Kyrgyz interim leader in Osh, vows to restore city

Kyrgyzstan's interim president on Friday made her first visit to the riot-hit southern town of Osh, vowing to restore the battered city and work for the return of hundreds of thousands of Uzbek refugees who fled deadly ethnic violence.

And U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, visiting a refugee camp in Uzbekistan about five kilometers (3 miles) from the Kyrgyz border, called for an investigation into the violence and said he was working to ensure the refugees would be able to return home safely

Interim President Roza Otumbayeva arrived early Friday by helicopter in the central square of Osh, a city of 250,000. Parts of the city have been reduced …

NBA PLAYOFFS: Spurs put the 'D' on Dirk in winning game one of series

SAN ANTONIO - Hands pumping, feet moving, eyes staring straightahead, Bruce Bowen wasn't about to let Dirk Nowitzki start the secondround of the playoffs with the groove he had in the first round.

Making up a 5-inch height difference with in-your-face tenacity,Bowen got Nowitzki out of whack early, then got the ball out of hishands on the final play to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the DallasMavericks 87-85 on Sunday.

Nowitzki scored 20 points, but missed 12 of 20 shots and was 1-of-4 in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks went into the period leadingby one, but scored only 13 points - two in the final 4:08.

Oh, the winning shot for San Antonio? Bowen hit that, …

No. 13 Duke Routs Eastern Kentucky

Duke has more than one freshman capable of taking over a game.

Freshman Taylor King scored a career-high 27 points to lead No. 13 Duke to a 78-43 rout of Eastern Kentucky on Sunday.

DeMarcus Nelson had 12 points and Gerald Henderson added 10 for the Blue Devils (6-0), who played their first game on the mainland since winning the Maui Invitational and showed no effects of jet lag.

Duke never looked back after a dominant first half in which the Colonels made just four of 17 shots and had 18 turnovers. The Blue Devils never trailed, led 34-12 at the break and cruised to their NCAA-best 54th straight nonconference victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

…

Not all seniors can keep working

May I offer another perspective on the issue of later retirement age raised by Jeremy Kohn ["Raise the retirement age," letter, Aug. 25]:

My wife and I, both retired and in our mid-60s, find ourselves in the position of being caregivers and companions for aging parents (three of them, in our case). I'm sure our …

Big tallies mark action in Champs

There are two days left to enter the 27th annual ChicagoSun-Times Beat The Champions bowling contest.

Entering is easy. Fill out the card provided by your leaguesecretary, pay the $1 entry and bowl.

Mary Gambos is happy she entered this week. Gambos, a 191average bowler in the AMF Forest Lanes Scratch League, rolled a 735series. With her 19 pins handicap, Gambos totaled 754.

In the same league, Sandy Postma rolled a 783 scratch, but shedidn't enter Beat The Champions. Postma's score is high in the statethis season.

Among other big scores at AMF Forest Lanes were 706 by PhilReiman and 716 by Pam Meilahn in the Sunday Trio Mixed.

…

'Tin Whiskers' Imperil Electronics

SAN JOSE, Calif. - They've ruined missiles, silenced communications satellites and forced nuclear power plants to shut down. Pacemakers, consumer gadgets and even a critical part of a space shuttle have fallen victim.

The culprits? Tiny splinters - whiskers, they're called - that sprout without warning from tin solder and finishes deep inside electronics. By some estimates, the resulting short-circuits have leveled as much as $10 billion in damage since they were first noticed in the 1940s.

Now some electronics makers worry the destruction will be more widespread, and the dollar amounts more draining, as the European Union and governments around the world enact laws to …

Never count Milutinovic out, not even with Iraq

By now, it is easy to understand why Bora Milutinovic has one of the biggest smiles in football.

After leading five different nations at the World Cup, he pulled his latest trick Sunday in the Confederations Cup opener.

A master at turning underdogs into overachievers, he made sure Iraq escaped with a 0-0 draw against favored host South Africa. A lack of goals never looked better to him.

"The only thing that is important for me is that the team is playing the way we played," the veteran Serb coach said.

And if his dour, negative tactics riled the Bafana Bafana fans, he didn't care.

"It depends how you watch …

Pro Bowl Nod Secondary to McMichael

No defensive tackle in the NFC has as many sacks as SteveMcMichael (10), so it's not unreasonable to assume he should make thePro Bowl roster, which will be announced Wednesday.

But McMichael, who has been snubbed by Pro Bowl votersrepeatedly after making the team in 1986 and '87, isn't concerninghimself with the honor.

"There are a lot of great players around here, and everybodycan't go," McMichael said. "I've been shut out in the past, so Ican't worry about it."

McMichael said being voted to the Pro Bowl would be nice, but itwouldn't help ease the pain of the Bears season.

"Nothing would take the sting out of this season," McMichaelsaid. …

Report: Spain doubtful on 2012 deficit target

BERLIN (AP) — Spain's new government quickly sought to downplay remarks by its finance minister that raised doubts Friday over whether Madrid could deliver its goal of cutting its budget deficit.

Cristobal Montoro said in an interview with The Financial Times Deutschland that the target of 4.4 percent of gross domestic product this year was based on "outdated" growth forecasts by the previous government of 2.3 percent growth in 2012. The new government expects Spain to go into recession this quarter.

Montoro said of the 4.4 percent figure that "it is desirable, and it would be good to manage this," according to the report. It …

Portugal adds austerity measures

Portugal announced new austerity measures Monday to avoid a debt crisis like the one engulfing Greece, cutting welfare benefits and government hiring as well as selling assets and raising taxes on the well-off.

The announcement comes two days ahead of a bond issue in which Portugal will try to raise euro750 million ($1.02 billion). Greece was able to tap bond markets last week after also announcing more deep cutbacks to shore up its finances.

The two countries' troubles have fueled a Europe-wide debt crisis that has undermined the euro and led the European Union to consider setting up a new European monetary fund to help support the euro.

…

Staffing crisis is one of biggest battles for conservation police BETTER START MOVING ... Staffing crisis is one of biggest battles for conservation police BETTER START MOVING ...

Ihave been checked by a conservation police officer three times inmy adult life in Illinois. In a half dozen fishing trips to Wisconsinthis year alone, I have been checked twice. And the Illinois crisisin CPO staffing just gets worse.

When the state budget was hammered out this summer, funding for 25additional CPOs had been chipped away. We are in a crisis.

In a chat this week with Larry Closson, director of the Office ofLaw Enforcement, I asked whether the Illinois DNR had consideredgoing to the state police for help in staffing, similar to whattroubled municipalities such as Cicero have done.

Closson, who has headed the conservation police for 21 years,didn't …

Colombia asks Panama to extradite ex-spy chief

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama's Foreign Ministry says Colombia has asked it to extradite former Colombian intelligence chief Maria del Pilar Hurtado to face conspiracy, wiretapping and abuse of authority charges.

Hurtado headed Colombia's DAS domestic intelligence agency in 2007 and 2008.

The agency was dissolved in October after it was caught spying on presidential foes, …

Honda bringing back overtime at Japan plants

Honda is stepping up production and bringing back overtime at its Japanese plants in response to solid demand for its small cars and hybrids, the automaker said Friday.

Honda Motor Co. will have workers come in on weekends and other days off at its Saitama plant for the first time since the financial crisis, starting with one day in July. Honda is adding another extra work day in August, and two days each in September and October, said company spokesman Hiroyuki Horiuchi.

The Saitama plant, in a Tokyo suburb, is returning to a double-shift at one of its two assembly lines in August, because of the solid demand in Japan for the Freed hatchback, boosting production there to 1,450 vehicles a day from 1,100, according to Japan's No. 2 automaker.

Before the global slump, the plant had two shifts at both its lines. The latest move underlines signs of a gradual recovery at Honda, which has been riding out the slump relatively better than its bigger Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp.

Honda is also having workers do overtime at another Japanese plant, in Suzuka, which makes the hit Insight hybrid, as well as the Fit subcompact.

Small ecological models like the Insight, Freed and Fit are doing well despite the downturn in the auto market, partly because of tax breaks and government incentives on green cars.

Honda had transferred about 400 workers at its Saitama plant to Suzuka, to protect jobs while adjusting production, but those workers will be returning to Saitama as Freed production there increases, it said.

Obama aims to ‘root out’ cause of high gas prices

RENO, Nev. — President Obama said Thursday that the Justice Department will try to "root out" cases of fraud or manipulation in oil markets, even as Attorney General Eric Holder suggested a variety of legal reasons may be behind gasoline's surge to $4 a gallon.

"We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain," Obama said at a town-hall style meeting at a renewable energy plant in Reno.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.84 on Thursday, about 30 cents higher than a month ago and almost a dollar higher than a year ago.

Obama, decrying such levels as yet another hardship "at a time when things were already pretty tough," said Holder was forming the Financial Fraud Enforcement Working Group. The task force will focus some of its investigation on "the role of traders and speculators" in the oil-price surge, Obama said. The group will include several Cabinet department officials, federal regulators and the National Association of Attorneys General.

In Washington, Holder said he would press ahead with the investigation, even though he did not cite any current evidence of intentional manipulation of oil and gas prices or fraud.

"Based upon our work and research to date, it is evident that there are regional differences in gasoline prices, as well as differences in the statutory and other legal tools at the government's disposal," Holder said in a memo accompanying a statement announcing the task force. "It is also clear that there are lawful reasons for increases in gas prices, given supply and demand."

"Nonetheless, where consumers are harmed by unlawful conduct that has the effect of increasing gas prices, state and federal authorities will take swift action," Holder said.

He promised to "be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets for any wrongdoing so that consumers can be confident they are not paying higher prices as a result of illegal activity."

There's not much Obama can do to affect the price of gasoline in short term, which he acknowledged in his remarks. Gas prices have risen steadily as a result of tensions in the Middle East and northern Africa and rising demand from China and other emerging economies.

Given that no evidence has yet surfaced of actual fraud or price manipulation in oil markets, Obama's remarks appeared, at least in part, as more of an attempt to assuage public anger over rising gas prices.

Other presidents also launched similar inquiries at times of rising oil prices and widespread public suspicions of market manipulation by the oil industry or by speculators. AP

Hamlin relaxed at Richmond

Denny Hamlin started Friday in a fairly relaxed mood, the stress he usually felt from racing at Richmond International Raceway lifted after last year's breakthrough win.

Then his No. 11 Toyota slogged around the speedway all day, and Hamlin no longer seemed so at ease.

"It's slow right now," Hamlin said after qualifying 30th for Saturday night's race. "It's the only word I can really use for it."

That's not a position Hamlin is used to at RIR, his home track. He's been a contender every time he's raced here since his 2006 rookie season, but he never could find his way to Victory Lane despite very strong cars. The desire to win in front of family and friends was nerve-racking, and Hamlin definitely felt the pressure.

"Every time I came here, I was very nervous," he said. "For practice, I was extremely nervous. Qualifying, extremely nervous. This time, for some reason, I'm just way more relaxed this weekend than what I've been here in the past."

He earned that with last September's victory, a win that gave Hamlin renewed confidence and a ton of momentum as he headed into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Hamlin won two of the 10 Chase races and closed the season as the popular pick to dethrone four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson this year.

Although he started slowly this season, he's picked up the pace considerably with two victories in the last four races. A fourth-place finish last weekend at Talladega continued his march through the standings, and Hamlin has jumped from 18th to ninth in just two races.

He's done it during the most physically challenging stretch of his career, too. Hamlin tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee playing basketball during the offseason and planned to postpone surgery until after the year. But when his knee began to bother him, the surgery was moved up and Hamlin had the ligament repaired in early April, two days after his win at Martinsville.

He struggled in his first race after the surgery, finishing 30th on a long night in which he had Casey Mears on standby as a replacement driver but refused to get out of the car. He bounced back a week later with a win at Texas, but was still dismayed by the lengthy recovery time.

Hamlin still walks with a limp, but has been encouraged with the progress made this week in rehabilitation.

"I feel like day-to-day, I gained about one percent, or half a percent, since the surgery," he said. "But, for some reason, I'd say over the last four days, that number has been like five percent better. It's taken big leaps. I didn't think it would be this far into it that I would still feel the effects, but obviously I am."

But he's confident his knee is not affecting his on-track performance.

"It hampers everyday life and weekly life, but nothing here on the race track," he said.

Still, the 0.75-mile Richmond oval could present a problem for Hamlin, who will have to use more brake than he's had to while racing at Texas and Talladega.

"This will be not as bad as Phoenix on it, but it will definitely be much harder than where we've been the last two or three weeks," he said. "I will be interested to see what kind of pressure I can put on the brake here at Richmond."

That wasn't the problem, though, with Friday's on-track sessions. His Joe Gibbs Racing entry just wasn't at its usual pace, and Hamlin couldn't figure out why.

"I'm just running as hard as the car will let me, and it just won't take any more speed," he said. "So, we've just got to figure that part out."

New Burger Takeaway For Town Looks Ready To Go

Planners look set to approve a new drive-thru MacDonald's in thecentre of Yate.

Charterhouse, which owns the Four Seasons shopping centre, wantsto build it at the back of the former Safeway store in West Walk.

The restaurant is part of a major remodelling scheme to createmore facilities for teenagers and a key element of the CommunityVision for the town centre. The rest of the store will be taken overby two other retail units.

The Swan pub in the shopping centre was closed in May as part ofthe town centre revamp, but no decision to demolish it or reopen asa restaurant have been announced yet.

Yate Town Council said most people in the town were in favour ofthe new drive-thru but it wanted assurances that public art on one ofthe walls created by local schools would be preserved.

It said the town council's strategy was "to balance the needs ofhe centre with the desire to have a town centre which provides arange of community facilities".

Only three residents have written to South Gloucestershire Councilobjecting to the scheme on a number of grounds.

They fear it will increase noise levels, add extra traffic andcause groups of youths to gather in the area.

Planning official Donna Whinham said: "Given its location withinthe town centre it would actively encourage a high number of visitorsthroughout the day.

"The layout of the drivethru has been amended to ensure that nocar parking spaces are lost. There is a need to protect localresidents from noise and disturbance from visitors and vehicles laterin the evening." She said conditions on the planning permission wouldlimit opening hours at night to 11pm.

Charterhouse has said the artwork and the town's coat of armswould be retained.

Ms Whinham will urge members of the council's planning committeeto back the application at their meeting on Thursday.

Shots from US range hit buildings in Germany

BERLIN (AP) — The U.S. military says it is investigating an incident in which rounds fired at an Army training range in southern Germany hit buildings in a nearby town. There were no injuries.

Grafenwoehr garrison spokeswoman Susanne Bartsch said Monday that the incident happened during a convoy protection exercise on Friday afternoon.

Machine-gun shots hit three buildings inside the base and three other buildings in the town of Grafenwoehr also suffered minor damage. Local police say they included a vocational school that was closed at the time.

Bartsch says that soldiers "were shooting in the wrong direction." The shots landed up to 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from the training range that was being used.

An investigation and a review of procedures are under way.

Post & Schell hires seven, starts energy practice

When Post & Schell hired seven lawyers, it gave that firm an instant energy practice and reduced the ranks of another firm's Harrisburg office to two.

To Post & Schell Chief Executive Officer Brian M. Peters, the hires also underscored the merits of a business model that's unusual in the world of law - governing the company through a CEO rather than by committee.

Post and Schell adopted the CEO structure five years ago.

"It made sense to run our business more like a business," Peters said. That has made the firm more decisive and enabled a transformation of its operations in Central Pennsylvania, he said.

The latest move saw Post & Schell hire seven lawyers who previously worked in the Harrisburg office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

Among them are Michael W. Gang and David B. MacGregor, two prominent energy lawyers. Three of the other lawyers also focus on energy, and two handle labor and employment law.

Howard Meyers, managing partner of the Philadelphia office of Morgan Lewis, said the energy attorneys decided to leave the firm because they saw a conflict between the interests of their clients and others the company was representing.

"This was driven in part by structural changes in the energy industry," Meyers said. With deregulation, companies that previously were monopolies are squaring off against new competitors, he said.

"It's the kind of issue that arises within large law firms from time to time, and it's unfortunate," Meyers said. "We have the highest regard for the lawyers. We wish them well in their new firm."

Morgan Lewis will keep its Harrisburg office, which has two lawyers left. It has not decided whether to add staff or move.

Post & Schell's hires are part of. a broader transformation in the firm's local operations, a process that began about two years ago. In that period, the company's capital-area office has grown from about six lawyers to 17.

The firm decided to devote the office to matters of state government and regulation, although it has no plans to engage in direct lobbying.

"We were not taking advantage of our location in Harrisburg," Peters said.

In fact, Post & Schell moved from a Camp Hill address to downtown Harrisburg and sent to its Lancaster County office seven lawyers who were not focused on government.

Peters said those kinds of moves were much easier under the company's streamlined structure, common in the corporate world but unusual in law. That structure includes a chief operating officer, a comptroller and a corporate compliance officer who audits attorneys' work to make sure it meets the firm's standards.

In May, when the Business journal ranked the top 25 law firms, only Stevens & Lee identified its top officer, Joseph M. Harenza, as a CEO.

Most law firms use a committee or town-hall governing structure, said Randy Lee, professor of law with Widener University School of Law. In that system, each partner in the firm has an equal say in decisions on salaries, expansion and opening new practices. At Post & Schell, partners function as a board of directors, but day-to-day decisions are left with the executives.

"As long as there have been law firms, there probably have been debates within partnerships about whether they need more centralized decision-making or less," Lee said.

Envoy says Salvador truce `can't be done' // UN official finds neither side budging

SAN SALVADOR Refusal by both sides to budge on the question ofguaranteeing rebel security after an end to El Salvador's 11-yearcivil war "closes the circle" on negotiations and means a cease-fire"can't be done," Alvaro de Soto, the United Nations mediator in thepeace talks, said Sunday.

Speaking in a telephone interview from his home in Connecticut,de Soto said the rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front(known as FMLN) was seeking assurances that the government would notgive.

"Unless you look at guarantees and conditions, for the FMLN thecease-fire will be like asking them to jump into an empty swimmingpool," de Soto said. "For this reason, the FMLN is asking forcease-fire terms that are tantamount to an armed peace. They wantto be able to carry out maneuvers and continue to recruit in a largeswatch of the country to be ready for the possibility of having toreturn to fighting. For the government, that is unthinkable."

Although they have changed the wording and modified the form, aconstant FMLN demand over the 16 months of peace talks has been toreform the govern ment's armed forces to include elements of the rebel army, a demandflatly rejected by President Alfredo Cristiani.

FMLN officials nevertheless renewed that demand last week in ameeting with de Soto in Costa Rica, calling for a union of the twoarmies.

De Soto's assessment of the official Salvadoran view wasconfirmed by Cristiani, who said in a separate interview that the"Gordian knot" blocking a cease-fire is the FMLN demand that itssecurity be guaranteed by incorporating its guerrilla fighters intothe country's security forces.

"That is basically the main issue in generating obstacles rightnow," he said during a conversation in his office, calling it animpractical idea.

Cristiani appeared to believe that he has the upper hand indealing with the guerrillas, who he described as torn by dissension.

Arguing that the rebels have no right to ask for economic orpolitical reforms of an elected government, Cristiani indicated thatthere really is nothing to negotiate other than the laying down ofrebel arms.

"The main objective here is to create a disarmed political partyfrom the FMLN," he said, arguing that the FMLN had agreed "that thisnegotiation is not to promote your own political platform, but is tolook for democratization, respect for human rights andreconciliation."

"Everybody has to take risks," he said, and the FMLN will haveto take the risk of totally disarming if it wants peace. Heacknowledged that "nothing is 100 percent safe. . . . Nobody canguarantee them 100 percent and we have tried once, twice, a thousandtimes to tell them that. The less we get into attitudes that willcreate resentments in other people or sections the more guaranteethey will have that nothing will happen to them."

What will give the guerrillas security, the president said, "isthat they become a political party and that they work within thedemocratic way of life."

"They have to come in," Cristiani stressed. "They have to takethe risks. It's not easy. They have killed and destroyed. . . .There might be some lunatics out there who want to take things intotheir own hands. All we can do is to try to give them the samesecurity that we give any other citizen here."

Asked what risks the government is willing to take in light ofthe lack of absolute guarantees for the rebels' security, Cristiani'sanswer was none.

"Why should a government take risks? . . . We didn't shoot ourway in here. . . . We are here because we expressed to the peoplewhat we would do and they supported what we told them."

Denying a suggestion that after 11 years of war the FMLN has aright to ask for changes in the economic and political system, thepresident said that the guerrillas should think of the need for peacefor the country's 5 million citizens.

The last round of direct peace talks was in May. A scheduledmeeting earlier this month was canceled and no new discussions areset, although both the United States and the Soviet Union have urgedUN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar to take a more directrole.

Perez de Cuellar has suggested that Washington and Moscow couldhelp more by pressuring the sides to compromise.

In the meantime, the war, which has taken an estimated 75,000lives, continues at an increasing pace, with battle deaths this monthaveraging six a day.

Carmarthen Gardening Club

THE annual show was held at Zion Chapel Schoolroom on August 16.Mayor and Mayoress of Carmarthen, Mr and Mrs Alan Speake, wereguests of honour and the Mayor was invited by club chairman, AdrianNicholls, to officially open the show.

All nine sections of the show were well supported with verystrong entries in the fruit, vegetables, cookery and floral artclasses.

The club secretary, Jean Long, invited the mayor and mayoress topresent the cups, shields and trophies to the section winners. GwynDavies won the perpetual cup in the vegetable section and he alsowon the shield for the best exhibit in the show; he was equallysuccessful with his impressive display of hand-made walking sticksand exquisite cut flowers; a remarkable solo effort representingmonths of hard work and dedication. Mair Baston won the cookerychallenge cup in the keenly contested cookery section. ElvetRichards showed that he had lost none of his woodwork skills on thelathe and at the work-bench. The floral art and pot plants sectionswere truly spectacular. The specimen plants were as majestic as thefloral displays were breath-taking and Lynne Phillips was loudlyapplauded as she came forward to receive her two shields. Entries inthe paintings and photographic section were down on last year butstandards were maintained, with Mary Davies and Alan Barnham sharingthe honours with their photographic entries, whilst DV Davies wassuccessful in the three paintings categories.

Behind the scenes in any show or exhibition there is always thebackroom team; this year Eleanor Morgan and her young band ofhelpers did an excellent job under the watchful eye of the show andhall manager, Kath Thomas. The chairman thanked all who hadexhibited or helped in any way and said the club appreciated thedonation of the numerous raffle prizes.

Sox, Thomas roll along To `MVP' chant from sellout crowd, Big Hurt carries Sox past Devil Rays

The naysayers are bent on finding the White Sox' shortcomings,even as the team builds on its American League-best record-now at 74-49-and heads for the postseason.

Too inexperienced, they say.

Too many untested young pitchers.

So be it, manager Jerry Manuel answers.

"When we get there (to the playoffs), I probably won't beconcerned." he said. "I'm mainly concerned that we play well for thisperiod of time (in the regular season)."

Playing his best now is the man who could be the league's best,Frank Thomas.

His three-run homer off Albie Lopez (10-9) in the seventh inningSaturday sealed a 7-0 victory over Tampa Bay for Mike Sirotka (11-10) and maintained the Sox' nine-game lead over Cleveland in the ALCentral.

The homer, a line drive that cleared the left-field wall with twoouts, hiked Thomas' league lead to 38. He is just three short of hiscareer best, set in 1993-the year he won the first of his two MVPawards.

The sold-out Comiskey Park crowd of 38,926 cast their votes forhis third, shouting "MVP!" as Thomas rounded the bases.

"There's no doubt Frank has to be considered (as MVP) because histeam is playing the best baseball in the league and he's come throughwith clutch home runs and clutch hits all year," Manuel said.

"I witnessed Albert Belle's second half in 1998 (when he set aclub record 49 home runs), but to see Frank day in and day out, he'sprobably the best right-handed hitter I've ever seen."

Thomas' play in his last 12 games-hitting .347 (17-49) with eighthome runs and 22 RBI and a .918 slugging percentage-is all the moreremarkable because he has been hampered by a sore back.

"It's tweaked a little, but it'll be better in a few days," hesaid, an ice pack strapped to his lower back. "A lot of guys arehurting now, but we're finding ways to win. We're playing as a teamand we're staying that way. Guys are doing their job day in and dayout.

"I've worked my butt off this year," he said. "I've worked harderthan I've ever worked, but there are no shortcuts to success.

"It's great (to hear the fans), but I can't lose my focus. This isa very special season and I've felt that way all along. I'm glad thefans are supporting us. There's no better place to win than inChicago."

Thomas, who had four RBI to up his total to 115, capped anotherimpressive display by the offense, with Magglio Ordonez driving inhis 100th run of the season-his second straight-and five playersgetting multiple hits.

Among them, Ray Durham has collected eight hits in his last 17 at-bats, Herbert Perry with two hits snapped an 0-for-7 stretch and JoseValentin extended a hitting streak to nine straight.

The Sox have won six of their last nine games.

"They're a good team, and they have the record to prove it," DevilRays manager Larry Rothschild said. "They are not a team you're goingto beat if you aren't playing your top game."

The Devil Rays got no breaks from Sirotka, who allowed only threesingles in six innings in matching his victory total for last season.

Relievers Bill Simas, Kelly Wunsch and Lorenzo Barcelo pitchedthree hitless innings.

"You realize that it depends on the starting pitching," saidSirotka, only 2-4 with one no-decision since the All-Star break.Manuel pulled him after he threw 100 pitches (five walks) as part ofa new strategy to conserve the starters.

"I don't think that's a bad strategy," Sirotka said. "There's noreason at this point to extend yourself to 120 pitches. I thinkthey're trying to prevent some wear and tear."

Manuel is hoping Sirotka's performance signals a turnaround forthe remaining six weeks.

"He's been the type of pitcher that when he gets in a groove, hecan stay in it," Manuel said. "No one knows how long a rut can last.We needed a good performance from him tonight."

AUSA Sustaining Member Profile: WestWind

Corporate Structure: Number of Employees: 200. President/ CEO: Dave Otterson. Headquarters: Huntsville, Ala. Telephone: (256) 319-0137. Web site: www.westwindcorp.com

The depth and strength of WestWind's engineering and technical capability provide the company its ability to respond to the urgent requirements of the warfighter in the field. Complementary to its capabilities, the company is driven by its mission to create best-value products and services to satisfy customer requirements and to continue to be a single-source solution for those customers.

WestWind's primary customer base consists of the U.S. Army, specifically Program Executive Officer (PEO) Aviation, the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, as well as commercial aviation and some foreign military entities.

WestWind's core competency is the ability to integrate sophisticated black box systems, sometimes referred to as "B" kits, into existing platforms. The company designs, builds and buys the necessary components to integrate the "B" kit into the host platform. The final product, termed an "A" kit, is the culmination of the engineering design, the prototype manufacturing of the design and the subsequent installation and modification of the platform (usually a rotary-winged asset).

WestWind's ability to respond to aggressive schedules with a cost-effective, quality product has been a major discriminator. In order to better control the critical path, the company has made significant capital expenditures to become vertically integrated in those critical processes. Investments in equipment and machinery, including a laser cutting machine, paint booths, CNC equipment and coordinate measuring machine, have allowed the company to reflow the work and capture work space; as a result, the company has been able to continually decrease the time it takes to meet the ever-increasing demands for schedule compression by its customer base. Jobs that routinely took 16 hours to complete are now done in minutes.

WestWind has plans to aggressively implement Lean principles across all areas of the company. Eventually, tools such as Six Sigma will be integrated into those processes where it makes sense. This is a natural progression in the company's continuous improvement journey and includes kit consolidation and packaging, wiring harness fabrication, sheet metal, machined parts, chemical conversion coating, painting and other parts-handling requirements.

Quality, as defined by the company's 10,000 percent rule100 percent compliance, 100 percent of the time-is impressed upon each employee. WestWind is both 1509001:2000 and AS9100 registered. The company also maintains a FAA Part 145 repair station.

WestWind also operates a comprehensive kitting and warehousing operation. All "A" kit components are assembled, identified, packaged and shipped from the company's facilities. Great strides have been made to ensure the accuracy and quality of the kits, some of which contain more than 4,000 individual parts.

WestWind also offers a full complement of logistics services. The Technical Services Group provides technical manuals, maintenance work orders, RSNs, provisioning and training material to a broad customer base.

The hangar modification team operates out of a hanger at Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville International Airport in Alabama. Most recently, the company has been installing Desert Mod kits for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in preparation for their redeployment to Operation Enduring Freedom. This has been accomplished in the company's hangar facilities located on Redstone Arsenal. WestWind also provides field team support to the U.S. Army's PEO Aviation PMCargo, PM-AES, PM-Attack, PM-AME and PM-Utility. In the last year, the modification team has supported work in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Fort Campbell, Ky., Fort Irwin, Calif., Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Hood, Texas, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Eustis, Va., in response to force urgency requirements. In addition, the company has supported foreign military sales operations in Egypt, Greece, Japan and Germany.

The company operates, among other contractual vehicles, through an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract, administered by the Logistic Support Facility Management Activity, which provides government and commercial program managers with a quick reaction, high quality, low cost, sole source avenue with which to reach WestWind. The company has several other contractual vehicles through which it operates in addition to subcontractor relationships in the commercial and foreign markets.

WestWind continues to build its business base through its ability to quickly react to aggressive schedules for both prototype and full-rate production programs. Its technical expertise in systems integration and ability to perform all functions of the value chain distinguish the company from its competitors.

Key projects in vision to revive the fortunes of our High Street ; BRENTWOOD TOWN CENTRE: Map reveals ideas by renaissance group for short and longer term as it tries to improve shopping experience

WITH shops closing at an alarming rate, it is clear Brentwoodneeds a plan.

So, with the sound of bailiffs knocking up and down the HighStreet, which could be followed by the eerie silence of a ghosttown, a vision has been created.

Paul Ainsworth investigates the major projects identified byBrentwood Town Centre Renaissance Group FILLING the Old Post Office,creating a town square and cutting antisocial behaviour are all partof the long-term vision for Brentwood town centre.

A key projects map has been drawn up by the Brentwood Town CentreRenaissance Group as it looks to create a niche and vibrant shoppingcentre for people of all ages to visit.

Working with Royal Mail to find a new tenant for the Old PostOffice, filling the former site of the Charles Napier pub andcreating a town square around the Thomas a Becket Chapel ruins areamong the longer-term projects for the centre of Brentwood.Meanwhile, short-term plans will see a new Changing Places toiletfor disabled residents, the town clock reinstalled near its formerlocation and more markets up and down the High Street.

Iconic Other pro-active plans include installing banners at CrownStreet to create a gateway to its shops and positioning lighting inSouth Street to deter antisocial behaviour caused by gangs ofyouths.

Brentwood Borough Council leader Louise McKinlay, who is a memberof the renaissance group, said it was keen to see the iconic OldPost Office filled.

She said it had also received positive feedback from retailersabout the gateway project at Crown Street, one of many ideas ithopes will attract people to the town.

Councillor McKinlay said: "We are in very difficult times andpeople can get bogged down with the doom and gloom, but I think thisshows there is a vision and positive stuff can and is being done,not just by the council but with the help of retailers and therenaissance group.

"When we speak to residents about what is most important to them,it is the quality of shops and the shopping environment.

"We can help to deliver that."

Nick Abbott, the renaissance group chairman, said Brentwood hasfewer empty shops than the national average, a statistic it wantedto maintain by creating the right environment for people to investin.

He said the group wanted to help develop a town centre that wouldattract visitors and shoppers of all ages, especially families.

Experience Mr Abbott added: "We want to get the experience rightfor people visiting the High Street to encourage people to staylonger, maybe have something to eat and make it a town centre forthe whole family to enjoy."

The renaissance group is an organisation set up to establish andpromote the broader vision for the town centre and has alreadymanaged a Pounds 107,000-scheme to give numerous High Street storesa facelift to make Brentwood more attractive to shoppers.

The group - made up of borough and county councillors andrepresentatives from businesses, the FSB and the chamber of commerce- is also backing other, larger long-term projects, such as the townsquare vision for the chapel ruin, which has other key organisationson board, including English Heritage.

The joint vision would see the tower finally return to the ruinsand an open square created around the ancient site, which could beused for events and perfor mances.

The vicar of St Thomas of Canterbury Church, the Rev ColinHewitt, is among the other supporters but wanted to make it clearthe ancient ruins would be preserved.

He said: "All in all we need to smarten up the place and I'mstill very keen to do that.

"But it has to be in conjunction with what locals want andpreserving the dignity of the chapel."

Mike Le-Surf, another renaissance group member and boroughcouncillor, added: "I am looking forward to the enhancements comingto the High Street end of Crown Street, and the Changing Placestoilets will be a welcome addition for residents with additionalneeds."

Cinema development The construction of Brentwood's cinemadevelopment and shopping complex could get under way in September,the Gazette understands.

The start of the cinema, shopping and homes project in WilliamHunter Way has been held up by the need to let 60 per cent of theretail space before building work can begin.

It is understood that the developer, Stockland, is currently innegotiations with major chains and now aims to start work inSeptember this year.

2 Former Charles Napier PH site: Discuss the future of the vacantsite with Essex County Council.

3 Town Clock: Reinstalled near its original location by Easter.

4 Refurbished toilets: Set to undergo major revamp and willfeature a Changing Places toilet for disabled residents.

5 Michael Johnson sculpture: Plans in place to install thefourmetre-high creation in William Hunter Way.

6 Crown Street Gateway: Plans to install banners and possiblyclosure of the road at its junction with the High Street.

9 Chapel enhancements: Drawing up plans and seeking funding forthe major project in the future.

10 Future use of the Old Post Office: Liaising with Royal Mail toensure the iconic building does not stand empty for years to come.

7 Street market locations: Need to agree locations for markets inthe town centre.

Antisocial 8 behaviour lighting project: Putting together fundingbid and planning application for lighting in South Street.

Afghan Rebels Bomb Russian Evacuation Jets

KABUL, Afghanistan Rebels ignored a temporary truce Friday andfired rockets that set a Russian evacuation plane ablaze, strandingRussia's ambassador and other diplomats and their families.

Four Russian commandos aboard the plane were injured.

Two military transport planes escaped the bombardment andferried 120 Russian Embassy staffers, their wives and children out ofKabul with little more than the possessions they could carry.

The planes circled the mountains that ring the city, spewingdozens of flares designed to deflect heat-seeking missiles fired atthe aircraft.

Russia's ambassador to Pakistan, Victor Yakunin, appealed forhelp during an hourlong meeting with Foreign Secretary ShaharyarMohammad Khan on Friday. Pakistan has contacts both with the formerIslamic rebels who now make up Afghanistan's government and with theHezb-e-Islami group fighting the government.

Moscow decided Thursday to close its mission in Kabul after atleast 14 rebel rockets slammed into the embassy, wounding two people.Earlier this month, two Russians were killed and one was wounded whenrockets hit the compound. The truce permitting the evacuation was tohave begun at 5 a.m. Friday.

The government has so far refused to comment on the rocketattack, but a spokesman for Hezb-e-Islami denied involvement.

However, witnesses said the rockets came from the southern edgeof the Afghan capital, where Hezb-e-Islami troops are entrenched.

Hezb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has sworn to destroythe capital unless the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbiniexpels a militia that once backed the hated communist regime butproved crucial in toppling it in April.

Steady rocketing in recent weeks has rained chaos anddestruction on the city, forcing one-third of its 1.5 millionresidents to flee and causing severe shortages of food, fuel andmedicine.

About 50 Russians, including Ambassador Yevgeny Ostrovenko andother senior embassy personnel, were forced to stay behind Friday when a rocket slammed into a fuel storage depot and ignitedthe wing of a third plane. Dozens of passengers were preparing toboard.

They were hustled onto a waiting bus that raced them back to thesafety of an airport bunker, where they and pro-government militiawatched the plane burn.

US senator: Pakistan must take on Haqqani network

A senior U.S. senator urged Pakistan on Sunday to crack down on the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani insurgent network, which operates on both sides of the country's border with Afghanistan.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he does not think the Haqqani network will ever make peace and he vowed to push to include the group on the U.S. terrorist blacklist.

The senator praised Pakistan for its help in fighting terrorism and for taking on other militants such as the Pakistan Taliban, but he said the country's reluctance to push into the North Waziristan area run by the Haqqanis is hurting the war effort in Afghanistan.

"They are not following through and have not followed through by going after one of the truly great threats that face us here in Afghanistan, which is the coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan of Haqqani fighters," the Democrat from Michigan told reporters in Kabul at the end of his two-day visit.

The Haqqani network, which mainly focuses on attacking targets in Afghanistan, is suspected of maintaining ties to Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency.

The Pakistani government has denied news reports that it has reached out to the Haqqani network to secure its participation in talks with the Afghan government.

Levin was also recently in Islamabad meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who said in a statement later that his government was doing its utmost to combat militance. Gilani said he expected friendly countries like the U.S. to share credible, actionable information rather than indulging in a blame game.

Pakistan is a key ally in the fight against Islamist militants, providing intelligence that is said to have helped kill and capture many al-Qaida and Taliban leaders. Yet, skeptics suspect that the country's military, which once supported the Taliban's extremist rule over Afghanistan, sees keeping ties with various Muslim militias as an insurance policy and a way to keep influence in its neighbor.

The Haqqani movement is led veteran fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani, a legendary commander in the 1980s Afghan war against the Soviets. Now, he and his son Sirajuddin command hundreds of fighters blamed for some of the most audacious attacks in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan.

Their network is based in the North Waziristan tribal area along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where they are said to host al-Qaida operatives.

Fluidization and Fluid Particle Systems: Recent Research and Development

FLUID MECHANICS: AN INTERACTIVE TEXT

This new interactive CD-ROM from the American Society for Civil Engineers, presents the essential "need-to-know" information for all topics and phenomena associated with the study of fluid mechanics. Fluid Mechanics contains 15 powerful computational tools and 13 data tools on a single CD-ROM, which can be used to tackle the intense engineering calculations that practitioners face with speed and precision. Together these computational utilities and data form a new type of handbook for the professional engineer.

Written in MATLAB, the computational programs feature state.ofthe-art graphical user interfaces, plus a number of "active equations" that calculate solutions to flows in pipes and open channels, compressible flows and fluid machinery, two- and threedimensional plotting, dimensional conversion, and the solution of nonlinear equations. Users will be able to spend more time focusing on a project and less time crunching numbers or being distracted by the tedium of interpolation on tables of functions.

The product's 15 comprehensive chapters include: "Basic Considerations," "Fluid Statics," "Integral Descriptions," "Differential Descriptions," "Dimensional Analysis and Similitude," "Laminar and Turbulent Flows," "Incompressible Pipe Flow," "Potential Flow," "Boundary Layers," "Flow Past Bodies," "Compressible Flows," "Open Channel Flows," and "Fluid Machinery," and "Transport." Computer Requirements:

PC: 486 DX2/66 or faster, Windows 3.1 or Windows95,16 MB RAM, QuickTime for Windows 2.02 (included on the CD), 4X CD-ROM drive, VGA monitor, Pentium with 6X CD-ROM or faster with 640x480 or 800x600 resolution recommended.

Mae: Macintosh IIci or faster, System 7.5 or higher, 16 MB RAM, QuickTime 2.0 extension, 4X CD-ROM drive, Color monitor with 640x480 resolution or better, PowerMac and 6X or faster CDROM drive recommended.

CD-ROM

1998 Pub Z-5

ISBN 0-7844-03104

$100

AIChE Member Rate:$75

[Author Affiliation]

Prepared byJ.A.Liggett and D.A Caughey, Cornell University

Twin sisters give birth to daughters 2 hours apart

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Twin sisters have given birth to baby girls only two hours apart — and in the same Indianapolis hospital.

WTHR-TV in Indianapolis reports that 22-year-olds Charron (SHA'-ron) and Chardee (SHAR'-day) Hampton welcomed their daughters to the world on Monday at St. Vincent Women's Hospital.

Charron Hampton was past her due date and went to the hospital to be induced. Shortly after, Chardee Hampton went into labor and rushed to the same hospital. WRTV says both babies were born in an uncommon face-up position and measured 21 inches long.

The sisters are both engaged — and are deciding if they should share the same wedding day too.

Charron Hampton named her daughter Chanise (SHA-niece) Amari Monroe, and Chardee Hampton named her daughter Trinity Dominick (DOM-eh-nique) Brown.

ARAR INQUIRY AFTERMATH: Canada far too cozy with the U.S. in its lawless "war on terror"

CNN's Question of the Day: "Do you believe that torturing terror suspects is a more effective national security strategy than, say, securing our ports and borders?"

Now, it's horrifying enough to realize that the subject of torture was casually presented like this in the "Question of the Day" on a recent CNN broadcast of Lou Dobbs Tonight. But note that the question wasn't even about the morality of inflicting excruciating pain and suffering on another human being. Rather, it was about the effectiveness of torture.

Does torture work? Do we have any stats? How does torture stack up against other methods like tighter port and border security? Or how about nuclear war? Would …

Bulgaria risks running out of gas reserves

Bulgaria could begin running out of its last natural gas reserves at the end of January if the dispute between Ukraine and Russia drags on, the country's prime minister has warned.

Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev flew to Moscow and Kiev to meet his counterparts on Wednesday, pressing his case that they must resolve their natural gas dispute before even worse winter heating disruptions hit.

With 92 percent of Bulgaria's gas supplies coming from Russia through Ukraine's pipelines and only 8 percent from a local source in the Black Sea, Bulgaria has struggled to keep households warm and factories running since Russia cut off gas flows to Europe on Jan. 7.

…

Suspect in Wife's Dismemberment Captured

DETROIT - A fugitive suspected of killing and dismembering his wife was captured in a rural area almost 300 miles from his suburban Detroit home, police said Sunday.

…

In Brief: HSBC-Merrill Online Venture Taps Leaders.(Brief Article)

HSBC Holdings PLC and Merrill Lynch & Co. Monday appointed a board of directors and a management team for the global online banking and investment services company that was announced April 18. It will be a 50-50 partnership with a combined investment of $1 billion. Keith Whitson, group chief executive of HSBC Holdings, will be chairman. Edward L. Goldberg, executive vice president of operations and services at Merrill Lynch, will be the interim chief executive officer. Other directors are Roberta Arena, group general manager of global e-business at HSBC; Bill Dalton, chief executive of HSBC Bank PLC; James Gorman, chief marketing officer of Merrill Lynch; Alan Jebson, group …

ON THE UPSWING; NEW ORLEANS' FOOD, MUSIC AND SPIRIT THRIVE AS REBUILDING WORK GOES ON.(Travel-Books)

Byline: MATT PACENZA - SPECIAL TO THE TIMES UNION

NEW ORLEANS

A belly full of shrimp. A cold beer in my hand. A rollicking brass band a few feet in front of me.

It was after midnight one glorious warm evening at Vaughn's Lounge in the Bywater neighborhood. I was back, nearly a decade after my wife and I spent two decadent years in this funky little city.

In the spring, we made our first trip to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Eighteen months earlier, the storm had dunked the city under water for long enough to nearly kill it. At the time of our visit, the news coming out of the city of residents under siege by marauding criminals was, possibly, worse.

So as we traveled to visit friends, with our 2-year-old son, Marcus, in tow, we wondered what we would find. Struggling businesses? Fearful residents? A bleak future?

No, no and no. We had a fantastic four days in New Orleans. The core of the city is in a word thriving. Restaurants were packed; the streets were thick with traffic and the city's blend of tourists and New Orleanians were living life exuberantly, as they do so well.

Not that Katrina is a distant memory. A trip to flooded neighborhoods reveals the future remains precarious for many.

Real beauty

…

SHAKESPEARE FOR TV GENERATION.(TV/Radio)

Byline: PATRICIA BRENNAN Washington Post

The plan was this: Condense six of William Shakespeare's plays into 30-minute animated presentations.

The man to do it, British Shakespeare scholar Leon Garfield, thought the work "rather an immense task." He was somewhat concerned that the project might be a bit presumptuous or be considered a sort of short-cut, a Cliff's Notes.

"But then I reflected that I was doing something completely different," he said. "As long as I convinced myself that I was trying to produce something completely different, I saw nothing wrong in that. I kept thinking that a great many people wouldn't see any Shakespeare at all …

Thai protesters break into premier's compound

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators pushed into the Thai prime minister's office compound and rallied outside several ministries Tuesday, following the violent takeover of a state-run TV station's offices by a masked mob from the same protest group.

The right-wing People's Alliance for Democracy said its actions Tuesday constituted a "final showdown" in its efforts to oust the elected government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The group has been protesting sporadically across the capital, Bangkok, since May to demand the government's resignation.

"The people's army is victorious over the government," protest leader Sondhi …

`A noise all of his own' // London conductor explores the dark woods of Sibelius

London SymphonyOrchestra8 tonight, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. SundaySymphony Center,220 S. MichiganTickets, $10-$86(312) 294-3000

At first blush, this week's all-Sibelius festival with theLondon Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Center appears to be one ofthose rare events that's occurring simply because somebody loves themusic.

Sibelius isn't a composer like Beethoven, Mozart or Brahms,whose mere name can set off a stampede to the box office. This isn'tan important anniversary year for the Finnish composer, who was bornin 1865 and died in 1957.Outside his native Finland, where he is revered, Sibelius' musicfrequently is dismissed as bleak, …

Porosity and biological properties of polyethylene glycol-conjugated collagen materials

Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) conjugated onto collagen sponges to stabilise the porous structure without deactivating the biological properties of collagen. The authors consider that these porous composite materials could function as a scaffold to organise tissue ingrowth. Different concentrations and molecular weights of activated PEGs (PEG-750 and PEG-5000) were conjugated to collagen materials (films or sponges). PEG-conjugated collagen sponge degradation by collagenase was delayed in comparison to untreated sponges. In culture, fibroblasts with a normal …

Hazell, Board and Sabin the stars.

BANBURY seconds continued to rule the roost in Division One after a final-ball victory over Cumnor.

Skipper Wayne Hazell, veteran batsman Andy Sabin and all-round talent Chris Board excelled in the fine win, which sees Banbury lead Buckingham by 16 points at the summit.

Hazell lost the toss and Cumnor batted first, but the Banbury captain made them pay for this decision when he claimed two early wickets.

Cumnor's top order battled well but Hazell and Board ensured Banbury had a realistic target to chase by sharing the wickets in great spells of bowling.

Hazell took his first six-wicket haul for the club and ended with figures of 12-1-60-6, …

AD WATCH.(CAPITAL REGION)

Candidate: Gov. George Pataki Sponsor: Friends of Pataki Title: ``Thank you'' Time: 30 seconds Producer: Chris Mottola Consulting, Philadelphia When and where it aired: Statewide, began running Thursday night What it says: Pataki, dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt and red tie, walks into the center of the frame and stands against a plain black background. The entire ad is him speaking directly to the camera.

Announcer: Gov. George Pataki. Pataki: In the past year, something remarkable has happened. Instead of tough times pulling us apart, they've brought us together. We've set aside our differences and united on what makes us all New Yorkers: pride, hard …

INMATES KEEP UP STUDIES JAIL PROGRAM AIMS HIGH.(Local)

Byline: Kathleen Dooley Staff writer

Gail Hutchins Brand is a firm believer in education as an important link to reducing the high rate of recidivism - inmates returning to a life of crime after their release from jail.

She is one of two teachers in the Ballston Spa School District who travels each day to a unique classroom with unique students in the Saratoga County Correctional Facility.

"My students are awfully nice. They are in the classroom because they want to be here," said Brand, a petite woman with dark hair and eyes that sparkle with enthusiasm when she speaks of her work.

"Attendance is strictly voluntary. I try to say something positive to them every single day. They need that," she said. "This is a group that has the lowest self- esteem of anyone."

The presence of uniformed correction officers is obvious throughout …

Woods to play with defending champion

Tiger Woods will be playing the first two days of the Australian Masters with defending champion Rod Pampling and Craig Parry.

Woods is making his first appearance in Australia since the 1998 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

Pampling hasn't received much attention as the defending champion since it was announced in March that Woods was playing for a $3 …

2 Stabbed to Death at Chelios' Bar

DETROIT - Two people were found stabbed to death Tuesday morning at a sports bar owned by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios, authorities said. Police arrested a former employee, according to news reports.

The victims were a man and woman who both worked for Cheli's Chili Bar, officials said. They were found shortly after 9 a.m. on the restaurant's second floor, said police spokeswoman Yvette Walker.

A former employee was arrested, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News reported. Earlier, Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings told the Free Press that "a former disgruntled employee" may have been responsible.

The newspapers identified the victims as Megan …

One casualty of JPM/Chase merger: Its new CDO group.

One seeming casualty of the recent merger between J.P. Morgan and Chase Securities has been its collateralized debt obligation group, which has tumbled out of the top five CDO underwriters this year after having led the market in early 2000.

The combined CDO desks of J.P. Morgan and Chase generated the most global CDO issuance of any Street underwriter in the first quarter of 2000, with $1.7 billion in new deals underwritten, according to Thomson Financial. Yet little more than a year later, despite a surge in popularity for CDOs in general, J.P. Morgan Chase has fallen to sixth in the sector with $1.2 billion in deals underwritten. Its market share, too, has taken a …

If manners are minded, blood need not boil and calm prevails.(News)

THERE'S a 14th century proverb that says: "Manners maketh man."

The saying may be 700 years old, but it still holds true today.

Pity so many people seem to have forgotten about it.

We're winding down from another frenetic Easter weekend in Cape Town, but with a longer school holiday the city is still bursting at the seams.

Like thousands of others I live in one of Cape Town's seaside suburbs, which sees a huge influx of both visitors and locals trying to catch the last of the summer rays.

That's all well and good and they're welcome to the beach (I have no particular desire to experience a deep tissue sandblast courtesy of the …

FAIR MOVE ON CRACK.(MAIN)(Editorial)

President Clinton has been under pressure to end the disparity in cocaine sentencing laws ever since the Million Man March in Washington two years ago. It was then that the Rev. Jesse Jackson assailed the wide disparity in sentences for crack and powder cocaine as ungodly, immoral and racist.

He was only partly right. No one questions that the disparity -- at 100 to 1 -- was unjust. The law mandated that judges sentence anyone convicted of selling five grams of crack to five years. By contrast, someone found guilty of selling 500 grams of powdered cocaine would receive the same sentence.

Now, however, Attorney General Janet Reno and the White House drug …

NKorea's parliament to meet in rare 2nd session

North Korea will convene a rare second parliamentary session in early June, the communist country announced Tuesday, amid rising tensions over speculation that the regime may have torpedoed a South Korean warship in March.

No reason for the second session was given, but analysts said it might be related to high tension over the sunken ship, supreme leader Kim Jong Il's recent trip to China or his moves to groom his son as eventual successor.

The North Korean Supreme People's Assembly usually meets one day each year to approve bills vetted by the ruling Workers' Party. This year, the rubber-stamp parliament met in April and discussed plans for economic …

2 PERSONAL CARE: ready, set, shop

We Tried and Loved!

Combat common concerns with new skin care products and smile big for fresh (and hardworking) toothpaste

The Better Nutrition staff member who used healing CREAM by Pomega5 (with pomegranate seed oil and no parabens) could not believe how soft it made her skin ("like a baby's bottom," she says). Smells great, too.

You may be able to reduce the appearance of cellulite with Weleda's BIRCH CELLULITE OIL. Ingredients include apricot kernels, wheat germ and jojoba, …

STOCKS IN RETREAT AS LENDING STALLS.(Business)

The one-year-old bull market is hitting some rough patches, says Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany.

"Banks are not lending money. As a result, money supply is not (growing)," he said in a video update Tuesday on financial conditions. Still, he added, "I don't think the bull market is over."

Instead, he called the current slump a "correction ... but within the context of an ongoing bull market."

Johnson said bull markets typically last longer than a year, and he advised investors to "hang in there."

In December, Johnson had painted an optimistic outlook for the economy in 2010. At …

JOB OUTLOOK REMAINS BRIGHT.(BUSINESS)

Byline: EILEEN ALT POWELL Associated Press

NEW YORK -- The job market should remain strong through the summer, with the highest demand for workers expected in Western states, according to a survey being released today.

A quarterly survey of more than 15,000 companies by Manpower Inc. reported that 32 percent planned to increase hiring in the third quarter. Just 6 percent anticipated cutbacks, while 58 percent foresaw no change. The remaining 4 percent were unsure.

The figures were almost identical to the year-earlier tallies and up slightly from the April-June period, when 29 percent of the companies surveyed said they planned to increase their …

NY Philharmonic says Cuba tour prospects promising

Prospects for Cuban performances by the New York Philharmonic look promising following a tour of concert halls and meetings with music officials on the island, orchestra president Zarin Mehta said Sunday.

Mehta said a final decision will be made by the Philharmonic's board of directors. Eric Latzky, the orchestra's vice president for communications, said an official announcement could be as much as a month off.

But Mehta said the trip looks promising, with tentative plans for performances on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the 900-seat Teatro Amadeo Roldan, a renovated concert hall a few blocks from the Malecon coastal highway.

"We have to go back now and work on repertoires, …

April Charge-Off Rate Declines Again, Widening Gulf With Unemployment.(News)

Byline: Kate Fitzgerald

The average U.S. consumer credit card charge-off rate fell again in April, underscoring a noteworthy decoupling of the unemployment rate and the number of credit card accounts lenders deem uncollectible, Moody's Investors Service said in a May 23 report.

The average charge-off rate on consumer credit cards in April fell to 7.16%, down 19 basis points from 7.35% in March, according to Moody's, which last week predicted the rate would decline for April (see story). The data underscore the effects of card issuers continuing to clear out weaker borrowers' accounts while adding fewer new accounts to their portfolios, the firm said.

The …