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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A pair of Cy Young Awards, three straight major league ERA titles, a 20-win season — and now a no-hitter.

There isn't much more for Clayton Kershaw to accomplish from an individual standpoint. Now all the Los Angeles Dodgers' ace wants is a World Series ring.

Kershaw dominated the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night, striking out a career-high 15 and allowing his only baserunner on a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in Los Angeles' 8-0 victory.

Kershaw's gem gave the Dodgers the only two no-hitters in the majors this season. Josh Beckett tossed one May 25 in Philadelphia.

"I am so amazed," Kershaw said. "Beckett told me he was going to teach me how to do that, so I have Josh to thank."

Cheered on by his wife in the stands, Kershaw (7-2) retired his first 18 batters before Corey Dickerson led off the seventh with a slow bouncer to Ramirez. His throw on the run went wide past first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for a two-base error — ending any chance for a perfect game.

But that was it for the Rockies against Kershaw, who shrugged off the miscue and came oh-so-close to throwing the 22nd perfecto in the majors since 1900.

"He had command of everything. I told him between innings: 'It's not fair when you have a devastating slider and a devastating curveball in the same night," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "And when he does that, nights like this are really possible."

One batter after Dickerson reached base, rookie third baseman Miguel Rojas backhanded Troy Tulowitzki's grounder behind the bag and let fly with a strong throw to first that Gonzalez — a three-time Gold Glove winner — scooped out of the dirt to keep the no-hitter intact.

With the crowd of 46,069 on its feet and roaring, Kershaw made quick work of the Rockies in the ninth.

DJ LeMahieu grounded out to first base on the first pitch of the inning and Charlie Culberson hit a lazy fly to right field on the next one. Dickerson then got four straight strikes and went down swinging.

"I've seen some great pitching performances, but it's tough to be any better than Kershaw," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said.

After his 107th and final pitch, a beaming Kershaw raised his arms above his head and waited for a huge hug from Ellis.

"I started tearing up out there in the ninth inning, just sitting out there catching and watching him throw after he got those first two outs," Ellis said. "It was pretty special."

"It's something you never forget," he added. "It's a game I'll watch on replays with my kids forever."

Moments later, as he was about to be interviewed on the field, Kershaw was doused by teammates with two large buckets. The left-hander with the big-breaking curve also got a hug from his wife.

Kershaw gave Los Angeles sports fans their second memorable thrill in just a few days.

The Kings won the Stanley Cup at home last Friday night, their second NHL championship in three years, and brought the famous trophy to Dodger Stadium on Tuesday for a pregame ceremony.

The only other time the Dodgers pitched two no-hitters in one season was 1956, when the team was still in Brooklyn. Carl Erskine and Sal Maglie turned the trick that year.

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who tossed four no-hitters, pitched the franchise's only perfect game on Sept. 9, 1965, against the Chicago Cubs.

"I guess I haven't really thought of the ramifications of throwing one of these things, but it's definitely special company," Kershaw said. "I don't take for granted the history of this, or what it means. I definitely understand all that. But as far as individually, it's right up there with winning playoff games and all that stuff. It's pretty cool."

Ramirez was back in the lineup after leaving Tuesday night's game with a bruised ring finger on his throwing hand, the result of a sharp grounder by Dickerson than deflected into short center field for a double.

Ramirez was replaced on defense by rookie Carlos Triunfel to start the eighth.

Kershaw missed more than six weeks early this year because of a strained muscle in his upper back, after beating Arizona in the season opener during the Dodgers' two-game trip to Australia.

It was the 22nd no-hitter in Dodgers history and the first at home since Ramon Martinez's 2-0 gem against the Marlins on July 14, 1995.

"His stuff was phenomenal tonight. I think all the guys said that. We tip our hats to him," Dickerson said.

The day after Beckett's no-hitter, teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu took a perfect game into the eighth inning against Cincinnati before giving up a leadoff double to Todd Frazier.

"As far as individual games go, this is really special. To do it at home is more amazing," Kershaw said before looking up and thanking the crowd.

Kershaw received a standing ovation when he came to bat in the eighth, and another one minutes later after finishing the job against one of baseball's top lineups.

The Rockies began the day leading the majors in batting average, hits, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. They were first in the NL in runs and homers.

"There are some guys in that lineup that give him fits," Ellis acknowledged. "But the way he made those guys look tonight was a testament to how good his stuff was. He was pretty dialed in and pretty locked in — especially as the game progressed."

Rojas also supported Kershaw with his bat, hitting a three-run double while continuing to fill in for injured third baseman Juan Uribe. Gonzalez and Matt Kemp each drove in two runs, helping the Dodgers complete their first three-game sweep at home this season.

Jorge De La Rosa (6-6) threw 86 pitches over 3 1-3 innings and was charged with eight runs, six hits and five walks. The left-hander is 0-3 with an 8.19 ERA in his last four starts after going 6-0 with a 1.80 ERA during his previous seven outings.

NOTES: The last time the Rockies were held hitless, it was by Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo on Sept. 17, 1996. The only other no-hitter against Colorado was pitched by Al Leiter of the Marlins in May 1996.

WASHINGTON (AP) — If President Barack Obama is mingling with inventors, sooner or later there has to be a robot. On Wednesday, it was Russell, the 17-foot electric giraffe towering in the South Lawn of the White House, a symbol of the quirky and clever creations Obama wanted to showcase on a day devoted to innovation.

"New tools and technologies are making the building of things easier than ever," Obama told entrepreneurs and students who gathered at the White House at its first "Maker Faire." "There is a democratization of manufacturing that is potentially available because of technology."

As part of a weekslong emphasis on the economy, Obama was promoting the use of new tools and techniques to start up new businesses, to boost manufacturing and to strengthen science and math education.

"We've got to make sure that more Americans have the skills and opportunities to land a job in a growing industry or to create entire new industries," he said. "That's why I'm declaring today a national day of making."

Obama spoke after wandering outside from exhibit to exhibit on a sweltering day at the White House.

Besides the giant giraffe, a huge red weather balloon hovered over the Rose Garden and a menacing dinosaur head rested in a hallway.

A Philadelphia nonprofit group demonstrated a fuel-efficient car. Another showed off a solar energy unit.

"What on earth have you done to my house?" Obama joked.

Obama always seems engrossed by technological innovations, though he joked about the name "Maker Faire" as a gathering for new and creative products.

"Why is there an 'E' at the end of 'faire'?" he said. "Is there jousting? Do we all have to get dressed up, or what?....This is America. We don't have 'E's' at the end of 'fair.'"

More than 100 "makers" from 25 states were at the White House as Obama focused on helping fledgling businesses create and market their products. Obama was in Pittsburgh on Tuesday pledging to make expanding manufacturing a priority for his remaining years in office.

The White House says 13 federal agencies are teaming up with companies like Etsy and Kickstarter to help Americans access startup capital and tools to develop new products.

PHOENIX (AP) — A teacher at an Arizona prison was alone in a room full of sex offenders before being stabbed and sexually assaulted by a convicted rapist, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press about an attack that highlighted major security lapses at the facility.

The attack occurred Jan. 30 at the Eyman prison's Meadows Unit, which houses about 1,300 rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders. The teacher was administering a high school equivalency test to about a half-dozen inmates in a classroom with no guard nearby and only a radio to summon help. The Department of Corrections issued only a bare-bones press release after the attack, but the AP pieced together what happened based on interviews and investigatory reports obtained under the Arizona Public Records Act.

After the last of the other inmates left, Jacob Harvey asked the teacher if she could open the bathroom and then attacked her, records show. Harvey is accused of stabbing her in the head with a pen, forcing her to the ground and raping her.

The teacher told investigators that she screamed for help, but none came. Afterward, Harvey tried to use her radio to call for help. It had apparently been changed to a channel the unit's guards didn't use, so Harvey let the woman use a phone, according to the reports.

Carl ToersBijns, a former deputy warden at the prison, said the assault highlights chronic understaffing and lax security policies that put staff members at risk.

"Here you've got a guy that commits a hell of a crime ... and he's put into an environment that actually gives him an opportunity to do his criminality because of a lack of staffing," said ToersBijns, who was deputy warden at the Eyman prison in Florence until retiring in 2010 and oversaw the Meadows Unit for 19 months.

State prison officials, however, dismiss the concerns. They say the assault at the prison about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix is a risk that comes with the job of overseeing violent prison inmates.

Harvey was in the first year of a 30-year sentence for raping a Glendale woman in November 2011. Just 17 at the time, he had knocked on the woman's door in the middle of the day, asked for a drink of water, then forced his way inside, where he repeatedly raped and beat her while her 2-year-old child was in the apartment. He fled naked when the woman's roommate arrived home.

He was arrested after DNA evidence connected him to the crime, and he pleaded guilty.

Harvey was initially classified as a "Class 4" security risk, one notch lower than the highest level. Six months later, despite violating prison rules at least once, he was reclassified at a lower level.

Department of Corrections spokesman Doug Nick said classrooms at prisons across the state are having cameras installed. But he said no administrative investigation was launched because there was no need, and no one was disciplined. He said all prisons are dangerous places and staff are trained accordingly.

"This is an assault that reflects the fact that inmates in our system often act out violently, and it is the inmate suspect who is responsible for this despicable act," he said.

Nick also said that not having a guard in classrooms or nearby "follows accepted corrections practices nationwide."

That's not the case, said Carolyn Eggleston, a professor at California State University, San Bernardino, who started her career as a prison teacher in several states and now is director of the university's Correctional and Alternative Education Program.

"I have to say, I don't find that consistent with standards," Eggleston said. "In a sex offender unit, especially, they should be counting the people leaving the classroom. They just should. And there should be somebody, not in the class ... but there should be somebody in proximity so they can help monitor that."

The woman, who was not critically injured, has filed a worker's compensation claim against the state and did not want to comment on case. The AP does not usually identify sexual assault victims.

Internal emails obtained by the AP show that prisons Director Charles Ryan ordered all non-corrections officer staff at prisons statewide to be issued pepper spray and trained in its use just days after the attack. And an internal memo sent the day after the assault ordered guards at a nearby prison to begin checking on civilian staff every hour.

Nick said the pepper-spray order was in the works before the assault. And he said that, despite the internal memo from a major that ordered hourly checks, the actual practice is unpredictable and more frequent, with staggered checks three times an hour.

ToersBijns, who is an advocate for prison safety and believes understaffing has put state prison staff at risk, said multiple errors likely led to the assault, including not having video cameras in the classroom, a lack of checks on civilian staff and use of an outdated classification system for inmates that led to a violent predator being misidentified as a relatively low-level threat.

After the attack, Harvey was calm when confronted in the classroom, refused to talk to investigators and asked for a lawyer. He was charged last month with sexual assault, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon. A public defender was appointed, and he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. The public defender assigned to his case, Paula Cook, declined to comment.

Harvey was convicted in a prison administrative hearing of sexually assaulting the staff member. Three weeks after the rape, he assaulted another prison employee, although records don't show any details. His security classification was raised two levels, to the highest, nearly three months after the teacher was assaulted.

___

Follow Bob Christie at http://twitter.com/APChristie .

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Diana Navarro loves to code, and she's not afraid to admit it. But the 18-year-old Rutgers University computer science major knows she's an anomaly: Writing software to run computer programs in 2014 is — more than ever — a man's world.

"We live in a culture where we're dissuaded to do things that are technical," Navarro said. "Younger girls see men, not women, doing all the techie stuff, programming and computer science."

Less than one percent of high school girls think of computer science as part of their future, even though it's one of the fastest-growing fields in the U.S. today with a projected 4.2 million jobs by 2020, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This week Google, with a driverless car and Web-surfing eyeglasses under its belt, has given The Associated Press an early look at how it's trying to change the gender disparity in its own workforce, and in the pipeline of potential workers, by launching a campaign Thursday called "Made with Code."

The initiative begins with an introductory video of girls— silly, serious and brave — meeting President Obama, painting over graffiti and goofing around. The narrator says: "You are a girl who understands bits exist to be assembled. When you learn to code, you can assemble anything that you see missing. And in so doing, you will fix something, or change something, or invent something, or run something, and maybe that's how you will play your bit in this world."

A website features female role-model techies who write software to design cool fabrics or choreograph dances. There are simple, fun coding lessons aimed at girls and a directory of coding programs for girls. The search giant is also offering $50 million in grants and partnering with Girls Who Code, a nonprofit launched in 2012 that runs summer coding institutes for girls, including the one that helped focus Navarro's passion for technology.

A preview test run of Google's online coding lessons this week was deemed "awesome" by Carmen Ramirez y Porter, 11. "It's not very complicated. It's easy and fun and really cool to see how it turns out when you finish," she said.

National Center for Women & Information Technology CEO Lucy Sanders, a leading advocate for women in computer sciences, sees the Made With Code initiative as a pivotal moment in what has been a long-term challenge of getting more girl geeks growing up in America.

"It used to be that as a computing community we didn't really talk about gender issues. But now we're really pulling together, from corporations and startups to nonprofits and universities," Sanders said. "I'm very optimistic."

There's plenty of room for change.

Female participation in computer sciences has dropped to 18 percent, down from 37 percent in the 1980s, and only seven percent of U.S. venture capital deals go to women founders and CEOs. Just 20 percent of the 30,000 students who took the Advanced Placement computer science test last year were girls, according to a College Board analysis, which showed no girls at all took the test in Mississippi, Montana or Wyoming.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, one of the earliest Google employees, points to societal and economic drawbacks if women are not participating in the booming tech economy.

Also, she said, "I miss having more women counterparts."

Tech firms are overwhelming male — Yahoo on Tuesday released a report showing 62 percent of its global employees are men. At Google, about 70 percent of the roughly 44,000 people it employs throughout the world are men. This year, the search giant commissioned a nationwide study to find out why so few women pursue technology careers, asking 1,600 people about whether they were encouraged to study computer sciences and had opportunities to learn to code.

Their findings, shared with the AP this week in advance of public release: Girls have little exposure to technology and computer sciences. That doesn't mean they're not interested, however. If parents, friends and teachers encourage their daughters to pursue computer sciences, schools offer more courses and more role models step forward, the field can be leveled.

But to capture girls, it's got to be fun.

That's the plan for a "Made With Code" kick-off event in New York Thursday for 150 girls, where indie rockers Icona Pop will perform and coders will demo how they make everything from animated movies to designer fabrics with software. Actress Mindy Kaling, who is the event's master of ceremonies, said she fights gender bias in Hollywood, but when a techie friend told her about Silicon Valley's gender gap "it was staggering."

"Just as television and movies need to reflect their audience, I think it's important that people who create technology reflect the diversity of people who use them," she said.

Chelsea Clinton, who is representing the Clinton Foundation at Thursday's event, said she got her own first computer in 1987 from Santa Claus.

"Ultimately computer science is helping to create the future," she said. "So when we think about the future, we know we need to be doing more in this country and around the world to ensure that girls and women see computer sciences as real, viable options for them."

Entrepreneur Dez White wasn't necessarily pursuing a tech career when she asked a patron at her family's restaurant to teach her to write software. She just had an idea for an app and wanted to make it.

"It was very hard for me to get my head around it," White said. "I didn't go to Stanford for code."

Today, she hires coders for her firm Goinvis, which sells privacy apps that allows users to send texts that self-destruct at a set time and emails that disappear from an inbox after they're opened.

But in addition to her day job, as a successful female African-American entrepreneur, she realizes she needs to be a mentor as well.

"I think young women don't even realize computer sciences are an option. It's not laid out like nursing and social work," she said.

Next year, she's planning to organize a technology retreat for high school girls, and she tries to hire women for her growing company.

"It's hard. We have to really look. Their numbers are very, very slim," she said.

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