The U.S. military says 17 insurgents have been killed and 30 detained in weekend raids across Iraq.
It says the deadliest was an operation Sunday targeting a suspected suicide bombing network east of Baqouba that killed 12 armed men.
Iraqi police have reported a dozen civilians killed in an …
A property firm based in Bath has added a further 25,000 sq ft ofoffice space to its portfolio.
Apex Court in Almondsbury is the first of two new acquisitions forHPH Commercial Property.
The first floor of the 3,000 sq ft building is home to the globalbrand management Pentland Group, with communication network providersAepona on the remaining two floors.
The leases generate a total of pounds46,000 in rent every year.
HPH has also acquired a 22,000 sq ft industrial building inCrewkerne, currently let on a nine-year lease and generatingpounds77,500 a year.
Tenant W and J TOD Aerospace employs more than 100 staff at thesite and has just won a …
Love of cooking pays off
A love of cooking has turned into a full time career for Culinary Specialist Gwendolyn Meeks, who is garnering a lot of attention these days for her tasty Breadpudding Crunch.
"I have always had a love for cooking," says the head of Umm Umm Good! Inc. "I can remember my mother signing me up for a cooking class at the Chatham YMCA when I was nine. I was always enthusiastic to get home after the classes to let my parents taste the exquisite creation I'd made.
"As I got older I found that cooking was not just a fleeting fantasy I really enjoyed it. (but loathed washing the dishes!) As as a result my friends and relatives enjoyed many delicious …
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Saturday ridiculed John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for describing themselves as agents of change at this week's Republican convention.
"Don't be fooled," Obama told a crowd of 800 people surrounding him in a large barn at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds in Terre Haute, Indiana. "John McCain's party, with the help of John McCain, has been in charge" for nearly eight years.
"I know the governor of Alaska has been saying she's change, and that's great," Obama said. "She's a skillful politician. But, you know, when you've been taking all these earmarks …
Tennis star Anna Kournikova's mother has been arrested in Florida and charged with child neglect.
A Palm Beach police report says 46-year-old Alla Kournikova left her 5-year-old son home alone while she ran errands Tuesday.
Someone passing by the home found the boy and called police.
The boy told police he jumped out a second-story window, but was not …
TAVERNIER, Fla. Anglers like to think of themselves as the pillarsof conservation.
The Florida Keys Wild Bird Center delivers a sharp reminder thatwe have work to do.
Wasted fishing line and snagged hooks or lures are a deadly threatto wildlife and birds.
On the ocean, the problem is accentuated. Birds come to associateboats with baitfish and food. Terns, gulls and frigate birds circleboats in anticipation of an easy dinner, sometimes divebombing baiton the hook.
The wild bird center rehabilitates birds of all sorts withinjuries usually related to humans, particularly fishermen.
In a couple hours there earlier this month, my consciousness …
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee says the U.S. should withhold money from the United Nations to force changes at the world body.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, described her plan at the start of a hearing with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice.
Ros-Lehtinen plans to introduce a bill next week to …
Chris Young rescued Arizona's much-maligned bullpen with his second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Diamondbacks a 7-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Trailing by three going into the ninth, the Cardinals rallied and tied it on a wild pitch by winner …
For years, the Port of NH in Portsmouth has struggled to become a niche player in the shipping business by expanding its cargo services. The bread and butter of the Port has long been salt and scrap metal, much to the consternation of its critics.
"The Port director has not been able to think outside of the box," says Rep. Laura Pantelakos, D-Portsmouth.
However, a recent test run of container cargo between the Port and New York has officials hopeful that the facility is inching closer to diversification of service.
Steering the Ship
The Port is run by the Division of Ports and Harbors (Port Authority), which falls under the auspices of Pease Development …
For the high-profile, politically charged investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videos, the Justice Department is turning to a low-profile, politically independent prosecutor.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed John Durham, a veteran federal prosecutor in Connecticut, to oversee a full criminal investigation that could further challenge the Bush administration's handling of terrorism suspects.
The CIA acknowledged last month that in 2005 it destroyed videos of officers using tough interrogation methods on two al-Qaida suspects. The revelation touched off a congressional inquiry and a preliminary investigation by the Justice Department …
Photo: Jean Lachat, Sun-Times / Logan Larose, 6, of McHenry -- dressed as Princess Leia -- hugs a Lego version of R2-D2 during Star Wars Days at Legoland Discovery Center …
Book Marks
Bests are subjective, and Top 10s are limiting, but these are the books that stuck with me most in 2011. Some are examples of formal queer fiction or standard homo memoir/autobiography forms, several take a more daring - or daunting - approach to the art of literature; and, auguring well for the future, five of the 10 fiction titles are debuts. In fact, it was a good year for gay (male) debut fiction: among my other favorites are "Mitko, " by Garth Greenwell ; "Dirty One, " by Michael Graves; "We the Animals, "by Justin Torres; "Chulito," by Charles Rice-Gonz�lez; "Songs for the New Depression," by Kergan Edwards- Stout; "Quarantine," by Rahul Mehta; "Moffie," by Andr� Carl van Der Merwe; and "My Brother and His Brother," by Hakan Lindquist - not, technically, a debut, though it' s his first novel in English translation. Kudos, too, to two novels by women: Jodi Picoult's formulaic but formidable "Sing You Home," in which the desire of two middleaged lesbians to have a child collides head-on with Christian hatred; and Rebecca Makkai's daring and compassionate "The Borrower" (another debut), in which a young woman librarian befriends (well, kidnaps, in a good way) Ian, a precocious 10-year-old booldover and bound- to- be queer, when his parents try to de- gay him.
My 10 Favorite Fiction Reads of 2011
"The Empty Family," by CoIm Toibin, Scribner.
Master Irish storyteller Toibin queers it up, after last year's essentially straight novel, "Brooklyn," in this collection of nine haunting stories set in different countries and different times, but linked by a pervasive sense of melancholy, longing and loss. There's not a single clunker in a no-wordwasted collection.
"The Fog: A Novel of Desire and Reprisal," by Jeff Mann, Bear Bones Books.
Sex is violence and passion is pain in Mann's relentlessly brutal yet irrepressibly romantic short novel. From first page to last, except for a redemptive epilogue, this pitch-perfect erotic novel epitomizes a thriller genre known as torture pom, though the poetry of Mann's prose imbues even the most intense scenes with tender moments.
"The Girls Club," by Sally Bellerose, Bywater Books.
Bellerose 's warm debut embraces the concept of sisterhood with propulsive gusto - mostly the real deal of three very different sisters caring deeply for each other, even as they squabble, but with hints that the sisterhood of nascent feminism has reached the small town where they are realizing their emotional and sexual selves.
"Love/Imperfect," by Christopher T. Leland, Wayne State University Press.
As in real life, gay mingles with straight in L eland' s first collection (after five novels). F Seventeen sensual tales, linked by the thematic threads of intimacy, desire and love, depict worried mothers, absent fathers, inter-class sexual affairs and men afraid of their desires. Leland' s supple prose marks him as a short story virtuoso.
"The Marbled Swarm," by Dennis Cooper, Harper Perennial.
A liturgy of salacious acts invested with luscious language and sly wit, this seductive, exhilarating labyrinth of a novel, with its secret passageways, elusive truths and elegant intricacies, is splendidly unlike anything Cooper has previously written, even as it echoes themes of earlier work
"The Two Krishnas," by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla. Magnus Books.
A closeted husband, an unsuspecting wife, an achingly needy younger lover - the three pivotal people in Dhalla's second novel are stock gayfiction standards transformed into wrenchingly real characters by the author's mastery of human emotion; in the story's nuanced universe, duplicity has consequences and tragedy is inevitable. This is not a happily-ever-after story; its heartbreak is cathartic and inevitable.
"The Mechanics of Homosexual Intercourse," by Lonely Christopher, Little House on the Bowery/Akashic Books.
The nine stories in this exuberantly nontraditional collection will challenge traditionalists who prefer their queer fiction come from formalists such as Ed White or David Leavitt. One hopes those readers will accept that challenge - homo fiction can always use more young writers who are queer in every sense of the word.
"The Metropolis Case," by Matthew Gallaway. Crown Publishers.
First-time novelist Gallaway strikes beguiling chords in this inventive blend of mystery, romance, music and, skillfully, the supernatural. Technically, it's a 2010 title, released at the end of December, close enough for 2011 - a cunning novel embracing the universal themes of searching for love, the meaning of life. . .and the glorious world of opera.
"Wingshooters," by Nina Revoyr. Akashic Books.
Xenophobia is rampant in rural Vietnam War-era Wisconsin, where tomboyish 10-year-old Michelle LeBeau, her small town's only non- white resident, confronts discrimination, bullying and isolation with admirable resilience. Revoyr writes about deep heartache, flawed characters and squandered anger with grace.
"Zipper Mouth," by Laurie Weeks, The Feminist Press at CUNY.
The narrator of this woozy, rapturous short novel, set in Manhattan's edgy 1980s, engages heroin and cocaine with dedicated delight, maintains a soul-crushing crush on her ambiguously straight drug buddy, Jane, and shares her angst in unrequited letters to the likes of Sylvia Plath and Judy Davis. It's an ecstatic debut.
My 10 Favorite Nonfiction Reads of 2011
"Big Sex, Little Death," by Susie Bright, Seal Press.
You'd think that a memoir by a founder of the pioneering sex-positive lesbian magazine "On Our Backs" and author of the "Susie Sexpert" column would be all about sex (and there's that title). Sex there is, but Blight's account of a peripatetic childhood, of teenage radicalism, of labor organizing and, latterly, of contented motherhood is much more than a trip down orgasm lane.
"Halsted Plays Himself," by William E. Jones, Semiotext(e) Native Agents.
This slender but authoritative chronicle of legendary erotic performer and filmmaker Fred Halsted - he reigned back in the 1 970s, when daily newspapers reviewed porn films - mixes serious research with sexual relish, fleshed out by reprints of reviews, interviews, a smattering of dialogue from Halsted' s classic "LA. Plays Itself' and - another side of the man - samplings of his erotic prose.
"Happy Accidents," by Jane Lynch, Hyperion Voice.
Always candid, never coy, Lynch's account of the happy casting accidents that led her to stardom - and, more recently, to love - is the work of a most talented woman. Odd fact: By age 12, Lynch was mostly mooning about girls, though she confesses in this charismatic memoir to a hormonal crush on 1 970s-era Ron Howard.
"Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender," by Nick Krieger, Beacon Press.
Krieger 's journey through and beyond gender, from Nina to Nick, from a large-breasted "her" with shaved legs to an after-top surgery "him" with hairy calves, is chronicled with a dash of wit, with nuanced wisdom, and with candid accounts of confrontations with parents - particularly the father - who are puzzled and pained at seeing their daughter become their son.
"Nocturnal Omissions: A Tale of Two Poets," by Gavin Geoffrey Dillard and Eric Norris, Sibling Rivalry Press.
Gavin lived in Hawaii. Eric lived in New York. Facebook brought them together. Gavin, a former pom star, life-long poet, one-time chef and sometime hermit in his 50s, responded to an admiring post from Eric, a poet 15 years his junior. This two-author collection of 1 1 1 poems is the result - playful and passionate, lusty and seductive, erotic and philosophical.
"Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme," edited by Ivan Coyote and Zena Sharman, Arsenal Pulp Press.
Twenty years after Joan Nestle's "The Persistence Desire: A Butch-Femme Reader," this rambunctious, truth-telling, gender-confronting anthology both honors its antecedent and pulses with contemporary, assured, personal and provocative prose about the personas of femme and butch within the queer community.
"A Queer History of the United States," by Michael Bronski, Beacon Press.
From the Puritan imposition of intolerant sexual mores on the land that was to become America, to angry activism in the face of the nation's initial neglect of AIDS, Bronski's cerebral hop, skip and jump assessment of LGBT presence across the centuries is an astute, succinct depiction of the truth that queers have always been everywhere - and everywhen.
"A Saving Remnant: The Radical Lives of Barbara Deming and David McReynolds," by Martin Duberman, The New Press.
Duberman has crafted a riveting account of the public lives and noble ideals of two fierce early to mid-20th century queers, Barbara Deming and David McReynolds, through which he threads both their commitment to civil rights, peaceful protest and anti-war activism and a well-mannered glimpse into their sexual lives.
"Taking My Life," by Jane Rule, Talonbooks.
Scholar Linda M. Morra came across an astonishing, never-catalogued find: a posthumous autobiography, handwritten on yellow foolscap paper, recounting Rule's first 21 years from the thoughtful, painfully honest perspective of old age. Best known for "Desert of the Heart," Rule wrote 10 other novels; anyone who has read even one - though every queer reader with taste ought to read them all - will relish revisiting her fluid prose.
"Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in High Heels," by Justin Vivian Bond, The Feminist Press at CUNY.
The most riveting of celebrated cabaret artist Bond's unorthodox memoir is the revelation that from the age of 1 1 the author was bullied at school by the boy with whom ? (Bond's chosen subject pronoun) was having exuberant, albeit confused and sometimes violent, sex. But this free-form life story is at its best when it recounts the tension between a young trans soul and confused, distraught parents - a universal queer tale.
Footnotes
Though there are fewer gay (and especially lesbian, alas) titles coming from larger, mainstream publishers, smaller and newer publishers like Lethe Press (most venerable of the newcomers), Chelsea Station Editions, Tiny Satchel Press and Sibling Rivalry Press - to say nothing of ever-expanding Bold Strokes Books and some higher-quality self-publishing - are picking up the slack. At the same time, three of those presses are also publishing magazines, where novice authors and veterans alike can find an outlet for their work. Lethe's Steve Berman edits "Icarus," which focuses on speculative fiction; Sibling Rivalry's Bryan Borland edits "Assaracus: A Journal of Gay Poets"; and at year's end Chelsea Station's Jameson Currier launched "Chelsea Station," the most eclectic of the journals, filled with lesbian and gay fiction, interviews, poems and book reviews.
[Author Affiliation]
Richard Lab onte has been reading, editing, selling and writing about queer literature since the mid'7Os. He can be reached in care of this publication or at BookMarks@qsyndicate.com.
SMITHFIELD, R.I. (AP) — The candidates for Rhode Island governor are meeting in the second-to-last televised debate before Tuesday's election, and it'll be a bit more crowded on stage than usual.
All seven candidates have been invited to Wednesday's hourlong debate, which is cosponsored by the League of Women Voters and WLNE-TV and is being held at Bryant University in Smithfield.
Tuesday night's debate featured just the four major candidates: Democratic General Treasurer Frank Caprio, Republican John Robitaille (ROH'-bih-teye), independent Lincoln Chafee (CHAY'-fee) and Moderate Party candidate Ken Block.
The three other candidates participating in Wednesday's debate are all independents.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's newly minted leader presents the U.S. and its allies with an even more unknown character than his recently deceased father — and the strategic challenge of dealing with an inexperienced young man who sits on a nuclear arms program, a stash of chemical weapons and the world's fourth-largest army.
At the tender age of 27, give or take a year or two, Kim Jong Un is poised to become the world's youngest commander in chief. With virtually no track record, he will be learning on the job. From a military perspective, which takes "know your enemy" as its cardinal rule, that makes him a huge wild card as he sorts out his potentially thorny inheritance.
While the transition could offer an opportunity for positive change, this week's announcement of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's death immediately set off alarms in situation rooms from Seoul to Washington.
The younger Kim is said to have graduated from Kim Il Sung Military University and was suddenly promoted to four-star general last year in the first promotion hinting that he was being groomed to succeed Kim Jong Il, his father. Otherwise, Kim has little public record of military service. Until just before the announcement of his father's death, he had never even issued an order, according to South Korean media.
In Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un is credited with orchestrating an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island that killed four South Koreans in November 2010. However, the South Korean reports say his first directive was for troops to stop training and return to their bases.
"Worries are high," said Baek Seung-joo of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in South Korea. "Kim Jong Un is too young, and it's possible that elite generals' loyalty to him may grow thin in the long run."
Even so, all signs from Pyongyang indicate Kim has garnered enough support from the cabal of generals his father left behind to become the public face of the regime. Whether he will lead or follow, or eventually be cast aside, is another question.
"Where the guessing really starts is in determining who the power, or powers, behind the throne will be — who will be whispering in his ear and to whom he will be listening," said Ralph Cossa of the Pacific Forum of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a private think tank. "The military remains a power behind the throne, but just how powerful and who speaks for the military are still not clear."
Although Pentagon spokesmen said Thursday the transition appeared to be going smoothly, troops around the region are on heightened alert.
South Korea has ordered its military to step up surveillance of the Demilitarized Zone that has separated the two countries since their 1950-53 war. Japan called an emergency meeting of its Cabinet and put its coast guard on alert. President Barack Obama vowed the U.S. would stand by its allies, and Taiwan suspended regular missile and artillery tests to avoid causing "inappropriate speculations."
Such jitters are warranted.
When Kim Jong Il assumed power after the death of his father in 1994, he elevated the North Korean military with him, lavishing funds on the army, pursuing the expensive development of ballistic missiles and stubbornly refusing to abandon his dream of building nuclear weapons even as his nation slipped deeper into poverty and isolation.
The policy is called "songun" — military first — and Kim used it masterfully to befuddle his enemies at home and abroad. But it has also created a symbiotic relationship that may prove hard for Kim Jong Un to sustain.
By some estimates, as much as a third of North Korea's state-run economy is set aside for its military. An estimated 1.2 million troops are on active duty and 7.7 million in reserves, out of a total population of only 24 million.
Service is a lifelong process. Children are pressured to enter youth guard organizations. When troops leave active duty, they usually join paramilitary reserve forces, where some remain until they are in their 60s, according to Joseph Bermudez, a North Korea military analyst for the London-based Jane's Information Group.
"The military is everything in North Korea," said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a North Korea expert at Waseda University in Tokyo. "It has the absolute power that comes ahead of everything. Kim Jong Un will have to keep that in place to get support for his leadership."
Under Kim Jong Il, North Korea acquired enough weapons-grade plutonium to build several atomic bombs. The North's nuclear program has made it an international pariah, though experts question whether it can make nuclear bombs small enough to deploy on a warhead, a key to using them in any conflict.
But North Korea has repeatedly proven it is capable of using its conventional forces, which could be the more dangerous threat during the leadership transition.
It is suspected of using a minisubmarine to attack and sink a South Korean corvette in March last year, killing 46 sailors in the deadliest encounter between the two countries since their war. North Korea denies involvement.
Eight months later, it fired the volley of shells at Yeonpyeong Island.
The attacks underscore what is perhaps North Korea's greatest military strength: its willingness to make provocative moves, often with the diplomatic goal of gaining concessions, and gamble that its adversaries will not risk war by responding with full force.
That attitude is key because the North's military is by no means invincible. Its navy is antiquated, its air force is mostly obsolete and fuel for training is scarce.
Still, it has a 2-to-1 advantage over the South in tanks, long-range artillery and armored personnel carriers, according to the U.S. State Department. It has a huge reserve of special forces — 200,000 commandos by South Korean estimates — ready to slip across the border to carry out assassinations and cause havoc at air bases and ports critical to the South's defense.
North Korea also has 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons stored across the country, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry, which believes the North is also capable of cultivating and manufacturing anthrax bacteria, smallpox viruses and cholera viruses for biological warfare.
Seoul, South Korea's capital and a city of more than 10 million, lies only 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the border, within reach of many of the North's 13,600 long-range artillery guns.
A repeat of 1950, when North Korean forces streamed across the border in a surprise attack that sparked the Korean War, is hard to imagine. South Korea's 650,000 troops are much better prepared than six decades ago, and are backed up by 28,500 American troops and another 50,000 in nearby Japan. U.S. F-16 fighters based in Japan could be over North Korea is less than an hour.
Skirmishes are a more likely scenario.
Many North Korea experts believe the two incidents in 2010 were intended to bolster the reputation of Kim Jong Un, and he could be under pressure to orchestrate another attack in the months ahead to demonstrate his credibility as a hawkish figure, like his father.
But Cossa, the analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, suggested Kim and the military leadership will be too busy working out their new pecking order to pick fights elsewhere.
"There is rampant speculation that the new leadership will have to establish its bona fides by doing something aggressive," he said. "My guess is that this would be the best time for the respective militaries to enjoy Christmas leave. The odds that the new leadership would do something provocative during the mourning period or during the transition period that follows seem particularly low."
International Festival of Life returns to Washington Park
A galaxy of international reggae, African and other world music entertainers will headline the upcoming 9th Annual African/Caribbean International Festival of Life. Produced by Martin's Inter-Culture Ltd., the star-studded Festival of Life that takes place Wednesday through Sunday, July 4-8 in Washington Park, 55th Street and South Cottage Grove.
The five-day Festival of Life is a celebration of the music, dance, art, crafts, cuisine and culture of Africa and the Caribbean. It attracts more than 100,000 people each year.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 4, Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8 from 2 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 5 and Friday, July 6.
Dedicated to "Teens In Crisis," this year's Festival will feature a special "Hands of Love" observance Thursday, July 5, to call attention to the crime and violence that plague our communities.
Chicagoans are invited to participate by joining hands to form a human chain that will stretch from the Dan Ryan Red Line station to Cottage Grove along 55th Street.
Participants will begin congregating at 10 a.m. and at noon, they will pray for an end to crime in the City of Chicago and other parts of the world.
"Each year, the Festival of Life brings people from all walks of life together to enjoy African and Caribbean culture and our incredible entertainment lineup. We want people to unite in the same way for `Hands of Love' to show support for our youth who face crime and violence on a daily basis," and Ephraim Martin, Festival of Life organizer.
The Festival of Life also features more than 50 musical artists on two stages and offers entertainment for every musical taste from rap, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, gospel, blues and jazz, to reggae, calypso, soca, salsa, punta rock, highlife and more.
Featured headliners include veteran reggae superstar Gregory Isaacs and the legendary Lord Laro on Wednesday, July 4, from the I-Three's and Bob Marley and the Wailer's fame, Marcia Griffiths, who created the Electric Slide/Electric Boogie, on Thursday, July 5, Chicago's own Mighty Chi-Lites, Shine Head and V-103 DJ Herb Kent on Friday, July 6, the master of African Highlife, Zimbabwe's Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks United and Michigan and Smiley, Jamaica's reggae dancehall rappers, on Saturday, July 7, Calypso Rose, Queen of Calypso and Half Pint on Sunday, July 8.
Other entertainers include New Dynamics, the Tribe of Judah, Michael Anthony, Michael Black, Dansika, Carl Brown, Charles Cameron, Osezua and the Predator, the Loop Lab School Choir, Jamiah and Tony Rogers, Jerge from Yard, Dub Dis, Devon Brown, Indika, Doogie, Kelly Rankin and the New Joy Community Singers, along with some of the most outstanding Gospel entertainers Chicago and the rest of the country have to offer.
The festival will also feature a food court, with 30 Oriental and American cuisines. Over 100 other exhibitors will be on hand selling, sampling and displaying their products, including arts, crafts, jewelry, clothes, vacation giveaways and more.
Games and other activities for children will be a part of the festivities. Several educational and motivational speakers will participate in the celebration.
The African/Caribbean International Festival of Life is made possible this year by the Chicago Park District, Pepsi-Cola, Western Union, Air Jamaica, the Chicago Defender, African Spectrum, CBS 2-Chicago, Guinness, WSSD FM, Nutritional Network, the Wild Hare Club and Red Stripe beer.
Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.
Golf: Peterculter's Greig Hutcheon claimed victory in the PGAScottish Region's Order of Merit for the second year in a row - evenalthough he finished a disappointing joint 58th in the final countingevent, the Callaway Challenge at Lanark.
Hutcheon, 34, totalled 853.75pt from 11 events, just ahead ofrunner-up Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), with 841.88 from 10 and MarkLoftus (Cowglen), the Scottish professional champion, in third placeon 829.17 from 11 competitions.
rowing: Aberdeen's Katherine Grainger refuses to confirm if shewill race in the London Olympics in 2012.
The 32-year-old recently claimed the world quadruple skulls title.
Grainger said: "I have not got a plan after the Beijing Olympicsnext year and I will not be making any bold statements orpredictions."
golf: Banchory's Adam Lindsay, a third year student at IowaWesleyan College, has won the William Penn Statesmen Fall Classic atthe Edmundson course, Oskaloosa in Iowa.
Lindsay had rounds of 66 and 71 for a three-under-par total of137, winning the individual title by three strokes.
He also helped Iowa Wesleyan College (575) finish second to StAmbrose University (573) in the team event.
athletics: Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba will run in Saturday's3,000m BUPA Great North Run road race in Newcastle after overcomingillness.
The 22-year-old, who won the 10,000m at the World Championships inOsaka last month, has recovered from the stomach pains she sufferedduring the race.
netball: Aberdeen duo Lisa Vosti Harper (Beacon) and ClaudiaHenison (Northern Thunder) were named in Scotland's squad for theworld championship from November 10-17 in Auckland, New Zealand.
golf: Musselburgh's Lee Harper led the Scottish challenge afterthe opening round of the PGA EuroPro Tour's Ladbrokecasino.comMasters at Selsdon Park in Surrey.
He fired a three-under-par 67 and to share seventh place, threeshots behind early leader Justin Evans.
rugby union: The balls used at the World Cup are to beinvestigated following complaints from New Zealand's Dan Carter.
The All-Black's fly-half, who missed five out of nine place kicksagainst Scotland, is unhappy the balls they have been given inpractice are different from those used in the matches.
formula one: Doubts over Fernando Alonso's McLaren future haveleft other drivers facing uncertainty, according to GiancarloFisichella's manager Enrico Zanarini.
Double world champion Alonso has been linked with a return toRenault - a move that would almost certainly see Fisichella ousted atthe French marque.
Stocks were set for a strong rebound Thursday after another big batch of earnings was mostly positive and some encouraging signs of growth in Europe. Futures rose sharply.
European markets rose after a report showed unexpected economic growth in the 16-nation group that uses the euro. In recent months, investors worldwide have been concerned that mounting government debt in Europe would stall a global recovery. A jump in Europe's purchasing managers index is welcome relief for those prediction contraction on the continent.
The jump in futures comes a day after investors sold stocks because Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress that the economy remains fragile. Bernanke confirmed investors' fears that the best scenario for the economy is only slow growth and relatively high unemployment. That sent the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 110 points Wednesday.
Investors will get a weekly report on jobless claims and details on sales of existing homes Thursday that will likely confirm Bernanke's comments that the economy remains weak. Jobless claims likely rose after last week's data was skewed by seasonal factors. Home sales likely also fell as the housing market continues to weaken after the expiration of a homebuyer tax credit.
But another batch of earnings shows that if the economy is slowing, many companies are not being affected too much by the downturn. The diversity of companies reporting results Thursday provides a good picture of the health of the global economy because they provide details about how much consumers are shipping, shopping and borrowing and manufacturers are producing.
Caterpillar Inc., 3M Co., UPS Inc. and AT&T Inc. all topped earnings forecasts and raised their outlooks for future profit. Only Travelers reported a dip in earnings, but that came as bad weather led to more claims payments.
Still more earnings are due out later in the day, including from American Express Co., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 102, or 1 percent, to 10,160. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 12.70, or 1.2 percent, to 1,076.60, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 19.75, or 1.1 percent, to 1,835.25.
UPS shares jumped $2.46, or 4.1 percent, to $62.47 in pre-opening trading. AT&T shares rose 32 cents to $25.24. Caterpillar dipped 9 cents to $66.78 after initially rising following the earnings announcement.
The Labor Department's weekly report on jobless claims is expected to show people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose to 445,000 last week from 429,000 a week earlier, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The report is due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Initial claims have hovered in a tight range for most of the year, just above the levels that would indicate strong hiring by employers. High unemployment remains one of the biggest obstacles to a strong, sustained recovery.
People out of work or uncertain about their jobs have cut back on spending, which is the primary driver of economic activity in the U.S. They have also stopped buying homes now that government incentives have expired.
The housing market, which helped push the economy into recession in 2008, is still mired in a slump. Economists predict sales of previously occupied homes fell to an annual rate of 5.18 million in June from 5.66 million a month earlier.
The report from the National Association of Realtors is due out at 10 a.m. EDT.
Before Bernanke's comments sent stocks falling Wednesday, shares had climbed modestly because of some upbeat earnings reports. Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., Coca-Cola Co. and United Technologies Corp. all reported better-than-expected profit.
Meanwhile, bond prices dipped Thursday as investors jumped back into stocks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.91 percent from 2.88 percent late Wednesday.
Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.9 percent, Germany's DAX index gained 1.6 percent and France's CAC-40 rose 1.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.6 percent.
Southwest Airlines Co. on Thursday registered to issue 12 million more shares for use in an incentive plan for employees, directors and advisers.
The stock covered in a registration filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission amounts to 1.6 percent of current shares.
The registration followed a vote Wednesday by shareholders to triple the size of the Dallas company's stock-incentive program by authorizing 12 million more shares on top of the original 6 million.
Southwest, the fifth-largest U.S. airline by traffic, has about 744 million shares, according to a recent filing.
In the past, the plan has only been used to grant 3.7 million stock options. Nearly one-third of those have gone to current executives, including 450,000 to Chairman and CEO Gary C. Kelly, and 170,000 and 165,000 to executive vice presidents Ron Ricks and Michael G. Van de Ven respectively, according to company filings.
Decisions about granting options or restricted stock are made by the board or a board committee.
Southwest shares fell 61 cents, or 5 percent, to close at $11.67. Shares of the four larger U.S. airlines fell by slightly larger percentages, as the broader market slumped on rising fears that Europe's debt crisis could delay a recovery in the global economy.
The contracts of 10 Dons players expire next summer and directorof football Willie Miller is about to hold talks with them.
But Miller, pictured, warned that caution still remains thewatchword despite the pounds1million windfall the club will receivefor Anderson from Sunderland.
Miller is planning to open negotiations soon, with Michael Harttop of his priorities. But he was quick to warn the players haveto be realistic in terms of their wage demands.
"One of my main tasks remains addressing the other players who areout of contract next summer," said Miller.
"The lads are just back from their holidays but I always like totry to do my business well in advance and we will start talking soon.
"The players have to realise that the club still has to adopt aprudent approach despite selling Russell.
"There's not a lot of money washing about at the club and ifanyone thinks differently negotiations won't progress smoothly.
"I'll continue to run the club in exactly the same way I have overthe last three years even after Russell's transfer.
"If we can reach an agreement with the players then we will bedelighted to keep them."
Miller plans to drip feed the cash whammy from Anderson'sSunderland sale to maintain a stream of homegrown stars.
The extra money won't be squandered and Jimmy Calderwood doesn'thave any immediate plans to bring in a direct replacement for hisskipper.
New signing Lee Mair, Zander Diamond, Andrew Considine, JackieMcNamara, Karim Touzani and Richie Byrne will be left to fight it outto land Anderson's central defensive role.
Miller added: "The money we receive from Russell's transfer willbe reinvested into the business of the club.
"The majority of it will be sunk into the football department, butthat's a huge department.
"It will also be invested over a number of years to make it reallywork for us.
"It's important to recognise we have invested before but thathasn't filtered through in terms of bigger gates or more revenuecoming in.
"We're hoping that investment is going to come to fruition nextseason."
Calderwood will run the rule over Dutch trialist Arafath Heuvel atthe start of next week.
And if the forward signs on that's likely to end Aberdeen'stransfer activity although Miller claimed there could be scope forfurther arrivals.
He said: "Russell's departure doesn't necessarily mean fans aregoing to see lots of new faces.
"We've already brought in new signings in the anticipation Russellmight have been moved on.
"But I'll be speaking to Jimmy who will identify any areas he mayfeel we need to strengthen."
America's thrifts posted a small profit last year after two years of losses, evidence the industry may be stabilizing amid the economic recovery.
The Office of Thrift Supervision said Wednesday that savings and loans earned $29 million last year, after reporting net losses of $15.9 billion in 2008 and $649 million in 2007.
That is the industry's first annual profit since 2006.
Thrifts earned $505 million in the fourth quarter, the second profitable quarter in a row.
The number of troubled thrifts _ those with low capital reserves and other problems _ was unchanged at 43 in the October-December period, compared to the third quarter.
Still, that is up from 26 a year earlier.
John Bowman, acting director of the OTS, said the industry is still not out of the woods. The industry set aside $3.9 billion in reserves in the fourth quarter to offset expected losses. While that's lower than it set aside earlier in 2009, it's still the eighth highest on record.
"Too many people continue to struggle to pay their mortgages ... and financial institutions continue to deal with high levels of loan delinquencies and foreclosures," Bowman said.
The thrift industry's troubled assets _ loans that are overdue and repossessed property _ as a percentage of total assets dropped to 3.25 percent in the fourth quarter from 3.65 percent in the July-September period. That's higher than the 2.54 percent recorded a year earlier.
Twenty thrifts failed last year, and Bowman said more failures are likely.
The news comes a day after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said the number of troubled U.S. banks jumped to more than 700 as the industry recorded a small profit.
Thrifts, also known as savings and loans, differ from banks in that they are required by law to have at least 65 percent of their lending in mortgages and other consumer loans. That makes them particularly vulnerable to the housing slump and high unemployment.
They also could play a key role in the recovery by providing credit.
A raging fire hampered efforts to find trapped miners Monday as the death toll from a methane blast deep underground reached 69 _ the worst disaster in years for Ukraine's dangerous coal mining industry.
There were 31 miners still trapped in the massive Zasyadko mine more than 24 hours after the blast early Sunday, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. More than 360 miners made it alive to the surface in the eastern city of Donetsk, officials said.
The blast ripped through an area more than 3,300 feet underground in the mine, one of Ukraine's largest and deepest. With the search for survivors still under way, the Donetsk region began three days of official mourning for the victims, while harrowing tales about the incident emerged.
Vitaliy Kvitkovsky, a miner in his 30s, said he had to walk over the bodies of dead colleagues to climb to the surface.
"The temperature increased sharply, and there was so much dust that I couldn't see anything. ... So I was moving by touch over dead bodies along the rail track," Kvitkovsky said in footage broadcast on Ukraine's Channel 5 television.
On Sunday, dozens of teary-eyed relatives gathered at the mine's headquarters, waiting anxiously for news on their loved ones. As grim-faced officials emerged to announce the names of the workers found dead, the relatives broke into sobs and cries. Some fainted.
The deadliest accident in Ukraine's coal industry in at least seven years highlighted the dangers of the industry in the country.
President Viktor Yushchenko accused his Cabinet on Sunday of not doing enough to reform coal mining, and ordered a panel to investigate the accident and bring those responsible to account.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, a native of the mining region, visited the site about 450 miles southeast of Kiev, pledging to help victims' families.
Yanukovych, a political rival of Yushchenko, suggested the disaster was not caused by safety violations or human error, saying a safety watchdog had reported that miners were working in accordance with norms.
"This accident has proven once again that a human is powerless before nature," he said.
Twenty-eight of the 367 miners evacuated were hospitalized, emergency authorities said.
Experts say Ukraine's mines are dangerous largely because they are so deep, typically running more than 3,280 feet underground. In comparison, most European coal beds lie at a depth of 1,640 to 1,970 feet.
Methane is a natural byproduct of mining, and its concentration increases with depth. More than 75 percent of Ukraine's some 200 coal mines are classified as dangerous due to high methane concentrations. Mines must be ventilated to prevent explosions, but some rely on outdated ventilation equipment, officials said.
The blast was the deadliest mine accident in Ukraine since an explosion at the Barakova mine in the neighboring Luhansk region killed 81 miners in March 2000.
The Zasyadko mine has been plagued by disaster.
Last year, a blast killed 13 workers. In 2002, an explosion killed 20 and 54 died in a similar explosion in 2001. In May 1999, 50 miners were killed in a methane and coal dust blast there.
Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, more than 4,700 miners in Ukraine have been killed. For every 1 million tons of coal brought to the surface in Ukraine, three miners lose their lives, according to official data.
Despite the dangers, there is growing appetite for Ukraine's rich coal reserves, particularly amid rising natural gas prices. The government has called for production to be increased by a third to 80 million tons this year.
Howard Stuller, Near North Side
The 43 minority students who moved into a hotel Thursday after someone on their Christian campus sent them racist notes through the university mail checked out of their temporary home Sunday, returning to their dormitories as law enforcement continued their investigation.
Trinity College officials moved dozens of minority students off the suburban Deerfield campus Thursday night and into a hotel for safety after three minority students received racially motivated, threatening notes.
"We took those precautions so minority students would feel safe and secure," said Gary Cantwell, a college spokesman.
Some of those students returned to their homes in the Chicago area or stayed with friends and faculty members because of the timing of the threats.
The letters came within days of the anniversaries of the shootings at Columbine High School, the Oklahoma City bombing and Adolf Hitler's birthday.
The third one threatened a Black female student with physical violence, Bannockburn Police Chief Kevin Tracz said.
Investigators have interviewed about a dozen people, but did not have a suspect Sunday.
"We're as anxious as everybody to resolve this situation," Tracz told the Chicago Defender Sunday. "Everyone would feel better if we had a suspect. I'd even feel better."
Ross Rice, an FBI spokesman in Chicago, told the Defender there was nothing new in the case.
"No arrests have been made, no charges have been filed," Rice said. "Our investigation is ongoing."
Meanwhile, campus life is getting back to normal, said Cantwell.
"If all the students aren't back on campus yet, they will be by tomorrow," he told the Defender. "There will be regular classes as there were on Friday."
He said that police told him they feel the risk has been "minimized to a manageable level."
Security on and around the suburban campus has been heightened to include 24-hour patrols.
On Sunday, an additional security guard parked his vehicle just south of the campus' driveway entrance, checking cars and identification.
No media was allowed on the grounds to take photographs or to speak with students.
"We want to respect their privacy," said Cantwell. "And there will be restricted access to the campus, at least through Tuesday."
Trinity College, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America, sits on the campus of Trinity International University. The college, located 25 miles north of Chicago, has nearly 1,000 students, 700 of whom live on campus. About 26 percent of the student population is made up of minorities.
"It's a very happily diverse campus and this incident is very much out of character for the student body," Cantwell said. "Diversity is one of the things we value, as it is a reflection of the kingdom of God."
The three letters were addressed to specific students. The third one mentioned seeing a young Black woman at a devotional service on campus, included a threat of violence and indicated there was a weapon, Tracz said.
Police also believe it's most likely the letters were written by one student.
An FBI lab is analyzing them and the results are expected within two weeks, Tracz said.
Cantwell insisted that the communications be referred to as notes, because they were handwritten on notebook paper and not sent through conventional mail.
Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson contributed to this report.
Article copyright REAL TIMES Inc.
Photograph (Gregory Waybright and Watson Jones)
The arrival of spring and the Easter holidays makes this aperfect time to celebrate by filling the house with flowering pottedplants. Bring a riot of spring color to the kitchen counter, diningroom table and winter-dulled windowsill.
Look for an exciting array of new and different flowering plantsavailable in greenhouses and garden centers.
Daisy Hill Greenhouse in Hunting Valley, Ohio, is one of theregion's foremost growers of upscale potted plants.The hardy primrose is a cheerful little plant with a tidyrosette of elongated leaves and a tuft of bright flowers in themiddle. They bloom in red, yellow, white, purple and pink. Purchaseplants with their flowers still encased in the bud. Once theblossoms open, they will last for two to three weeks.Don't discard hardy primroses when they finally fade. If youhave an outdoor garden, plant them there after the danger of frostpasses in May. They make excellent companions to tulips anddaffodils.A more flamboyant tropical Chinese cousin of the hardy primroseis Primula obconica, which has airy clouds of pink, purple, white andlavender. It will thrive in a south-facing sunny window and flowerfor months during winter or spring. Nip off the old flower clustersas new inflorescences arise from within the mantle of leaves toensure repeat bloom.Primula obconica is one plant best enjoyed from a distancewithout a lot of touching. Repeated contact with the leaves cancause an allergic rash in sensitive people.Gloxinias - with huge, velvety, vase-shaped white, blue, pinkand red flowers and furry rounded leaves - are perhaps the mostlavish of the potted spring flowers.A member of the African violet family, they require similargrowing conditions - warmth and bright indirect light. Keep the soilevenly moist when in bloom, prolonging the flowering period. Butwhen the blooms are done, let the soil dry out slightly beforewatering again, keeping the root system healthy enough to allow for afuture round of blooms.Gloxinias grow from seeds or more easily from tubers, which youcan buy in the dormant state and nurture into a blooming plant withinabout a month. If you buy a gloxinia in bloom, allow the plant tocontinue growing through the summer and into fall outdoors in lightshade.Cut the foliage back in autumn, and store the pot in a cool, drylocation for the winter. Come late winter or early spring, bring thepot back into a warm area and resume watering lightly to encouragethe tuber to resprout and bloom again.If you like the large white-flowered hydrangeas that gracesummer gardens, you'll enjoy their smaller florist cousins - pottedhydrangeas frosted with white lacecap flower clusters or large denseballs of bloom. When finished blooming, you can move the plantsoutside into a perennial garden. If the site is protected duringwinter, they may return next spring.Citrus is not just for the subtropical orchards of Florida,Texas and California. Several types of oranges and lemons makewonderful potted plants, which can live for many years if rotatedbetween a brightly lit winter window and a sunny summer patio.All are alike in growing into low bushes with glossy leaves andhaving fragrant white flowers. The varying types of fruitdramatically set them apart.Ponderosa lemons have huge, almost muscle-bound fruit that cangrow bigger than softballs and look especially dramatic when danglingfrom a modest potted bush. Prop the lemon up on an inverted clay potto give it support and keep it from tearing off shrub limbs orbreaking the plant apart. When it reaches full size and is ready toharvest, cut it open and eat it.Another worthy and compact lemon for growing in pots is `Meyer,'which produces fruit much like what you find in the grocery store.In startling contrast, the calamondin orange has tiny orangelikefruit on a fairly large, bushy tree. It can produce both flowers andfruit simultaneously during winter and early spring, providing colorand fragrance.To ensure fruit production, use a dry paintbrush to dab pollenfrom one flower to the next.Pomegranates, a tropical fruit with red skin, grows as a rarebut charming potted plant. It is a low shrub with ellipticalevergreen leaves, tubular flowers of scarlet, orange and othercolors, and plump red fruit.Put your pomegranate outdoors on the patio in summer and move itindoors for winter, providing bright light and a little insecticidalsoap to thwart white flies.The list of delightful spring flowers goes on with potted springbulbs, azaleas, lilies, fragrant herbs and more.There is something for every taste and budget.Susan McClure is a Chicago area free-lance writer.
Craig Hartsburg said he was furious with his team after the"embarrassing" first 20 minutes of a 3-1 home loss to Toronto onMonday.
Apparently it took some of the Blackhawks another 40 minutes tostart to simmer like their coach, if the players-only meeting afterthe game was any indication.
"Some guys said some things out of anger," defenseman EricWeinrich said. "But I think we've got to get angry in a positiveway. Negative anger just leads to more frustration."And there is already enough of that on the Hawks, who are 5-9at home and 2-9-1 in their last 12 games."We had a lot to say after an effort like that," captain ChrisChelios said. "We've had other meetings, but maybe some guys haven'tlistened. But we're not going anywhere playing like that."But the team knows some players might be going if the losingways continue."Everyone is aware of that; it goes without saying," MurrayCraven said of possible personnel moves. "We talked about that. Wedon't want that to happen."Many players pointed out this is the same team that enjoyed a6-3 start."It's the same group of guys, but not the same effort orcommitment," Chelios said. "We came out hungry at the beginning ofthe year. Now maybe everybody has found a comfort level. Maybe some(players') hearts aren't in it."Some might find their hearts in Indianapolis, Hartsburg said.The Hawks called up Dave Chyzowski and Sergei Klimovich from the Ice,the Hawks' International Hockey League farm team."If some people don't do their job, then maybe we'll send twomore down (to the minors) and bring two more players up," Hartsburgsaid. "There are 20 players (there). Obviously, some of them cancome up and play better than what we've got going now."CHIPPING IN: Hartsburg said Chyzowski, a former top draft choice- he was selected second overall by the New York Islanders in 1989 -did "everything we asked of him (Monday)." Chyzowski skated on thefourth line with Jeff Shantz and Jim Cummins."He came and worked hard and hit people," Hartsburg said. "Idon't think a forward other than on that line hit anybody in thefirst period."NUMBERS GAME: Told the No. 54 on his sweater made him look likea football player, Chyzowski said: "They could put 287 back there,I'm still going to do the same thing."HEALING TIME: Denis Savard will not skate for a few days toallow his injured right hand to completely heal.
Three people remained hospitalized yesterday after being struckby a careening car Tuesday on Michigan Avenue, and 10 people alsoremained hospitalized after a taxi hit 13 people in the Loop Monday.
Mary Ford, 78, of 111 E. Chestnut, was in critical condition atNorthwestern Memorial Hospital. She and three other women werestruck by a car that jumped a curb Tuesday at Michigan and Chestnut.
In critical condition after Monday's accident at State andMonroe were cabdriver Willie Evans, 66, of 313 N. Mayfield, at MercyHospital, and Timothy P. Conway, 31, of 9609 S. Hoyne, atNorthwestern Memorial Hospital.
Police said Evans apparently had a stroke before the accident.
David Letterman doesn't even need writers to have fun with this one.
The late-night comic's representatives met with striking writers on Friday in an attempt to reach a deal that will allow the "Late Show" to return to the air with its writing staff.
All the Writers Guild of America would say about the meeting: "A lively exchange of information took place." It was reminiscent of diplomat-speak for argumentative talks between hostile countries: "A frank exchange of views."
Absent a deal, the CBS show's goal of returning to the air with live episodes on Jan. 2 is still up in the air.
Late-night rivals Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel are all coming back that night without writers if the strike, as expected, is not resolved. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert plan to bring their late-night shows back without writers on Jan. 7.
Letterman's hope to bring his writers back stemmed from the union's announcement last weekend that it was open to reaching contract agreements with separate production companies. Letterman's Worldwide Pants owns his show and CBS' talk show with Craig Ferguson.
Rob Burnett, president and CEO of Worldwide Pants, didn't say much more.
"We had a substantive discussion today with the WGA and look forward to continuing these talks next week," Burnett said.
Beverly Hills collector James Comisar just talked Johnny Carsoninto giving him that "Karnak the Magnificent" costume - the onlything Johnny asked to take when he left the "Tonight Show."Comisar's working on a museum to house his stuff, including a lifepreserver from the SS Minnow on …
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a disclosure of some of the most sensitive information revealed by WikiLeaks so far, the website has released a secret cable listing sites worldwide that the United States considers critical to its national security.
The locations cited in the diplomatic cable from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton range from undersea communications …
Rangers 3, Capitals 2
Washington Capitals goalie Olie Kolzig was the reason his team wasable to overcome a two-goal deficit, force overtime and then survive14 rounds in the shootout.
But Kolzig was helpless to stop the Rangers' 15th shooter, adefenseman who hadn't scored all year. Marek Malik skated in close,dropped the puck between his skates, stuck his stick between his legsand flipped the puck over Kolzig, lifting the New York to a 3-2victory in front of a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.
"I didn't expect that kind of move from a defenseman shooting 15thin the shootout," Kolzig said. "I'm more upset I didn't stop [Jason]Strudwick, who was coming down …
Surprise Ending: Caps Fall in N.Y.; Shootout Decided by DefenderRangers 3, Capitals 2
Washington Capitals goalie Olie Kolzig was the reason his team wasable to overcome a two-goal deficit, force overtime and then survive14 rounds in the shootout.
But Kolzig was helpless to stop the Rangers' 15th shooter, adefenseman who hadn't scored all year. Marek Malik skated in close,dropped the puck between his skates, stuck his stick between his legsand flipped the puck over Kolzig, lifting the New York to a 3-2victory in front of a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.
"I didn't expect that kind of move from a defenseman shooting 15thin the shootout," Kolzig said. "I'm more upset I didn't stop [Jason]Strudwick, who was coming down …
Stronger analytics can lead to greater profitability
As the pharmaceutical industry weathers some of its biggest challenges in decades, supply-chain analytics may offer the solution to some of the industry's biggest problems. Accenture's Global Pharma Industry Supply Chain & Tech Ops study-completed in May 2010 - offers some key insights into how analytical capabilities could help transform supply chain operations.
While most study participants - 25 pharma and biotech companies from around the globe and across industry segments - would agree that "supply chain analytics are a crucial part of our strategic priorities," their efforts are largely focused on developing …
NEW YORK -- People who start taking sinus medications before peak allergy season fare better when pollen counts start climbing, doctors say.
According to physicians quoted in a USA Today story earlier this year, patients who start taking antihistamines a week or two before they think they are going to start having symptoms fare better than those who wait until the first sign of trouble.
Allergists say that early use of over-the-counter allergy medications is based on a new approach …
Byline: Nancy Hass Business writer
The state Thursday transferred commuter bus routes along the Hudson River from Newburgh to Albany from Mountain View Coach Lines to two other New York companies.
Hendrick Hudson Bus Lines of Hudson will begin Monday running buses up the east side of the river through Kinderhook and Valatie, and Adirondack Transit Lines will run buses up the west side through Catskill and Coxsackie, Edward Canty, a Department of Transportation spokesman, said.
Until two weeks ago, bus service on both sides of the river was run by Mountain View. But the Coxsackie- based bus company, which has been under investigation by the DOT for …
Byline: Rick Clemenson
Dec. 15--VOORHEESVILLE -- Mark Guilzon says he feels the calling to move his family from their suburban lifestyle to the Tanzanian bush.
The six-member Guilzon family will be the first white missionaries to a tiny Rukwa Valley village where the natives dress in traditional tribal cloaks and believe in the powers of witch doctors, their primary care physicians. "I could stay right here and live a comfortable life, but I feel we should go there and give people who have no hope some mercy," said Mark Guilzon, 38, a physician's assistant at Ellis Hospital. He will be joined by his wife Jodi, 33, and their children Katlynn, Benjamin, …
Results Saturday after the second day of the Lexus Cup team competition on the par-72 Vines course:
ASIA 9 1/2, INTERNATIONAL 2 1/2
Second Round
Best Ball
Asia 3 1/2, International 2 1/2
Angela Park and Nikki Campbell, International, def. Jeong Jang and Shi Hyun Ahn, Asia, 3 and 2.
Jee Young Lee and Seon Hwa Lee, Asia, def. Suzann Pettersen and Natalie Gulbis, International, 2-up.
Cristie Kerr and Nicole Castrale, International, def. Sarah Lee and Meena Lee, Asia, 3 and 2.
Morgan Pressel and Stacy Prammanasudh, International, halved with Candie Kung and Ayako Uehara, Asia.
Amy Hung …
Q. At a recent office meeting the subject of our real estatecommissions and how the general public perceives them was discussed.Many agents believe that the real estate agent receives the fullcommission paid by the seller of a property.
It would be a real service if you could explain the way acommission is traditionally split between the listing and sellingagent and broker.
A. Commission rates are negotiable between seller and lister,division between offices can vary by agreement, and each agent'srelationship to a company might be different.Let's set up a typical transaction. The Smiths' house islocated next door to Louise Lister, who puts it on the …
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Two Iraqi civilians have been injured in an explosive charge blast in Zummar township, west of Mosul on Sunday, according to a Ninewa security source.
"An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in Zummar township, west of Mosul city, blew off, wounding two …
Byline: CHUCK RAASCH
Talk to hard-core Democrats in every corner of the country and no matter whom they support in their party's tight-as-a-tick presidential nomination fight, they all say one thing: Democrats, do not screw this one up.
But unfortunately for Democrats who believe the moment is right for a return to the White House after an eight-year absence, the ingredients for a nightmare scenario have emerged. The incredibly close fight between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, coupled with the Democrats' "attaway" rules that rewards second place, prescribes a drawn-out fight for the nomination in a primary season that has exposed significant race, ethnicity and gender divides.
The two candidates pivot …
COLONIE -- David R. McGuire, who retired as principal of Albany High School in 1995, was named the new principal of Christian Brothers Academy on Monday.
McGuire, who has been acting principal at several area high schools since his retirement from Albany High, will assume the post on July 1. McGuire …
Our Fire Survives the Storm
Daniel Heath Justice
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Ave. South #290, Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
0816646392 $20.00 www.upress.umn.edu
OUR FIRE SURVIVES THE STORM: A CHEROKEE LITERARY HISTORY uses the Chickamauga consciousness of resistance and Beloved Path …
Belarus' authoritarian president allowed a banned organization of ethnic Poles to meet Sunday for the first time in four years, sending a tentative signal of his willingness to relax his tight hold in exchange for warmer ties with the West.
But the Union of Poles' congress took place under a heavy police presence, and 16 of the 174 delegates stayed away.
Ahead of the congress, many delegates said they had been called in for questioning by police or the KGB security agency and warned that they could face criminal charges for participating in an unregistered organization. Some said they had been told they would lose their jobs if they attended.
…
More than a quarter of U.S. workers say they're not confident about their ability to afford a comfortable retirement. That statistic has reached its highest percentage in two decades, according to an Employee Benefit Research Institute report.
How confident do you feel?
Fundamental to your retirement is to have a plan - and to have it sooner rather than later, say financial planning experts at the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Take the time now to plan for retirement and monitor your investments. You'll begin to feel confident, rather than apprehensive, about your future. Also, know that small changes can make a big impact in the long …
Civil Aviation Authority Director Faustasio Fabrega said August 8 that Panama's civil aviation safety will be dramatically improved from as US$11 million secondary surveillance radar, made by …
Byline: Wichit Chantanusornsiri
Jul. 24--The Government Housing Bank will restructure its asset-securitisation plans to focus more on the domestic market, according to Sommai Phasee, the deputy finance minister.The state-owned GHB had proposed securitising up to 40 billion baht in mortgage assets in the offshore market to help raise funds for business expansion.
"I have told the GHB that I don't agree with the plans to offer securitised bonds offshore. The debt should be offered locally. Even though funding costs might be higher locally, once you include currency hedging costs, the costs should be about the same," Mr Sommai said.
The Finance …
Byline: FRANCES INGRAHAM Staff writer
Historically, thick glass blocks were used in residential design as a basement window treatment, primarily for security reasons but also for additional light. Like several products for the home, glass block was first designed for commercial use.
The glass blocks of today lack the chicken-wire mesh that used to be embedded in the center, but remain very strong. Their many shapes, sizes and designs give unlimited opportunities for decorative and architectural enhancement. In a 1990 survey by Builder Magazine, glass block was ranked among the most desirable interior features.
Glass blocks are particularly favored by architects and designers for creating contemporary, lavish and innovative facades, window walls, stairwells and patterned partitions. Because the blocks are clear, an open space is achieved: There's plenty of light, colors and forms are discernible and acoustic privacy is retained. Glass blocks replace the traditional barriers that confine and enclose space.
…
The newly elected Indian government announced key Cabinet positions Saturday, including former Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee as finance minister.
A government statement said the foreign affairs portfolio went to S.M. Krishna, a longtime member of the ruling Congress Party and former chief minister of the southern state of Karnataka. A.K. Antony will continue as defense minister.
A Congress-led coalition won national elections that ended May 16, capturing more seats than most analysts predicted. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sworn in for a second term on Friday.
Some 19 senior ministers were also sworn in Friday with several more expected …
Harrelson, able to play because of the baseball strike, overcamea three-stroke deficit by parring the …
The moment you put your house on the market, you must let go -- literally. Know the commemorative plate collection or antique cuckoo clock you cherish? Pack them up and store them away, along with anything else prized and personal you may have on display. While you're at it, give your home a cleaning as you would if your mother-in-law were coming by. And by all means, stop cooking fish and other pungent foods.
All done? If so, you're on your way to successfully staging your home.
Home staging is the art of preparing a home for sale, inside and out.
Be it vacant or occupied, a staged home can sell more than 50 percent faster, according to the Real Estate Staging Association. Plus, staging a home gives it "curb appeal," inside and out. This increases the value of your home.
Staging is often done by professionals, and can cost from $1,000 to $5,000, plus $200-plus for an initial consultation. If you can't afford a stager, or want to give it a try on your own, here are some tips from area home-staging experts, all of whom are trained to see a home through the buyer's eyes.
If you have more than three of …
