WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is hosting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for dinner on Wednesday.
The meeting between Biden and the Virginia Republican comes as the White House struggles to get Republican support for elements of the president's jobs bill. Cantor has been one of President Barack Obama's fiercest critics.
Obama has had little …
Over the past 40 years, the 500 stocks comprising the benchmark Standard & Poor's Index have averaged a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34.
At its core, a PE ratio tells investors how many years it will take for the earnings from the total outstanding shares of a company to equal the current share price. Conventional wisdom says that a stock with a high PE ratio shows that investors believe the company has sound growth opportunities.
Despite the unprecedented crash in technology stock valuations over the past two years, many of the leading software and hardware issues still have plenty of downside ahead compared to their nontechnology brethren.
In the …
Investigators probing a massive tax evasion by hundreds of Germans mounted more raids across the country on Tuesday, ahead a visit by the prime minister of Liechtenstein, where much of the money is believed to have been stashed.
Prosecutors in Bochum, who are leading the nationwide probe that has already sparked the resignation of one of the country's top managers, former Deutsche Post AG chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel, said their investigation was ongoing.
"We are continuing our work and that includes searches," Bernd Bieniossek, a spokesman for prosecutors in Bochum told reporters. He declined to comment further.
Dresdner Bank AG …
Better late than never, Boise's Greenhouse ready to open
Mark Twain joked, "Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Who knew Twain was also a world-class economist? No truer words could be said about small businesses in 2010.
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that an estimated 97 percent of private firms in Idaho are considered small businesses.
It's not too difficult to connect the dots. Small business moves the needle on Idaho's economy: employment, income and gross domestic product. Follow small business, follow the money.
If someone is running for office this year, they're saying that the answer to our economic woes …
BRUSSELS (AP) — A Belgian nurse who saved the lives of hundreds of American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge at the end of World War II was given a U.S. award for valor Monday — 67 years late.
Congolese-born Augusta Chiwy, now 93, received the Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service medal from U.S. Ambassador Howard Gutman at a ceremony in the military museum in Brussels.
"She helped, she helped, and she helped," Gutman said at the ceremony. He said the long delay in presenting the award was because it was assumed that Chiwy had been killed when a bomb destroyed her hospital.
The Battle of the Bulge was a ferocious encounter in the final stages of World War II. In …
Greece will pull its economy out of its worst crisis in decades by tackling corruption and waste regardless of the political cost, Prime Minister George Papandreou has vowed.
Papandreou has announced a raft of measures to reduce Greece's staggering (EURO)300 billion ($440 billion) public debt by 2012 and gradually bring the budget deficit _ projected at 12.7 percent for 2009 _ to below the European Union's requirement of 3 percent of a country's economic output by the end of 2013.
"We don't have an orthodox cocktail of measures," Papandreou told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday from Copenhagen, where he was attending the …
The National Association of Realtors' board has voted to move thegroup's troubled online service to the Internet and to negotiate acontract with an outside firm to manage it, said sources who attendedthe board of directors' meeting in Chicago.
The nearly 700 members of the trade group's board directedofficials of the two-year-old Realtors Information Network to moveits property listings to the Internet and establish a much lessambitious in-house system, known as an "intranet," that would allowagents to communicate among themselves.
The board also gave Almon R. "Bud" Smith, the network's actingchief executive director and president, permission to …
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ryan Braun hit a three-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers roughed up St. Louis rookie Jaime Garcia in an 8-1 win Wednesday night that kept the slumping Cardinals from gaining ground in the postseason chase.
Albert Pujols hit his 36th homer in the first for the Cardinals, but that was the only run Chris Capuano (3-3) allowed over seven innings.
Garcia (13-7) had been looking for his fourth straight win. Instead, he gave up a career-high seven runs as his ERA rose to 2.69.
The Cardinals began the day six games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central. The Reds played later at Colorado.
St. Louis has fallen flat chasing the Reds, losing 11 of the last 15 …
Texas schoolchildren will be required to learn that the words "separation of church and state" aren't in the Constitution and evaluate whether the United Nations undermines U.S. sovereignty under new social studies curriculum.
In final votes late Friday, conservatives on the State Board of Education strengthened requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers and required that the U.S. government be referred to as a "constitutional republic" rather than "democratic."
The board approved the new standards with two 9-5 votes along party lines after months of ideological haggling and debate that …
West Virginia State University hosted its 16th AnnualMulticultural/ Disability Festival Day Thursday at its Institutecampus. The theme of …
A candy bar, a wallet, even a pair of baggy pants can draw deadly police gunfire.
The killing of a hairbrush-brandishing teenager last week was the latest instance of police shootings in which officers reacted to what they erroneously feared was a weapon. It has revived debate over the use of force, perceptions of threats and police training.
"We have cases like that all over the country where it can be a wallet, a cell phone, a can of Coca-Cola and officers have fired the weapon," said Scott Greenwood, a Cincinnati attorney who has worked on police use-of-force cases across the country and who is a general counsel for the American Civil Liberties …
Regional railroad operator Kansas City Southern on Thursday said its profit tumbled 47 percent in the third quarter as shipping volume fell in a struggling economy.
The company said total carloads decreased 9 percent during the three-month period, reflecting an industrywide slowdown.
But it said that while revenue fell broadly versus a year ago, it rose from the second quarter, reflecting a gradually improving business environment.
After falling as low as $22.58 early in the session, the railroad's shares rose 3 cents to $24.62 in late morning dealings.
Kansas City Southern said it earned $25.8 million, or 27 cents per share, in the July-September period, down from $48.9 million, or 52 cents per share, a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 24 cents per share.
Revenue declined 21 percent to $386.1 million from $491.5 million a year ago and below analysts' expectations of $392.5 million.
Carloads declined in almost all categories, including a 35 percent drop in automotive, 17 percent dip in agriculture and 30 percent decline in industrial and consumer products. Shipments of petroleum and chemicals rose 8 percent while coal shipments were flat.
But compared with the second quarter, third quarter revenue rose 13 percent while total carloads advanced 12 percent.
"As encouraging as KCS' third quarter results are, management recognizes there is much work yet to be done to get the company's revenues and earnings back to pre-recession levels," said Michael Haverty, chairman and chief executive.
In the News
The Principal of the Boston Renaissance Charter School, Dr. Roger Harris, has been honored by the U.S. Secretary of Education as one of ten recipients of the John Stanford Education Heroes Award. He has been headmaster of the school since 1998. He was also recently named the Thomas C. Passios Outstanding Middle Level Principal of the year by the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals' Association.
The Boston Renaissance Charter School is a citywide K-8 public school which develops the academic competence, confidence, character and citizenship of its urban-based students. Its rich and rigorous curriculum was developed in partnership with Edison Schools, a nationally known educational management company, and is complemented by programs in technology, fine arts, music, dance, theatre and athletics. It was one of the first schools to receive a charter in Massachusetts and remains one of the largest, single site charter schools in the nation.
Harris, who holds a PhD from Boston College, a Masters from Boston State College and a Bachelors degree from Boston University, saw combat as a US marine in Vietnam before being honorably discharged.
A Boston native, and a product of the Boston Public School System, Harris is the widely acclaimed former principal of the Timilty Middle School in Roxbury. He has placed priority on instructional excellence in each Renaissance classroom. Following a thorough review process, the Boston Board of Education last year unanimously awarded Renaissance a new charter valid through June 30, 2005.
Photo (Roger Harris)
HONG KONG (AP) — A transgender woman lost a legal challenge Tuesday against Hong Kong marriage rules that prevent her from marrying her boyfriend.
The plaintiff underwent sex change surgery from man to woman in 2008 and obtained identification documents listing her new gender. But Hong Kong's Marriage Registry only allows couples who were men and women at birth to wed.
The woman, who is in her 20s and can only be identified as "W'' under court order, argued her rights to marry in the constitution and Bill of Rights were violated.
Hong Kong's constitution says freedom of marriage of Hong Kong residents should be protected by law. The Bill of Rights says the right of men and women to marry should be recognized.
High Court Judge Andrew Cheung ruled that he saw no evidence to support "a shifted societal consensus in present day Hong Kong regarding marriage to encompass a postoperative transsexual."
Cheung expressed sympathy for W, saying he is "acutely conscious of the suffering and plight of those who suffer from transsexualism, and the prejudice and discrimination they face as a minority group in our society."
But he added, "That alone, however, is quite insufficient to found the fundamental change in the law sought by the applicant in the present case."
Transgender marriage is permitted in many Asian or European countries and some U.S. states. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, as well as mainland China, allow it, but this semiautonomous southern Chinese territory maintains a separate legal system, largely preserved from its British colonial days.
W's lawyer, Michael Vidler, said his client plans to appeal.
"She is determined to be treated as a woman and accorded the same rights as a woman," Vidler said. "She still cherishes the hope that she'll be able to marry her boyfriend — maybe not today, but in the near future."
A human rights activist criticized the judge's approach of deferring to mainstream social values.
"A person's basic human rights are not dependent on majority acceptance," Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor Director Law Yuk-kai said. "The public doesn't have the right to impose its values on other people."
"There is room for a more liberal interpretation," Law said.
Former Cubs pitcher Jamie Moyer ended his victory drought Fridaywith the Texas Rangers and earned ex-Chicago player of the weekhonors.
Moyer, who pitched a three-hitter as the Rangers beat theToronto Blue Jays 9-1, had gone nearly 11 months without a victory.Moyer walked two and struck out six.
It was his first complete game of the season and second with theRangers since coming from the Cubs in December, 1988, as part of theRafael Palmeiro trade.
European chip maker STMicroelectronics said Wednesday it made a net loss of $289 million in the third quarter mainly because of a substantial downturn in the automotive industry.
The loss, which amounts to 32 US cents per share, compares with a net profit of $187 million for the same period last year, STMicro said. Net revenue for the quarter ending in September was $2.7 million compared with $2.6 million for the same period last year.
Revenue was driven by growth in the computer and telecommunications business, but slowed by a sharp decrease in car sales, STMicro said.
The figure includes proceeds from ST-NXP Wireless, a joint venture with Ericsson, that STMicro started in August.
Without NXP Wireless, net revenue for the quarter was $2.5 million, the company said.
The quarterly result include a $76 million writedown for research and development, $57 million in costs related to the purchase of ST-NXP Wireless, as well as a $344 million charge for the spin off of its flash memory business into a new company, Numonyx, said STMicro.
Shares in STMicro closed up 3.5 percent at 6.51 euros ($8.31) on the Paris exchange.
Serbia's justice minister says the citizens of Serbia and Croatia can now check whether they are sought for war crimes stemming from the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
Snezana Malovic says former fighters can see whether they are on the lists of wanted people in both Croatia and Serbia.
Malovic says former Balkan foes have set up a joint commission to deal with the issue which has been a major problem in relations since the 1991-95 Serb-Croat war.
Secret arrest warrants also have hampered the return to Croatia of thousands of Serb refugees who fear they could be arrested once they arrive there.
The war erupted when Croatia declared independence from Serb-led Yugoslavia. Serbia and Croatia have recently improved ties as both seek EU membership.
A few weeks ago, I was delighted to find in my office the Fall 2004 issue of Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology, which focuses on power and leadership. I was delighted because the editors and publishers of Vision (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Canadian Mennonite University) and the writers who contributed to this issue were willing to tackle a subject that has been much marginalized, maligned and misunderstood in Mennonite circles.
I am currently taking a course entitled "Organizational power and politics" through the Faculty of Management at the University of Manitoba. I have found the conversations about power with my instructor and fellow students, who are managers in a wide variety of businesses and non-profit organizations, the most refreshing and freeing that I have ever had.
Our instructor has given us tools to name and analyze our personal sources of power and the areas in which we need to develop it. She has also given us tools to analyze the ethics and effectiveness of our use of power.
[Graph Not Transcribed]
While some might suspect that so much talk about power and how to use it would be a sure path to corruption, I have found exactly the opposite to be true. Receiving practical tools for naming and understanding power has greatly helped me to de-mystify and disempower power itself. And naming and understanding power within the context of a discerning community--my fellow students--pushes me to think about sharing power and being held accountable for its use--or abuse--or, perhaps more common in Mennonite circles, the failure to use it.
The humour, insight and high standards that my fellow students have applied to demanding ethical questions about power are an example to me of what can and should happen when we learn how to talk about power and when we know it's "okay" to do it.
I hope that the Fall 2004 issue of Vision will inspire a new and positive interest in questions of power and leadership in Mennonite circles, and new efforts to help church leaders and members understand power well and use it responsibly.
ATLANTA (AP) — A franchise known for its postseason flops switched to fast-forward this time.
The Atlanta Braves went ahead and blew it before the playoffs.
Joining the Boston Red Sox in a pair of unprecedented September flops, the Braves spent Thursday cleaning out their lockers rather than packing for an NL division series that seemed all but certain just a few weeks ago.
Atlanta had a 10½-game lead on St. Louis in late August. The margin was still 8½ games the first week of September. But the pitching faded, and the offense that had been a problem all year was finally exposed.
No wonder reliever Jonny Venters says he didn't get much sleep after the dramatic final game, a 13-inning loss to Philadelphia that ended the season.
| All Times EST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASTERN CONFERENCE | ||||
| Atlantic Division | ||||
| W | L OT Pts | GF | GA | |
| Philadelphia | 31 11 | 5 | 67 164 124 | |
| Pittsburgh | 29 15 | 4 | 62 150 112 | |
| N.Y. Rangers | 27 19 | 3 | 57 140 119 | |
| N.Y. Islanders | 15 24 | 7 | 37 114 152 | |
| New Jersey | 14 29 | 3 | 31 | 92 140 |
| Northeast Division | ||||
| W | L OT Pts | GF | GA | |
| Boston | 26 14 | 7 | 59 144 107 | |
| Montreal | 27 17 | 4 | 58 125 114 | |
| Buffalo | 21 21 | 5 | 47 129 139 | |
| Toronto | 19 22 | 5 | 43 119 141 | |
| Ottawa | 17 25 | 7 | 41 106 157 | |
| Southeast Division | ||||
| W | L OT Pts | GF | GA | |
| Tampa Bay | 29 15 | 5 | 63 145 153 | |
| Washington | 26 14 | 8 | 60 135 125 | |
| Atlanta | 23 18 | 8 | 54 148 156 | |
| Carolina | 23 18 | 6 | 52 141 146 | |
| Florida | 21 20 | 5 | 47 124 121 | |
| WESTERN CONFERENCE | ||||
| Central Division | ||||
| W | L OT Pts | GF | GA | |
| Detroit | 29 12 | 6 | 64 162 138 | |
| Nashville | 26 15 | 6 | 58 129 112 | |
| Chicago | 25 18 | 4 | 54 150 130 | |
| St. Louis | 22 17 | 7 | 51 124 133 | |
| Columbus | 22 20 | 5 | 49 123 147 | |
| Northwest Division | ||||
| W | L OT Pts | GF | GA | |
| Vancouver | 29 10 | 8 | 66 153 115 | |
| Colorado | 24 17 | 6 | 54 153 151 | |
| Minnesota | 24 18 | 5 | 53 123 128 | |
| Calgary | 21 21 | 6 | 48 133 147 | |
| Edmonton | 14 25 | 7 | 35 115 159 | |
| Pacific Division | ||||
| W | L OT Pts | GF | GA | |
| Dallas | 29 14 | 5 | 63 143 129 | |
| Phoenix | 24 15 | 9 | 57 138 135 | |
| Anaheim | 26 20 | 4 | 56 133 141 | |
| San Jose | 24 19 | 5 | 53 133 132 | |
| Los Angeles | 24 22 | 1 | 49 134 119 |
Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss or shootout loss.
___
| Thursday's Games |
|---|
Buffalo 4, Boston 2
Toronto 5, Anaheim 2
Carolina 4, N.Y. Rangers 1
Philadelphia 6, Ottawa 2
Tampa Bay 3, Atlanta 2, SO
New Jersey 2, Pittsburgh 0
Washington 2, N.Y. Islanders 1
Detroit 4, St. Louis 3, OT
Dallas 4, Edmonton 2
Nashville 5, Colorado 1
San Jose 2, Vancouver 1, SO
Phoenix 2, Los Angeles 0
| Friday's Games |
|---|
N.Y. Islanders 5, Buffalo 2
Montreal 7, Ottawa 1
Tampa Bay 2, Florida 1, SO
Calgary 7, Dallas 4
| Saturday's Games |
|---|
New Jersey at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Chicago at Detroit, 2 p.m.
Boston at Colorado, 3 p.m.
Anaheim at Montreal, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Washington at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Carolina at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles at Phoenix, 8 p.m.
Columbus at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Calgary at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Minnesota at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
| Sunday's Games |
|---|
Florida at New Jersey, 3 p.m.
Buffalo at N.Y. Islanders, 3 p.m.
Philadelphia at Chicago, 4 p.m.
Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
Nashville at Edmonton, 8 p.m.<
Pitti Immagine Filati was the public launch pad for two new constructive partnerships: "Ingeo" fiber has established new agreements with important yarn producers, Lanerossi and Lanificio Dell'Olivo.
Lanificio Dell'Olivo is a storied family company that has been operating in the yarn and thread sector since 1886. Combining innovation with tradition, the company has concentrated on creating new, high-quality threads over the past couple of decades, resulting in unique products that blend the best modern technology has to offer with the finest and wisest craftsmanship traditions.
At Pitti Immagine Filati, Lanificio Dell'Olivo presented "Royal Baby Alpaca", a brand new "Ingeo" fiber blend that was created in collaboration with the company's creative director, Pierluigi Fucci. This is the first time "Royal Baby Alpaca" has been blended with "Ingeo" fiber, a testament to the company's belief that "Ingeo" fiber can outperform a time-tested synthetic such as nylon. For this blend, the company will use "Ingeo" fiber's smooth twist filament yarn, produced by Leitsu.
In addition to these novelties, "Ingeo" fiber continues an established partnership with Manifattura Filati Lo Cicero. A partnership like this is the fruit of collaborative efforts designed to take advantage of "Ingeo" fiber's unique performance and salable qualities. No other fiber on the planet provides such a complete offering of high performance, ecofriendly construction and proven salability. These are the reasons companies first chose "Ingeo" fiber, and the key factor in a continued partnership.
Manifattura Filati Lo Cicero has been creating special tricot and knitwear yarns for more than twenty years. At Pitti Immagine Filati, the company presented a fresh, light line of yarn made from a mix of natural fibers, including "Granoturco" realized with "Ingeo" fiber blended with cotton, perfect for maintaining freshness and breathability
Michael Jackson fans and curious sightseers still are beating a path to his boyhood home more than three weeks after his death on June 25.
A memorial of stuffed animals, flowers and photos of Jackson provides a backdrop for fans who want to be filmed or photographed in front of the house where the King of Pop, his siblings and their parents lived until 1969.
"It's tiny, for a lot of kids," said Hector Valenzuela, 60, of Burnham, Illinois.
He was among a steady stream of about 50 onlookers at a time who gawked and shot photographs and videotape of the one-level structure, where the lawn has been trampled.
Jackson spent the first 11 years of his life in Gary before the Jackson 5 struck it big in 1969 and the family relocated to the West Coat. Jackson came back to Gary just once, in 2003.
Five vendor booths outside the home offer Jackson T-shirts, DVDs, CDs, posters, buttons and other memorabilia.
T-shirt vendor William Salaam said business remains steady.
"It's consistent," he said. "The people are coming from further away. Gary has gone global."
Posts outside the house are scribbled with written messages from followers of the music legend, and a banner taped to the side of the home says, "We miss you MJ."
___
Information from: Post-Tribune, http://www.post-trib.com
Bath Rugby's loose-head prop David Barnes is backing his teammatesto turn the clock back four years this month to the start of the 2003/04 Guinness Premiership term.
While England were in Australia winning the World Cup, a new-lookBath side embarked on a run of ten straight league wins which set thefoundation for a trip to the Premiership final the following May.
Bath got off to a flier despite the absence of Danny Grewcock,Mike Tindall, Mike Catt and Iain Balshaw on World Cup duty.
This time around, Matt Stevens, Lee Mears, Steve Borthwick andOlly Barkley will be involved in England's World Cup defence.
On top of that, Samoan centre Eliota Fuimaono is away in Francewith his national side and top close-season signing Butch James iswith the Springboks.
But Barnes insists this season's squad must close ranks, focus onthe strength available to play in the Premiership and forget aboutthe absentees.
"It's vital that we don't spend any time worrying about who's nothere and how we're going to cope without them," said Barnes.
"Things have moved on a fair bit over the summer on the squadstrengthening front with seven new signings on board.
"Those signings and the recruitment of Simon Halliday at boardlevel have given the club more strength-in depth on the pitch andfresh impetus off it.
"It's vital we hit the ground running right from the first gameagainst Worcester at The Rec.
"We need to forget about who's not here to play, concentrate onwho is and not worry about how other Premiership teams are affectedby World Cup call-ups in the first seven or eight weeks of theseason.
"We got a great start in 2003/04, we never looked back and we gotstronger when the guys came back into the squad after the World Cupthat year."
Last season, Barnes came within two minutes of giving Bath theirfirst away win of a difficult Premiership season at Sale's EdgeleyPark in April.
He picked off a stray Sale pass and streaked over from 40 metresto set Bath up for what looked like a victory until Jason Robinson,playing his last game for the Stockport club, scored in injury time.
Bath finally broke their season-long Premiership duck on the roadat Newcastle on the last weekend of the regular season.
And that, Barnes confessed, was a huge relief.
"We didn't want to go a whole season without an away win in thePremiership because that would have been a talking point for years,no matter what else we achieved last season," he reflected.
"As it turned out, we went on to play in the European ChallengeCup final against Clermont Auvergne and we should have won that andwon a trophy.
"That's why the squad is determined to deliver for the supportersthis season after everything they have been through over the last fewseasons."
Past performances by our chronically woebegone state Departmentof Children and Family Services don't leave benumbed readers,taxpayers and DCFS victims much room for shock or surprise.
But how's this for bizarre, even by DCFS standards andprecedent?
Sunrya Lewis got herself licensed as a foster parent by CentralBaptist Services, a DCFS contractor agency, which then placed aninfant boy in her care, for which DCFS pays her.A resident of Chicago's South Side, Lewis then proceeded to filea paternity suit against her former boyfriend, charging that he wasthe father of the foster child.She also represented herself as the boy's mother and presentedhim as such in court.A judge ordered blood tests, which established that the oldboyfriend was not the father - and, of course, that Lewis was not themother of the boy, who was born in November, 1997.The boy's biological parents are known to DCFS, which had takencustody from the parents only about a month after his birth.Lewis' aim in filing the paternity suit, officials believe, wasto shake down the former boyfriend for money.When Chicago police determined that the boy was in foster careand that Lewis was lying, she was charged with perjury and is due incourt Dec. 18.And now we get to the really bizarre bit. Central BaptistServices has taken the position that Lewis is still fit to be theboy's foster mother, and the boy still is living with her.Police informed the Cook County public guardian's office of theLewis case on Nov. 23, the day she was arrested and charged withperjury.Lawyers from the guardian's office informed DCFS on the sameday. They also spoke with DCFS attorneys on Nov. 24, Dec. 2 and Dec.3, recommending that the boy be removed from Lewis' care.Lawyers from the guardian's office also took up the issue with acaseworker, Sheila Evans, and a supervisor, Kim Blackwell, at CentralBaptist.They were told that Central Baptist had decided - based oninformation provided by Lewis, of all people - that the boy shouldremain in the home and care of Lewis.The guardian's office lawyers also were told that the decisionfollowed "an internal staffing (review)" at Central Baptist and thatLewis would be getting "individual counseling," whatever that meansfor someone facing perjury prosecution.Public Guardian Patrick Murphy filed a motion in Juvenile Courtlast Monday asking that the court order DCFS to select an alternativeplacement for the boy. A hearing on the motion is set for today.Murphy also wrote to DCFS Director Jess McDonald, saying hehoped DCFS would "without court order require Central Baptist to takethe minor out of the home" of Lewis.On Wednesday I called DCFS, and spokeswoman Maudlyne Ihejirikatold me a private foster care contractor "retains decision-making"authority "until and unless DCFS has reason to intervene.""We have that now," Ihejirika said, and a DCFS team will bereviewing the Lewis case internally on Friday - the day afterMurphy's court hearing.Murphy holds that DCFS' extensive privatization of its fostercare responsibilities "is a good idea run amok."He does "not believe that every private (foster care) agencyshould be permitted to license and monitor their own foster parents.. . . There should be one licensing agency, DCFS, and one computerfrom which all other agencies pull their foster homes."Ihejirika said she and DCFS colleagues were "appalled" at theLewis case. She referred to Lewis' paternity lawsuit as "the mostbizarre thing" she has ever seen in a DCFS case.Well, it comes close, I suppose. For now.
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a border police patrol on Monday in southern Afghanistan, killing a policeman, as officials reported that clashes and a roadside bomb elsewhere left nine people dead, including four civilians.
Four other policemen were seriously wounded when the bomber struck the police vehicle in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, said border security police commander Gen. Abdul Raziq.
In neighboring Helmand province, police discovered and tried to defuse a remote-controlled roadside bomb Monday in Nad Ali district, but it exploded, killing two policemen and two civilians, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussain Andiwal. Four other civilians were wounded.
In the Zhari district of Kandahar, three Taliban militants were killed in a battle between police and NATO troops on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Another militant was detained during the operation, it said.
In neighboring Uruzgan province, a clash between NATO troops and Taliban insurgents near Tirin Kot, the provincial capital, left two civilians dead and five others wounded on Friday, an alliance statement said. The violence followed a roadside bomb attack on NATO's International Security Assistance Force soldiers.
"The dead are a child and an adult; the injured included three children," the statement said. "It is not clear how they sustained their injuries."
"ISAF sincerely regrets the loss of those civilians and is saddened that casualties were caused as a result of a deliberate attack against ISAF forces that was instigated by the insurgents," the statement said.
Civilians are often caught in the line of fire during fighting between the Taliban and international forces or during airstrikes by foreign troops because insurgents often hide among civilian homes.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pleaded repeatedly with NATO and the U.S.-led coalition to coordinate more closely with their Afghan counterparts to prevent civilian casualties.
Last year, insurgency-related violence left more than 6,500 people dead _ a record number _ including nearly 900 civilians, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.
LONDON (AP) — Scores Friday in the first Twenty20 international between England and the West Indies at The Oval:
___
West Indies 125 all out in 19.4 overs (Johnson Charles 36, Dwayne Smith 33; Ravi Bopara 4-10)
Thousands of people packed into Pamplona's main square Tuesday to spray each other with wine as a firecracker rocket blasted off to start Spain's San Fermin bull-running festival.
The nine-day festival got under way at midday with the traditional shout from the city hall balcony of "Viva San Fermin!" followed seconds later by the firing of the firecracker known as the chupinazo.
The rocket blast was the signal to the revelers _ many in the festival's traditional dress of white shirts and trousers and red neckerchiefs _ to erupt into party mode. People sang and whooped while many drenched each other with all sorts of drink and threw eggs and flour.
Television shots from the air showed a veritable sea of red and white swaying back and forth in the square as a deafening roar could be heard rising up from the crowd.
In an almost laughable bid to try to keep the noise level down during a fiesta known for its all-night street partying, Pamplona town hall on Monday banned the street sale of vuvuzelas, the droning plastic horns so popular at World Cup matches in South Africa.
San Fermin's first bull-run is Wednesday at 8 a.m (0600 GMT) when hundreds of people race ahead of six fighting bulls and six bell-tinkling steers _ meant to keep them in a tight pack _ charged down the 930-yard (850-meter) course from a holding pen to the northern town's bull ring.
Dozens of people are injured each year in the morning runs, most from falls but some also from gorings and tramplings by the beasts.
Last year's festival saw the first goring death in nearly 15 years.
The fiesta, popularized internationally by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises," attracts tens of thousands of foreigners each year.
ATLANTA United Parcel Service's brown trucks rolled on todayafter negotiations between the delivery service giant and theTeamsters union extended past a strike deadline. The union promisednot to walk out as long as talks were progressing.
The all-night bargaining session in Washington recessed about5:40 a.m. so negotiators could get some rest. The talks resumedaround 1:40 p.m.
Teamsters President Ron Carey promised that workers would stayon the job unless talks break down, saying: "If there is anopportunity to settle this, that's what it's all about."
Carey declined to discuss details, but when asked about thechances of a week-long strike at this point, he replied, "I thinkwe're beyond that now."
UPS chief James Kelly was last to arrive for the afternoontalks, and he declined to comment.
Earlier, the company said that, while it was operating on normalschedules, some customers were taking their business elsewhere. Thecompany has suspended service guarantees because of the laboruncertainty.
"There's no question that we have had a decrease in volume,most noticeable today," spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said.
The company, which normally ships 12 million parcels anddocuments a day, said it began losing business in the days leading upto the strike deadline. Rosenberg didn't have specific losses, otherto say the volume was "hundreds of thousands of packages lighter."
"Clearly, it's going to start cutting into their business," JohnPincavage, an analyst for Dillon, Read in New York, said today."Shippers need certainty."
He said UPS is such a dominant part of the industry that mostlosses should be temporary. But if UPS is hit by a lengthy walkout,"what happens is that customers will find different ways to dothings," Pincavage said. "In some instances, those will becomepermanent."
Preparing a house for sale is a lot like getting ready for a hotdate. You wouldn't go out unshaven, smelling like yesterday's gymsocks or jangling with tacky jewelry.
You want your house to look its best for potential suitors, too.Is it dirty? Does the place smell like a wet dog or diaper pail?
Give it a "bath" -- clean the windows and carpets. Are the shrubsmangy? Get them a good "haircut." Are the faucets drippy, the lightfixtures cheap-looking, the switch plates grimy? Get some new"jewelry."
With a deluge of homes for sale at the start of the spring market,such makeovers are more crucial than ever. We asked a few real estateagents what they would do to …
GENEVA (AP) — The U.S. has tumbled further down a global ranking of the world's most competitive economies, landing at fifth place because of its huge deficits and declining public faith in government, a global economic group said Wednesday.
The announcement by the World Economic Forum was the latest bad news for the Obama administration, which has been struggling to boost the sinking U.S. economy and lower an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent.
Switzerland held onto the top spot for the third consecutive year in the annual ranking by the Geneva-based forum, which is best known for its exclusive meeting of luminaries in Davos, Switzerland, each January.
Singapore moved up to second place, bumping Sweden down to third. Finland moved up to fourth place, from seventh last year. The U.S. was in fourth place last year, after falling from No. 1 in 2008.
The rankings, which the forum has issued for more than three decades, are based on economic data and a survey of 15,000 business executives.
The forum praised the U.S. for its productivity, highly sophisticated and innovative companies, excellent universities and flexible labor market. But it also cited "a number of escalating weaknesses" such as rising government debt and declining public faith in political leaders and corporate ethics.
The results of a survey of 142 nations comes a day before Obama is preparing to tackle jobs issues in a speech to the U.S. Congress, and just as U.S. polls show a clear majority of those surveyed say they disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy.
Switzerland held onto its top ranking, the forum said, because of "continuing strong performance across the board" with innovation, technological readiness, even-handed regulation and having one of the world's most stable economic environments.
Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, was sixth, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark. Japan came in ninth, and Britain was 10th. France was 18th, and Greece, saddled with debt, fell to 90th.
The report looked at broader trends: While the U.S. slipped, emerging markets gained traction. China took 26th place, highest among major emerging economies; Brazil was 53rd; India was 56th; and Russia was 66th.
"Fiscal imbalances that have been building up around the world are really a danger to future competitiveness, in terms of the ability of countries to invest in those things that will be very important for competitiveness going forward, things like education, infrastructure and so on," said Jennifer Blanke, an economist with the forum.
Four months before midterm elections, Democrats are intent on pushing through the House legislation that requires stricter disclosure requirements on political activity by interest groups.
Republicans oppose the bill, arguing the measure is unconstitutional and crafted to place corporations at a disadvantage. Even some Democrats balked in recent days at a last-minute change made to satisfy the National Rifle Association.
But Democratic aides expressed confidence the measure would have enough votes to pass when it comes to an expected vote Thursday.
The legislation was drafted in response to a Supreme Court ruling last winter that said corporations and unions were free to engage directly in political activity that had long been prohibited, including financing their own campaign commercials.
Under the measure, most independent groups, including corporations and unions, would be required to disclose the names of the top five donors whose contributions had made the commercials possible.
Companies and other groups holding government contracts in excess of $10 million would be banned entirely from engaging in independent political activity, as would companies that are benefiting from federal bailouts.
The legislation has created an odd alignment among interest groups. Among the most unusual developments was the NRA's decision to step aside and agree to allow the measure to pass after first attacking it as an infringement on free speech, then winning an exemption from key disclosure requirements.
The concession came after Democrats aides concluded the legislation would fail if the powerful gun owners organization opposed it. But the exemption triggered a backlash by liberal lawmakers angered at the prospect of special treatment for a group that customarily works to defeat the Democratic legislation agenda.
The bill was changed again to say that any organization that has been in existence for at least a decade and has at least 500,000 dues-paying members spread among all 50 states would be exempt from having to disclose its donors.
The measure's chief sponsor, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said it would "help ensure that the American people know who is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence their vote and prevent a takeover of our democracy by powerful special interests."
Critics disputed that, noting that Van Hollen is also the head of the Democratic campaign effort in the House.
"This bill is nothing less and nothing more than an attempt to change the laws of campaign finance to silence the critics of one party in order to give it an advantage over the other," Republicans on the House Administration Committee wrote after Democrats won approval in the panel on a party-line vote.
The Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange againfailed to meet congressionally mandated trade audit-trailrequirements.
The exchanges will be given one more chance to come intocompliance, and if they don't, dual trading could be banned, theCommodity Futures Trading Commission said Monday.
A report on the status of audit trails at U.S. futures exchangessaid that, in the near term, the CFTC plans to step up itssurveillance of dual trading. Dual trading occurs when a pit brokertrades for his own account and for customers at the same time.
In the meantime, the Chicago exchanges will be given one morechance to meet the standards by Jan. 1, …
Did you know that the word "vacation," was invented in the Adirondacks? The Adirondacks website says that in the early 1900's people in the cities were beginning to realize that summer heat and deadly fevers went hand in hand. The upper class did not spend the summer in …
The Syracuse University men's soccer team has one of the top defensive teams in the country and two Saratoga County athletes are starting for the Orangemen.
Sophomores Matt Chew of Clifton Park (Shenendehowa High) and Mike McCallion of Ballston Lake (Shenendehowa High) have started all three games for the 1-1-1 squad.
The team beat the University at Albany 1-0 before losing a 1-0 overtime decision to Loyola, Md.
Last weekend, the Orangemen battled Seton Hall to a 0-0 deadlock in the Big East opener for both teams.
Seton Hall was ranked 19th and Syracuse 22nd in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll.
Junior David Rabazzi of Clifton Park (Shenendehowa) is also on the team. He's a backup goalkeeper.
Syracuse is at Adelphi Saturday.
Marcone tough in goal Sophomore keeper Laura Marcone of Mechanicville (Mechanicville High) hasn't given up a goal in three games for the State University at Oneonta women's soccer team.
Marcone has started three games and played 248 minutes. She's only been credited with four saves but has 1-0 shutouts over New York University and Eastern Connecticut and shared goal with freshman …
Thirty-five years have passed since Henry Panasci opened his first drug store in upstate New York, disappointing family, raising eyebrows, confident that he was ready to run a drug chain. In so doing, he left the drug chain his uncle Carl would ultimately build into one of the region's most successful.
During the period from then until now, Panasci has built one of America's most successful and, more important, most exciting drug chains. More significant still, the successes and failures, trials and tribulations, adventures and setbacks that have marked Panasci's career running Fay's, have mirrored - and at times anticipated - the history of chain drug retailing in America in the last half of the 20th century.
Panasci has known the stunning successes that marked chain drug retailing in the 1960s and 1970s, the equally remarkable reversals borne of overstoring, willy-nilly growth and imprudent diversification that marked the …
LONDON (AP) — For so long a match simply about local bragging rights, the Manchester derby suddenly has much more riding on it ahead of this season's first Premier League clash between title contenders United and City at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Bankrolled by Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Mansour since 2008, City is challenging for the English title for the first time in a generation and climbed …
ALBANY, N.Y. -- State lawmakers unveiled a bill Monday that isbelieved to be the first in the nation to target modem hijacking, apractice in which thieves tap into people's computer modems to makeinternational phone calls.
If passed, the law would allow telephone companies and the stateattorney general to bring lawsuits against modem hijackers and theiraccomplices.
The hijackers tap into people's modems by luring computer users tospecific Web sites -- sometimes through e-mails -- where pop-upwindows emerge inviting the user to click on them. …
NAJAF / Aswat al-Iraq: The Najaf Investment Commission has approved nine new investment projects at a total cost of $38 million (more than 45 billion dinars), raising the number of investment projects in the province to 65, head of the commission said on Wednesday.
"The NIC gave nine new investment licenses in the health, entertainment, commercial and educational fields at a cost of $38.211.138 million," Fadl al-Fadl told Aswat al-Iraq news …
Byline: Patrick Finley
Jun. 7--OKLAHOMA CITY -- Two minutes into Mike Candrea's post-game news conference Wednesday, he wanted to set the record straight.
"This is not my last game at Arizona," he said. "I don't know who's jumping the gun, but that's far from the truth."
Candrea will not coach the Wildcats next year; instead, he will coach the 2008 Olympic team.
To replace him, Candrea said he's "sure it will be" a co-head coach setup with assistants Larry Ray and Nancy Evans.
Had the UA lost, Candrea said it would not have been a tough year-and-a-half between Wednesday and his next game as coach of the Wildcats.
"If we …
CHICAGO -- Michael Jordan is back on top as sports' most desired product endorser.
In a poll won last year by golfer Tiger Woods that asks business and advertising executives to choose the sports celebrity they'd like most to pitch their products, Jordan finished No. 1 by a wide margin.
The Chicago Bulls guard received 79 first-place votes compared with 24 for Woods in balloting …
Builder David Talton looked to Colonial Williamsburg for inspiration in designing an exclusive infill enclave near Washington, D.C. Williamsburg Commons will have 38 homes on 9.5 acres at build out. The average lot size is 6,000 square feet; the houses (all with faithfully replicated Williamsburg exteriors) range from 2,700 to 5,200 square feet and sell from $560,000. Sales have averaged one a month since April 1992.
The surrounding community of Vienna, Va., has many big, new brick houses on small lots. What makes Talton's project unique is the land plan. Every house fronts on common ground; rear garages are reached via alleys that run along the edge of the site. …
A senior lawmaker in Britain's main opposition party is defending his decision to retain investments in companies still doing business in Zimbabwe.
Dominic Grieve is among six lawmakers named by the Independent on Sunday as being shareholders in companies operating in the southern African country. Grieve is the Conservative Party's spokesman on law and …
Edwina Brown had 22 points and nine rebounds as Texas held offNorthwestern 89-86 on Thursday night in Austin, Texas, for the 700thvictory of coach Jody Conradt's career.
Conradt (700-202), the winningest coach in women's collegebasketball, is only the eighth college coach to reach 700 victories.The nearest woman to Conradt is Pat Summitt of Tennessee with 636.
Vanessa Wallace added 20 points for the Longhorns (3-4). TheWildcats (4-7), who missed a potential tying three-pointer at thebuzzer, got 28 points from Kristina Divjak and 23 from MeganChawansky.MENNo. 2 Kansas 96, Pepperdine 83: Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentzscored 23 …
(ADPnews) - Oct 28, 2010 - Finnish software and hardware developer Elektrobit Oyj (HEL:EBC1V), or EB, said today it started personnel negotiations targeting to lay off or to temporarily lay off up to 150 employees in Finland.
The negotiations will affect the 500 employees at the company's subsidiary Elektrobit Wireless Communications Oy and EB's corporate functions.
The company …
EAST GREENBUSH
Wednesday and Thursday: Seniors meet from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Clinton Heights Fire House, Sherwood Avenue. Information: Irma Landon, 449-2265, or Kathy DuPrey at 477-4305.
Wednesday: Dominoes, from 1 to 4 p.m., East Greenbush Town Hall Community Room. New members welcome. Call Betty at 449-2374.
Tuesdays and Fridays: Mah Jong, from 1 to 4 p.m., East Greenbush Town Hall. New players welcome. Call Carmela at 477-4775.
HOOSICK
Monday: Mystery bingo 10 a.m., cards, monthly business meeting 1 p.m., senior exercise class 1 p.m., Hoosick Center, 69 Church St., Hoosick Falls.
Tuesday: Card party 10:30 a.m., health department available, van transportation, grocery shopping, Hoosick Center.
Wednesday: ROUSE meeting in Schodack 9:30 a.m., Medicare Part D clinic, prior sign up required; cards, exercise class 1 p.m., Hoosick Center.
Thursday: Cards, grocery shopping, …
Todd Reilly of Schodack has been elected vice president of marketing and customer service for the Taconic Telephone Corp. A graduate of Ohio State University, he had been manager of corporate communications for the Alltel Corp., a national telecommunications holding company headquartered in Ohio.
Taconic Telephone also has announced three appointments to its corporate offices in Chatham. Mary Mellyn of Valatie has been promoted to accounting manager. A graduate of Russell Sage College in Troy, she had been previously with the Kinderhill Corp. before joining Taconic in 1987. Ronald Dixon of Chatham has been named operations supervisor of the Information Services Department. A graduate of Delta State College in Mississippi, he joined Taconic in 1986. Patrick Kennedy of Troy has been named programmer analyst in the Information Services Department. He is a recent Siena College gradute.
A. Susan Gabriele of Schenectady has been named director of meetings for the New York State Bar Association. A graduate of Russell Sage College, she has completed management courses at Union College and the American Management Association. She was formerly employed by the Golub Corp., becoming the first woman officer of the corporation in 1982, when she was elected assistant secretary.
Arnold and …
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the reputed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, told a military judge at his arraignment Thursday that he welcomes the death penalty as a way to martyrdom and ridiculed the proceedings as an "inquisition."
In his first public appearance since his capture five years ago, Mohammed wore dark-framed prison-issue glasses, a turban and a bushy, gray beard, and he was noticeably thinner _ a stark change from the slovenly man with disheveled hair, unshaven face and T-shirt from the widely distributed photograph after his seizure in Pakistan.
He and four other detainees accused of plotting al-Qaida's 2001 attack were at turns …
Computer security
The National Institute of Standards and Technology will hold aworkshop on computer security for small-business owners from 8:30a.m. until 4 p.m. Sept. 26 at John Marshall Law School's Center forInformation Technology and Privacy Law, 315 S. Plymouth Ct. Theworkshop, which costs $35 to attend, covers practices to secure e-mail, payroll and customer data and technologies to protect againsthackers, viruses and cyber-criminals. Registration information isavailable at http://csrc.nist.gov/securebiz.
Vonage calls Chicago
Vonage, the Edison, N.J.-based provider of digital home telephoneservice under the Vonage DigitalVoice brand, launched service in …
EASY2DRAW: Dolphins & Reef Animals! DVD/110 min./$19.99. Artragous Designs. Level: Elementary School through Adult.
Through the steady gifted hand of Cordi, several lessons about drawing marine creatures are made to look very easy. This experienced artist and art teacher uses a three-phase drawing process to instruct students in developing drawing skills. Instruction begins with an explanation of the materials to be used during the demonstrations, including charcoal, pencils, various erasers and blending tools, and continues with a discussion of layout ideas. As the lessons are presented, footage depicting the marine animals that are the subjects adds a real-life …
