms as comfortable and safe as possible for all of its students district-wide I would like to see continued improvements to the District’s athletic fields the District has made major improvements to its fields by creating a separate grounds team providing professional development to this designated team through the Rutgers turf management program and initiating a shared service agreement with the Town for Roosevelt’s field I would like to see a comprehensive field maintenance plan presented to the Board’s Finance & Facilities committee to ensure this continued commitment What other issues would you like to tackle if elected to the Board of Ed I am excited to support the expansion of the District’s community connections through the development of a structured student internship program with local businesses The development of such a program marries goals 1 and 4 of the District’s strategic plan; a structured student internship program at the high school will deepen our students’ learning by providing them with real-life experiences and help strengthen the relationship between our schools and the downtown business community What sets you apart from the challenging candidates I bring a variety of perspectives to the Board table I taught Biology at Westfield High School from 2000-2006 I am a parent of two school-aged children (7th grade at RIS and 10th grade at WHS) and the proud aunt of four nieces & nephews ranging between 3rd grade and 11th grade in Westfield schools I am a current seated Board of Education member I have served as a member of the Policy committee Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your campaign I want to thank the community for their trust in me over the last three years I am honored to have served and look forward to continuing my commitment to our schools and our students In addition to serving on the Board of Education I am also the vice chair of the Board at Imagine and the leader of our family fund — The Matthew Thomas Toriello Memorial Fund — helping to bring drug prevention and awareness programs to schools and to support those in recovery Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. 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Schmelz joined WDUN's "The Martha Zoller Show" on Tuesday to discuss the case of Abrego Garcia 11 at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart for Sister of Mercy Mary Judith Schmelz her community’s retirement home in Mount Washington. She was 99 she carried out a ministry that took her from several roles in education to serving as a missionary in Guyana.  Jean Margaret Schmeltz was the daughter of a mechanical engineer and homemaker.  she entered the Sisters of Mercy at Mount Washington in 1945 and completed her studies at Mount Saint Agnes College Sister Mary Judith taught science for several years before becoming a chemistry instructor at Mount Saint Agnes She earned masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend and continued teaching at Mount Saint Agnes for more than a decade before beginning work in school administration in 1966 She worked as academic dean and administrator at her alma mater and continued that work when Mount Saint Agnes merged with Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland) in 1971.  Sister Judith was elected to the leadership team for the Baltimore Province for the Sisters of Mercy Sister Judith initiated The Learning Bank of COIL a community-based adult literacy program with one-on-one instruction in many areas of life job training and eventually computer skills.  she began a 19-year ministry in Greater Georgetown teaching biochemistry to young women who were preparing to be nurses and fulfilling a childhood dream to work as a missionary.   Copyright © 2024 Catholic Review Media  Print Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media Catholic Media Assocation Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association The Associated Church Press A man fell to his death while working at the World Equestrian Center earlier this week Juan Medina Martinez was a father of two girls Gonzalez said Martinez came to the United States from Mexico roughly a year ago and has been working for approximately four months He said Martinez has been married to his daughter for 10 years and his daughter lives in Mexico Marion County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to WEC Joseph Spratlin wrote in his report that the construction site superintendent told him he wasn't near the construction site when the incident occurred Resmondo told the deputy Martinez was moving from one tier of scaffolding to the next which called for his safety harness to be undone The superintendent said a wooden board on the top tier estimated to be approximately 40 feet above a concrete foundation Resmondo showed the deputy where Martinez fell A statement from WEC sent to the Star-Banner reads: "Due to the ongoing investigation inquiries regarding this incident would be best directed to the Marion County Sheriff While this tragedy involved a subcontractor our organization is fully cooperating with the investigation at every level We would also like to especially express our profound sadness in response to this tragedy and we ask the public to pray for the family of the worker whose life ended too soon." A WEC spokeswoman declined further comment WEC is "the largest equestrian complex in the United States" and is "a world-class multi-indoor and outdoor arena facility offering state-of-the-art amenities to accommodate numerous disciplines within the equine industry and more." WEC also features fine and casual dining and hotels Witness accounts of the accidentAustin Schmelz was working at the time of the incident Schmelz said he looked over a railing and saw the person head-first on the ground Schmelz said he told Smith to call 911 and both ran to help the victim He said he was able to straighten Martinez and stabilize him Smith told the Star-Banner that he and Schmelz were on a lift inside the building Smith performed the life-saving measure on Martinez until paramedics got to the scene Both men said they did not witness the incident and Martinez was working above them The men said they were doing duct work at the construction site Schmelz said he was traumatized and has never seen anything like this before Smith sends his condolences to Martinez's family and wishes he could've done more to help the victim The men said they did not know Martinez and had never seen him while on the job Smith and Schmelz work for Rays Metal Works Inc. a Gainesville company that's one of the subcontractors on the job A person who answered the phone at the Gainesville company told a Star-Banner reporter that Martinez worked for another subcontractor Top coverage: World Equestrian Center stories and photos from the Ocala Star Banner Grief counselors were made available and workers were given time to grieve if needed Schmelz said there was a safety meeting and a moment of silence for Martinez The search for a new chief human resources officer at the University of Oregon came to a close with the announcement that Mark Schmelz has been selected to fill the position vice president for finance and administration shared the news in a memo to unit and department human resources representatives She highlighted Schmelz’s considerable experience in human resources including labor and employment issues within a university setting Schmelz is currently the chief human resources officer for the University of Maine system “Mark joins us with 20 years of experience in human resources including 11 years leading employee and labor relations,” Moffitt said “With a deep understanding of higher education he will lead our human resources team as we continue to build and improve our HR services and programs for campus.” Schmelz will assume his full-time position at the beginning of June with his first day on campus scheduled for June 3 All stories in Workplace uonews@uoregon.edu Schmelz joined WDUN's "The Martha Zoller Show" on Friday to speak on the capture of a major MS 13 gang leader NJ — Meet the candidates running for the Westfield Board of Education The Westfield Parent Teacher Council (PTC) will hold an in-person Candidates Night on Wednesday Three incumbents are seeking re-election with one newcomer challenger Below is a list of the candidates with their slogan (an asterisk designates an incumbent): The evening will be moderated, with candidates asked a variety of questions to be gathered from the public prior to the forum. Questions may be submitted to ptc@westfieldnjk12.org by March 15 The election will be held on April 15. Voters will not only be choosing candidates but they will also be asked to vote on the district's annual budget and bond referendum Related: 'No Question Additional Funding Proposal Needed' In Westfield, Says Superintendent Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com Considered an expert in 20th- and 21st-century music, and more specifically Ukrainian, Russian and Soviet music, Schmelz has received three awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers In addition, Schmelz’s “Sonic Overload” received the American Musicological Society’s 2022 Otto Kinkeldey Award as a “musicological book of exceptional merit that provides a genuinely fresh perspective on the music of Schnittke and Silvestrov as well as its broader significance the era and its attendant ambivalences and confusions alive.” Schmelz said the inspiration for writing “Sonic Overload” grew directly from his first book If Only Musical: Unofficial Soviet Music During the Thaw,” which discussed the sociocultural meanings of avant-garde music composed during the Soviet 1960s Schmelz said that after finishing the book he felt more could be said about two of the composers “I had long been interested in Schnittke’s music but I had grown increasingly captivated by Silvestrov’s,” said Schmelz “As I started kicking around ideas for the second book I realized that polystylism would be an ideal way to tie the two composers to one another and to larger cultural currents in the Soviet Union.” from his initial ideas to the published book Schmelz’s first archival research in mid-2010 at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel was supported by a generous grant from that archive He completed the manuscript during the first months of the pandemic in early 2020 While he was researching and writing "Sonic Overload," Schmelz also completed “Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso no a shorter book published in 2019 that focuses on one of Schnittke's best-known and most compelling works Schmelz also received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and completed the “Sonic Overload” project as a Guggenheim Fellow “I hope that readers come away from 'Sonic Overload’ with a better sense of its direct topics — the mature polystylistic music of Alfred Schnittke and Valentin Silvestrov and its importance within the late USSR,” said Schmelz “I also hope that I demonstrate their connections to larger global trends related to collage They are two crucial composers from the late 20th century who tell us about what it meant to be alive during this period of great upheaval and technological change and how identities were (and are) negotiated by filtering the informational torrent of the constant And how music can act as a consistent yet transitory personal archive and shield against that torrent.” Schmelz said that because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Silvestrov’s music has begun to appear with great frequency on concert programs around the world. He noted that in a New York Times interview with Silvestrov after the war started and the composer evacuated from his home in Kyiv to Berlin “Does music not have any value in and of itself without any kind of war?” “The award from the American Musicological Society was especially gratifying because it is an award from other musicologists,” said Schmelz “It suggests that 'Sonic Overload’ has had resonance within the field beyond readers in its immediate subject areas I think that the example of polystylism and information overabundance in the late USSR has much to tell us about our own lives and times as we continue to grapple with an ever-increasing amount of sounds He will graduate from Arizona State University in May with a… In a digital world where stories are easily shared but not always protected Alycia de Mesa (Apache of Chihuahua) asked: How can… dancers with their faces wrapped in red fabric or a ceiling full of balloons POMPANO BEACH – The brother of a woman killed as police tried to pull over a group of armed carjacking suspects is asking why it took authorities so long to stop the suspects The chase began Friday in Hallandale Beach and ended at around 11 p.m after the suspects crashed into a car driven by Patricia Schmelz Deputies said as Hallandale Beach police chased him the 17-year-old driver ran a red light exiting Interstate 95 onto West Copans Road “(It’s) a complete shock,” the victim’s brother was one of six people in the Dodge Charger “That should have never happened to her,” Glenn Schmeltz said Authorities said it appears the carjacking victim had been set up to be carjacked and robbed The group forced him to take off his clothes I’m the only one left,” Glenn Schmeltz said They hijack the car and the police had chased him for half an hour Somebody’s going to get hurt — who happened to be my sister.” “This guy will probably be on my mind for the rest of my life.” “I love (my sister) and I miss her,” he said We were getting we were getting ready to go on vacation in September.” Police said they recovered five guns from the car Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved Reporter Rosh Lowe has been covering news for nearly two decades in South Florida TV Listings Email Newsletters RSS Feeds Closed Captioning / Audio Description Contact Us Careers at WPLG Terms of Use Privacy Policy Public File FCC Applications EEO Report Do Not Sell My Info 1.0 Host Exhibit Copyright © 2025 Local10.com is published by WPLG INC. who captained his college basketball team and went on to play with and coach NBA players in a summer basketball league two years after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis Schmelz coached and played for over 30 years in the Jersey Shore Basketball League – which has featured professional college and high school players - and his auto dealership sponsored teams in the league Schmelz’s Sea View Jeep team won the first of several league titles in 1993 NBA players such as John Celestand and Tim Perry played for Schmelz and current Brooklyn Nets’ star Kyrie Irving was on his 2012 roster MORE: NJ boys basketball: Jersey Shore's top 100 players all-time, ranked ALSO: All-Shore basketball: 100s of fast facts about the players, schools over the years Schmelz played basketball at Roselle Park High School and Bates College According to his obituary, Schmelz graduated from Bates in 1979 and married his wife He had also been the owner of Sea Breeze Ford since 2006 In addition to his wife and four children - Kristina and Anabel – Schmelz is survived by six grandchildren his brother William John Schmelz and his sisters Johanne Kittle and Judy Todd Plans for a public memorial service are pending BERGENFIELD — Republican Mayor Norman Schmelz is running for Bergen County government’s top spot Schmelz announced his run for office before some 150 supporters gathered Sunday outside his childhood home on Ralph Street “We need these children to know that every single dollar of taxes that their parents pay actually go to government services,” he said The announcement comes on the heels of a report that Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco settled claims with eight employees who argued their jobs were threatened because of their support for an opposing political candidate something Schmelz was quick to capitalize on they settled a lawsuit paying $1 million to former employees," Schmelz said "The lawsuit settled claims that Bergen County targeted government employees to be fired based on political affiliation.” As of Sunday, Schmelz, 54, remained the lone candidate seeking to unseat Tedesco, who kicked off his reelection campaign last November Election: Jim Tedesco to seek reelection as Bergen County executive Weather: Man electrocuted after touching downed wire during nor'easter Schmelz has served as Bergenfield’s mayor since 2013 Schmelz works as an environmental health and safety manager for a manufacturing company in Saddle Brook Schmelz is a member of the VFW Auxiliary and Bergenfield Elks Lodge 1477 as evidenced by his habit of taking selfies with the public which have come to be known as “Schmelzfies.” it’s a very well-known thing,” Elfers said of the selfies “We need to have our younger generation involved “We’ve gotten refreshed community spirit here in Bergenfield,” he told The Record and NorthJersey.com “We want to refresh community spirit across the county.” Staff Writer Richard Cowen contributed to this article associate professor of musicology in the School of Music was recently named an award recipient in the 47th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards 5 by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov (b considering the symphony's relation to both his 'post' style and sociopolitical developments in the late USSR," says Schmelz and hope this recognition will spur further interest in the music of this important contemporary composer." The award recipients will be honored on Nov 17 at a special invitation-only ceremony and reception hosted by Paul Williams A familiar face will lead the Red Bank Catholic boys basketball program this school year will assume the head coaching duties for the 2016-17 season Former head coach James Catalano resigned after last season according to Red Bank Catholic athletic director Joe Montano and it is a great place for me," said Schmelz who was assistant coach at Red Bank Catholic the last two years "Athletic director Joe Montano convinced me to come back to the program a few years ago and now I have an opportunity to lead the program." This will be Schmelz's second varsity boys basketball head coaching job in the Shore Conference; he was Ranney School's head coach from 2011 to 2014 Schmelz has also held coaching jobs at Middletown North (freshman coach 2007-2008) and Springfield College (assistant coach 2008-2010) Boys Basketball: Conklin resigns as St. John Vianney coach, takes teaching gig in Middletown  Schmelz was also a three-year player for the Caseys and played both guard and forward in high school He inherits a Caseys squad that went 12-14 overall and 6-8 in the Class B North division in the 2015-2016 season "I really want our players to work on their skills like passing "I'm the kind of guy that looks to push the tempo of the game but we are still going to be very defensive-minded." Red Bank Catholic remained in the Class B Central in the newest two-year realignment by the Shore Conference Ocean and Wall in Class B North games during the 2016-17 season GOP candidate for Bergen County Executive says ELEC claims ‘politically motivated’ the Republican candidate for Bergen County Executive faces six counts of campaign finance law violations dealing with his 2013 campaign for mayor of Bergenfield According to a complaint filed by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission including filing reports more than 400 days later failing to report a contributor’s employer he reported a $500 contribution from Matt Sabato when the check was written on a business account Schmelz told the New Jersey Globe that he was unaware of the complaint Sounds politically motivated,” Schmelz said “I really don’t have a comment right now.” Schmelz could face fines in the tens of thousands of dollars although the commission rarely goes that high on technical violations of state campaign finance laws Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "adec9c27e44d778091af57c5f6b92204" );document.getElementById("b0150800dd").setAttribute( "id" Metrics details Intratumour heterogeneity is a major cause of treatment failure in cancer We present in-depth analyses combining transcriptomic and genomic profiling with ultra-deep targeted sequencing of multiregional biopsies in 10 patients with neuroblastoma We observe high spatial and temporal heterogeneity in somatic mutations and somatic copy-number alterations which are reflected on the transcriptomic level Mutations in some druggable target genes including ALK and FGFR1 are heterogeneous at diagnosis and/or relapse raising the issue whether current target prioritization and molecular risk stratification procedures in single biopsies are sufficiently reliable for therapy decisions The genetic heterogeneity in gene mutations and chromosome aberrations observed in deep analyses from patient courses suggest clonal evolution before treatment and under treatment pressure and support early emergence of metastatic clones and ongoing chromosomal instability during disease evolution We report continuous clonal evolution on mutational and copy number levels in neuroblastoma and detail its implications for therapy selection risk stratification and therapy resistance intratumour heterogeneity is an important feature of neuroblastoma which deserves in-depth analysis and further interpretation with respect to potential clinical implications the extent of ongoing chromosomal instability after initial biopsy at diagnosis and the dynamics of SCNA acquisition during neuroblastoma progression and treatment remain unclear To address open questions about neuroblastoma intratumour heterogeneity we combine multi-region transcriptome and whole-exome sequencing followed by ultra-deep targeted sequencing of 140 spatially and temporally separated tumour samples from 10 clinically heterogeneous patients with neuroblastoma We describe spatial and temporal intratumour heterogeneity of actionable mutations and distinct patterns of tumour evolution based on SNVs and SCNAs a Representative picture of a neuroblastoma (arrows indicate spatially separated samples for analysis) c Oncoplot outlining patient/sample characteristics and WES results from 51 neuroblastoma samples collected from 10 patients (CB1001 – CB1010) Risk stratification determined patient risk at diagnosis as high (HR) intermediate (IMR) and low (LR) according to current practice including death of disease (DOD) and complete remission (CR) non-synonymous single-nucleotide variants; SCNA present in >1 sample from 1 single patient; subclonal (specific) Our data demonstrate extensive spatial and temporal genetic heterogeneity across distinct neuroblastoma biopsies from the same patient in our cohort a Heatmap showing mutations in known cancer-relevant genes based on WES of 51 tumour samples from 10 patients (CB1001 to CB1010) The frequency of mutated compared to wild-type alleles (VAF) is depicted in a blue colour code Cancer-related genes connected to neuroblastoma genetics are marked in red Single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) detected at separate positions in the gene are listed twice Each column corresponds to an individual sample with samples from the same patient grouped next to each other Clinical characteristics of patients and samples are annotated below samples from different time points (Time) were analysed for the primary tumour site distant metastasis or metastatic infiltration (Site) VAF of somatic SNVs based on targeted sequencing data from two exemplarily shown patients Only SNVs detected in one or more samples are displayed as one column per SNV Mutations in cancer-related genes are explicitly named and were indicated as clonal (VAF > 10% in all samples from a tumour green triangles) in comparison to subclonal oncogenic mutations (red triangles) Row numbers identify samples at distinct time of biopsy collection within the disease course Columns adjacent to the right of heatmaps indicate further characteristics Samples denoted with WES were already included in the exome sequencing data Samples denoted with FFPE were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded before analysis was performed all other samples were fresh-frozen biomaterial We conclude that actionable and pathogenic SNVs are spatially and temporally heterogeneous in neuroblastoma revealing clonal evolution prior to and under selective treatment pressure with potential implications for targeted therapy decisions including reconstruction of the most recent common ancestor to detect early events prior to clonal diversification a Single-nucleotide variant- (SNV)-based phylogenetic trees depict variable clonal diversification Branch lengths correspond to the total numbers of SNVs Branch colours represent different subclones Numbers at the end of each branch indicate samples containing all clones (numbers in circles) of the branch and its ancestor clones Samples were collected at diagnosis (orange) at tumour resection (red) and at diagnosis of relapse (turquoise) Metastatic samples are indicated by asterisks A deeper data showcase is provided for patient CB1001 showing SNV- (b) and somatic copy-number alteration- (SCNA)-based trees (c) d SCNA plots from sample 15 (rainbow) showing a loss of heterozygosity (LOH) event on chromosome 6q that is absent in the metastastic sample 11 (green) e SCNA plots from the metastatic sample 11 (green shaded) and primary tumour sample 15 (rainbow) showing an mirrored subclonal allelic imbalances (MSAI) event on chromosome 9 SNV tree (f) compared to SCNA phylogeny (g) in CB1003 Time point or spatial position is indicated by shading grey (biopsy at diagnosis) and green (tumour resection) h Dynamic acquisition of additional copies of the MYCN locus on chromosome 2p i Monoallelic gain on chromosome 9q in the tumour resection samples SCNAs are highly spatially and temporally heterogeneous in neuroblastomas and in some cases are continuously acquired indicating ongoing chromosomal instability confirming additional events and ongoing evolution after biopsy and metastatic dissemination SCNA analysis indicates high genomic divergence between primary tumour and metastases in neuroblastoma suggesting that metastases spread early in disease evolution from the primary tumour site although additional studies are required to further substantiate this This suggests the clonal selection of UHR subclones during therapy diagnostic biopsies from patient CB1008 (currently in complete remission for >3 years) were classified as UHR while biopsies after chemotherapy at tumour resection were not classified UHR this occurred due to longitudinal changes in MYCN copy number (CB1003) or ALK mutation as well as TERT gene expression (CB1008) 2 out of 10 patients showed a heterogeneous UHR profile This is important because the neuroblastoma community is currently discussing to base alternative experimental therapy decisions on the presence of druggable mutations and UHR classification at diagnosis in the future but our data clearly show that a subset of UHR patients still benefits from standard high-risk treatment We conclude that clonal evolution in neuroblastoma can influence the molecular profile within the tumour across disease sites and/or during the course of disease in potentially clinically relevant ways Our findings support the consideration of strategic and methodological changes for target identification and molecular risk classification as well as subsequent treatment decisions in individual patients with neuroblastoma Our present multi-region sequencing study of 10 patients with neuroblastoma shows extensive spatial and temporal intratumour heterogeneity that also affected genes encoding actionable targets harbouring potential implications for therapeutic target selection Analysis of phased SCNAs revealed early emergence of the metastatic lineage and ongoing chromosomal instability including the appearance of a MYCN amplification later in the course of disease This process of clonal evolution led to clinically relevant changes in molecular risk stratification in some patients Less than half of the detected SNVs were clonal based on our criteria for clonal appearance (present in all samples from a patient with VAF > 10%) To gain insight into the biological and clinical relevance of intratumour heterogeneity we focused our analysis on non-silent SNVs in cancer-related genes Non-silent SNVs (2–6 per tumour) in cancer-related genes (HRAS ALK and ATM) occurred exclusively in high-risk neuroblastomas and were clonal in a subset of patients but also spatially or temporally heterogeneous in others Our finding that druggable mutations are spatially and temporally heterogeneous demonstrate that clonal neuroblastoma evolution has potential implications for targeted therapy decisions We postulate that for a subset of patients bulk sequencing at a single tumour location might sometimes lead to an imprecise molecular diagnosis potentially leading to the wrong choice for targeted therapy the technological advances of single-cell technologies and liquid biopsies might contribute to solve this problem as repeated multi-region sequencing of tumour tissue is not feasible in the clinical routine our allele-specific SCNA analysis detected clinically relevant 1p and 11q losses as mostly clonal while in one of three cases with MYCN amplifications the amplification was not clonally persistent but occurred later during the course of disease the high degree of both spatial and temporal neuroblastoma heterogeneity and the multiple evolutionary trajectories observed to date in individual patients with neuroblastoma indicate that many complex routes culminate in severe neuroblastoma courses and will require detailed and precise molecular analyses in further patients to completely understand causal or key points in the process and to base second-line treatment selection on reliable molecular data for every individual patient Inferring evolutionary trajectories from SNV and SCNA data reveals variable degrees of clonal diversification and an early emergence of metastatic clones in neuroblastoma Based on our observation of spatial and temporal genetic heterogeneity of UHR and HR determinants in individual neuroblastoma cases we believe that precise risk stratification can only be obtained through molecular characterisation of neuroblastomas at diagnosis Our in-depth analysis of neuroblastoma intratumour heterogeneity reveals that extensive genetic heterogeneity and subclonal diversification evolves under therapy and may have important implications for the clinical interpretation of molecular diagnostic results and for the selection of appropriate second-line treatment approaches Samples were collected by open surgical biopsy either at diagnosis at tumour resection after 4–6 cycles of chemotherapy (according to neuroblastoma therapy regimen) or at diagnosis of relapse Fresh samples were immediately snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80 °C Portions of tumour material were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) in parallel for diagnostics and preservation in the pathology unit Two to 30 biopsies were taken from geographically separate areas of the tumour body with a minimal distance of 10 mm from each single tumour only tumour regions with high tumour cell content (>60% for WES and RNA sequencing 10% for targeted re-sequencing) were included A pathologist confirmed the diagnosis and assigned tumour regions for macrodissection with a high content of vital tumour cells on sequential hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections Peripheral blood collected from each patient was used as a matched germline control for tumour samples DNA was prepared using the Qiagen DNA Mini kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions The SureSelect Human All Exon V6 kit (Agilent) was used to prepare libraries enriched with exonic sequences The libraries were further prepared for sequencing using the Illumina TruSeq Exome Kit and sequenced on Illumina HiSeq 2500 and Illumina NextSeq sequencers Read sequences and base quality scores were de-multiplexed and stored in Fastq format using the Illumina bcl2fastq (2.16) software Adapter remnants and low-quality read ends were trimmed off using custom scripts The quality of sequence reads was assessed using FastQC (0.11.5) software All libraries were deemed of high quality and usable for follow-up analyses Duplicate read alignments were marked using samblaster (0.1.24) and resulting Bam files were stored for later analyses Overlap with exon target regions was assessed using the BedTools (2.27.0) suite of tools and the target region file provided with the SureSelect Human All Exon V6 kit (Agilent) Mean coverage was computed from these results as the average number of aligned reads per base in the specified exonic target region as were the exact proportions of targeted bases covered by each number of aligned reads Median coverage was 346× (range: 163×–636×) Aligned reads were further filtered using sambamba (0.6.8) software to remove the secondary and failed alignments and PCR-duplicate reads each tumour sample is first compared to the matching control sample and SNVs and InDels supported by a sufficient fraction (≥10%) of aligned reads in the tumour sample and not exceeding a specific fraction of reads in the control sample (<5%) are selected as candidate variants Based on the complete set of control samples from all patients a probabilistic model for base mismatches due to technical reasons was constructed and only candidate variants deemed highly unlikely (p < 0.001) under this model more likely to have arisen from biology rather than technical artifacts are considered as somatic variants A SNV was considered to be clonal if present in all tumour cells with variant allele frequency greater than 10% based on the assumption that all somatic mutations were heterozygous and tumour cell content in the sample was ~60% The threshold was adjusted accordingly for SNVs in regions with copy-number gains and losses genes potentially affected by the mutation including effects on the protein level were stored together with information including whether the variant had been previously detected and deposited in a variant database such as dbSNP A smaller list of variants predicted to affect well-known cancer genes was generated that only included non-silent variants in genes contained in the list of cancer-relevant genes described above Variant allele frequencies for each of the 1479 SNVs in each sample were computed using the Rsamtools Bioconductor/R package This method uses a Bayesian mixture modelling approach to stratify variants into clusters based on their copy number and variant allele frequency (VAF) in each sample Sample tumour purity is estimated from the VAF distribution in copy-number neutral regions and used to scale all VAFs binomial-mixture model was used to cluster VAFs with an upper limit set to 20 potential clusters and the default settings for other parameters VAFs of exactly 0 were replaced by a very low number (10−10) prior to running the algorithm since the clustering algorithm did not converge in extreme cases in which too many VAF entries were exactly 0 Variant clusters from sciClone were assigned to clones and parental relationships between clones were inferred as follows Clusters with high cellular fraction (>90%) in all samples were merged into the founding clone to make up the branch of the tree Other clusters were grouped according to their cellular fraction in subsets of samples and assigned as clones to the branches of the tree with the requirement that the ancestor clone was present in the same and potentially more samples Clusters only present in a single sample were merged into clones that made up the leaves of the tree Clones with a cellular fraction of <5% in a sample were not assigned to the respective sample Samples were annotated in the tree at the relevant clone furthest away from the tree stem indicating that the sample contained the respective clone and all of its ancestor clones branch lengths corresponded to the total numbers of SNVs in each clone and cancer-relevant genes contained in each clone were annotated at the branches the total numbers of SNVs with median VAFs >0 were too low to infer meaningful clonality trees Genes with an absolute log2-fold change >1 and a gene-wise false-discovery rate (q) < 0.1 were considered to be significant in this analysis and retained in the final list Expression of these genes in our patient samples was used for the second principal component analysis CEL files with intensity probe signals were analysed using the Chromosome Analysis Suite (ChAS) software version 4.1.0.90 (r29400) and converted to CYCHP files Copy numbers are visualised using the allele difference plot weighted log2 ratio and the smoothed signal The smoothed signal is used to directly estimate copy numbers Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article Source code in R for running sciClone and for constructing the clonality trees is included as a zipped file in the supplementary online information (Supplementary Software 1) and treatment of localized and metastatic neuroblastoma in Germany 1979-2015 Advances in risk classification and treatment strategies for neuroblastoma A mechanistic classification of clinical phenotypes in neuroblastoma Telomerase activation by genomic rearrangements in high-risk neuroblastoma Children successfully MATCHed to therapies Abstract 5413: Terry Fox PRecision Oncology For Young peopLE (PROFYLE): a Canadian precision medicine program for children adolescents and young adults with hard-to-treat cancer Molecular characteristics and therapeutic vulnerabilities across paediatric solid tumours Next-generation personalised medicine for high-risk paediatric cancer patients - The INFORM pilot study Activating mutations in ALK provide a therapeutic target in neuroblastoma The genetic landscape of high-risk neuroblastoma Activity of crizotinib in patients with ALK-aberrant relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma: A Children’s Oncology Group Study (ADVL0912) ALK Inhibitors in neuroblastoma: a sprint from bench to bedside Extensive clonal branching shapes the evolutionary history of high-risk pediatric cancers Four evolutionary trajectories underlie genetic intratumoral variation in childhood cancer The genetic tumor background is an important determinant for heterogeneous MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma The landscape of genomic alterations across childhood cancers Explaining the high mutation rates of cancer cells to drug and multidrug resistance by chromosome reassortments that are catalyzed by aneuploidy Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in high-grade serous ovarian cancer: a phylogenetic analysis Chromosomal instability confers intrinsic multidrug resistance Pan-neuroblastoma analysis reveals age- and signature-associated driver alterations Cancer chromosomal instability: therapeutic and diagnostic challenges Tracking the evolution of non-small-cell lung cancer Deterministic evolutionary trajectories influence primary tumor growth: TRACERx renal Pervasive chromosomal instability and karyotype order in tumour evolution Relapsed neuroblastomas show frequent RAS-MAPK pathway mutations COSMIC: somatic cancer genetics at high-resolution Mutational landscape of metastatic cancer revealed from prospective clinical sequencing of 10,000 patients Mutational dynamics between primary and relapse neuroblastomas CRMP5 controls glioblastoma cell proliferation and survival through notch-dependent signaling Petkovic, M. et al. Whole-genome doubling-aware copy number phylogenies for cancer evolution with MEDICC2. Preprint at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.28.433227v2 (2021) Phylogenetic quantification of intra-tumour heterogeneity Are gains of chromosomal regions 7q and 11p important abnormalities in neuroblastoma Chromosome 1p and 11q deletions and outcome in neuroblastoma Somatic and germline activating mutations of the ALK kinase receptor in neuroblastoma Distribution of segmental chromosomal alterations in neuroblastoma Whole chromosome alterations predict survival in high-risk neuroblastoma without MYCN amplification Overall genomic pattern is a predictor of outcome in neuroblastoma Extrachromosomal circular DNA drives oncogenic genome remodeling in neuroblastoma Extrachromosomal oncogene amplification in tumour pathogenesis and evolution Enhancer hijacking determines extrachromosomal circular MYCN amplicon architecture in neuroblastoma Distinct transcriptional MYCN/c-MYC activities are associated with spontaneous regression or malignant progression in neuroblastomas Neuroblastoma is composed of two super-enhancer-associated differentiation states Comparison of RNA-seq and microarray-based models for clinical endpoint prediction Intratumor heterogeneity defines treatment-resistant HER2+ breast tumors Pan-cancer analysis of the extent and consequences of intratumor heterogeneity Deep sequencing reveals occurrence of subclonal ALK mutations in neuroblastoma at diagnosis effectively reduces growth of ALK driven neuroblastoma cells Targeted therapy for neuroblastoma: ALK inhibitors A phase I/II study of crizotinib for recurrent or refractory anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma and a phase I study of crizotinib for recurrent or refractory neuroblastoma: Study Protocol for a Multicenter Single-arm Open-label Trial The targetable kinase PIM1 drives ALK inhibitor resistance in high-risk neuroblastoma independent of MYCN status Combined ALK and MDM2 inhibition increases antitumor activity and overcomes resistance in human ALK mutant neuroblastoma cell lines and xenograft models Inhibition of Axl improves the targeted therapy against ALK-mutated neuroblastoma Resistance to targeted therapies as a multifactorial gradual adaptation to inhibitor specific selective pressures The challenge of defining “ultra-high-risk” neuroblastoma Li, H. Aligning sequence reads, clone sequences and assembly contigs with BWA-MEM. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1303.3997 (2013) An empirical Bayesian framework for somatic mutation detection from cancer genome sequencing data A program for annotating and predicting the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms SnpEff: SNPs in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster strain w1118; iso-2; iso-3 Using droplet digital PCR to analyze MYCN and ALK copy number in plasma from patients with neuroblastoma Detection of tumor ALK status in neuroblastoma patients using peripheral blood Multiplexed quantification of four neuroblastoma DNA targets in a single droplet digital PCR reaction limit of detection and limit of quantitation The UCSC Genome Browser database: 2019 update Sequenza: allele-specific copy number and mutation profiles from tumor sequencing data SciClone: inferring clonal architecture and tracking the spatial and temporal patterns of tumor evolution GENCODE reference annotation for the human and mouse genomes Moderated estimation of fold change and dispersion for RNA-seq data with DESeq2 International consensus for neuroblastoma molecular diagnostics: report from the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) Biology Committee Download references We thank Nicole Hübener for critical discussions and Martin Meixner for expert technical advice about WES and targeted sequencing This work was funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (SYSMED-NB the Berlin Institute of Health (TERMINATE-NB CRG04 collaborative research project) and in the TransTumVar project is supported by the German Research Foundation (#398299703) and Wilhelm Sander Stiftung are participants in the BIH-Charité Clinician Scientist Programme were supported by Austrian Science Fund (FWF) Grant No We thank the patients and their parents for granting access to tumour specimens and clinical information for this study These authors contributed equally: Karin Schmelz These authors jointly supervised this work: Anton G Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB) Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) of the Charité and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO) Department of Experimental Pediatric Oncology Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC) BIFOLD—Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data and R.F.S performed bioinformatic analyses and interpreted data performed histopathological diagnostics on tumour samples All authors read and approved the final manuscript The authors declare no competing interests who is employed by Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH Peer review information Nature Communications thanks Daniel Bexell reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26870-z Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research The Office of Human Resources will take the lead in launching the employee engagement and onboarding work group formed by interim President Patrick Phillips in response to the findings of the IDEAL climate survey Chief Human Resources Officer Mark Schmelz announced that Kaia Rogers tools and activities that will enhance onboarding and engagement practices at the university and recommend strategies for campus leaders to use within their units schools or colleges to positively impact employee engagement.   Phillips recently shared with the campus community the formation of four work groups to address key areas identified for improvement by the survey: employee engagement and onboarding; equity; antidiscrimination response and reporting; and faculty service “I share in interim President Phillips’ view that the results of the IDEAL climate survey are eye-opening and show we have much more work to do to ensure everyone feels valued “In collaboration with university leadership human resources will support the establishment of employee engagement as an institutional priority and provide tools and resources to help campus leaders facilitate systemic change and sustainable progress.” Schmelz emphasized the importance of building a culture of accountability by creating opportunities for employees to contribute to the engagement process and setting clear expectations for supervisors He announced that supervisors and managers at all levels will be expected to focus on employee engagement on an ongoing basis and participate in implementation processes within their unit Human resources will work with units to implement accountability measures based on recommendations provided by the engagement and onboarding work group “Prioritizing employee engagement at the UO is not about momentary action or a large-scale initiative It is about the effort each of us makes every day in every interaction,” Schmelz said “As the engagement work group begins their work we can all take a moment to reflect on how to enhance the engagement strategies we currently rely on and discover new ways to improve our own experience and that of our co-workers.” Human resources provides an updated employee engagement guide that includes information and resources about the importance of shared responsibility and the difference that engagement makes in the workplace. It also leverages resources available through Gallup and LinkedIn Learning to give managers and employees strategies “The employee engagement guide gives our campus community shared language and a common understanding to build upon,” Rogers said “It provides an important first step to give supervisors and employees actionable ideas they can start using now while the work groups and unit leaders assess needs and implement action plans.” Schmelz added that enhancing employee experience and improving workplace climate takes continuous commitment and sustained effort over time Change does not occur simply because a priority is set or an online resource is created “What is most important is that we start moving in the direction of our goal of improving our campus culture,” Schmelz said see a difference and measure our improvement.” Bergenfield mayor Arvin Amatorio has filed a defamation lawsuit against the incumbent he unseated last year Norman Schmelz accused Amatorio of violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and practicing law without a license He called on Amatorio to withdraw from the race a press release from Schmelz referred to an unrelated immigration case in a bid to misrepresent his character “In the run-up to the November 5th election I was smeared by my opponent and his team for political purposes They alleged that “immigrant families have been ruined by Mr and deliberate misfilings [sic] that served to enrich his own and his client’s pockets” They further added I was illegally practicing law These false allegations hurt my personal and professional reputation and I am taking measures to clear my name.” Amatorio’s attorney alleged that Schmelz attempted to “break the link of affection and political appeal between Mr and Filipino and other minority and immigrant voters in Bergenfield by falsely painting him as an exploiter of immigrants.” He was the Republican candidate for Bergen County Executive in 2018 and lost to incumbent Jim Tedesco by a 63%-37% margin "a5d21ec54ba1df8d689a50eda27bfc03" );document.getElementById("b0150800dd").setAttribute( "id" In April 2016 I featured a video of one of my favorite places on Earth: Lofoton, Norway by the brilliant filmmaker, Dennis Schmelz this time with The Beauty of Greenland in glorious 4K.Places like Greenland are revered with photographers and videographers alike for their stunning vistas and fjords and cleaner; this comes across beautifully in this video Sailing through the midnight sun would be a memorable experience for anyone and in July 2017 Given the quality of Schmelz creations I always expect more of an eye-watering selection of kit but I am then always pleasantly surprised It really goes to show that you can shoot beautiful travel videos with as professional a feel as one can reasonably expect without offloading tens of thousands of dollars to do so You can see more of Schmelz' work on Instagram or on his Facebook page with some great behind-the-scenes clips and previews of upcoming work Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses Those drone shots on the water are very impressive It's pretty crazy how much detail they can get If only I could justify purchasing one for reasons other than flying it around the woods I appreciate how the video shows the people who live there Sometimes we forget that there's a culture that exists in these beautiful foreign lands and a lot of times there just as worth visiting for the people ugly editing - scenes too short on many segments trying to time with music was way overkill pretty much ruined what the video was supposed to be about BERGENFIELD — Bergenfield Mayor Arvin Amatorio is suing former Mayor Norman Schmelz over allegations made by Schmelz when the two ran against each other in last year’s election The lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in Bergen County also names Schmelz’s running mates for the council an attorney who worked on Schmelz’s campaign Schmelz issued a press release noting that Amatorio had been named in a federal lawsuit filed in Indiana Amatorio's suit said the press release spread "scandalous litigation claims." a Democratic council member who beat the Republican Schmelz said in an interview that he filed his lawsuit against Schmelz and his associates because he wants to clear his name said he lost several potential clients who were scared off when they found out about the federal lawsuit because Schmelz’s press release was still posted online Amatorio did not file the suit right after the election because he “was hoping they would apologize He is seeking a public retraction of the statements about him by Schmelz and his associates Amatorio also wants them to pay for advertising that would correct the record “It’s a frivolous lawsuit being filed by a sore winner,” Schmelz said in an interview I cannot comment on ongoing litigation.” Loszynski and Suero could not be reached for comment The Indiana lawsuit that the Schmelz press release referred to was filed by Czesar Hernandez a physical therapist based in New York who came to the United States from the Philippines in 2013 on an HB-1 non-immigrant visa for work a nationwide health care recruiting and staffing company based in Indianapolis says in the suit that in 2016 “false and fraudulent promises of timely immigration sponsorships and proper payment of prevailing wage” were made to lure him to work for the company but that he found out the defendants "did not timely file his immigration papers and did not correctly pay him his offered prevailing wage rate.” Hernandez also said he was forced to continue working for the company because leaving would “definitely make him unlawfully staying in the country and would make him subject to deportation.” Hernandez’s lawsuit is still pending.  Amatorio in his lawsuit says that Schmelz quoted in the press release the allegations by Hernandez which Amatorio referred to as “an inaccurate claim” against him of professional negligence.  Schmelz said in the release that Amatorio allegedly violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2003 and should drop out of the election and step down from the council.  Schmelz also said in the release that Amatorio took advantage of Hernandez to “make a quick dollar,” did not attend an accredited law school and is not licensed to practice law in New Jersey Immigration: Man was handed to ICE after traffic stop, advocates question if cops violated NJ policy Lawsuits: A teacher's aide admitted to sexual contact with a student. Now his victim is suing Local: Lidl has arrived in North Jersey: What you need to know about Lidl and rival Aldi According to his campaign website, Amatorio was born in the Philippines, went to college in Manila and obtained degrees in economics and law he said he went to San Sebastian College of Law in Manila A search for Amatorio on the New Jersey Courts website that lists lawyers admitted to practice in New Jersey did not find him immigration cases are handled in federal courts Amatorio said in an interview that he is licensed to practice immigration law in the United States, but not any other type of law Amatorio has law offices in Manhattan and Bergenfield His law firm's website says the firm "provides a wide range of legal services to corporate business and individual clients in New York The Firm represents Immigration Law clients nationwide and our lawyers appear regularly before US Immigration Courts in New York Arvin Amatorio is Of-counsel to The Law Offices of Victor Sison's Bergenfield New Jersey branch exclusively handling immigration cases." Amatorio says in the lawsuit that Schmelz's press release was an attempt at “falsely painting him as an exploiter of immigrants” as a way to break Amatorio’s connection with Filipino and other immigrant voters during the election while appealing to other voters who were possibly “suspicious or even contemptuous toward immigrants or minorities” such as Amatorio.  Suero and Treuhaft in the suit alleging that the three disseminated Schmelz’s campaign release by email Ricardo Kaulessar is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com Twitter: @ricardokaul  Sign up to The Two River Times newsletter. You have successfully subscribed to the newsletter There was an error while trying to send your request. Please try again. PlayListenFamilies in limbo over Guatemalan adoptionsGo Deeper.CloseCreate an account or log in to save stories We have added it to a list of your favorite stories Schmelz and her husband are hoping to adopt Eliana before adoptions in Guatemala shut down but Eliana's case is still open.Photo courtesy of the Schmelz familyI arranged to meet the Schoens in the lobby of the Guatemala City Marriott You'd think it would be easy to spot them but when I walked in I saw five or six American couples with Guatemalan babies So it was up to Pam and Richard Schoen to recognize me Richard was cuddling a sleepy 9-month-old girl in his arms It's the fourth time he and Pam have visited since the agency sent them Isabel's picture last summer They've visited Isabel in Guatemala four times over the past several months as they work through the process of adopting her.Photo courtesy of the Schoen familyThe Schoens live in Minnetonka and Pam teaches English at Hopkins High School It's hard for them to leave their jobs and find the money to come but it's harder to stay away from Isabel "We've imagined the what-ifs," says Pam Schoen she's our daughter and I can't imagine losing her." MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all Isabel is the Schoens' daughter in every way -- except legally she belongs to the foster mother who takes care of her while the adoption process is underway Tom and Debra Schmelz with 5-month-old Eliana Denise.MPR Photo/Laurie SternBut the big hotels aren't as full of waiting parents as they used to be The flow of babies from Guatemala to America may be cut off soon a treaty meant to clean up international adoption No one is sure how that will play out in Guatemala but the new law means longer waits and more uncertainty for couples like the Schoens -- and the Schmelz family you'd walk around the village and you'd see all kinds of American families that you could tell were fostering children," says Tom Schmelz "Today you rarely see an American family with a child or two walking throughout the village -- it's just very rare." Debra Schmelz lives in a gated community in Antigua Tom flies down to visit one week every month Debra and Tom Schmelz of Hudson are in the process of adopting a second child from Guatemala Debra lives in this gated community in Antigua Tom flies down to visit one week each month.Photo courtesy of the Schmelz familyTom and Debra Schmelz hired a fulltime nanny because they have two babies They wanted to adopt a sibling for the older one before adoptions shut down but 5-month old Eliana's case is still open "If anyone in the biological mother's family changed their minds would permit the child to be taken by the biological family," says Debra Schmelz adding that she and her husband are worried that could happen to them Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere One-third of families here survive on less than $2 a day and it's no wonder it's taken off too -- up to $30,000 to adopt a child born here Adoption has become big business -- big and largely unregulated quit their jobs and moved from Minnesota to Guatemala last spring to fight for legal custody of a 4-year-old girl they want to adopt.MPR Photo/Laurie SternSo much cash sloshing around a desperately poor country has led to allegations of baby-selling and fraud unscrupulous middlemen lied to vulnerable parents at both ends of the adoption -- the birth mother who relinquished her child and the Americans who wanted to adopt Minnesotan Shaun Nugent knows what that deception feels like "It started off as a very simple referral we quickly found out that the facts that we were presented with the referral weren't indeed the facts," Shaun says "We were told she's a two-and-a-half-year-old Clearly she's not two and a half." "The woman that was representing that she's her mother wasn't really her mother and there were all sorts of other problems," Nugent continues "So when all these problems came out through the DNA tests that were required under the rules of adoption Chris and I made the decision that we were going to fight back and we effectively took control of the process." Nugent used to be CEO of Sun Country Airlines so the couple could afford to set up a second home They fired their adoption agency and hired a new lawyer because they don't have legal custody Shaun and Chris see their daughter only on nights and weekends it's been very difficult for us," says Shaun but it's like our chips were on the table and we couldn't pull them back." Shaun and Chris say their own experience convinced them of the need for reform It's hard to know how often this happens because there are only a handful of documented cases of birth mothers being coerced into giving up their babies Most people who work in adoption say they do it for love The Guatemalan government raided this orphanage in Antigua last August and removed several dozen children.ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty ImagesThe United States will sign the Hague Convention on April 1 So if Guatemala has not reformed its system by that date will no longer approve adoptions from Guatemala "The Hague treaty -- the provisions in the Hague treaty -- was designed by the first world," Shaun Nugent says "It's going to be very difficult to fund it's going to be difficult to regulate And it's going to be very difficult to implement the idealistic provisions within the accord." The Hague Convention reflects worldwide consensus that birth mothers and children should be protected It seeks to reassure adoptive parents that the process is clean and transparent The Schoens from Minnetonka -- the family we met at the Marriott -- are among them They say they will do whatever it takes to be with the child they call their own we've thought possibly about me moving down here and fostering," says Pam Schoen I guess I can't go to the place where we would lose her entirely State Department and reputable agencies have issued warnings against new Guatemalan adoptions But a few agencies are still accepting fees from unwary prospective parents -- and promising a Guatemalan child who may never arrive Overcoming the natural and man-made obstacles of the winter track season Mark's became the second fastest indoor quarter-miler in the state's history and was named the state's outstanding boys indoor track athlete Schmelz dominated the first state championship held outside Delaware in any sport finishing second and third in others at Landover after a winter that permitted little outdoor training including Tatnall record-setters Jack Hagood in the mile (4:16.77) and Stephen Garrett in the two-mile (9:11.1) and Milford's repeat long and triple-jump champion Ryan Thomas by wedging four high-level performances into three nonstop hours at the state meet He then earned third with a 21-foot long jump before lining up trailing Dover's Mykele Sanders into the second half of his specialty I really had to kick it in to win it," says Schmelz from not being able to get a lot of endurance training." so I didn't know how I was going to fare," says Schmelz Schmelz accumulated 34 points at the state meet He was also the state's most improved runner coming of age after finishing fourth in two events he exploded as one of the best sprinters in the state," coach Tom McCartan said "He realized that he was very good and on the cusp of a breakthrough Schmelz performed best in elite meets at the New York Armory second in Delaware history to Dover's Jason Lilly's 48.47 on the same track 12 years ago "Right now I want to get my endurance back where it should be so I can run more than one or two events without getting really tired so I can run an even better 400," said Schmelz "It's really fun to coach a guy who doesn't believe the hype about himself," says McCartan dedication and acceleration made Zach Schmelz of St Mark's into Delaware's outstanding 2014 high school track athlete In a season when three distance runners – Jack Hagood and Stephen Garrett of Tatnall and Charter's Kieran Tuntivate – reached elite status in their specialties and Milford's Ryan Thomas became the second best long-jumper in state history Schmelz was named Delaware's top outdoor athlete by the state's track coaches the New Castle County and Division One titlist outside his specialty in the 200 Schmelz climaxed his career by becoming the sixth fastest quarter-miler in Delaware history He accounted for 38 of the third-place Spartans' 56 points in the New Castle County meet His four gold medals at the Division One meet yielded 40 of the fifth-place Spartans' 59 points "I've never seen someone with that kind of tenacity," says coach Tom McCartan Even for the greatest kid you've ever coached there will be a time – where the race is over a playmaking striker for the Spartans' quarterfinalists to see if it could help me in soccer," says Schmelz "It turned out I was somewhat better in track than soccer but soccer was still there to help me and give me something to do in the summer and the fall." "He never considered giving up soccer," says McCartan where kids find one sport and stick with it I think that in a lot of ways that's a shame." Schmelz won two events and was top-three in two others establishing himself as a force in the high and long jumps A knee injury in soccer intermittently slowed him in practice it started bothering me again," says Schmelz "Then it seemed not to affect me and I was able to run perfectly." overtook Newark's champion half-miler Jarod Wilson on the anchor leg to give the Spartans victory in the 4x400 and edged Glasgow's Jay Whalen to win the 200 "He had a good three steps over me coming out of the stagger In the replay I saw that I beat him by the tip of my shoulder I didn't even think I had beaten him until I was told that I did," says Schmelz "He had a great start that I still haven't mastered." A week later at the Division One championships Schmelz subordinated his 400-meter time to a pursuit of team scoring in a four-event gold medal performance With all-state defensive back Michael Catalano and basketball guard Papa Otchere-Addo whom he recruited to join Karl Green and T.J he led the Spartans to two relay victories "You want to keep him on the track as long as you can," says McCartan because he's receiving the baton and giving the baton In winning the Meet of Champions 400 in 47.84 he became only the fourth Delaware athlete to surpass the legendary 1967 performance of De La Warr's Arnold Tucker who set state records at 220 and 440 yards in one afternoon Also Gatorade's outstanding Delaware track athlete Schmelz plans to study chemistry at Salisbury University We deliver! Get curated industry news straight to your inbox. Subscribe to Adweek newsletters Ryan Schmelz is leaving WTVQ just three months after being named weekend anchor “Thank you Kentucky for the unbelievable time,” Schmelz wrote on Facebook Please let me know any restaurant suggestions or bucket list things to do here in the Bluegrass if any of my Kentucky friends need furniture BIG NEWS: This will be my last week at @ABC36News. My last day on the anchor desk will be this Sunday. Thank you everyone for allowing me to tell your stories. Please join me this weekend! Also, please send restaurant suggestions! #Kentucky pic.twitter.com/hcUrFbL8UT — Ryan Schmelz (@rschmelztv) June 19, 2019 BIG NEWS: I'll be taking over as the weekend anchor for @ABC36News starting this weekend! I hope you'll join us at 6:30 and 11 on Saturdays and Sundays. pic.twitter.com/cO625sW0lX — Ryan Schmelz (@rschmelztv) March 9, 2019 Adweek is the leading source of news and insight serving the brand marketing ecosystem.