CANTON, Ohio Quarterback Tom Ramsey led a second-half chargethat resulted in two touchdowns as the defending AFC champion NewEngland Patriots defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 21-16 in the annualHall of Fame game yesterday.
Ramsey, listed as the third-string quarterback on the rosterbehind Tony Eason and Steve Grogan, completed 17-of-23 passes for 254yards. He completed 7-of-8 for 144 yards and one touchdown in thethird quarter to help the …
SAN ANTONIO - AT&T Inc. posted a 61 percent increase in second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, lifted primarily by its buyout of BellSouth Corp. but also aided by gains in wireless subscribers and revenue.
AT&T, the nation's largest provider of broadband Internet and land and wireless phone services, said net income rose to $2.9 billion, or 47 cents per share, from $1.81 billion, or 46 cents per share in the prior year's quarter. Wireless subscribers rose by 1.5 million to 63.7 million, AT&T said.
A fraction of that growth during the quarter was driven by the introduction of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, for which AT&T is the exclusive carrier. The device, which …
Authorities have arrested a Scottsdale man who they say pretended to be a highly decorated Marine, wearing a uniform and ribbons representing the prestigious Navy Cross and Silver Star.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said Thursday that 31-year-old John William Rodriguez was booked into Maricopa County jail …
Katie Parker's pitching is top of the line. And she is only ajunior.
Parker struck out 10 and walked none to lift No. 19 Johnsburg toa 7-0 victory over Grayslake Tuesday.
"Katie hasn't walked a girl in 64 innings," Johnsburg coach JimMeyers said. "She's had 94 strikeouts in 66 innings. She gave upthree hits in this game so that dropped her ERA to 0.21."
Johnsburg is 10-0 and 7-0 in the Northwest Suburban.
Parker (10-0), who recorded her fifth shutout this year, has notgiven up an earned run since the second game of the season.
Dawn Stewart and Dawn Pelczynski went 2-for-3 and scored twice. BASEBALL MAINE SOUTH 5, GLENBROOK SOUTH 4: With …
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of Germany's Bundesbank says the European Central Bank must not print euros to rescue heavily indebted governments from the eurozone crisis.
Jens Weidmann, who sits on the ECB's rate council, says creating new money to prop up government finances "undermines the incentives for sound public finances."
He said Tuesday that governments would then rely on the "sweet poison" of central bank financing rather than risk offending voters by cutting spending or raising taxes to reduce their deficits.
Adding new money to the existing stock can be inflationary, although the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have both done it in their …
Reform Jewish leaders in Poland said Thursday they were launching a nationwide union of Reform Judaism.
More than 100 members of Poland's Reform community voted to create a union called Beit Polska, which will submit registration papers to the Interior Ministry next week, group president Pawel Szapiro said.
Rabbi Burt Schuman, who leads Beit Warszawa, the union's largest community, said the decision reflected the "incredible dynamism" and appeal of Reform, or Progressive, Judaism in Poland.
"People were looking for a contemporary Judaism ... to experience Jewish practice, Jewish culture and our great tradition of Torah and rabbinic …
Former Northwestern player Ben Johnson scored a career-high 32points, and Kris Humphries added 26 to power Minnesota to a 91-84overtime victory Sunday against Furman in Minneapolis.
"[Minnesota] coach [Dan] Monson said he wasn't going to invite meback," said Paladins coach Larry Davis, a former Golden Gophersassistant who fell to 0-2 against his old team. "One of these years,we might figure out how to beat them."
Adam Boone scored six of his 17 points in overtime to helpMinnesota (2-1) pull away. His three-pointer with 1:05 left inovertime gave the Gophers an 88-82 lead, and Furman (2-2) never gotcloser.
"I felt fortunate to get to overtime," Boone said. "I …
Perhaps we are discomforted by Jesus' response to his pursuing family members in Matthew 12.
One of the reasons I joined up with Mennonites is their love of family and connection. Yet because we are so passionate about our attachments, we may draw back when we hear Jesus reframing the bounds of family by asking rhetorically, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" and then answering, "Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Jesus' challenge leads me to two reflections.
[Graph Not Transcribed]
One involves stretching our family bonds, making them elastic and broad, as large as the love of God itself. Much as we love …
Japanese shares ended a four-day losing streak Monday, rising sharply following strong gains on Wall Street Friday and easing crude oil prices.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 212.62 points, or 1.68 percent, to 12,878.66. The broader Topix index advanced 1.88 percent to 1,239.25.
Bargain-hunting investors boosted shares in nearly all sectors, with banking and rubber issues among the biggest winners of the day.
Financial names, battered recently on growing credit market concerns, sprung back to life Monday following speculation of a possible takeover of Lehman Brothers.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. surged 4.24 percent to …
Legislators this year will again try to help cities tackle nearly$700 million in unfunded liability in pensions for professionalfirefighters and police officers.
"These are basically promises made to these firemen andpolicemen," Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, said last week. "The problemis if we don't do something we're concerned that there may bedefaults in some of these cities."
Half the unfunded liability in West Virginia's 53 different fireand police pension plans comes from the Charleston, Huntington andWheeling areas.
Charleston's unfunded liability is more than $200 million, MayorDanny Jones said. He estimated the city's police pension plan wasabout 14 …
TOKYO - Markets in Asia and Europe fell again Monday, extending their slide into a second week as investors worried about a possible global slowdown dumped stocks that had surged in recent weeks.
Also sparking jitters was the yen's jump to a three-month high against the dollar as investors reversed so-called yen-carry trades. A decline in this tradingn pracitce, which involved borrowing money at Japan's ultra-low interest rates to invest in higher-yielding assets elsewhere, could hurt global liquidity.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell for a fifth day, tumbling 575.68 points, or 3.34 percent, to 16,642.25 points, dragged down by major exporters such as Canon Inc., Sony …
A 17-year-old wielding a Beretta 9 mm pistol burst into classrooms at his former high school Wednesday and gunned down students _ some of whom died with their pencils still in hand _ in a rampage that ended with 15 dead before he took his own life, authorities said.
There was no immediate indication of motive, but the gunman's victims were primarily female: eight of nine students killed were girls, and all three teachers were women. Three men were killed later as the suspect, identified by police as Tim K., fled.
"I heard two shots and then screaming," said a 15-year-old student who gave her name only as Betty. "At first I thought it was a joke, …
AURORA, N.Y. - On the eastern shores of Cayuga Lake lies a tiny village of enchanting beauty and charm. Early settlers called it the village of constant dawn and it evokes that feeling today - historic, lakeside mansions dusted in a kind of timeless glow, a red-brick inn with gleaming white porches, ivy-clad buildings rising from the stately lawns of Wells College.
Even the village market, where exquisitely perched baskets overflow with ripe tomatoes and eggplants, seems almost too good to be true.
For some who live here, it is.
"How polished we are now, how shiny," says village historian Sheila Edmunds. "But at what cost?"
The village of 700, listed on the National Registrar of Historic Places, was anything but shiny six years ago. Paint peeled off old mansions, the inn struggled to stay open and the college struggled with enrollments.
And then a wealthy benefactress swept in, bringing money and promises and a stirring vision of the future. She bought some buildings and tore others down. She moved houses and businesses and trees. She buried power lines. She spent $2 million on a lavish refurbishing of college interiors.
She rattled the village to its core.
"It wasn't restoration," says music teacher Karen Hindenlang of the changes, which tore apart old friendships and rankled neighborly goodwill. "It was a descent to madness."
Randi Zabriskie, owner of Jane Morgan's Little House clothing store, says it unleashed nothing short of a war.
"It was like this great white Arabian horse came walking through our village and little houseflies jumped on it - sad, diminished people who didn't understand that this place was going to dust and she saved it."
The savior was Pleasant Rowland of Madison, Wis., who made her fortune creating The American Girl doll - pricey toys with homespun historical biographies (Kirsten, a pioneer girl of strength and spirit; Addy, a courageous girl during the Civil War; and others.)
Today, debate still simmers. Did the doll tycoon save Aurora?
Or in attempting to restore and recreate it, did she transform the village into a glossy historical caricature that somehow lost its soul?
---
On a sweltering August night at the start of the college year, gowned Wells seniors process beneath the pillars of MacMillan Hall for a candlelit opening convocation. The 140-year-old tradition has changed little since the white-gloved era of the 1960s, when Pleasant Thiele was student at this small liberal arts college for women. (Men were admitted in 2005).
Her love affair with Aurora began her first day.
"For me it had to do with the tall, ancient trees, the ravines, and sparkling lake and the lovely historic homes and campus buildings," she has said. "It was beautiful, it was timeless and it became a part of me like no place in the world ever has."
Years later, after selling her company to Mattel Inc. for $700 million, Pleasant Thiele Rowland would return to Aurora, bringing those memories - and a dream.
On May 17, 2001, she stood before villagers crammed into the 109-year old Morgan Opera House on Main Street and shared that dream.
She would restore the inn to its 19th-century glory, recapturing the era when the Morgan and Wells families dominated village life. She would replace the village market and the old ice cream parlor with more upscale versions. She would open a new pizza place. She would build a dock. She would restore the Queen Anne-style Abbott House and the Federal-style Leffingwell house.
In a final gesture, Rowland would take over the town's biggest business, MacKenzie-Childs Ltd., a sprawling pottery and home furnishings center on the outskirts of the village, buying it out of bankruptcy to save 240 jobs.
All this would be done through a new company, The Aurora Foundation, in partnership with the college, which owned many of the historic properties.
Villagers listened, mesmerized.
The 60-year-old businesswoman cut a striking figure, with her cropped white hair, steely blue eyes and commanding voice. She was so certain. So passionate. So wealthy.
Everyone knew how Rowland and her husband, Jerome Frautschi, had supported artistic and cultural endeavors in Madison, including donating $200 million for the Overture Center for the Arts.
But even as Rowland declared "a new day for Aurora, a second sunrise for this dear place," there were ripples of unease.
Rowland promised not to seek - or take - any return on her investment. But she took no questions either, so as villagers wandered home that evening, they were left to ponder.
Was this woman's vision the right one for them?
----
Wells College was established in 1868 by Henry Wells, founder of the Wells Fargo and American Express companies. Along with MacKenzie-Childs, the college is the main employer in the area and dominates village life.
It was college president Lisa Marsh Ryerson, a Wells graduate herself, who first reached out to Rowland in the mid-1990s.
"The college needed help," Ryerson said, sitting in her newly refurbished, wood-paneled office. "By restoring the public spaces, Pleasant gave the college the gift of life."
The gift certainly spruced up things, though not everyone agreed with Rowland's taste - deep red and green carpets, puffy floral sofas, restoration furniture and heavy drapes. And there was grumbling among some faculty about such large sums of money going into appearances, rather than educational programs.
But it wasn't until Rowland turned her attention to the village itself that things turned ugly.
People could accept the passing of Mack's, the dusty old candy store where generations of kids had traipsed in for ice cream sodas, proudly paying their own small tabs. Folks understood that Doris "Ma" Reynolds sold out because she was sick and needed money for health costs. They could even accept losing the old market.
The Aurora Inn, owned by the college, was an entirely different matter.
Built in 1833 by E.B. Morgan, co-founder of The New York Times, the lakeside inn had become a shabby reflection of its former self. But original sections remained intact, including the distinctive central stairwell and the Federal-style front-to-back hallway.
So when Rowland's foundation revealed plans to gut the interior, a small group of citizens took action.
They petitioned the Board of Trustees, and the Community Preservation Panel and the Planning Board. They wrote letters to the editor. They won the support of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Preservation League of New York state. Finally, as The Aurora Coalition Inc., they sued to stop the project.
"There was a feeling that she was trying to remake us into the perfect community," says coalition spokeswoman Hindenlang. "Everyone wanted to see the inn reopen, but her plans were no more historically authentic than her dolls."
But the suit infuriated others who viewed a new inn - as well as Rowland's money and goodwill - as vital to the local economy. Signs sprouted on lawns - circles with a line slashed through the words "No Coalition." Counter signs and bumper stickers appeared with slogans like "Aurora was Pleasant before."
Certain villagers started eyeing others warily at the post office and the dump. Others took to calling Aurora "Pleasantville." People crossed the street to avoid each other.
The incestuous nature of college and village relationships only fueled the distrust. Ryerson is married to a village trustee. Mayor Tom Gunderson is Wells' superintendent of facilities. Deputy Mayor Jim Chase is the college's director of custodial services. Even Hindenlang is married to a Wells professor of music.
"There was a sense that you couldn't be too outspoken, that people's jobs and livelihoods were at stake," says Linda Schwab, a recently retired Wells professor of chemistry. "It was all very hurtful."
In January 2001 the wrecking ball swung through the inn. Soon other buildings followed. The lawsuit was dismissed.
Overnight, it seemed, Aurora was taken over by bulldozers and builders. Overnight, it seemed, the village of constant dawn had changed forever.
---
In July 2005 a giant octopus, mounted on a pickup truck, floated down Main Street during the annual Aurorafest parade, each tentacle stamped with the name of a building that Rowland's foundation had acquired.
The octopus' creator, Tudy Kenyon, revels in her role as good-natured village eccentric, bouncing around in her bright blue Jeep with a ram's skull on front and anti-Rowland stickers on the back. Small and wiry with bobbed white hair and a husky voice, the 77-year-old came to Aurora from Pittsburgh in 1950s to go to Wells. She loved the place so much she never left.
At 6 p.m., Kenyon heads, barefoot, into the Fargo bar. She spends the next hour and a half sipping ginger ale, hailing the regulars, lamenting the tavern of the past.
The place crackles with conviviality but regulars say its heart has been lost. The old beer signs are gone along with the old bartenders, the deer's head has been moved to the back room, and the beloved smoky dinginess is a thing of the past. There's a pretty new porch outside and a spiffed up menu inside, and children now eat with their parents in the corner booth.
"The Fargo was the one place that was ours and she had to take that too," says Stanley Zabriskie, 56, another barefoot regular and descendant of one of the oldest families in town. (His brother is a village trustee and his sister-in-law, the clothing store owner, is one of Rowland's biggest cheerleaders).
Zabriskie and others recall golf tournaments that were planned here, and fish fried up in the little back kitchen, and the professor whose heart was so broken when the old Fargo went that he moved to another town.
For many it was not just the changes to the bar, but change in ownership that stung. Many felt that Jim Orman, who had run the place for years, was treated unfairly when his lease was not renewed.
Feelings ran so high that the village trustees, in an extraordinary letter to the college, asked that the Fargo, "the very last bastion of a local hangout," be spared.
The only member not to sign was the one married to the college president.
---
Across the street from the Fargo, the inn glows invitingly as an elegant party - Wells faculty and their guests - spills onto the back porch overlooking the lake. There will be dancing and music into the night, and over the weekend the inn will host two weddings.
The new inn is steeped in four-star luxury with designer fabrics and marble bathrooms and historic portraits decorating the walls. At peak season rates of up to $350 a night, it is fully booked - as is the magnificent 19th-century gray stone mansion next to it, which Rowland restored as the E.B. Morgan guest house.
It is a scene that locals say would have been unimaginable several years ago.
"It would have taken most people decades to achieve this," says photographer Jacci Farlow as she sips homemade lemonade on her deck just outside the village. "Why can't people appreciate that?"
She opens her latest book - "Aurora in Just Five Years" - page after page of beautifully rendered images of Aurora, before and after Rowland.
Farlow readily acknowledges what the book doesn't depict.
It doesn't show Jay O'Hearn's gray Mercury Marquis permanently parked outside the inn, plastered with anti-Rowland slogans.
Or Debbie Brooks' wistfulness as she talks about losing her gift shop, after the foundation forced her and other small merchants to move out of the old school building.
Or Jim Orman's sadness as he sits on his deck a block from the bar he took such pride in running and talks about feeling betrayed when his lease was not renewed.
Farlow sighs. She knows the speed of change unnerved as many people as it impressed. She knows that for some, there is a lingering sense that if only things had been handled differently, perhaps Rowland's legacy would different too.
Rowland is famously reclusive. Even at the height of her American Girl doll fame, she granted few interviews. She did not speak to the local media during her time in Aurora, and still refers all inquiries to her spokeswoman, Katie Waller, who also headed her foundation. She has not revealed how much money was poured into her project, though clearly it is tens of millions of dollars.
Farlow was one of a handful of locals who worked closely with Rowland, and got to know her. She, like Ryerson and Zabriskie and others, describes a woman of uncommon brilliance, determination and charm.
They point to Rowland's many small acts of generosity - helping the fire department raise money for an ambulance, contributing to Aurorafest, fixing the broken finials on the historic Masonic lodge. They talk about her friendly, smiling manner.
But they also describe her intense attention to detail, and her drive.
"She knows exactly what she wants," Farlow said. "And she pushes herself harder than anyone to achieve it."
In a Fortune magazine piece about her doll company in 2002, Rowland said, "If you have a strong vision, you can't let any piece of its execution go. Everything has to be a `10.'"
But even for Rowland perfection can be elusive.
Susan "Cookie" Wheeler, former chef at Mackenzie-Childs spent months trying to recreate a morning bun, a cinnamon delicacy that Rowland remembered from childhood. Over and over Wheeler made batches of dough. But it was never quite chewy enough, or sweet enough, or the look was wrong.
In the end Wheeler concluded, "There is only so far you can go to recreate something that is in someone's mind."
---
In June 2006 Rowland announced that the work of her foundation was complete, and that she was turning over control of her buildings and businesses to the college.
But it was clear to everyone that her mission hadn't ended the way she intended.
Her plan to raze the post office, a small cinderblock building near the inn, was foiled when reviews by the regional postal service dragged on and eventually Rowland pulled out. The proposal had included donating lakeside property for a village park, which also fell through. There had even been talk of expanding the college golf course from nine holes to 18.
There are other lingering disputes that cast a pall over Rowland's legacy. Victoria and Richard Mackenzie-Childs, original owners of the pottery center, have sued for rights to use their name in their new craft company. Another resident is fighting Rowland over the terms of the sale of her house.
Rowland recently put Mackenzie-Childs up for sale. Though her spokeswoman denies it, there are many who believe the doll tycoon has left Aurora for good.
The Abbott House, which Rowland had originally hoped to open as a guest house, and the Leffingwell house, her personal residence, have been beautifully restored. But they sit empty most of the time.
And though Rowland was spotted briefly this summer, her friend Randi Zabriskie says she cannot comfortably walk down Main Street again "and risk one of those idiots spitting at her."
Zabriskie hosted a thank you party for Rowland last January. Before 150 people, her husband Steve Zabriskie, read a poem thanking Rowland for shining her light on Aurora.
As Zabriskie tells it, Rowland grew misty-eyed.
"In my heart I knew you were all there," she said. "I just didn't know you were so many."
---
There are pockets of the village that haven't been touched by Rowland, places like Shakelton's Hardware store on Main Street, where wooden floorboards creak with 100 years of history and paint peels off the front porch. Old farm tools hang on the walls and there's a vintage Singer sewing machine in the back where owner Joe DeForest quilts when things are slow, which is often.
DeForest said he would have sold in a heartbeat, if Rowland had been interested, but "hardware didn't appeal to her." So DeForest runs his business the old-fashioned way, even as he ponders the transformation of his town.
"Anytime you have this much change, you lose something too," he says.
In DeForest's view, the village has lost the special egalitarian quality it so prided itself on, where professors mingled with farmers and merchants - at the inn and the market and the Fargo - and good conversation mattered more than class.
Money, and the control of one entity, has changed that, he says. He wonders if it will ever return.
He remembers when it changed, that spring night six years ago when it seemed like half the village packed into the Morgan opera house. He remembers how everyone listened, spellbound, to a white-haired stranger who spoke with such passion and such promise - of a new beginning for Aurora.
Much of what she promised happened. But everything looks so different in the harsh light of a new day.
Salman Butt will captain Pakistan for the first time on Wednesday in the second test against Australia at Headingley, marking a new era for Pakistani cricket _ a mere eight days after the previous new era had apparently dawned.
A week is a long time in the highly politicized world of Pakistan cricket.
On July 13, Shahid Afridi returned to the test arena for the first time in four years to captain Pakistan in its nominal home test with Australia, played at Lord's due to the security situation in Pakistan.
Yet before the game had even finished Afridi had resigned and after Pakistan's 150-run defeat he announced his retirement from test cricket with immediate effect.
Turkey and Iran will probably sign a natural gas deal during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's expected visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara, an Iranian official in Turkey said Tuesday. Turkish officials have yet to confirm the deal.
Ahmad Noorani, in charge of economic affairs at the Iranian Embassy in Ankara, said the two countries agreed in May on the construction of a new gas pipeline to ensure a steady flow to Turkey, which suffers frequent cuts in gas from Iran during wintertime.
Turkish officials and Noorani say they are expecting a visit by Ahmadinejad but have not announced the date.
"We believe the agreement will be signed during the president's visit which is expected soon," Noorani said.
On July 19, six major world powers _ Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States _ set an informal two-week deadline for Iran to accept an economic incentives package in return for curbing its uranium enrichment. Many international experts fear the enrichment is part of a nuclear weapons program.
The deadline passed this weekend with no clear response from Tehran.
Babacan says Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Turkey has sought ways to increase cooperation with Iran, especially in the field of energy.
Last year, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to build a gas pipeline to transport up to 40 billion cubic meters (1,412 billion cubic feet) of gas to Europe per year through a US-backed pipeline that would stretch from Turkey to Austria.
But U.S. officials have since expressed strong opposition to the possibility of bringing Iranian gas to Europe via NATO-ally Turkey. The final agreement between Turkey and Iran has yet to be signed.
The new agreement would be about another pipeline that would bring gas to Turkey for domestic consumption. Iran would pay for its construction, which is expected to cost around US$930 million (euro600 million), Noorani said.
SEOUL (AP) — A report says a light attack helicopter has made an emergency landing during annual South Korean military drills, killing an army warrant officer and injuring the co-pilot.
Yonhap news agency says the MD 500 helicopter made the emergency landing Wednesday in Gangwon province, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Seoul.
It says the co-pilot broke his leg and the warrant officer died of unspecified injuries.
The military said it hasn't yet determined what happened.
It was a preference for the National Football League over collegefootball that was the deciding factor in Mike Shanahan turning downan opportunity to head the University of Kentucky program, athleticsdirector C.M. Newton said Sunday.
Newton said Shanahan, an assistant coach with the DenverBroncos, informed him of the decision late Saturday after Denver's37-0 victory over Phoenix.
"He emphasized it was a career decision," Newton said. "TheKentucky job was the only college job he would consider, but itboiled down to whether he wanted to return to college football orremain in professional football.
"I regretted the decision but respected it. He's been ourchoice pretty much from the beginning of the process. He's anoutstanding person and football coach."
Shanahan said at a Denver news conference Sunday he took lastweek to sit down with his wife and figure out which direction hewanted to head.
"It was a tough decision," Shanahan said. "Kentucky's a greatuniversity, but I'm really happy to be here with the Denver Broncos.
"It was best for me and my future just to stay right here."
The UK Athletics Board had scheduled a meeting for 3 p.m.Sunday, but it was canceled after Shanahan's decision to stay inDenver.
Shanahan, fired this season as coach of the Los Angeles Raiders,had toured the Kentucky campus last weekend.
Newton said he first contacted Shanahan about the job shortlyafter Claiborne retired Nov. 28. "I thought we had a 50-50 chance fora deal," Newton said. "I thought that from the beginning. He's a hotcommodity in the professional ranks."
MOSCOW Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin rode once again to hisown political rescue on Friday, appeasing his enemies in parliamentwith a promise that he would soon resign as prime minister andproudly accepting credit for keeping Russia from splitting apart.
After sitting, stone-faced, for more than two days asconservatives at the Russian Congress of People's Deputies savagedhis government and policies, Yeltsin swung into action Friday anddelivered a one-two punch.
In open concessions to his conservative critics, he promised toresign from his post as prime minister - although remaining president- in about three months, as well as hiring and firing some ministersand changing the government's structure by the end of the year.
And he won an ovation for his Federation Treaty, the agreementmeant to prevent Russia from falling apart as the Soviet Union did,after the congress ratified it in an 848-10 vote.
"Russia was, is and will remain whole, unified and strong,"Yeltsin declared majestically to the deputies in the Grand KremlinPalace.
The 61-year-old president did not appear to need much persuasionto resign as prime minister. He took on the job late last year toput his authority behind the economic reforms his Cabinet hasundertaken but acknowledged he had a hard time coping with his doubleposition.
"I realize that the combination of posts of president and primeminister is very hard, above all on me," Yeltsin said. "In anotherthree months, once it is clear that there will be no return to thepast, that the reforms are irreversible. . . . I'll introduceproposals on a candidate for prime minister."
Yeltsin also promised to formulate a new law - which would, ineffect, deprive him of his interim powers to rule by decree - butasked to be given until December before it must take effect.Deputies had proposed a one-month deadline, but Yeltsin argued that amonth was far too little time.
The Russian president pledged to streamline his personalbureaucracy, shake up his cabinet and appoint an additional ministerin charge of industry.
A final vote was not scheduled until this morning, but deputiesappeared amenable to Yeltsin's request for more time and wereexpected to agree to it.
Along with the president's charisma, Yeltsin's backers also hada political lever: the threat that if conservatives made too manyincursions on the president's power, they would "appeal to thepeople" by launching a referendum on the president's role and perhapscalling early parliamentary elections.
The cost of treating cancer in the United States nearly doubled over the past two decades, but expensive cancer drugs may not be the main reason why, according to a surprising new study.
The study confounds conventional wisdom in several respects. The soaring price of new cancer treatments has received widespread attention, but the researchers conclude that rising costs were mainly driven by the growing number of cancer patients.
The study also finds cancer accounts for only 5 percent of total U.S. medical costs, and that has not changed in the last few decades.
"I will say I'm a bit surprised," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society, who said he would have expected the proportion of cancer costs to rise.
The researchers also found that private insurers now cover a greater share of cancer treatment costs _ about 50 percent _ while patients' out-of-pocket costs have fallen over the past two decades.
Though taken aback by some of the findings, Lichtenfeld and other experts did not dispute the study, which compared medical cost data from the late 1980s to that of the early 2000s. But they said the picture surely has changed in the last several years.
The study is being called the first to combine national cancer costs for all types of payers and see how they've changed over time. The figures are reported in 2007 dollars.
It found that cancer treatment costs rose from nearly $25 billion in 1987 to more than $48 billion by the end of 2005.
The rise in costs is mainly due to an increase over 20 years in how many cancer patients there are, said the study's lead author, Florence Tangka of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers used data from national telephone surveys done in 1987 and from 2001 through 2005, which gathered information on medical conditions as well as who paid the bills. More than 164,000 people were surveyed.
The study did not offer precise estimates of how the number of people treated for cancer changed from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. But it showed dramatic increases in the number of cancer cases covered by the government's Medicare and Medicaid programs. Medicare, which covers the elderly and disabled, has consistently covered about a third of the nation's cancer costs. Medicaid accounts for only 3 percent.
The U.S. population is aging, and older people tend to get cancer at higher rates, Tangka noted.
Better and more advanced treatments mean more people with cancer are remaining alive, so the spending increases represent money well spent, said Kenneth Thorpe, a health policy researcher at Emory University who has focused on the cost of health care.
"It seems like we're buying increases in survival," Thorpe said.
The study is being published in Cancer, a medical journal of the American Cancer Society.
The researchers also found:
_The percentage of cancer costs from inpatient hospital care fell from 64 percent to about 27 percent. A shift to less expensive outpatient care, along with cost containment efforts by large health insurers, helped keep down increases in the costs per patient, the authors said.
_The proportion of cancer costs paid by private insurance rose from 42 to 50 percent.
_The proportion of costs paid out of pocket by patients _ including copayments and deductibles _ dropped from 17 percent to 8 percent.
Those last two findings surprised some experts.
Recent government reports have found that the percentage of Americans with private health insurance has been shrinking and recently hit its lowest mark in 50 years. Yet the study found that the proportion of cancer treatment costs paid by private insurance rose.
And companies have been tightening or cutting employee benefits, causing out-of-pocket costs to go up for many patients. Yet the study found that the proportion of bills paid by patients declined.
That last finding in particular was striking, said Lichtenfeld, the cancer society's deputy chief medical officer.
He alluded to widely reported increases in personal bankruptcies prompted by medical bills. "There's no question that the out-of-pocket costs for some patients have risen dramatically," Lichtenfeld said.
The rising price of certain treatments also should be acknowledged, he said.
The challenge of rising prices was recognized by American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which last year released its first guidelines counseling cancer doctors on how to talk to patients about deciding between less expensive chemotherapy drugs made more sense than newer, more expensive products.
The study did not add in the cost of diagnostic tests and scans, which are cost drivers. And the data does not include the last five years, which saw some extremely pricey cancer drugs come on the market.
The picture may have changed since the study's data was collected and the U.S. economy deteriorated, said Dr. Neal Meropol, a Case Western Reserve University cancer expert who worked on the ASCO guidelines.
Newer treatments along with wider testing are driving up the overall cost of cancer care, Meropol said.
"My concern is that costs are getting shifted to patients and there is a potential for increasing disparities" in cancer care, he added.
An Arizona sheriff known for his tough stance on illegal immigration has told a group of nearly 2,000 Kansas Republicans that his state needs its new immigration law because the federal government isn't doing its job.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio spoke Tuesday night at a rally in suburban Kansas City for Republican Kansas secretary of state candidate Kris Kobach.
Kobach helped write the Arizona law that directs officers to question people who have been stopped for another crime about their immigration status if there's a reasonable suspicion they're in the U.S. illegally.
Arpaio says the law will allow his state to protect its residents.
Several hundreds protesters lined the sidewalk outside the rally. They say the law will lead to racial profiling.
Venezuela and Ecuador reinforced their borders with Colombia on Tuesday as the three nations traded increasingly bitter accusations over Colombia's cross-border strike on a leftist guerrilla base in Ecuador.
Ecuador rejected a Colombian apology as insufficient, and sought international condemnation of the attack during an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States, convened in Washington to help defuse one of South America's most volatile crises in years. Venezuela's justice minister declared that war "has already begun."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa called his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, a "bold-faced liar." Uribe demanded the International Criminal Court try Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for genocide. U.S. President George W. Bush accused Chavez of "provocative maneuvers."
At the moment, it's mostly a war of words, and other nations tried Tuesday to keep it that way, although many said Colombia was wrong to send troops into Ecuador. The Saturday raid killed 24 guerrillas, including rebel spokesman Raul Reyes, who was engaged in hostage talks with Venezuela, France and other countries.
Uribe said Chavez should be prosecuted for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Uribe cited documents in a laptop seized in Reyes' jungle camp that he said showed Venezuela recently made a US$300 million (euro200 million) payment to the rebels.
Colombia also accused the rebels of trying to make a radioactive dirty bomb, although the documents it shared with reporters don't support that allegation, indicating instead that the rebels were trying to buy uranium to resell at a profit.
Venezuela dismissed the Colombian allegations as lies and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the idea of prosecuting Chavez was "laughable."
Uribe said he would not allow his nation to be drawn into open war. His more than 250,000 U.S.-equipped, trained and advised soldiers, however, would outnumber the 172,000 active troops Venezuela and Ecuador have between them.
"Colombia has never been a country to go to war with its neighbors," Uribe said. "We are not mobilizing troops, nor advancing toward war."
Venezuela was sending about 9,000 soldiers _ 10 battalions _ to the border region as "a preventive measure," retired Gen. Alberto Muller Rojas, a former top Chavez aide, told The Associated Press. Ecuador said it sent 3,200 troops to the border on Monday.
Venezuela's agriculture minister, Elias Jaua, said Venezuela had closed the border _ which sees annual trade worth US$5 billion (euro3.29 billion) _ to imports and exports. Leonardo Mendez, a spokesman for a Colombian cargo transport association, said some 300 vehicles, including trucks carrying food, shoes, ceramics and other products, were stuck.
Extra Venezuelan National Guard troops were stationed at the frontier bridge in steamy Cucuta, where 70 percent of cross-border trade occurs. Soldiers there searched people crossing from Colombia and turned away Colombian tractor-trailers, though they did let at least one truck in because it carried food. Venezuela has been suffering from shortages of milk, meat and other foodstuffs, which it imports from Colombia.
Ecuador's US$1.8 billion (euro1.18 billion) annual trade with Colombia continued freely on Tuesday, said Carlos Lopez, Ecuador's undersecretary of immigration.
Correa, meanwhile, launched a multination tour of the region to win support for Ecuador's position from other countries that border Colombia.
In Peru, Correa called Uribe a liar who "wanted war," and warned that if the raid went unpunished, "the region will be in danger, because the next victim could be Peru, it could be Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, any one of our countries."
In Brazil late Tuesday, he kept up the attack, suggesting the Colombian raid was carried out to prevent the liberation of rebel-held hostages.
Correa offered no proof to back up the claim, but said he agreed with speculation that Colombian authorities Reyes "and killed him to prevent a deal for the liberation of the hostages from going forward."
Reyes was the key broker in a deal being negotiated by Ecuador to help release the hostages in March, he said.
In Washington, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador said Colombia's apology wasn't enough, demanding that the OAS condemn the incursion, appoint a commission to investigate it and call an urgent meeting of the region's foreign ministers in the next week.
Negotiations on a draft resolution on the crisis by the OAS was deadlocked Tuesday night as Colombia refused an Ecuadorean request that a "truth commission" determine Colombia's degree of responsibility in the strike.
"This is not a court," Colombian OAS ambassador Camilo Ospina said. "This is a facilitating forum."
Despite the withering rhetoric of Uribe, Chavez and Correa, the biggest losers in Reyes' death appeared to be the hostages the rebels want to swap for jailed guerrillas.
France's foreign ministry said Uribe knew France was communicating directly with Reyes in an attempt to secure the release of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a dual French national who has become a cause celebre in Europe.
The rebels said Tuesday that Reyes died "completing a mission to arrange, through President Chavez, a meeting with (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy" aimed at securing Betancourt's release.
Last week, the FARC released four hostages to Venezuela's justice minister.
The FARC is seeking to swap some of the 40 high-value captives it is holding, including the French-Colombian Betancourt and three U.S. defense contractors whose plane went down in rebel territory, for hundreds of imprisoned guerrillas.
Several Latin American leftist leaders have suggested the U.S. was intimately involved in executing the raid by 60 Colombian commandos that killed Reyes. Colombian military officials have said in the past that U.S. satellite intelligence and communications intercepts have been key to putting the FARC on the defensive.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command would neither confirm or deny American military participation: "We do provide intelligence support to partner nations but I can't get into details on operations," Jose Ruiz told the AP from Miami.
Uribe's decision to attack Ecuadorean territory reflected Colombia's long frustration over the rebels' ability to obtain refuge just outside its borders.
He complained Tuesday that he provided Chavez with precise information on the location of FARC camps in Venezuela.
On Tuesday, Ecuadorean officials said they had found another body near the bombed camp, bringing the number of guerrillas killed to 24.
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Associated Press writers Frank Bajak and Vivian Sequera in Bogota; Howard Yanes at El Amparo, Venezuela; and Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda and Ian James in Caracas contributed to this report.
CHICAGO - A 29-year-old man driving the wrong way on an expressway west of downtown early Sunday caused a fiery crash that left five people dead, including himself, state police said.
Authorities identified the driver as Frederick Sy, a Chicago man who also has an address in the suburb of Northbrook.
The accident closed all the lanes on Interstate 290 for nearly three hours, said Illinois State Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk.
"A man was driving a Volvo westbound in the eastbound lanes when he collided head-on with a BMW carrying four people," Bukaczyk said. "The BMW then burst into flames - almost an explosion. It was also hit by a van that couldn't stop in time." The van driver reportedly escaped major injury, he said.
Eve Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Fire Department, said the driver of the Volvo was taken by ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Bukaczyk said troopers were able to contact the family of the Volvo driver, but not those of the people who had been in the BMW. He said friends who had been traveling in another vehicle told troopers the four were members of a family from Mexico and had no known close relatives in the U.S.
ISP Master Sgt. Tom Koch said authorities were working with the Mexican consulate to identify the occupants of the BMW.
Some witnesses said the Volvo was traveling at nearly 100 mph, but Bukaczyk said investigators had not determined its rate of speed.
"You have to realize that with a head-on like this, if both vehicles are only traveling the 55 mph. speed limit, the impact would be the equivalent of hitting something at 110 mph." he said.
On a cold and foggy Tuesday morning, residents from CentralSomerset marked the Winter Solstice at the Holy Thorn on WearyallHill in Glastonbury.
People from all religions held hands around the Thorn -vandalised two weeks ago - to mark the shortest day of the year,honouring the thorn, and Joseph of Arimathea, offering silenceprayers and blessings.
The Mayor of Glastonbury, Councillor John Coles also attended,making the trek to the top of the hill to watch the ceremony.
A reward has been offered to anyone who can provide informationand help find those responsible for the vandalism of the tree.
If you have any information about the attack on the Holy Thorn,please contact Sergeant Mark Edgington on 0845 456 7000.
Four cities are on the shortlist to host the first world boxing academy, the sport's governing body announced Monday.
The candidates are Becancour, Canada; Sanya, China; Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Podolsk, Russia.
The academy will train the best young amateur boxers, plus coaches, referees and judges from the 195 national federations that make up the International Boxing Association, or AIBA.
Ching-Kuo Wu from Taiwan was elected AIBA president in 2006 on a mandate to modernize and clean up the sport.
"The academy is one of his ideas for reform," AIBA spokesman Richard Baker said. "Boxers, coaches and officials will go there to learn the vision of the new AIBA."
Around 750 fighters aged from 17 to 34 will be trained each year and educated in fitness, nutrition and anti-doping classes.
"We want to take more responsibility for the athletes and help look after them when they have finished boxing," Baker said.
"We hope to use the first academy as an example and set up another one on each of the continents."
The academy would have an annual budget of more than US$5 million (euro3.2 million) and be managed by the AIBA and the host country's Olympic committee.
The winning city will be chosen by the AIBA executive at a meeting during the Beijing Olympics in August.
Far fewer chief information officers are reporting to their chief executives, according to a survey.
Last year, 45% of those responding to a survey by the Society of Information Management said the CIO in their organization reported to their CEO. This year, that number is 31%.
"Why it dropped is perplexing," said Jerry Luftman, vice president of academic affairs at SIM, which counts CIOs and other senior IT professionals among its members. "I'mhoping it's just a blip."
More CIOs are reporting to the chief financial officeror the chief operating officer. Twenty-nine percent of respondents said the CIO reported to the CFO,compared with 25% last year, and 22% said theinformation chief reported to the COO, compared with16% last year.
Luftman said that the CEO isn't the only decisionmaker in a company and that CIOs can be just assuccessful when they report to other executives.
"The point is that it helps to have the CIO report tothe CEO, and I have found that [in] those organizationswhere the CIO does report to the CEO, their alignmentmaturity is clearly ahead of those where they do not,"said Luftman.
For the past few years, Luftman, who is also aprofessor at and executive director of the graduate program at the Stevens Institute of Technology, hasbeen measuring business and IT alignment using a number of metrics, including anorganization's communication, its IT governanceprocess, and the way the business understandstechnology and the technology department understandsthe business.
Each year, in addition to asking where in thereporting structure senior IT executives fit, SIM surveys itsmembers on their top challenges, technologyfocus areas, budget and staffing. This year, 140members participated. The group uses the results toset its event and education agendas.
SIM members said their biggest management challengewas attracting, developing and retaining staff, whichwas also the No. 1 concern last year. Companies,Luftman said, "are really hurting in being able tofill all the spots they have." There needs to be aconcerted effort on the part of all interested partiesto attract students to computer science programs, hesays.
Aligning IT and the business, which has been amajor challenge for CIOs for more than a decade, wasNo. 2 on this year's list--as it was last year.
Another surprise was how strongly human resource issues showed up in the survey.
Luftman noted that the top three concerns--staffing, business/IT alignment, and building up business skills--are all human resource and skills related and that those issues were cited by more than 40% ofrespondents.
In fact, human resource and skills issues popped upall over the list. Even the No. 10 concern--the evolving CIO leadership role--touched on the subject.IT leaders realize they need to change, and they needto develop even more business and industry specificskills, Luftman said.
Antivirus protection topped SIM's list of the top fiveapplication and technology issues, followed by business intelligence and networks.Business process management and continuity planningand disaster recovery were tied at No. 4.
CIOs are making antivirus a priority, Luftman said,because they're getting tired of having to deal with viruses and worms.
As for their IT budgets, only 22% of respondentsanticipate a cut in 2008--the same percentage thatexpected a budget cut going into 2007. However, only49% said their budgets would grow in 2008, comparedwith 61% who expected a budget increase coming intothis year.
The survey found that mostparticipants expect their companies to hire more ITstaffers. Fifty-two percent of respondents said theircompanies are planning to increase their IT headcountin 2008, compared with the 46% who expected to bulk up their staffs heading into this year.
The federal government apparently has cleared the way for anincinerator in south suburban Robbins that could take 1,600 tons ofgarbage a day.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected an appeal toorder reconsideration of the $275 million project. The appeal hadbeen filed by the Illinois attorney general's office.
Construction could begin in six to nine months and will takethree years to complete, said the developer, Reading Energy Co.
However, Reading still must obtain financing and negotiategarbage contracts with south suburbs. And environmental groupsoppose the project.
The Illinois EPA last year issued a permit for the incinerator.Then-Attorney General Neil Hartigan asked the U.S. EPA to order thestate EPA to reconsider the permit.
Hartigan said the state permit, which would allow theincinerator to release up to 2.2 tons a year of toxic mercury, is nottough enough. Mercury builds up in the food chain, and animal testshave linked it to birth disorders and nervous system damage.
In turning down Hartigan's appeal, U.S. EPA AdministratorWilliam Reilly said his agency does not have the authority toregulate mercury emissions. Reilly said "it would not beappropriate" to second-guess the state's regulation.
Attorney General Roland Burris, who replaced Hartigan inJanuary, is studying Reilly's ruling and has not decided whether toappeal further, a spokeswoman said.
Reading Energy has said pollution from the incinerator's375-foot stack would disperse safely in the air. At ground level,mercury concentrations would be less than 1 trillionth of an ounceper cubic foot of air, the company said.
The 17-member South Suburban Solid Waste Agency is preparing tonegotiate a long-term garbage incineration contract with ReadingEnergy. Environmental groups said they will pressure municipalitiesto pull out of the agency before the contract becomes final.
"We're going to show (municipalities) that the long-termfinancial and environmental risks are tremendous," said Jeff Tangelof the South Cook County Environmental Action Coalition.
The Spanish Interior Ministry says police have arrested 178 people in 12 countries suspected of forming part of an international crime gang with a large base in Spain.
The ministry says raids also took place in France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Romania, Australia, Sweden, Greece, Finland, Hungary and the United States, where eight of the suspects were arrested.
It says in a statement released Tuesday that a two-year investigation found the organization was involved in credit card fraud, robbery with violence, extortion, sexual expoitation and money laundering. It is believed to have made more than (EURO)20 million ($24.5 million) from illegal activities.
Police also found 11 laboratories for falsifying credit cards during their 84 raids.
ATLANTA - Po Biddy Crossroads will be back on the map. So will Hopeulikit and Doctortown, and hundreds of others that were erased.
From Abbottsford to Zetella, the 488 communities wiped from this year's version of the state highway map will be restored, the Georgia Department of Transportation said Wednesday.
The towns were erased from the map after the transportation department decided it wanted a clearer, more legible version of the map to hand out for free at visitors centers and tourism hotspots. But small-town officials were infuriated, and said it was an insult to rural residents.
Vicki Gavalas, the department's spokeswoman, said she regrets that any rural residents felt slighted. "That certainly was not our intent," she said. "Indeed, our only intent was to make the official state map a more easily read resource."
Mapmaking criteria vary by state, and a little housecleaning over time is not unusual. But other states said it is almost unheard of to see hundreds of communities given the boot in a single year. Even Rand McNally, which as North America's biggest commercial mapmaker sells its maps at gas stations and bookstores, said a change of just a dozen place names on its state maps is rare.
Dennis Holt, who led a community effort to restore the name of western Georgia's small town of Hickory Level, celebrated the decision.
"We're glad that they've seen the light and put it back on there," he said. "Our concern is: Will they do this again? We'll be waiting, we'll be watching.
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On the Net:
A last-minute replacement for this year's Somerton Summer ArtsFestival will see an experienced singer arrive in the town.
Kathy Stobart was due to join Clive Smith and his Arcadia JazzBand at the event on Sunday, July 11, but she has pulled out due toill health. The band is now to be joined by special guest RosemarySquires.
She had an early ambition to be a jazz singer, honed at localgigs around her home of Salisbury, and flourished into big band,cabaret and even variety.
She was …
TIRANA, Albania - The name "George Bush" could open doors in Albania. Even prison gates.
An appeals court showed clemency last week and released a 15-year-old boy who had been charged with stealing scrap metal from a copper factory in the northern town of Lac.
His name? Xhorxh Bushi - the way Albanians spell the president's last name.
After Albania emerged from decades of communist isolation in 1990, it became fashionable for families to name their children "Bill," "George" and even "Hilary" to show appreciation to the U.S. during the difficult transition to democracy.
American presidents don't have a lock on celebrity names in Albania, though. Another popular first name for boys in this soccer-crazy country is Ronaldo, in honor of the Brazilian star.
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Talk about not sticking to a deadline.
While in Italy on Saturday, Bush was asked whether there needs to be a deadline for action by the United Nations in establishing independence for Kosovo.
"In terms of the deadline, there needs to be one," Bush said emphatically. "This needs to come - this needs to happen. Now it's time."
That must not have been a memorable statement for the president.
By the time he got to Albania the next morning, he was befuddled when a reporter asked for more detail on the deadline.
"First of all, I don't think I called for a deadline," he said Sunday in his latest European stop. That drew a curious reaction, and Bush picked up on it.
"What exactly did I say? I said, 'Deadline?'" Bush asked.
Someone signaled that he did, in fact, say the word.
"OK, yes, then I meant what I said," Bush said to laughter.
He went on to explain that Kosovo should not continue adrift through endless debate.
"That's what I meant," Bush declared.
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Laura Bush on Sunday visited an Albanian orphanage that is partly funded by U.S. charities.
Accompanied by President Alfred Moisiu's daughter, Mirela, and Prime Minister Sali Berisha's wife, Liri, Laura Bush also met with some youngsters from Save the Children. They told her their stories.
Organizers said Laura Bush expressed interest in how the center helps orphans from birth to age 3 grow and get adopted.
She also visited a maternity home funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, where mothers get assistance and advice, and discussed health issues during a lunch with Albanian businesswomen, artists, politicians and others.
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Even in Albania, one of the world's most pro-American countries, Bush has his detractors.
Communist Party members protested Bush's visit overnight Sunday by circulating a poem around the town of Rreshen, 40 miles north of Tirana, the capital, that called him "Terrorist No. 1."
They also distributed a drawing that depicted Bush wearing a Nazi cap and toting a Kalashnikov rifle.
Protesters plastered the town with sheets of paper with the poem and the drawing.
Bush got a hero's welcome in Tirana, while in Rreshen, some residents tore down the paper, local media reported.
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Bush picked up some hardware in Tirana: the prestigious Order of the National Flag.
"To the president of the United States of America - Albania's and Albanians' great ally - in a sign of deep gratitude for the historic role in defending freedom, democracy and human rights, to the benefit of the Albanian nation and the whole region," read the citation accompanying the medal Moisiu awarded Bush.
It hailed Bush "for a precious contribution and the determined support of the American government and people to the development of Albania's democratic processes and integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures."
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On the Net:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov
ALDERMAN BERNARD STONE REACTS TO CITY EVENT
CHICAGO ARABESQUE: "DEPLORABLE"
ANTI-ISRAEL, ANTI-SEMITIC MATERIAL AT 09 PROGRAM; CITY-FEDERATION MEETING
Bernard Stone, the veteran City alderman (50th) and Vice Mayor, said this month he "will move to dissolve" the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) if it again sponsors an event which violates its mission to "promote respect and individual responsibility for understanding and accepting differences of all Chicagoans".
Stone was reacting to the story in this newspaper on the City-hosted 3rd Annual Chicago Arabesque, held in June (Jewish Star, July 3).
The report documented, with photographic evidence and translation of Arabic material, the fact that anti- Israel crafts and literature were sold at the four-day program, and that anti- Semitic literature was dis- tributed. It noted that the Jewish Federation of Metro- politan Chicago had formal- Iy complained to the CCHR about this development.
Anti-Israel literature had also been distributed at the 1st Chicago Arabesque in 2007, and for several years before that during the City's Arab Heritage Month. That activity was only stopped after a 2003 Jewish Star investigation revealed the longrunning pattern of anti-Israel programming.
Following these reports, and meetings in 2003 and 2007 with city officials at the request of the Jewish Federation, city officials said they "will not tolerate" such political activity.
It has, nonetheless, continued.
In a July 3 editorial, the Jewish Star called on the city to shut down its Arab Affairs Council, which was responsible for organizing all of these events.
"With this six year record of failure before us, City officials have proven that they are unable to monitor, or to prevent, the promotion of political and religiously-motivated materials targeting Jews and the Jewish state at Cityhosted Arab festivals," the editorial stated.
Stone told the Jewish Star on July 16 that what had taken place at this year's Chicago Arabesque "must stop", and that he intended to follow-up on the matter.
He did so in a Sept. 2 letter to Dana V. Starks, Chairman of the CCHR. Stone wrote: "I assure you, if the Commission promotes this again I will not only publicly address it, but I will move to dissolve the Commission."
Starks - who did not respond to a Jewish Star message on Sept. 4 seeking comment for this article, or to the original July report in the Star - on June 30 had referred the Star to Ken Gunn, CCHR First Deputy Commissioner.
Gunn had been unavailable at presstime for the Star's July report, but said on July 1 that the City's position "has always been that we abhor" the type of political activity which had occurred at the 3rd Chicago Arabesque.
"I was certain this year would be better," he said. "Unfortunately, some push the envelope."
He noted that while "embassies are touchy to deal with," that he had responded to the Jewish Federation's call to stop the Embassy of Libya from distributing an anti-Semitic handout at the festival.
"Where it really gets fuzzy," Gunn said, "is when they talk about history. You do have to respect that they are giving their history."
Gunn said the festival received "rave reviews".
Sept. 22 meeting
Meanwhile Starks has invited Jewish Federation officials to meet with the Arab Advisory Council representatives and the CCHR Board.
The meeting is scheduled for Sept. 22.
The invitation came iri a July 17 letter, which was a response to a June 25 letter from the Federation to Starks marked "Urgent".
That letter, which highlighted an anti-Semitic document (see above) disseminated from the Libyan Embassy booth ' at the festival; stated that "We are beyond our wits end. We cannot fathom how or why the Commission is unable to ensure that its own event - endorsed by the mayor - lives up to its stated standard of being non-political."
Commenting last week on the upcoming meeting, the Federation's Senior Vice President Jay Tcath told the Jewish Star that the Federation will urge the city to institute "stringent clearance on who is actually allowed to have a booth" at these festivals.
He cited in particular the Palestine Solidarity Group, "which is nothing more than an advocacy group".
Tcath attended the past two meetings with the city on this subject, and will be at the September one.
[Sidebar]
as a way of ridding Europe of Jews Palestine . is not tner efore necessaniy or inevitably the national Homeland of the Jews, as this history confirms
Balfour Declaration:
The motivation underlining the Declaration was io no Europe of Jews, rather than espress sympathy for them
The Persecution of the Jews:
The Jews are an unfortunate people They nave suffered greatly al the hands of governments, leaders and oihat peoples stnce ancient times. Why? Because this ts the will Df God. |usi as the Quran makes clear in the accounts of Egypt's Pharaoh and as their treatment at the hands of the rulers from Babylon. Roman emperors from Titus iq Hadrian, and the kings cf England, such as Edvuard illustrates. The Jews have been banished neld captive massacred, disadvantaged and persecuted in every possibfe fashion at ibe hands of the Egyptians, the Romans, the English, the Russians, the BiiLvlomans the Canaanites. and. more recently, at the hands Pt Hitter
[Author Affiliation]
By DOUGUS WERTHEIMER
Editor
House known as drug den
destroyed mysteriously
A house on Charleston's West Side known by neighbors as a drug denwas destroyed under mysterious circumstances , a fire investigatorsaid.
Just before 5 a.m. Tuesday, a fire was reported at 904 Mel St.,said Capt. Carl Beaver of the Charleston Fire Department FirePrevention Bureau.
The single-story, wood-frame house, which had been unoccupied forabout five years and had no utilities connected, was declared a loss,he said.
The fire appeared to start on the back porch. It could have beenaccidental, but appears to have been set intentionally, Beaver said.
The city is doing a property search in hopes …
(ADPnews) - Nov 23, 2010 - Dutch retailer Maxeda Retail Group BV said today it has agreed to sell its Hunkemoeller lingerie store chain to French private equity firm PAI partners without providing financial details.
Both Maxeda and Hunkemoeller believe that the deal with PAI is offering the best opportunities for the lingerie chain to accelerate its growth plans.
…
TODAY
Dulcimer and autoharp
Where: Calvary United Methodist Church, Belle Avenue, Latham When: 7:30 p.m. Cost: $10; $5, children under 13 Contact: 447-4112 Notes: National hammered dulcimer champion and international autoharp champion Lucille Reilly of Denver in concert.
Bible and Social Justice
Where: Abba House, 647 Western Ave., Albany When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Cost: $20 Contact: 438-8320 Notes: Discussion led by Diana Conway and Fred Bohrer of Albany Catholic Worker Community.
Pumpkin Patch
Where: Hope United Methodist Church, 566 Brunswick Road, Eagle Mills When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (daily through Halloween) Contact: 279-1403 …
The carefully packaged information kit from Burger King Corp. contained a promising fact sheet on the fast-food chain's investment activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
"Burger King Corp. and its franchisees operate over 650 restaurants in 24 countries within Latin America and the Caribbean ... System-wide sales in Latin America and the Caribbean were approximately US$595 million in F '04, representing more than a 12 percent growth over the prior fiscal year."
But the facts tell only part of the story. As keynote speaker Beatrice Rangel told participants at the Wharton Latin American Conference, Burger King represents what can go right when a corporation invests in an area where nearly everything can go wrong.
Investing in Latin America and the Caribbean requires more than capital, patience and perseverance, she said. It requires investors to commit themselves to understanding the fragile business infrastructures within a part of the world that is fraught with volatile political, economic and social conditions.
"Representatives of Burger King have seen the peaks and valleys in Latin America," said Rangel, a native of Venezuela, former chief of staff to former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez and a corporate strategist who worked with the Miami-based entertainment conglomerate Cisneros Group before she was named managing director of AMLA Consulting, the Miami affiliate of Zemi Communications.
"When you talk about investing in Latin America and the Caribbean, investors have to be patient. They have to look at the structures or lack of structures in the countries where they want to do business. And they have to understand that a good business will go through peaks and …
| AMERICAN LEAGUE |
|---|
BATTING_AdGonzalez, Boston, .339; MiYoung, Texas, .334; MiCabrera, Detroit, .329; VMartinez, Detroit, .323; Ellsbury, Boston, .317; Kotchman, Tampa Bay, .314; DOrtiz, Boston, .313.
RUNS_Granderson, New York, 127; Kinsler, Texas, 108; Ellsbury, Boston, 104; AdGonzalez, Boston, 101; Bautista, Toronto, 99; MiCabrera, Detroit, 97; AGordon, Kansas City, 95.
RBI_Granderson, New York, 111; AdGonzalez, Boston, 108; Cano, New York, 106; Teixeira, New York, 103; Bautista, Toronto, 98; Konerko, Chicago, 98; MiYoung, Texas, 97.
HITS_AdGonzalez, Boston, 195; MiYoung, Texas, 193; Ellsbury, Boston, 186; MeCabrera, Kansas …
A FORMER chief officer at Brentwood fire station has slammed thefire authority's decision to cut full-time staff.
David Brigden spoke out on Monday against the plan, announcedlast month, to reduce the number of contracted firefighters from 52to 28 and make up the shortfall with retained officers.
He believes the changes could lead to a lack of "necessary cover"for residents.
He said: "I am astounded that they are proposing to replace thewhole-time crew with retained firefighters "With an annual call ratein excess of 1,500, many of which are to road traffic collisions onthe M25 and A127, it is my experience that you could not obtain thenecessary …
