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Youngsters train in arts

MORE than 600 young people in the county have reaped the benefitsof a project funded through the Arts Council's Reach the Heightsproject.

The Assembly-led project in receipt of Pounds 27 million from theEuropean Social Fund, is aimed at engaging young people aged 11-19.

It has helped …

Look at Commander of Central Command

NAME - William J. Fallon.

AGE-HOMETOWN - 62; raised in Merchantville, N.J.

EXPERIENCE - Served in flying assignments for 24 years, deploying to the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, embarked aboard the USS Nimitz, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Theodore Roosevelt and other ships. Logged 4,800 flight hours in jet aircraft. He later served in staff assignments with NATO and the U.S. Atlantic Command. He was the vice chief of naval operations at the Pentagon, 2000-2003, then commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the U.S. Atlantic Fleet before becoming commander of U.S. Pacific Command. Assumed command of …

Jamaica's Luciano charged with harboring fugitive

Jamaican police say they have charged reggae singer Luciano with harboring a fugitive who shot and wounded three patrolmen while holed up inside the Grammy-nominated musician's home last week.

Police Superintendent McArthur Sutherland said the 44-year-old Rastafarian was charged Monday and released after posting bail.

Luciano, whose real name is Jepther McClymont, and his …

Food-price survey is good idea

Everyone can agree poor people shouldn't provide bigger profitsfor grocery stores than do middle-class and rich people. But thequestion is: Do they? And if so, what can be done about it?

This persistent issue was raised again last week by threealdermen - Lorraine Dixon (8th), Edward M. Burke (14th) and Luis V.Gutierrez (26th) - who said an informal survey by City Councilinvestigators showed that food bills at five groceries inpredominantly black, low-income neighborhoods were roughly 18 percenthigher than those at five stores in predominantly white, middle-classareas.

The survey has some obvious shortcomings, such as the limitednumber of stores and communities …

Midstate industries sort through subprime fallout

REGION

Commercial lending remains strong, experts say

The Federal Reserve System gave businesses something to cheer about when it slashed its benchmark interest rate Sept. 18.

The context for the rate cut was less cheerful: a slowdown in lending at the highest levels of Wall Street.

The question is whether that credit squeeze has translated into a tougher borrowing environment for small- to medium-size midstate businesses.

Conversations with local bankers and real estate observers yielded a mixed picture. Some said there has been virtually no change in the availability of credit for most companies. Even those who said credit was getting harder to come by …

Philippine communist rebels pledge to intensify attacks amid corruption scandal, protests

Communist guerrillas vowed Wednesday to step up attacks aimed at removing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from power amid a corruption scandal and planned protests to demand her resignation.

The underground Communist Party of the Philippines also called on anti-Arroyo forces to launch all forms of protest to bring down her regime, a statement said.

"The revolutionary armed forces ... have been instructed ... to further intensify tactical offensives in the next few weeks and months to help further weaken the Arroyo regime and contribute significantly to its ouster," the rebels said.

The Senate has been investigating a …

239 new houses for town ; Hundreds of new homes will be built in a North-east town.

Hundreds of new homes will be built in a North-east town.

Councillors have given the go-ahead to build 239 houses inInverurie.

The new Cala Management development, at Blackhall Farm, will alsofeature an area of industrial land to bring more businesses to thearea.

Local councillors welcomed the decision and said it would bring anumber of benefits to the town.

A range of detached, semi-detached and terraced homes as well asflats will feature in the development, on the western side …

The Seacoast Region, New Hampshire's High-Tech Hub

The Seacoast region has experienced unprecedented economic growth over the past decade-thanks in part to the success of the Pease International Tradeport and a strong high-tech business community.

But, with that expansion, Portsmouth and its surrounding towns are beginning to feel the effects of infrastructure nearing or over its capacity; lack of lower-priced housing for middle- to low-income employees; increased property tax burden; a soft economic climate; and traffic congestion on major roadways due to workers moving further away from hub-city Portsmouth.

It's the region's high quality of life that has attracted businesses and people to come to live and work.

Its …

France probes threats over cable TV porn

Anti-terrorism investigators in Paris are probing threats against a leading French cable TV channel over pornographic films it airs that can be viewed in North Africa, a judicial official said Tuesday.

Canal-Plus, France's first pay-TV channel, received letters from one or more people claiming to be Muslim and threatening to blow up its headquarters if it continues to broadcast once-a-month pornographic films, the official said. The official was not authorized to be named publicly about such matters.

Canal-Plus filed a legal complaint about the threats late last month, which prompted the anti-terrorist probe. No other details about the threats were …

Daytime talk king reigned with class

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Mike Douglas, the Chicago-born singerwhose affable personality earned him 21 years as a television talkshow host, died Friday on his 81st birthday.

He died in a Palm Beach Gardens hospital, said his wife, GenevieveDouglas. She wasn't sure of the cause but said he had been admittedThursday.

Mr. Douglas became dehydrated on the golf course a few weeks agoand had been treated on and off since. "He was coming along fine, wethought. It was really a shock," she said.

Mr. Douglas' afternoon show aired from 1961 to 1982. It featuredhis ballad and big-band singing style, other musicians, comedians,sports figures and political personal- …

REINVENTING MUNICIPAL RECYCLING IN AMERICA

Based on a successful pilot, new company brings Philadelphia the potential to achieve a 40 percent recycling rate with incentives and single-stream ingenuity.

WHEN Patrick FitzGerald and Ron Gonen began tossing around the idea of using incentives to get people to recycle, they had no idea that just three years later they would be running their own start-up company, RecycleBank, LLC, and making a bid to help municipalities all over the country move recycling programs to the next level. But that's exactly where they are these days. Using a combination of market-oriented consumer incentives, state-of-the-art high technology, a phenomenally comprehensive set of strategic business …

Cleaning Service Owners Plead Guilty

The co-owners of a nationwide janitorial service that authorities say provided cleaning crews staffed with illegal immigrants to a northern Michigan resort have pleaded guilty to charges in the case.

The investigation into Rosenbaum-Cunningham International Inc., or RCI, a Florida-based cleaning contractor, led to the nationwide arrest in February of more than 200 illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals.

Richard M. Rosenbaum, 61, and Edward S. Cunningham, 44, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the federal government and harboring illegal aliens in plea agreements with federal prosecutors.

Cunningham, of West Palm Beach, Fla., …

US school sorry for making black student 'slave'

GAHANNA, Ohio (AP) — The mother of a black primary school student assigned to play a slave for a social studies lesson says the school should be more sensitive.

Principal Scott Schmidt of Chapelfield Elementary in Gahanna called Aneka Burton to apologize for what happened to her son, Nikko, on Wednesday. Columbus station WBNS-TV reports Schmidt said no harm was intended.

Ten-year-old Nikko says the class was randomly divided into "masters" and "slaves" and that the only other black student got to be a master. Burton says her son refused to take part in a simulated slave auction and was sent back to his desk.

Burton says she appreciates the apology, but the exercise was inappropriate.

The school district said in a statement Thursday that officials acted promptly once the concern was raised.

State awards beautification grant to West Side improvement project

The state Legislature has awarded $20,000 in beautification grantfunding to the West Virginia State University Extension Service'sWest Side Main Street program.

West Side Main Street will use the funding to spur businessowners along and near Washington Street to improve the exteriors oftheir buildings by reimbursing them up to 50 percent of renovationcosts.

Eligible activities include painting, signage, landscaping,repointing of masonry and brick and replacement of windows anddoors.

"This is our second facade grant," Pat McGill, director of WestSide Main Street, said in a prepared statement. "So far, we have hadsix facade renovations that are improving the look of the West Sidebusiness district."

Working the "Black Expo" circuit

Working the "Black Expo" Circuit: New authors and small publishers get up close and personal with readers at the summer's black conventions and conferences

When an unknown, self-published novelist in his 20s wanted to sell his work and get a little name recognition, he set up shop at a black trade convention six years ago in his hometown of Philadelphia with 600 books. He sold half of them.

Today that writer, Omar Tyree, at age 30, turns out a novel a year for Simon & Shuster and is a household name to his mostly youthful audience.

He still shows up at most major expos and conventions, where he works the crowd with the same enthusiasm he had before his books were flying out of established stores. The live event is still the best way for him to get his book into the hands of his readers, says Tyree, whose most recent book is Sweet St. Louis.

Wherever a few hundred or a few thousand potential black book buyers are gathered these days, you are likely to find new authors, self-publishers, and small dealers there meeting and greeting the customers, signing books, and taking bulk orders. Many customers find it easier to part with their money if they have met the author.

The Name Game

"Expos are a good opportunity for self-published authors to get their name out there as well as meet people, because they don't have the publicity machine behind them that the mainstream press offers an African American author," says Julia Shaw, a New York City entrepreneur who coordinates author events. "People support you because they see you out there trying to do your thing."

While expos, conferences, and conventions for specific segments of the African American population proliferated over the last decade, so did the book offerings. To meet widely diversified tastes, the sellers also have to go after targeted slices of the market, often best reached en masse at special gatherings.

Competition for the book dollar is fierce. Authors and vendors have increasingly found they have to go to the customer. "Guerilla marketing" is what Dr. Rosie Milligan, one of its earliest strategists, calls it. She is author of nearly a dozen self-published books, president of Milligan Books, a publishing house, and owner of Express Yourself Books, a retail store, both in Los Angeles.

"Some of the larger companies advertise on television. They have billboards," says Dr. Milligan. "So small book publishers have to get in people's faces at the level they can afford."

Vanesse J. Lloyd-Sgambati, president of the Literary, a book promotion agency based in Philadelphia, says expos provide great marketing strategy for black books, but over the years the novelty has worn off, and onsite sales are not as high as they were six years ago. "Authors and buyers had little alternative in the beginning because big chains were not carrying vast numbers of black titles," says Lloyd-Sgambati.

Building a Market

In 1990, Dr. Milligan, who has a doctorate in business administration and a nursing degree, began to market her own self-published books on relationships and sexuality at conferences. "They're a wonderful place to market your work, if you don't have a corporate budget," says Milligan. "If just 50 people buy the book, that's 50 who read and tell so many other people about it. It's about getting your book in the hands of people."

Shaw agrees that authors' appearances will not always result in big sales. "It is a promotional opportunity," she emphasizes. "Authors have to be clear on that. You may go to an event and sell two books, but you may meet somebody at that event who is president of the Links, and be invited to speak to their chapter during Black History Month."

Milligan estimates she sold at least 30,000 copies of her early books, Satisfying the Black Woman Sexually Made Simple and Satisfying the Black Man Sexually Made Simple through expos in the early '90s.

Milligan and other authors began showing up one by one at expos, but eventually they learned to pool resources, sharing fees for booths, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other costs. Says Milligan: "When people see five or six authors together, it draws them that way -- something is happening. When authors began to see that, it turned the whole industry around. Self-publishers and small, independent publishers are doing business!"

In 1996, she began promoting her first author, Victoria Christopher Murray, a writer of Christian fiction, whose novel, Temptation has since become tremendously popular. In 1997 she founded Black Writers on Tour with 75 writers at a conference in L.A. Now the Los Angeles-based group takes authors to meet booksellers and readers at expos in Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and other cities, at conferences like the Phenomenal Woman Tour and the Mobil (A.W.O.T.) African American Women on Tour, and conventions of major social and fraternal organizations.

Milligan estimates that her authors have sold 200,000 or more books over four years, 15,000 of Murray's alone. In the year 2000 and beyond, Black Writers on Tour plans to stretch out to smaller cities and tap into the large religious conventions.

Shaw, the president of the Shaw Literary Group in New York City and a 10-year veteran of the book-sales industry, agrees with Milligan on black gatherings as a marketing strategy. Her company arranges author events for numerous conventions and expos.

"It's a good marketing tool because you are tied into a major event that's being promoted; other things will bring people to the event, but once they get to the event they will get to see and hear you."

A One-Man Promo Machine

Books that do especially well at these meets are those on relationships by authors like Michael Baisden, according to several sources. His self-published book Never Satisfied: How and Why Men Cheat, published in 1995, is still a strong seller. His latest book is a novel, The Maintenance Man (Oct. 1999). Tyree gives Baisden "props" as being a master of event marketing. Shaw says Baisden is "the kind of guy, either you love him or you hate him, but the bottom line is that when he's at an expo or an event, he fills up the room."

Selling direct does have its disadvantages. "If they are not buying your book, it's frustrating," says Tyree. "You can't sit there and wait for people to come near your table. You have to talk to them and entice them to buy your book. That's where I had the advantage of being a young, energetic person who was hungry. If you're not hungry at those expos, you'd better be a famous writer or you are going to walk away disappointed."

Self-promotion is essential, Shaw agrees. "Some authors are writers," she says. "But some authors are writers and personalities. Authors who like talking, like interacting with the audience do better at this than authors who just want to write. They have to have a certain personality."

Other books popular with the crowds include general women's fiction and self-empowerment books, Shaw says. Black women's conferences like Circle of Sisters and For Sisters Only are usually built around workshops on marshalling their strengths.

"African American women are on the road to empowerment," asserts Shaw. Having motivational speakers like Susan L. Taylor, Bertice Berry and Patricia Russell McCloud and their books on hand at A.W.O.T. allows women to meet them and take home the message. McCloud, for instance, has been an orator for years at these types of events and published her first book, A is for Attitude, in late 1999. Other writers who are popular keynote speakers and presenters at women's conferences are Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, J. California Cooper, Barbara Smith, Iyanla Vanzant, Brenda Wade, Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant, and Terrie Williams.

Black romance novels by authors like Donna Hill and Francis Ray of Arabesque books, a relatively new genre for us, are popular with live audiences. "They do really well because a lot of women read romance books," says Shaw, "and romance authors know how to hustle their product and relate to readers on site. They interact with people. They do book marts. They just promote, promote, promote."

Sell, Sell, Sell

"Even more popular are books by celebrities," says Shaw. According to Shaw, when L.L Cool J. came to a recent Kwanzaa expo, people lined up for 1-1/2 hours ahead of time to get books signed. "One thing I'm really trying to encourage is to get celebrity authors to participate in these events because it can drive the sale of their books," adds Shaw.

Lloyd-Sgambati, the Philadelphia promoter, notes that the authors are not paid a fee, so they want on-site sales and publicity to build more sales. When she books her clients at such events, she insists the show promoter arrange for an on-air radio interview, newspaper articles, television, and for the author's name to appear in promotional material.

Carvelas Sellers of Largo, Maryland, a manicurist/bookseller who sets up shop at various conferences and whose dream is to have a full-time store in a black neighborhood, said that he started out selling books to beauty shop patrons, then discovered large gatherings could be very lucrative. "It just took off, and I started going to different fairs and shows," he recalls. "I didn't know books sold that well!"

Calif. Fires May Be at Turning Point

SAN DIEGO - The burned bodies of two people believed to have been killed in the wildfires scorching Southern California have been found, San Diego County authorities said Thursday.

Sheriff Bill Kolender said recovery crews found the bodies in a gutted home near Poway, north of San Diego. He said medical examiners were trying to establish their identities.

The fires also have directly claimed the life of 52-year-old Thomas Varshock of Tecate. The San Diego medical examiner's office listed five other deaths as connected to the blazes because all who died were evacuees.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Flames drew perilously close toward thousands of homes in Southern California's firestorm Thursday, despite a break in the harsh winds and a massive aerial assault that raised evacuees' hopes of going home for good.

The hot, dry Santa Ana winds that have whipped the blazes into a destructive, indiscriminate fury since the weekend were expected to all but disappear Thursday.

"That will certainly aid in firefighting efforts," National Weather Service meteorologist Jamie Meier said.

The recent record high temperatures began succumbing to cooling sea breezes, and two fires that burned 21 homes in northern Los Angeles County were fully contained.

Electricity was another concern. A wildfire cut a main power link with Arizona, while another blaze near Camp Pendleton was threatening the main north-south power corridor that connects San Diego with the rest of California. Additional power was being shipped from Mexico, said Sempra Utilities Chief Operating Officer Michael Niggli.

About 19,500 customers were without power Wednesday either because of downed lines or to ensure the safety of firefighters, officials said.

Even with the slackening winds, the county remains a tinderbox. Firefighters cut fire lines around the major blazes in San Diego County, but none of the four fires was more than 40 percent contained. More than 8,500 homes were still threatened.

Towns scattered throughout the county remained on the edge of disaster, including the apple-picking region around Julian, where dozens of homes burned in 2003.

To the northeast, in the San Bernardino County mountain resort of Lake Arrowhead, fire officials said 6,000 homes remained in the path of two wildfires that had destroyed more than 300 homes.

The fires remained out of control, but were being bombarded by aerial tankers and helicopters that dumped more than 30 loads of water.

President Bush, who has declared a major disaster in a seven-county region, was scheduled Thursday to take an aerial tour of the burn areas with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"It's a sad situation out there in Southern California," Bush said outside the White House before leaving for California. "I fully understand that the people have got a lot of anguish in their hearts. They just need to know a lot of folks care about them."

So far, at least 15 fires have destroyed about 1,500 homes in Southern California since late Saturday.

The burn area of nearly 460,000 acres - about 719 square miles - stretches in a broad arc from Ventura County north of Los Angeles east to the San Bernardino National Forest and south to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Losses total at least $1 billion in San Diego County alone, and include a third of the state's avocado crop. The losses are half as high as those in Southern California's 2003 fires, but are certain to rise.

The more hopeful news on the fire lines came a day after residents in some hard-hit San Diego County neighborhoods were allowed back to their streets, many lined with the wreckage of melted cars.

In upscale Rancho Bernardo, house after house had been reduced to a smoldering heap. Cheryl Monticello, 38 and eight months pregnant, had to see for herself that her home was gone. Only the white brick chimney and her daughter's backyard slide survived the inferno.

"You really need to see it to know for sure," Monticello said Wednesday.

Running Springs resident Ricky Garcia returned to his house in the San Bernardino Mountains on Wednesday, panicked that his street had been wiped out and his cats, Jeff and Viper, were lost.

But his house, newly built on a cleared lot, was unscathed, unlike those of his neighbors. Hiding underneath a porch and mewing loudly was Jeff, his long, black hair gray with ash. Viper was nowhere in sight.

"I'm excited to see my cat and my house, but absolutely devastated for my neighbors," he said, preparing to evacuate again.

As nature's blitzkrieg starts to recede, many of the other refugees will be allowed back to their neighborhoods. More than 500,000 people were evacuated in San Diego County alone, part of the largest mass evacuation in California history.

"We are focusing more on recovery and getting these people back up on their feet again," County spokeswoman Lesley Kirk said.

In the middle of the arc of fire, the Santiago Fire in Orange County had burned nearly 20,000 acres and destroyed nine homes. Only 50 percent contained, it is a suspected arson fire.

Agents from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were sent to help investigate. Authorities said a smaller, more recent fire in Riverside County also is linked to arson.

Police shot and killed a man who fled Tuesday night when officers approached to see if he might be trying to set a fire in the city of San Bernardino. The man, whose name was not released, had led police on a chase then backed his car into a police cruiser, San Bernardino police said.

Despite the widespread destruction, the fires have directly claimed just one life, 52-year-old Thomas Varshock of Tecate. The San Diego medical examiner's office listed five other deaths as connected to the blazes because all who died were evacuees.

The number of victims could rise as authorities return to neighborhoods where homes burned. In 2003, 22 people lost their lives in a series of fires that lasted nearly two weeks.

---

Associated Press Writers Allison Hoffman in San Diego, Martha Mendoza in Running Springs, Scott Lindlaw in Julian, and Thomas Watkins and Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Govt. Urges Caution on Subprime Rates

WASHINGTON - Federal bank regulators, worried about a surge in defaults on high-risk home mortgages, on Friday called on lenders to exercise caution in making subprime loans and strictly evaluate borrowers' ability to repay them.

The proposed guidance issued by the Federal Reserve and the other four federal agencies that regulate banks, thrifts and credit unions, comes in an increasingly troubled market for subprime mortgage loans. Home-mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are spiking, especially for people who took out subprime mortgages - higher-interest loans for those with blemished credit records or low incomes who are considered higher risk - during the sizzling housing boom that waned in the second half of 2005.

The regulators said the guidelines, if formally adopted by the agencies and followed by lending institutions, could result in fewer borrowers qualifying for subprime loans. The mortgage industry had hoped for less stringent guidelines.

John Robbins, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the group was concerned that the guidelines "may restrict credit to many consumers in high-cost areas and deny credit to many deserving low-income, minority and first-time home buyers."

In their notice issuing the guidance for public comment, the banking regulators noted that borrowers "may not fully understand the risks and consequences" of taking out subprime mortgages, and that the mortgages "may pose an elevated credit risk to financial institutions."

Adjustable-rate mortgages are especially prevalent in the subprime market. They are considered higher-risk loans because they typically draw borrowers in with an initial low, or "teaser" interest rate, which can rise markedly over time. The proposed guidelines direct banks to base their lending decisions on borrowers' ability to repay home loans at the full final rate, as opposed to the teaser rate.

In addition, the guidelines say that banks should provide consumers "clear and balanced information about the relative benefits and risks" of subprime mortgages.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the central bank is concerned about the rise in delinquencies. Several financial companies that specialize in subprime mortgages have seen their shares plummet in recent weeks, roiling the industry sector. The weakness in the subprime market was seen as a factor in this week's tumultuous decline on Wall Street.

"The federal agencies are proposing practices and principles to limit risks to both the borrower and the lending institution," Fed Gov. Randall Kroszner said in a statement Friday.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., head of the House Financial Services Committee, lauded the regulators' move.

"I hope everyone in the market will quickly embrace these new guidelines, so we can move forward and work together to address the looming foreclosure problems that may lie ahead," Dodd said.

The entire mortgage industry has been feeling the pressure in recent months from slumping home sales. And rising delinquencies on subprime mortgages have forced an array of lenders, large and small, to set aside more reserves against potential loan losses.

Mortgage payments that are 30 or more days past due are considered delinquent.

The market for subprime mortgages has exploded during the housing boom, from fewer than 5 percent of all new mortgage loans in 1994 to an estimated 20 percent currently, or $600 billion.

On Tuesday, Freddie Mac, the nation's second-largest financer of home loans, said it will stop buying those subprime mortgages that it deems most vulnerable to default or foreclosure.

Write-offs of home mortgage loans by banks and thrifts reached a three-year high in the fourth quarter last year, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

In addition to the Fed, the agencies issuing the proposed guidance are the FDIC, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision. The guidelines could be formally adopted sometime after the 60-day public comment period.

Raising a stink

The "puffer machines" at Midway Airport that are used to sniff outodors from airline passengers have a benefit besides security thatshould be implemented immediately.

Passengers who set off the alarm due to their use of any perfume,lotion, scented hairspray, noxious body odor, and smokers who havethe tobacco stench clinging to their clothes and hair should bebanned from boarding any airplane. These individuals knew they weregoing to be sitting six inches from the nose and air space of anotherpassenger, with limited recycled air, so why didn't they consider theother passengers? Many passengers who have allergies and sensitivityto these commercially bought odors and products have to suffer. Thatshould not be so . . . ever!

"Lotions, soap suds and hair gels have set off the alarm," saidJohn Eberbach, a security agency training coordinator at MidwayAirport. So let's expand the "puffer machine" area of concern, andban all passengers who activate it due to the odors emitting fromtheir person. Then it will really be a safe and healthy sky to fly --for all!

Kenneth D. Dubinski,

Elk Grove Village

Kremlin Cup Results

Results Wednesday from the Kremlin Cup, a $2.085 million ATP and WTA Tour tournament on indoor hard courts at the Olympic Indoor stadium (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

Men

First Round

Illya Marchenko, Ukraine, def. Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, 1-6, 6-4, 4-1, retired.

Evgeny Korolev, Russia, def. Igor Kunitsyn, Russia, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Second Round

Pablo Cuevas (5), Uruguay, def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, Russia, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Women

First Round

Evgeniya Rodina, Russia, def. Elena Vesnina (6), Russia, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

Maria Kirilenko, Russia, def. Agnieszka Radwanska (3), Poland, 6-3, 6-3.

Agnes Szavay, Hungary, def. Flavia Pennetta (4), Italy, 4-6, 3-0, ret.

Francesca Schiavone (8), Italy, def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spain, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3.

EU lawmakers urge ban on cluster munitions

The European Parliament wants the European Union to press other parts of the world to ban cluster munitions by making it a standard part of any international pact signed by the 27-nation bloc.

In a Thursday declaration, it also calls on Turkey - a prospective EU member _ and some EU states to sign a United Nations convention banning the use, production, stockpiling and trade of cluster munitions, small bombs packed tightly into artillery shells, bombs, or missiles, which disperse them over large areas.

Unexploded munitions have killed and injured many people who disturb them. Often the victims are children who are attracted by their bright colors and smaller size.

Food & drink deals today

Brewbakers: 10350 S. Western; 25-cent PBR or Bud Light, $1.50pitchers of PBR or Bud Light

Bungalow: 1622 W. Belmont; $7 martinis

Buona Terra: 2535 N. California; $20 three-course prix fixe meal

Cherry Red: 2833 N. Sheffield; $1 bottles of Bud and Bud Light,$2 cocktails and $3 bombs

Duffy's Tavern: 422 W. Diversey; $4 drop shots, $2 Bud productsand half-price appetizers

Fearon's Public House: 3001 N. Ashland; $4 chicken wraps and $4Stella Artois drafts

Gamekeepers: 345 W. Armitage; $7 pitchers of Bud and Bud Lightand 10-cent jumbo wings

Hydrate: 3458 N. Halsted; $3 bottles of MGD and Miller Lite, $4Stoli cocktails and $7 Stoli martinis

Le Passage: 937 N. Rush; $6 Ketel One cocktails

Sedgwick's Bar & Grill: 1935 N. Sedgwick; half-price appetizers 4-7 p.m., $5 bombs, $3 you-call-it cocktails, beer and shots

French parliament to vote on bank rescue plan

France's top bankers and insurers on Tuesday soberly welcomed a euro360 billion (US$491 billion) rescue plan to guarantee that the nation's banks don't collapse, and legislators debated the costly measure ahead of a vote.

President Nicolas Sarkozy met with 11 leaders of France's banking and insurance sector to present the plan. It is part of an unprecedented weekend decision by the 15 nations that share the euro currency to unblock frozen credit markets, after a tailspin on stock exchanges worldwide last week.

After European governments held a financial summit Sunday in Paris, Sarkozy on Monday announced the details _ and the huge potential cost _ of France's part of the package.

The money includes euro320 billion (US$436 billion) in guarantees for bonds and other loans that banks take out. If the banks make good on that debt, then the French government _ and by extension, taxpayers _ won't have to pay anything, officials have said. The idea is to free up money so that banks can start lending to consumers and businesses again.

The other euro40 billion (US$54 billion) will go to a government-backed agency to provide banks with extra capital. That part of the plan also allows the government to take stakes in troubled banks that get state capital.

The figures are a maximum, which may not be reached if the market starts functioning normally again.

After Tuesday's meeting with Sarkozy, bankers insisted they wouldn't take the rescue gesture lightly.

"We assured the public authorities of our will to fully and responsibly carry out" the plan, the head of the French Banking Federation, Georges Pauget, told reporters. "We will now have the means to do so."

The lower house of parliament was to vote on the plan Tuesday and the Senate scheduled a vote for Wednesday. Both houses are controlled by Sarkozy's conservative UMP party, which has largely supported the president through the financial crisis.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon opened the debate Tuesday by urging lawmakers to back the rescue.

"This unity would be a strong sign of our common desire to get out of the crisis and protect the French people," he told members of the National Assembly.

Fillon's message was lost on the main opposition Socialist Party, which decided earlier in the day to abstain from the voting. The move criticizes Sarkozy's economic policy _ which they blamed, in part, for the crisis _ without torpedoing the plan itself.

Communist lawmakers, however, planned to oppose the measure.

"We don't want this money placed by the state to once again serve speculation," Communist Party leader Marie-George Buffet said Tuesday.

Most of the money in the French plan will be available for government guarantees for banks and insurers, allowing them to raise money through bond sales and other loans with maturities of up to five years. The hope is that this will give banks confidence to start lending again.

___

Associated Press writer Laurent Pirot contributed to this report.

Curtis comes up short in US PGA Championship

Ben Curtis plopped in a chair, sighed and had a question before one was asked of him.

"Anybody got a pillow?" he joked on Sunday.

Well, he might not have been kidding.

Curtis had to play 36 holes in the U.S. PGA Championship because thunderstorms suspended play on Saturday before he teed off, forcing him to begin his third round at 7:30 a.m. Twelve hours later he came up short of winning a second major.

His 68-71 finish put him at 1-under 279 at Oakland Hills, tying Sergio Garcia for second place, two shots behind Padraig Harrington.

The strong showing earned him one of the automatic spots on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Quite a consolation.

"It's almost a victory in itself," Curtis said.

The 2003 British Open champion had a one-shot lead through 54 holes, built a three-stroke cushion after birdieing the first hole and got to 4 under with a birdie at No. 6.

But Curtis' shot at proving he's not a one-major wonder slipped away with three bogeys in a four-hole span starting at No. 8.

Curtis acknowledged he simply got tired and hit a wall at the turn.

"Especially with the shape I'm in," he said.

Garcia, playing a group ahead with Harrington, insisted that he didn't count out Curtis.

"Ben was playing well," Garcia said. "I could see that he was hanging in there nicely and he had a good start and he hung on tough.

"I wasn't only focused about Padraig. I thought that Ben had a realistic shot at it, too. And he was 2, 3, 4 under there the whole day. Unfortunately, he made a couple bogeys coming in like I did, but it was a three-man race and Padraig came up on top."

After birdieing 12 and 13, Curtis cost himself a chance to win with bogeys at 15 and 17. But he seemed to have a good perspective on his strong performance.

"At the beginning of the week, every player in here would have said if anybody was under par, they would take it," Curtis said. "You have to look at the big picture."

Battle brewing over Lucille Ball auction in LA

Heirs of the late Lucille Ball and her second husband are sparring over the planned auction of the some of the couple's prized possessions.

Among the items on the auction block are love letters between Ball and Gary Morton, a Rolls Royce and some of the actress' awards. Morton was the comedienne's second husband.

The items were consigned to Heritage Auction Galleries by Susie Morton, who married Gary Morton after Ball's death in 1989.

Ball's daughter from her first marriage with co-star Desi Arnaz wants some of the items returned. An attorney for Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill says she will go to court Friday to try to block the sale if the items are not returned.

Susie Morton asked a judge Monday to determine that she has the right to offer the items for auction.

Woman accused of poisoning son in Pa. hospital

A woman poisoned her infant son by repeatedly injecting salt water into his feeding tube at hospitals in Tennessee and Pittsburgh in what she claimed were attempts to hasten the death of a suffering child, authorities said Wednesday.

Four-month-old Noah King is in critical condition with sodium poisoning at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and police said they believe the baby's medical problems were caused entirely by his mother.

Amber Brewington, 21, was charged with attempted homicide and police said she told investigators she had injected her son with salt water five or six times, and that she had severe postpartum depression.

A hospital worker called police late Tuesday after a nurse reported seeing Brewington disconnect the boy's feeding tube. Brewington was carrying a pink camouflage backpack with a container of Morton salt, two bottles filled with salt water and a syringe, police said.

Noah had been a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., where he had suffered unexplained seizures and possible brain damage, the mother told police.

Vanderbilt hospital spokesman John Howser said Noah was treated there for a documented disease and was transferred to the Pittsburgh hospital due to its expertise in treating the symptoms he was showing. He declined to discuss the boy's care in more detail.

Noah arrived at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on July 9. Upon arrival, he had one of the highest recorded levels of sodium, even for an adult, according to a Pittsburgh police affidavit.

Brewington admitted giving Noah another syringe of salt water on Sunday, though she denied she was trying to do it again when she was caught by the nurse Tuesday, police said.

Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki, however, said Wednesday: "We believe last night was another attempt to deliver more salt water or sodium to her child."

Too much sodium can cause neurological problems and, at its most severe, can cause death. Officials at the Pittsburgh hospital wouldn't discuss specifics of Noah's condition.

Investigators believe all Noah King's illnesses were "related to what she's done," Stangrecki said. "But we have to follow up with all the medical facilities that he's been at ... and try to make that determination of whether he was sick as part of an illness or from ingesting sodium."

Brewington, of Duck River, Tenn., also was charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child. She was ordered held on $50,000 bail at an arraignment Wednesday. Police didn't whether she had an attorney.

The boy's father has been questioned, but is not suspected of wrongdoing and faces no charges, Stangrecki said.

Brewington's two other children are being cared for by a relative, said Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.

Jackson shaken up in car accident

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Gov. Palin vetoes $28M in federal stimulus money

Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday became the only governor to turn down federal stimulus money for energy efficiency, a move that legislators called "disappointing" for a state with some of the country's highest energy costs.

In announcing the veto of $28.6 million in funds, Palin said she wouldn't accept money tied to adoption of building codes by local governments.

"Alaskans and our communities have a long history of independence and opposing many mandates from Washington, D.C.," Palin said in a statement announcing the veto.

Palin had earlier accepted about $900 million in other federal stimulus funds.

State budget director Karen Rehfeld said the Republican governor was concerned that in accepting the money, she would be required to promote the adoption of local building codes. To qualify for the federal money, 90 percent of new and renovated structures in the state would have to be constructed under energy efficiency standards between 2009 and 2017.

"The governor believes these are decisions best left to local governments," Rehfeld said.

State Sens. Bill Wielechowski and Lesil McGuire, both of Anchorage, had urged Palin to accept the money. Wielechowski, a Democrat, said Thursday that Alaska was close or had reached the federal mandate.

"The way it's set up if one state rejects the money, it doesn't go back to federal treasury, it gets divvied up to every other state that accepted it," he said. "Basically the governor has written a check out to the other states."

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, an Alaska Democrat, said nearly a third of the requests sent to his office from state communities and nonprofits were related to energy reduction.

"With Alaskans facing the highest energy prices in the nation, it's disappointing that our governor is turning thumbs down on federal funding that could help our families and communities reduce their energy bills," Begich said.

Wielechowski said he would support a move to override Palin's veto, which would require support from three-quarters of both chambers. McGuire, a Republican, said she also would support an override, but warned that the rally would be daunting for the scattered legislature.

In her statement, Palin noted there was not "a lot of support for the federal government to coerce Alaska communities to adopt building codes," but acknowledged that an override was a possibility.

OEMs reduce platform to save money

You can say the impetus behind much of the industry activity during the last few years is cost saving. While the OEMs have launched many initiatives in this cost-saving drive, one that has gotten a lot of press is platform consolidation. In fact if you believe the OEMs press releases, then you would have to believe OEM consolidations (Ford, Volvo, and Jaguar; Renault and Nissan; Mercedes and Chrysler, etc) were in no small way meant to increase volume while reducing cost-sapping platform …

Iran temporarily releases Iranian-American scholar

Iran has temporarily released an Iranian-American scholar serving prison time on an espionage conviction so he can spend the Iranian New Year holiday with his family, officials said Sunday.

Kian Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner, was the only American detained in the crackdown that crushed giant street protests by hundreds of thousands of people after June's disputed presidential election.

Iran traditionally releases some prisoners during the New Year holiday. Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said Tajbakhsh was released Saturday on $800,000 bail for 15 days, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported. The terms of the release do not …

Suddenly Solar.(photovoltaics)(Brief Article)

Energy blackouts and clean air regulations have thrust on-site power generation into the home building limelight.

IF YOU READ THE REPORT BY THE NAHB Research Center in 1994, integrating photo-voltaic (PV) systems into new homes seemed like an impossible sell.

In the rare cases where PV made iron to the blueprint, the study reported, architects made the push. But "if the PV system is difficult or costly to install, it will have difficulty being accepted by roofers and manufacturers." Even if a PV system slipped through the cracks, the builder or homeowner might veto the installation if it negatively affected the appearance of the roof.

The only ray of hope: If builders tried to "energize" homeowners by talking up the idea of control over their energy and being good green citizens, they might sell some solar panels.

TRIPLE THREAT

That was then. Eight years later, the prospects for solar have completely turned around. In recent months, …

DSM Builds Resins Plant in Germany.

DSM says it will invest about Euro15 million ($22 million) to build a new plant to produce wet polyesters and other specialty resins at its Meppen, Germany site. DSM did not disclose …

TROY WOMAN SLAIN AT HOME FOR RETARDED.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: JOE PICCHI Staff writer

TROY Police were searching for a motive Thursday in the killing of a part-time counselor and mother of six who was found bludgeoned at a Prout Avenue apartment complex for mentally retarded adults.

The woman, identified as Rosemary Crosier, 47, of 40B Ahern Ave., Troy, had stayed overnight as part of her shift and had talked to a relative around 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to Assistant Police Chief Joseph West.

West said the woman was found by another staffer lying on the living room floor of her unit around 7 a.m. Thursday. She had been struck on the head several times with a blunt instrument, which has not been found, West …

'Wrestler' 'roid-dealer actor in steroids bust

The actor who played a steroid dealer in the Oscar-nominated film "The Wrestler" was charged Thursday with being the real thing: Authorities arrested him in a large steroid bust that culminated in a violent chase.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan also accused Scott Siegel of leading Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local police on a car chase worthy of an action flick.

Siegel, 34, was ordered held without bail on federal drug dealing and assault charges at a court appearance Thursday in White Plains, New York. The arrest and chase played out three days before the Oscars, where "The Wrestler" could garner an Academy Award for …

Top of the 2nd

Marshall Tip-Off Club meeting scheduled

Marshall basketball and the Tip-Off Club will hold their firstmeeting of the season Wednesday at noon at the Radisson Hotel indowntown Huntington.

Head Coach Ron Jirsa and the coaching staff will be in attendancealong with this year's seniors.

For more information, call the Marshall basketball office at 304-696-6460.

WVC women's soccer tournament under way

Wheeling Jesuit, Concord, Salem International and W.Va. Wesleyanearned quarterfinal victories in the West Virginia Conference Women'sSoccer Tournament.

Top seeded WJU defeated West Virginia University Tech 14-0 andConcord got past Charleston 5-4 in a …

Sterile alcohol on demand.(Brief Article)

Shield Medicare has introduced the SteriShield Delivery System, which has enabled it to extend its range of sterile alcohol to include 5-litre containers, so that double-bagged Klercide 70/30 sterile, spore-free alcohols can be supplied in bulk with a delivery system that preserves their long-term sterility.

Klercide …

Next up for JCAHO: behavioral network accreditation. (Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations)(Cover Story)

Although an accreditor's "seal of approval" has become an all-important key to provider survival and growth in the tumultuous managed care marketplace, the behavioral field has lagged behind others in gaining access to it. That is, until this year. Recent months have seen a flurry of activity by the National Committee on Quality Assurance, the American Managed Behavioral Healthcare Association and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations in developing accreditation standards, performance measures and report cards tailored specifically for behavioral care. And it looks as though next year will be the year for behavioral network accreditation. NCQA is busily preparing its long-awaited HEDIS 3.0, and JCAHO--having already accredited two behavioral networks--is refining its standards for an all-out push. Recently, two of JCAHO's network experts were asked by Behavioral Health Management Editorial Director Richard L. Peck to update their activities and, perhaps along the way, shed further light on what "networks" in this field really …

2 PRINTERS AFFIX LABELS ONTO DISCS.(LIFE & LEISURE)

Byline: WALTER S. MOSSBERG Wall Street Journal

Home-burned CDs, packed with mixes of favorite tunes, have become popular enough to make up a significant portion of personal music collections. But listeners who have wanted to label discs with something other than a Sharpie marker have had limited options. Choices have largely consisted of labels designed on computers, printed out and then stuck onto discs. They beat handwriting, but are cumbersome to produce and attach.

Now, it's possible to run your CDs through a printer, like pieces of paper, and have custom-designed labels printed directly on the discs -- with two new Epson ink-jet printers that have …

RETAIL 'UPTURN' INDICATED.(Business)

Byline: New York Times

Evidence mounted Tuesday that the economy has halted its slide and that the improvement already under way in housing may have begun to spread.

The Commerce Department revised its retail sales figures for March to show a rise of 0.4 percent instead of an 0.8 percent drop and it said that sales essentially held this gain in April.

"It certainly is going in the direction of an upturn," said Rosanne M. Cahn, an economist at First Boston Corp., citing recent increases in industrial production, consumer sentiment and corporate purchasing as well as housing.

"Perhaps the economy bottomed in April, but, if not, it will …

Welsh quits Hofstra hoops post following arrest

Hofstra basketball coach Tim Welsh has resigned days after he was charged with drunken driving.

The resignation was announced by the Long Island school Monday. Welsh was hired in March and suspended by Hofstra on Friday. The school accepted the resignation "in the best interests of the university and of the men's basketball program."

Welsh was arrested Friday …

Foley Resigns From Congress Over E-Mails

WASHINGTON - Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., abruptly resigned from Congress on Friday in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former teenage male page.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," he said in a statement issued by his office.

His departure sent Republicans scrambling for a replacement candidate less than six weeks before midterm elections in which Democrats are making a strong bid to gain control of the House.

Foley's two-sentence statement gave no reason for Foley's decision to abandon a flourishing career in Congress. But several officials said the resignation …

Cells from abnormal embryos. (Cloning).(healthy stem cells harvested from abnormal frog embryos)(Brief Article)

Scientists have managed to harvest healthy stem cells from abnormal frog embryos. a discovery that could put an end to ethical objections to therapeutic cloning in humans.

Most of those against therapeutic cloning object to the necessity of killing a perfectly good embryo to harvest stem cells. Stem cells are cells that can differentiate into any type of cell in the body and scientists hope that they hold the key to replacing damaged and diseased tissue.

Now scientists have managed to harvest perfectly good stem cells from evidently defective frog embryos. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science …

BRIEFS.

RapidAdvance, LLC has signed a deal with Humboldt Merchant Services to provide its customers with a merchant cash advance product.

Novato, Calif-based Circle Bank has signed an …

WINNING CLOSE ONES KEY TO BURGH SOCCER TURNAROUND.(SPORTS)

Byline: BILL DOUGLAS Staff writer

It's tempting to look at Lansingburgh's boys soccer record of 0-16-2 last year and assume the worst. Coach Jeff Gregor knows. He did the same thing himself.

``I was at the post-season coaches meeting and saying, boy we had a bad year,'' Gregor said. ``The other coaches told me, `You guys were in a lot of games this season.' ''

Among the losses, seven came by one goal.

The team's challenge this season is finding ways of winning those close games.

Better play from the keeper position will be a key. Gregor had to scour through volunteers for a keeper last season, with predictable results.

…

KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, entered a two-year drug discovery and preclinical research collaboration. (Other News to Note).

* KUDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, entered a two-year drug discovery and preclinical research collaboration. It brings together MerLion's natural products library with KUDOS' validated targets in …

What if grace prevailed in our families?

This summer Winnipeg has offered grace-filled weather--generously long sun-kissed days under a prairie blue sky, regular soaking rains that keep the land green and growing, pleasant breezes and miraculously few mosquitoes. It's the kind of season that invites bone-chilled, winter-barricaded folk to throw open the windows to soak up the warmth and breathe out long-held tension.

Grace has a similar impact on us. A cousin to forgiveness, grace is described by the hymnists as amazing, marvellous and wonderful. It saves wretches, finds the lost and bestows sight on the blind. Perhaps that's why Henri Nouwen (in The Way of the Heart) teaches that "only in the context of grace can we …

Vodafone asked to pay up Rs 11,218 crore in taxes.

India, Oct. 22 -- The government on Friday asked Vodafone to pay Rs 11,218 crore in taxes within a month for the acquisition of Hutchison's stake in the telecom joint venture in India in 2007.

"The IT department today issued an order raising a tax demand of Rs 11,217.95 crore on Vodafone International holdings BV treating it as an assessee in default. for failure to deduct tax as required before making a payment of USD 11,076 million (about Rs 55,000 crore) to Hutchison Telecommunication International Ltd," an official statement said in New Delhi.

The notice was issued following the Supreme Court directive on 27th September to the IT assessing officer to determine …

REAPPORTIONMENT HITS SNAG.(CAPITAL REGION)

Procedural problems have further muddied the attempts of Rensselaer County Republicans to redraw voting district lines to their benefit for the November election, leaving potential candidates uncertain where they will be campaigning this fall.

A majority of county legislators voted May 18 to reapportion the current five districts to six, knocking down Troy's representation from seven legislators to six and creating a single-member district out of the city of Rensselaer, among other changes.

It was the second vote on a plan that drew criticism after a necessary public hearing on the matter was mistakenly omitted.

But the Municipal Home Rule law can't …

National League Standings

…

All Times EDT
East Division
W L Pct GB
Atlanta 38 28 .576 _
New York 37 28 .569 1/2
Philadelphia 33 30 .524 3 1/2
Florida 31 34 .477 6 1/2
Washington 31 35 .470 7
Central Division
W L Pct GB
St. Louis 36 29 .554 _

Heated pressure regulators.(Brief Article)

Circor has released its HPR-2 range of heated, adjustable Vaporising pressure regulators.

The units are designed with safety in mind and feature a thermal cut-out heater cartridge and proportional controller option. Steam and electrically heated versions are available, designed to pre-heat samples entering …

WOMAN SHOT DEAD IN BEACON.(Local)

Byline: Associated Press

A woman found dead in a rooming house after fire gutted the building had been shot in the head, authorities said Wednesday.

Margorie Snide, 59, was found after the Monday morning fire at the Guest House in the city of Beacon, Dutchess County. The fire was centered in her room, according to Beacon Police Lt. James Sklenar.

…