ANCHORAGE - In a final act of corporate kindness, Pets.com tosseda lifeline to Alaska dog mushers faced with the harsh choice ofkilling their dogs or watching them starve. The San Francisco-based online retailer, which pulled the plug Nov. 7 after failing tofind a financial …
Today's teachers and parents who help with homework or instruct children at home can take advantage of new and rapid advances in technology, including Web sites with resources for lesson planning.
DISCOVERYSCHOOL.COM (www.school.discovery.com) is a free online destination for teachers, parents and students. According to Kimberly Smith, director of Digital Products and Services, using this site for lesson planning is a unique experience. "DiscoverySchool.com has a library of more than 400 video clips teachers can preview and use," Smith says. "With teaching tools and lesson plan tools, teachers can create their own lesson plans and save them on the site. In their lesson plan, they …
Newly released documents list Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder's past clients, including a major Swiss bank under U.S. investigation.
Holder's financial disclosure forms offer few surprises, though, and his work for Swiss bank UBS AG has been known. The bank is the subject of a Justice Department probe. Holder represented the firm in a separate discrimination case.
The government has already …
A federal judge Friday postponed today's Chicago Fire Departmentbattalion chief's exam so that about 35 black and Hispaniclieutenants can prepare for it.
Senior District Judge James B. Parsons told attorneys on bothsides of a class-action lawsuit that the exam must be rescheduledsometime in the next 60 days.
This will permit the minority lieutenants, all of whom passedthe captain's test but have not been …
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son died from a lethal combination of methadone and two antidepressant drugs, a U.S.-based pathologist who conducted a private autopsy said Wednesday.
Toxicology tests showed Daniel Smith had methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro in his system when he died Sept. 10 in a hospital room in the Bahamas where his former Playboy playmate mother was recuperating from giving birth to a daughter, according to Cyril Wecht.
"The fact that we have these drugs and the levels of the drugs overwhelmingly and most logically point to this being a tragic, accidental, drug-related death," Wecht told The Associated Press from his home in the …
Jurors began deliberations Monday on the fate of seven men charged with conspiring to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and blow up FBI offices in an attempt to start an anti-government insurrection.
The U.S. charges that 33-year-old Narseal Batiste led a homegrown terrorist cell hoping to get help from a man claiming to be an al-Qaida operative _ in reality an FBI informant.
"This is the fanatic, ladies and gentlemen, and the soldiers who follow his word," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Gregorie.
Batiste said he was only trying to cheat the informant out of money, and defense attorneys have said little evidence ties the six other …
Manager Lou Piniella said he wants to keep his top three starters -- Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells -- on every-fifth-day schedules despite days off in each of the first two weeks of the season. All three are lined up for Milwaukee.
That means left-hander Tom Gorzelanny's season debut will get pushed to Sunday, and tonight's starter, Carlos Silva, will get at least a week between his first and second starts.
It also puts a …
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: PLACE AND CARE IN AN AGEING SOCIETY Christine Milligan (Editor) Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishers, 2009, 176 pp. (hardcover), $99.95
Christine Milligan was stimulated to research the field of care at home by experiences within her own family in England. How true it is that real life experience forces attention on major issues that otherwise are passed over as of vague concern only to society at large. Troubles in advanced age for both her in-laws revealed "support from the formal care services at that time can, at best, be described as disorganized and chaotic" (preface, p. ix).
Milligan has written a substantial, thorough analysis of the home …
The Dallas Mavericks fired coach Avery Johnson on Tuesday, a move that likely was the first of many in the offseason by the club.
Despite having the National Basketball Association's highest annual payroll, Dallas was eliminated in the first-round of the playoffs for the second straight season.
Johnson leaves Wednesday with an impressive resume after three-plus seasons, but Mavs owner Mark Cuban couldn't tolerate a bottom line of being 3-12 in the playoffs since leading the Miami Heat 2-0 in the 2006 NBA finals and losing the title.
The Mavericks followed that disappointment by being ousted by Golden State in the opening round last season in one …
THE COOLER (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)1/2
Bernie Lootz William H. Macy
Shelly Kaplow Alec Baldwin
Natalie Belisario Maria Bello
Mikey Shawn Hatosy
Larry Sokolov Ron Livingston
Buddy Stafford Paul Sorvino
Charlene Estella Warren
Johnny Capella Joey Fatone
Lions Gate Films presents a film directed by Wayne Kramer. Writtenby Frank Hannah and Kramer. Running time: 101 minutes. Rated R (forstrong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use). Openingtoday at Pipers Alley and Evanston Cine Arts.
Bernie Lootz's sad eyes scan the casino floor, and he shufflesinto action. A high roller is having a winning streak at …
Arthur Dixon Elementary School is teaching its students the appreciation of one's history by appreciating the arts. Joan D. Crisler, the school's principal established its Fine Arts program. Although Crisler was unavailable for comment, Sharon Dale, assistant principal and Annette Jackson the school's artist-in-residence spoke on the importance of the school's program.
According to Dale, the program which features African American art throughout the school was adopted to encourage students in being creative through aesthetics, but mostly to give them insight into the richness of African culture throughout the Diaspora. "It is so important that our young people know about …
A drug cartel leader who directed cocaine trafficking through Mexico City's international airport was arrested after a shootout in the capital, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Jesus "The King" Zambada was among 16 Sinaloa cartel members arrested Monday after a gunbattle with police in which an apparent grenade explosion destroyed a car, Attorney General Eduardo Medina said. Zambada's son, his nephew, two federal police officers and one state police officer were also among those arrested.
Zambada was identified as the brother of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who allegedly heads the cartel along with one of Mexico's most wanted men, Joaquin …
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's labor dispute with Boeing Co. is turning into a political headache for President Barack Obama, giving his Republican rivals a fresh opening to bash the administration's economic policies.
From congressional hearings to presidential debates, outraged Republicans are keeping up a steady drumbeat of criticism over the National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit against the aerospace giant.
Obama addressed the case for the first time on Wednesday, declining to criticize or openly support the actions of the independent federal agency. But he said "as a general proposition, companies need to have the freedom to relocate," though they must follow the law when doing so.
"What I think defies common sense would be a notion that we would be shutting down a plant or laying off workers because labor and management can't come to a sensible agreement," Obama said.
The NLRB alleges that Boeing retaliated against its unionized work force in Washington state by opening a new production line for its 787 airplane in South Carolina, a right-to-work state. The agency is not seeking to shut down the new plant, but wants a judge to order Boeing to return all 787 assembly work to Washington.
Boeing says it opened the South Carolina plant specifically to build 787 airplanes. It contends the lawsuit would effectively require the company to close the $750 million plant and lay off thousands of new workers there.
The case — which could drag on for years — has become an unwanted distraction for Obama as he tries to mend relations with the business community and contend with polls that show growing public disapproval over his handling of the economy.
It makes an easy target for Republicans, who call it a case of government overreaching at a time when the private sector is struggling to create new jobs. And it's a major story in South Carolina — a bellwether early primary state in the GOP presidential race. Candidates are lining up to impress voters and the state's Republican governor, tea party favorite Nikki Haley.
"Obama's NLRB has united the Republican Party and turned this government agency into a political piñata," said GOP consultant Scott Reed. "Boeing spent a billion dollars building a plant to create thousands of jobs and it looks like the NLRB stuck their nose in and tried to pull the rug out."
Business groups and their GOP allies say the government is interfering with the right of company managers to choose where and how to expand business operations. Boeing claims it opened the plant for a variety of economic reasons, but NLRB officials say Boeing executives made public comments showing the move was meant to punish union workers for a series of costly strikes.
For Haley, the case has been a litmus test for every GOP presidential candidate visiting the state. And they have not disappointed her.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, visiting New Hampshire on Monday, said Obama had appointed "union stooges into the NLRB and then they come up with decisions that are really quite extraordinary," like the Boeing lawsuit that he and others have said will drive companies to seek workers overseas.
GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich called for defunding the agency during a recent New Hampshire debate, saying the case could threaten the viability of the nation's 22 right-to-work states, where labor unions can't force employees to be members.
And during a tour of South Carolina last week, GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman called on Obama to step in and end the lawsuit to prevent it from scaring other businesses away from the state.
Haley says the only way to make things right "is for the president to tell the NLRB to back off. And until that happens, it is my job to be loud and annoying and in his face until he realizes that what they have done is wrong."
Even South Carolina's Democrats have piled on. Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., a Democrat called the case "a very, very bad decision and a huge mistake that is not good policy for the country."
Obama, ordinarily a reliable supporter of organized labor, has carefully avoided taking a position on the case.
"My hope is that even as this thing is working its way through, everybody steps back for a second and says, 'Look, if jobs are being created here in the United States, let's make sure that we're encouraging that,' " Obama said Wednesday.
But the issue became more awkward for Obama when John Bryson, his pick to head the Commerce Department and a former Boeing board member, openly criticized the lawsuit during a Senate confirmation hearing last week.
"I think it's not the right judgment," Bryson said. He said Boeing officials thought they were "doing the right thing for the country" by keeping jobs in the U.S. and not moving them overseas.
Some Democrats and union officials have stepped up their defense of the NLRB, saying Republicans are misrepresenting the case against Boeing. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, accused Republicans of peddling "misinformation," distorting the public perception of the case and unfairly attacking the agency.
Labor experts say if the allegations in the complaint are true, it would constitute a standard violation of federal labor laws, which prohibit a company from moving work to punish union workers for past strikes. The complaint lays out several public statements by Boeing executives saying they wanted to relocate new lines for the Dreamliner because of strike activity, including a 58-day work stoppage in 2008.
But such violations can be difficult to prove, especially if the company can show it had other valid motives for opening the new lines in South Carolina.
Perhaps the best scenario for Obama would be for the case to be settled, an outcome that many labor experts expect.
Connie Kelliher, a spokeswoman for the machinists union that sought the complaint, said the union saw nothing in Obama's remarks on Wednesday that deviate from his previous position that the case should run its course in the courts.
"We want to thank President Obama for reminding corporations of the importance of having positive labor relations, which is what the machinists union strives for," she said.
___
Associated Press writers Bruce Smith in Charleston, S.C., and Kathy McCormack in Salem, N.H., contributed to this report.
.
I'd swear I live where all the God's creatures live in peace andfree from harm. I'd swear I live where nary a speck of soot hasnever soiled the land. I'd swear I live where Earth Day lasts 365days a year.
But come Monday morning, America will be belching and litteringand polluting all over again. Come Monday morning we can start beingourselves again. Of course, we've never really stopped beingourselves - except during Earth Week, when we kid ourselves thatwe're not really ourselves, but dedicated, committedenvironmentalists. We're so easy.
Earth Day has become like Christmas when Americans put asidepetty jealousies as our hearts fill to the brim with love and caringfor our fellow man. We smile more. We even give generously to allthose bell-ringing Salvation Army troops.
Fortunately, Dec. 26 quickly arrives and we can get back tobeing ourselves, flicking obscene hand gestures toward each other,pushing panhandlers out of the way as we claw and scratch our way tothe top.
For 20 years now, the Earth Day machinery has attempted toawaken our consciousness to the many problems threatening theenvironment. And for 51 weeks a year, America basically flicks anobscene hand gesture toward the movement - until the 52nd weekarrives.
During this week, American car manufacturers announce plans forelectric cars to cut down on air pollution. Fast food companiessuddenly awaken to the idea that maybe those plastic cartoons theyput their high cholesterol hamburgers in take 300 years todisintegrate. The fishing industry announces it won't accept tunacaught in nets which also snag dolphins. And all the rest ofindustry from the oil companies, to the chemical companies, allattest to their passion for whales and eagles and of course thatever-popular resource: air.
Given all the commercials on TV praising the environment, onewould think that Ralph Nader was running all of corporate America,instead of Sammy Glick.
And we all fall for it. Because we want to fall for it. Wewant to think of America in terms of amber waves of grain and purplemountains majesty. We don't want to accept the notion that Americais really one big Gary, Ind., that the waves of grain are amberbecause they're covered with pesticides and that the purple haze overthe mountains is the result of auto emissions.
Of course the Earth Day movement hasn't been totally for naughtthese past 20 years. It has seen the elimination of at least oneugly scourge from the landscape. I speak of course of the dreadedEarth Shoe.
Back in 1970, when Earth Day first began, it also heralded thearrival of environmental fashion. The most gaudy example was theEarth Shoe, an awkward looking pair of footwear that lowered heelsand raised soles. They didn't last long and I suspect thousands ofpairs of Earth Shoes are now hard at work as an artifical reefsomewhere, protecting the environment.
One small step for the Shangri-La, one giant step for hautecouture.
Daniel Ruth is the Chicago Sun-Times' television critic.
Mennonite Church
British Columbia
Plans are underway for a service of celebration and covenanting for Mennonite Church B.C. congregations on Pentecost Sunday, May 27.
The joint worship service will take place at the MEI gymnasium in Abbotsford beginning at 10 a.m. Lorin Bergen, pastor of Living Hope Christian Fellowship in Surrey, will be the keynote speaker.
All MC B.C. congregations are invited to this special worship service, at which individual churches are invited to symbolically sign the new MC B.C. covenant approved at the annual delegate sessions in February. The covenant agreed upon involves local congregations' mutual relationship to-and commitment within-the MC B.C. body.
"At this conference-wide worship service we will celebrate our unity and commitment to work together as congregations of Mennonite Church B.C.," say the MC B.C. executive members. "It is the Leadership Board's hope that all MC B.C. congregations will close their doors [that Sunday] and encourage all of their membership to attend this event."
Following the service, everyone is invited to stay for a fellowship lunch on the MEU grounds.
The MC B.C. administrative office is arranging for bus transportation for those from areas outside Abbotsford. For more information, call the MC B.C. office at 604-850-6658 or e-mail admin@mcbc.ca.
[Author Affiliation]
Unless otherwise credited, the articles in TheChurches pages were written by: Leona Dueck Penner (MC Canada), Dave Rogalsky (Eastern Canada), Evelyn Rempel Petkau (Manitoba), Karin Fehderau (Saskatchewan), Donita Wiebe-Neufeld (Alberta), and Amy Dueckman (British Columbia). see page 2 for contact information.
European and U.S. stock markets rose Monday amid mounting hopes that third-quarter earnings results will provide more evidence the world economy is enjoying a solid recovery.
Strong profits from Royal Philips Electronics NV, published earlier Monday, helped fuel those hopes.
In Europe, Germany's DAX closed 71.35 points, or 1.3 percent, at 5,783.23 while France's CAC-40 was 46.19 points, or 1.2 percent, higher at 3,845.80
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 of leading British shares rose to its highest level for over a year, closing up 48.30 points, or 1 percent, at 5,210.17 _ that's the first time it has closed above the 5,200 barrier since September last year.
"The next FTSE target traders are eyeing in the short term is the 5,350 high hit in September last year and the way sentiment is going it would not be a surprise to see that hit this week," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.
On Wall Street, stocks rose, though trading was relatively subdued as much of the country celebrates Columbus Day federal holiday. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 54.11 points, or 0.6 percent, 9,919.05 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.48 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,078.97.
If the Dow closes above Friday's 9,864.94, then that would be the new highest level since October 6 last year.
Investor sentiment was buoyed Monday by the news that Philips, Europe's biggest consumer electronics company, made a net profit of ⁈llion ($256 million) in the third quarter _ three times last year's comparable figure _ and said it was seeing quarterly improvements in earnings and sales.
That stoked market hopes that businesses around the world have weathered the worst of the economic storm and are poised to take advantage of the global recovery. Philips shares rose around 6 percent.
Philips' better than expected results came as investor attention is firmly focused on the third-quarter results season. Most interest this week will be on major U.S. financial institutions such as Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JP Morgan Chase & Co.
"Although the gradual stabilization in the global economic outlook helped equity markets stage a robust upswing since the turnaround in late Q1, questions remain about the sustainability of the recovery and uncertainty in the market is still high," said Silvio Peruzzo, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland.
The financial sector, which led the market down at the outset of the crisis, generally outperformed other sectors, leading the market on the way up wwsince March's lows.
In particular, investors will be looking to see how much companies have been able to drive up earnings by generating revenues as opposed to cost-cutting measures.
"Strong corporate results for Q3 would contribute significantly to the process of market normalization, increasing risk tolerance further and supporting market confidence," said Peruzzo.
Earlier, before the optimism about upcoming earnings took root in Europe, Asian markets closed mostly lower.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 200.09 points, or 0.9 percent, at 21,299.35 and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.4 percent to 1,639.81. Australia's benchmark index fell 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai index slipped 0.6 percent at 2,894.48.
Japan's stock market was closed for a holiday.
Elsewhere, Singapore's index was up 0.9 percent after the government narrowed its forecast for economic contraction this year and said the economy grew for the second straight quarter in the July to September period.
Oil prices rose amid the mounting optimism. Benchmark crude for November delivery climbed $1.59 to $73.36 a barrel.
The dollar, which has been on the retreat over recent weeks, was steady at 89.72 yen while the euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.4788.
__
AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Books
The Art of the American Musical: Conversations with the Creators. Edited by Jackson R. Bryer and Richard A. Davison. Includes an interview with George C. Wolfe. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005; 308 pp, ($23.95).
Hirschfeld's Harlem by Al Hirschfeld with commentary on the portraits by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Carmen de Lavallade, Cicely Tyson, George C. Wolfe, Lena Horne, Geoffrey Holder, and Eartha Kitt, among others. 39 color plates; 90 signature black and white portraits. NY: Glenn Young Books, 2006 ($34.95).
Invitation to the Party by Donna Walker-Kuhne. A first-of-a-kind book by the nation's foremost expert on multi-cultural audience development, this work outlines proven methods of engaging diverse communities as participants in arts and culture. NY: Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 2005; 192 pp. ($16.95).
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has introduced its home page on the Internet's World Wide Web. The new web site, located at
http://www.kc.frb.org, provides a variety of online materials and documents to meet the information needs of bankers, educators, research and governmental organizations, business professionals and the general public.
The service features regional economic information, Reserve bank information, publications, press releases, Federal Reserve Board statistical releases and a full range of facts and data from the bank's economic research, public affairs, financial services, bank supervision and community affairs departments. Other features will be added in the future.
Users who access the home page of the web site will see a U.S map highlighting the seven states of the Tenth Federal Reserve Districtwestern Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wyoming and northern New Mexico.
From the home page, a click of the mouse takes users directly into the contents page and the main pages of the web site. These main pages provide a gateway to three types of information: general information about the bank and the Federal Reserve System, information from functional areas of the bank and special features. Some features are cross-referenced and can be accessed through more than one main page.
The web site also provides links to the other Federal Reserve banks and the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C.
The bank's web site can be accessed via an Internet service provider.There is no fee for the service-only for Internet connection charges that may apply. For technical information or assistance, call 800-333-1010, extension 2307.
WHITLAND A Clunderwen man jumped on top of a moving car inWhitland and smashed the back and front windows by kicking them andshattering glass over the driver, a court heard. Magistrates weretold Pounds 700 of criminal damage was caused to a Ford Escort cardriven by a friend of his girlfriend.
Page 2
Stocks appear headed for a higher opening on the first day of trading in the new year following the lead of overseas markets. Stock futures rose Monday.
Asian markets received a boost after new data showed China's manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest rate in 20 months in December. European markets also rose.
In the U.S., investors will receive key data throughout the week that could show the economic recovery is continuing, including a report on manufacturing Monday. Ongoing signs of a rebound helped the market surge during the final nine months of 2009 from its 12-year lows.
The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index is expected to show modest growth in the sector last month. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast the ISM's index for December will increase to 54 from 53.6 a month earlier.
The report is due out at 10 a.m. EST.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 59, or 0.6 percent, to 10,424. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 7.30, or 0.7 percent, to 1,118.00, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 20.50, or 1.1 percent, to 1,879.25.
On Friday, the Labor Department releases its monthly employment report. Considered the biggest economic report of the month, it will likely set the early tone for trading in 2010.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters are forecasting that 23,000 jobs were lost, a further signal that the job market is starting to stabilize. The government said employers cut just 11,000 jobs in November, far fewer than anticipated. That pushed the unemployment rate down to 10 percent.
Stocks closed out 2009 on a down note, with major indexes all falling around 1 percent in light, holiday-shortened trading on Thursday. The market was closed Friday for the New Year's holiday.
An upbeat reading on weekly jobless claims sparked concerns the government would have to cut stimulus measures in the coming months, such as low interest rates, to help avoid potential inflation. A much stronger than expected report Friday on monthly employment could stoke similar concerns.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday he wouldn't rule out higher interest rates to stop new speculative investment bubbles from forming. However, he did say stronger regulation is the best way to avoid such bubbles that helped push the economy into recession.
Meanwhile, bond prices fell Monday. Bond prices, which are often used to price interest rates on consumer loans, often fall when investors worry about inflation, which eats into fixed returns on government-backed bonds.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.85 percent from 3.84 percent late Thursday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.07 percent from 0.05 percent.
The dollar fell against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.6 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.7 percent, and France's CAC-40 gained 1.1 percent.
