bacterial meningitis symptoms

new nike nfl uniforms

ipod warranty check

facebook support phone number

buffalo chip cave creek

2000 jeep grand cherokee problems

Argentina vs. Germany worthy of final

It is a quarterfinal with all the makings of a final. Capricious Diego Maradona's Argentina and precocious Germany have already produced the beautiful game that any World Cup thrives on.

Yet memory shows Saturday's game also has all the trappings of an ugly clash.

And for an added twist, the world's greatest player, Lionel Messi, was said to be suffering from a touch of a cold, less than 48 hours before kickoff.

The game however, already reached fever pitch without any potential illness.

For all the sweet moves of Messi and Germany's Mesut Oezil, the wild push-kich-and-shove melee at the end of Germany's penalty shootout quarterfinal …

Parkersburg man named to House seat

Gov. Joe Manchin has appointed Daniel Poling of Parkersburg tofill the vacant 10th District seat in the House of Delegates.

"I have every confidence that he will work hard to serve all ofthe citizens of Wood County in a fair and unbiased manner and …

Sunni lawmakers walk out of Iraqi parliament to protest leader's "house arrest"

Lawmakers from parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc walked out of Saturday's session to protest what they called the house arrest of their leader following the discovery of a car bomb near his compound.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said the keys to the vehicle were found on one of Adnan al-Dulaimi's bodyguards. Al-Dulaimi's son, Maki al-Maliki, and about 30 other people were arrested Friday.

The political storm over the alleged house arrest of one of Iraq's most powerful Sunni politicians and the detentions have threatened to inflame sectarian tensions at a time when U.S. officials are pushing Iraqi politicians to take advantage of a recent decline in violence …

Firefighters OK contractraising pay 10% over 5 yrs.

By a nearly 8-1 ratio, Chicago firefighters and paramedics voted Wednesday to ratify a new contract that gives them a 10 percent pay raise over five years in exchange for manpower changes that will help the city reduce overtime costs.

The final vote was 3,036 to 421.

"We feel we did the right thing as an executive board and the members [agreed] with conviction. . . . They feel we did pretty good in this economic environment," said Michael O'Neill, secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2.

As for the union's concession on a staffing issue that triggered the bitter 1980 firefighters strike, O'Neill said, "There's some give-and-take on both sides. …

South Carolina law makes glass violations punishable as a misdemeanor

Auto glass repairers across the country have been feeling the pinch of a tight market for some time, which has led some facilities to offer an abundance of incentives to lure customers to their facilities and drive up sales figures.

Enticements can range from a steak dinner to a deep discount of up to $500, and many in the industry are not just crying foul, but are relying on their state legislators to stop the practice. Insurance fraud is a large part of the problem, with auto glass repair facilities sometimes offering consumers a $20 or $30 coupon to have their undamaged windshields replaced, and then they stick the insurance company with the bill.

South Carolina's …

Text of French Resistance Hero's Letter

Text of the farewell letter written by 17-year-old Resistance hero Guy Moquet and read in schools across France on Monday:

My dearest Mother, my beloved little brother, my beloved father.

I'm going to die! I'm asking you, especially Mother, to be brave. I am being so and I want to be just as brave as those who have gone before me. Of course I would have preferred to live. But what I want with all my heart is that my death serves some purpose. I haven't had the time to embrace Jean. I embraced my two brothers in arms Roger and Rino. Alas, I wasn't actually able to embrace my real brother. I hope all my things are sent back to you, they will be of some use to Serge, who I …

Guo Jingjing leads 3-meter springboard semis

Overwhelming favorite Guo Jingjing of China has finished first in the women's 3-meter springboard diving semifinals at the world championships.

Guo totaled 368.10 points Monday, Jennifer Abel of Canada was second with 351.65 points and He Zi of …

More Shells Hit Gorazde; Serbs Order Terror Probe

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina While thousands jammed Sarajevocathedral on the city's first peaceful Easter Sunday in two years,fighting continued along Serb-Muslim front lines in other parts ofBosnia.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic ordered an investigationinto events in Prijedor in northern Bosnia, where 20 Muslims andCroats were reported killed in ethnic terror.

Earlier, some Bosnian Serb officials denied the killings anddenounced the UN relief agency reporting them as biased.

But the Bosnian Serbs' self-declared interior ministry laterconfirmed that 16 people were killed between March 29 and April 1,and said it was a "criminal act by …

Switzerland broke law ignoring Iraqi asylum claims

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — A government-ordered probe into why Swiss embassies ignored up to 10,000 Iraqi asylum requests has found that officials broke the law.

The independent investigation by retired federal judge Michel Feraud concluded that officials at the Ministry for Migration acted illegally when they ordered Switzerland's embassies in Syria and Egypt not to …

Honeywell wins 5-year Shell contract

Manufacturing conglomerate Honeywell International said Monday that it has signed a five-year deal with Shell to standardize its worldwide facilities with automated technology designed to improve plant reliability, efficiency and safety.

Terms were not disclosed.

The contract is part of Shell's strategy to maximize production while …

3 Powerball winners get their share of jackpot

Three of the four winners of the $294.8 million Powerball jackpotclaimed their shares Monday, including a Maine couple who hid theirwinning ticket in a box of cereal, a married mother of three fromMinnesota and a 46-year-old ex-convict from Kentucky.

"It's a poor man's dream," David Edwards said at the LouisvilleSlugger Museum in Louisville, Ky.

The jackpot is the third-biggest lottery prize in U.S. history.The four winning tickets in Saturday night's drawing of themultistate lottery were sold in Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshireand Delaware.

Except for the holder of the Delaware ticket, all the winners wereidentified Monday and all chose the lump-sum payment …

Man United's Cleverley out for a month

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says midfielder Tom Cleverley will be out for a month after damaging a ligament in his left foot during the Premier League win over Bolton.

Cleverley was forced off in the early stages of Saturday's 5-0 victory at Reebok Stadium following a heavy tackle by Bolton striker Kevin …

Bath in 100 Objects

The Joseph Gilmore Map of Bath, 1694 - Building of BathCollection This map depicts the city still largely contained withinits medieval walls. It provides a fascinating glimpse of the citybefore the transformation of the Georgian period. Around the borderare illustrations of the various lodging houses and inns thatprovided accommodation for 17th-century visitors to Bath. The mapalso contains intriguing details including the fives court (a gameinvolving hitting a ball against a wall) located just outside thewest gate.

Tureen with the Arms of Pratt, c. 1800 - Museum of East Asian ArtThis tureen and its lid are decorated with the full arms of Pratt -three elephant heads and three stars on a shield. This service wasmade for John Jeffreys Pratt (1759-1840), MP for Bath from 1780-1794. The crest can still be seen above each doorway in CamdenCrescent, Bath. This piece was acquired with Art Fund and V&A/MLAPurchase Grant Fund support in 2010 to add to the museum's importantcollection of armorial porcelain.

Violence in Iraq Leaves at Least 51 Dead

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber unleashed a blast in a Baghdad fish market Tuesday and two Shiite families were found slain north of the capital as violence across Iraq claimed at least 51 lives.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of nine soldiers and two Marines in what has been a deadly period for American forces in Iraq. The announcement brought to at least 15 the number of servicemembers killed in fighting since Saturday.

Sunni politicians expressed worries over a new government plan to stop sectarian violence. The plan, announced a day earlier by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, won some praise in parliament Tuesday, but Shiite and Sunni leaders delayed potentially contentious talks to work out its details.

The four-point plan calls for creating neighborhood Shiite-Sunni committees to monitor efforts against sectarian violence. The aim is to overcome the deep mistrust between Sunnis and Shiites.

Many Sunnis remain skeptical that Shiite leaders will allow security forces to crack down more strongly on Shiite militias blamed for killing Sunnis - including some linked to parties in the government.

"I haven't seen any real desire in the other side. There are militias supported by the government," said Sunni lawmaker Khalaf al-Alayan.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said that under the plan, parties that have militias have agreed to take "responsibility for what their groups or people under them are doing, ... committing themselves to ending the sectarian violence."

Still, "there are forces that are not under their control," Khalilzad said in an interview with National Public Radio. "But if they implement what they've agreed to, there should be a significant decrease in the level of violence in Baghdad."

Another lawmaker, Izzat Shabandar, from the secular Iraqi Bloc, cautioned "we have to be realistic."

"Those who signed this blessed agreement have to confess, at least to themselves, they are the basis of the problem and they are part of it," he said.

Al-Maliki's government has been under intense pressure to put an end to Shiite-Sunni violence that has killed thousands of people this year and raised fears of civil war. This week, gunmen carried out two mass kidnappings in as many days, abducting 38 people from workplaces in Baghdad - attacks that Sunnis said were carried out by Shiite militias.

Some 400 Sunnis marched Tuesday at the site of one of the kidnappings - a frozen meat factory in Baghdad's Amil district - demanding the government put a stop to the violence. Some carried banners reading "get police troops out of our area" - reflecting the widespread suspicion that Shiite-led security forces have been infiltrated by militias.

Gunmen took 24 workers from the factory on Sunday and the bodies of seven were later found dumped in the capital. The fate of the others is not known.

The Interior Ministry said the police commander for the Amil district had been discharged and arrested for investigation in the kidnapping - a possible response to Sunni complaints that Shiite-led security forces allow militias to operate freely.

Earlier Tuesday, a suicide bomber detonated a belt rigged with explosives in an outdoor fish market in the primarily Sunni area of Sadiyah in southwestern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 19, police said.

Hours later, four mortars hit homes in another Sunni district, killing seven people and wounding 25.

The mixed city of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, saw a string of deadly attacks. Gunmen opened fire on a Shiite family trying to flee the city, killing five of them. Later, the bodies of a woman and two men lay on the street near the family truck, billowing smoke.

In addition, eight people were killed in another shooting in Baqouba, and two others died in a roadside bombing.

Attacks elsewhere in Baghdad and around the country killed 16 other people.

Ten more bodies also were found, the apparent victims of sectarian slayings. They included seven bodies in an area north of Baqouba, identified as a father, three sons and three other relatives from a Shiite family.

In the mainly Shiite south, the bodies of two women - one beheaded, the other burned - were found in Kut, while a former army officer was discovered dead and handcuffed in Amarah.

Talks on creating joint security committees to end the violence must tackle a range of issues - including how many members will be on the panels, the proportion of Shiites and Sunnis and which areas of Baghdad they will cover.

The intent is that each committee will oversee the effort against violence in its district - with a central body overseeing them and working with security forces. But it still must be decided what powers the committees will have and how decisions will be reached. Every month, the parties will meet to review progress.

Sunnis hope the committees will give them a voice to ensure that security forces go after Shiite militias. But it remains unclear whether the new system will lead to tougher action. Shiite leaders insist the main problem is attacks by Sunni insurgents.

Al-Alayan, the Sunni lawmaker, said the two sides made progress in talks over the weekend and agreed on banning weapons and militias. But when a representative of Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric who holds a place in the government and heads a powerful militia, joined talks Monday, "everything was overturned" and the ban was put aside.

Still, al-Sadr's party signed onto the new security plan.

Letters

FACT OR OPINION?

In "Selling out," by Robert Napoli (Personal financial planning, May), it states that "most private Canadian businesses will sell for a price based on a multiple of three to five times EBITDA." This is presented as a factual statement with no consideration of alternate methods of determining value. Given your affiliation with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators and the wide reach of your publication I would have expected more thoroughness in considering what is published.

With all due respect to the professional quoted in the article, anyone with experience in performing business valuations for commercial transactions will tell you that, whilst the use of earnings multiples may be an appropriate methodology, to imply that a formula-driven approach is generally applied in valuing private companies is dubious at best. As a valuations professional it is frustrating to see these opinions, published as factual statements since it could lead to incorrect investment decisions being made. Any potential buyer or seller of a business should consider the intrinsic value of the business incorporating their own circumstances prior to making such a decision.

Dave Pearson, CA

Sydney, Australia

Napoli's reply:

Mr. Pearson makes a valid point: there are a range of approaches that can be used to value a private going concern, the most common of which are the capitalization of earnings (commonly referred to as the multiples approach) and the discounted cash flow method. Vendors can of course consult a CBV for assistance in valuing their business. However, in dealing with dozens of private businesses in Canada with earnings of less than $500,000 and that are facing succession, the most commonly accepted and understood approach is to look at comparable transactions on a multiples basis. If the business produces consistent cash flows, such an approach is sensible, can be externally and objectively validated and is perhaps the most cost effective. If, on the other hand, the business has or is expected to experience unusual growth patterns, is in a turnaround situation or has an unusual pattern of cash flows, another approach or combination of approaches may be warranted. The article specifically referred to private small businesses in Canada with consistent cash flows and in this regard the statement is valid.

TIMING IS OF THE ESSENCE

I have just received the June/July issue of CAmagazine with its cover story on the imminent demise of GAAP ("Going global"), the "sooner the better," one phrase in the article says.

It is interesting that enclosed with the magazine was a flyer advertising an expensive three-part course offered by the CICA entitled "In Depth GAAP Course."

D.M. MacPherson

City withheld

Letters should be sent to:

The Editor, CAmagazine,

277 Wellington St. W., Toronto, Ont.

M5V 3H2 (letters.editor@cica.ca).

CAmagazine reserves the right to edit or shorten them for clarity

Lawmakers grapple with school calendar: ; Legislation would give counties more flexibility

A legislative proposal would give counties more responsibilityfor setting their school calendars, including the requirement thatthey pick up half the costs of makeup days needed to reach therequired 180 days of instruction.

Gov. Joe Manchin's proposal this month to give counties moreflexibility in their school calendars has sparked a wide-rangingdiscussion of how students spend their time in and out of class,touching on everything from standardized testing to deer hunting.

The latest proposal is a bill approved Monday by a Senateeducation subcommittee that tweaks Manchin's idea by requiringcounties to finish the first 90 days by Dec. 23 and by allowingschools to schedule classes on days in February, April and June setaside for teacher development.

The senators favoring the bill say those steps give countiesenough flexibility in the second half of the school year to handleany weather-related cancellations without cutting into the 180required days.

But if schools have to go beyond their employees' 43-weekcontract period to meet the requirement, the bill would makecounties pay part of the tab.

"If they go fooling with the calendar and they don't allow forsnow days, they're going to have to pick up half the costs of thosedays," said Sen. Larry Edgell, D-Wetzel.

Currently, the first and last days of the school year are set bystate law, so counties that miss days can't make them up beyond June8. As a result, thanks to the harsh winter, as many as 52 countiesare likely to fall short of the 180-day mark this year. Undercurrent law, there's no penalty or sanction for counties that fallshort of the 180 day mark.

Both Manchin's proposal and the Senate bill would eliminate thecurrent fixed dates, allowing counties to start earlier or endlater, as long as the year falls within the 43-week contracts mostschool employees work under.

If counties miss so many days they can't get to 180 within 43weeks, they'd have to ask the state to go longer, and pick up halfthe costs.

Unions representing school employees are wary of the proposal,although several union leaders said Monday they like the idea offinishing the first 90 days by Christmas.

Union leaders have contended there's enough flexibility in thecurrent calendar to allow for 180 days of instruction, even withnumerous snow days.

Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association,one of two teachers' unions, said many teachers have up to 30 days ayear of either standardized testing or preparation for standardizedtesting.

He also said laws designed to reduce chronic absenteeism amongstudents lack teeth, because parents can provide ready excuses.

Bob Brown, executive director of the West Virginia School ServicePersonnel Association, said the 180-day requirement could be metmore easily if deer season started earlier, or if events like thestate high school basketball tournament didn't lead to days off forlarge numbers of students.

"The county boards of education are going to have to step up tothe plate and do a better job when they design the school calendar,"he said.

Division Four

BROOKWEALD II 196-6 beat Little Waltham II 192 all out by fourwickets.

Little Baddow II 98 all out lost to Fyfield 272-4 by 174 runs.

Sandon Sports 204-9 lost to Old Chelmsfordians II 224-5 by 20runs.

Southend & EMT III 138-2 beat Rayne 134 all out by eight wickets.Terling 96 all out lost to Woodham Mortimer 161-7 by 65 runs.

German Football Results

Results from the 23rd round of the Bundesliga, the German first-division football league (home team listed first):

Friday's Game

Hoffenheim 2, Borussia Moenchengladbach 2

Saturday's Games

Nuremberg 1, Bayern Munich 1

Cologne 1, Stuttgart 5

Borussia Dortmund 4, Hannover 1

Hamburger SV 0, Eintracht Frankfurt 0

Mainz 0, Bochum 0

Sunday's Games

Freiburg vs. Hertha Berlin

Wolfsburg vs. Schalke

Werder Bremen vs. Bayer Leverkusen

Friday, Feb. 26

Schalke vs. Borussia Dortmund

Saturday, Feb. 27

Hertha Berlin vs. Hoffenheim

Mainz vs. Werder Bremen

Stuttgart vs. Eintracht Frankfurt

Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Freiburg

Bochum vs. Nuremberg

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Cologne

Sunday, Feb. 28

Hannover vs. Wolfsburg

Bayern Munich vs. Hamburger SV

Schools' reading crisis // Parents turn to tutors // Rebellion against `whole language'

Hundreds of Chicago area parents aren't waiting for experts tofigure out why reading scores are tumbling. They're going outsidethe public schools for help.

They are sending their children to private tutors, oftenshelling out more than $30 an hour, or buying special reading booksand teaching their kids at home.

Last week's news of declining statewide reading scoresresurrected the great reading debate pitting old-fashioned phonics,with its drills and workbooks, against "whole language" teaching,with its invented spelling and emphasis on children's literature overfundamental readers.

Tinley Park resident Maryanne Roos' son Tom was getting A's andB's by the time he was getting ready for high school. So she wasshocked when he took a placement test that showed he read at afourth-grade level. She since has spent several thousand dollars ontutoring so he can catch up.

Most school districts say they use what works, but worriedparents say it's not working. They're seeking solutions elsewhere.

Jean Iovino, owner of eight Sylvan Learning Centers in thesuburbs, said the number of beginning readers in her centers hasskyrocketed in the last five years. Of the 900 enrolled, Iovinosaid almost half are in the first, second, or third grades. This isup from between 15 and 20 percent just a few years ago, she said.

There are many reasons children have trouble reading, but "a lotof the students we see are having difficulty with reading becausephonetically they can't decode words," Iovino said. Many parents suggest that the shift from phonics to the "wholelanguage" philosophy of reading instruction is behind the drop inscores.

Illinois Education Supt. Joseph Spagnolo said last week thatstatewide reading scores are in a "downward spiral," with 1996 scoresin two of four grades tested showing double-digit drops that can't beattributed to testing aberrations, he said.

Spagnolo suggested that lower scores are due in part to theproliferation of distractions such as television and computers.

Few dispute that they are factors, but others, including Chicagoschool chief Paul Vallas, agree with Iovino that the decline inphonics instruction is playing a role.

"The swing toward whole language, the substitution of wholelanguage for phonics, has done a lot of damage," Vallas said.

The whole language philosophy stresses literature rather than"see Jane run" reading texts. The goal is to develop a lifelong lovefor reading and writing. Children are encouraged to use "inventedspelling" to feel free to write without worrying about details.

Proponents of the philosophy - and virtually every Chicago areaschool administrator interviewed - insist that whole languageincludes phonics. But the repetitive method of sounding out words isde-emphasized.

Elyssa Rudie of Orland Park, who won't send her 8-year-old sonTim back to Orland Park Elementary School, said reading curriculumhas gone off the tracks.

"Whole language is a guessing game," she said. Her son, whowill attend a private school in the fall, "doesn't try to soundthings out. What he does is he guesses."

Jenny Bernas of Tinley Park became concerned when her daughterCarole "still wasn't reading words she should" in second grade.

By third grade, Bernas said, Carole still was saying "words thatwere nonsensical." She decided to spend the summer teaching herdaughter phonics.

Not everyone is opposed to whole language, which is usedthroughout the suburbs. Deerfield resident Sara Hutsell is evensatisfied with invented spelling, a lightning rod for criticism ofthe movement.

Hutsell said her youngest son, Tyler, 7, cared so little aboutspelling that she and her husband couldn't understand what he waswriting. But he was writing volumes.

"Tyler's invented spelling was kind of a reflection of hispersonality," she said. "In the beginning, he wrote so much healmost wrote a novel. It was really cute, but his father and Iweren't able to figure out what the words were because of the way hespelled them. His teacher figured it out.

"(Invented spelling) seemed to work for him. Now his spellingis better, and he loves to read."

Claire McKittrick, a parent of second- and sixth-graders atHillcrest School in Downers Grove, said: "It's not that wholelanguage is bad, but I'd like to see more emphasis on phonics andback to basics. The emphasis needs to be on sounding words out, notjust relying on the ones they memorize."

Marie Donovan, an assistant professor of education at De PaulUniversity, said whole language can be demanding for teachers andsome may need more work at it.

"There are a lot of people out there who say they are wholelanguage teachers but they don't know enough about what they aredoing," said Donovan, who advocates a mix of styles.

For example, good whole language teachers may teach phonic wordfamilies" - for instance, "fat, rat, pat", Donovan said, but insteadof using a segment from a fundamental reader, they may choose a bookthat has many of those words in it and ask children to raise theirhands when they hear the "short a" sound.

According to the Harvard Education Letter, researchincreasingly indicates that neither whole language nor phonics aloneis as effective as "a balanced approach that combines the two."

Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 Supt. Dorothy Webersaid a mixture of approaches is the key. She said teachers inArlington Heights use a whole language, or "literature-based,"approach but that spelling tests are given and phonics workbooks areused.

Reading scores dropped for the first time last year in ArlingtonHeights. But Weber said factors other than curriculum could be atwork. More special education students are taking the tests, as aremore students for whom English is not their primary langauge, shesaid.

The drop in reading scores is a national trend. So is thegrowth of private tutoring companies.

"Our business has increased 20 percent a year every year for thepast four years," said Vickie Glazar, spokeswoman for Maryland-basedSylvan Learning Systems.

Contributing: John Carpenter, Philip Franchine, Susan Dodge andMichelle Campbell

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers spent $260K on lobbying

The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America spent $260,000 in the second quarter lobbying the federal government on food safety, labor issues and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

That's even with the $260,000 the group spent in the year-ago period and slightly more than the $240,000 it spent in the first quarter of 2010.

The national trade organization, whose members distribute wine and spirits sold in the U.S., lobbied on transportation and other issues during the April-June period.

Besides Congress, the organization lobbied the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies, according to the report filed July 12 with the House clerk's office.

Evernham Not Throwing in Towel Just Yet

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - What a roller-coaster year its been for Ray Evernham, the car owner who hoped to use the Chase for the championship as a springboard to lift him from this season of strife, struggle and, yes, scandal.

Instead, he found himself in that same old rut Monday, a day after Kasey Kahne's 38th-place finish pretty much eliminated him from Nextel Cup contention. After a frantic push to even make the 10-race Chase, Evernham Motorsports never even got a clean shot to run for the title.

A ho-hum run in New Hampshire, followed by a classic case of wrong place, wrong time on Sunday in Dover, Del., has Kahne a distant ninth place in the standings with eight races to go.

"No more championship," Kahne shrugged. "We all thought we had a shot to win the Nextel Cup, but you can't have two rough weeks."

Slow down, driver, your car owner isn't throwing in the towel just yet.

Especially not when these final eight weeks of the season provide an opportunity to erase a lot of what happened in the first 26.

"I've always said you control the part you can, and you can't worry about the rest," said Evernham, "and what happened Sunday we couldn't control. When does Tony Stewart ever spin out? The guy has the best car control in the business, and then the one-in-a million time he does spin, he wrecks my guy. All you can do there is laugh.

"But then you get back to business. It doesn't mean we are done. We've got a chance. It's not over until it's over."

Evernham makes a convincing argument, but few outside his camp will buy into it.

Kahne is in a tremendous hole and there's too many terrific points racers ahead of Kahne in the standings who will need to falter. Still, it could happen.

After all, Kahne needed just two races to erase a 90-point deficit to earn a berth in the Chase. But this hole is twice as deep, and the stakes are so much higher - for both the driver and the car owner.

Evernham fully expected 2006 to be his year. He expanded from two cars to three, a growth that required him to make tough personnel moves that were certain to leave someone unhappy.

That someone was Jeremy Mayfield, a two-time Chase qualifier who saw key team members taken away and given to Kahne and new teammate Scott Riggs. Mayfield didn't like it, and when his team began to stumble, he put the blame squarely on Evernham.

Their relationship steadily - and publicly - deteriorated until Mayfield was fired in August. But even that didn't end things.

In trying to work out a better settlement, Mayfield filed a court injunction to keep his job that alleged his team suffered because Evernham has a "close personal relationship" with female driver Erin Crocker that was distracting the car owner.

Evernham refuses to address Mayfield's allegations, other than to lump them together with everything else that has happened this season.

"The changes I made in the beginning of the season, I took a lot of criticism, I took a lot of heat. But I stand by them and feel it has shown its been better for the company," he said. "It's been a hard year sponsorshipwise. And lets face it, its been a pretty nasty year personally. I've taken a lot of abuse publicly for things that I feel are unfair.

"But I believe if I continue to work hard and do the things that I do, everything will be fine. And I've always believed that the greatest enemy of any lie is time."

So all Evernham can do is try to rally the troops and convince Kahne that this fight is not over. They've got eight races left, and five of them are on a 1.5-mile tracks - the exact circuit Kahne was unbeatable on earlier this year.

He's also got sponsorship woes with Crocker, who is losing General Mills as the primary source of financial support on her Truck Series ride. Either way, he plans to have her back for a full season in 2007.

And he's also moving forward with plans to expand to four Nextel Cup teams by 2008. But that takes sponsors, and sponsors want to sign with winners, and that puts the pressure back on Evernham to deliver a legitimate Chase contender.

Mayfield really wasn't in his two stints, making it in only to fizzle out as soon as the Chase began. Now Evernham wants to prevent Kahne from doing the same thing.

"I really feel good about the potential, and I am pushing harder than ever," he said. "It is good to be this close, but it sucks to be this close and not be able to crest that hill. Sooner or later we're going to get there, though. I can promise you that."

Calif. Senate OKs budget headed for certain veto

The California Senate has approved a Democratic budget that faces a certain veto from Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the state heads toward issuing IOUs.

The plan the Senate approved Monday would cut spending and increase taxes and fees to bridge a $24.3 billion budget deficit, but Schwarzenegger vows to veto it.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Democrats would not accept the deep cuts in college aid, health care and welfare programs sought by Schwarzenegger.

The Assembly approved many of the same bills Sunday night following hours of debate.

The state controller has said he will have to start issuing the IOUs unless lawmakers balance the budget before the fiscal year ends Tuesday.

Couple Plunges Into Marriage

SANTA CLAUS, Ind. Angie Thurman fell for David Bowman four yearsago. But on Tuesday, they fell with each other - from a 120-footbungee tower after an Elvis impersonator pronounced them man andwife.

Getting married in August at a Christmas theme park was a farcry from the church wedding Mrs. Bowman dreamed of as a girl.

"But it looked like a good opportunity to get married and havesome fun besides," she said. "This isn't a traditional wedding, butwe're not traditional people."

The wedding was offered in a promotional contest by radiostation WSTO-FM and the Holiday World theme park.

UN chief says up to US$20 billion (euro12.83 billion) needed to boost food production

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon says US$15 billion to US$20 billion (euro10 billion to euro13 billion) is needed each year to boost food production to combat hunger.

The U.N. secretary-general says most of that money would have to come from concerned countries.

Ban was speaking Wednesday at a summit on the food price crisis. Delegates at the summit in Rome have been divided over the role biofuels is playing in driving up food prices to the point of provoking riots in some countries.

Ban says policy guidelines on biofuel production should be put in place because of its impact on food production.

State issues citations to Marcellus wastewater haulers

The state in October issued 1,066 citations after stopping more than 1,400 truck haulers transporting wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling operations throughout the commonwealth.

The commonwealth calls the regular inspections Operation FracNET. The most recent took place Oct. 25-27, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

DEP is in charge of monitoring drillers and enforcing state environmental regulations affecting natural gas drillers. State police assist the department with inspections. Teams of troopers inspected 1,175 trucks, 207 of which were removed from service. State troopers issued 1,057 traffic citations. DEP personnel inspected 254 trucks and issued 65 violation notices and nine citations, department Secretary John Hanger said in a news release.

State police inspect brake systems, lights and other safety equipment during FracNET inspections, and they find out if drivers have appropriate licenses, according to DEP.

Inspections DEP personnel conduct are not as extensive, according to the department. Department staff check for items pertaining to vehicle weight, proper waste hauler authorizations and standards for maintaining safe and secure loads.

-Eric Veronikis

Sign of the 'Times'

Eugenie Sills says she's heard the question a thousand times, and it frustrates her to no end. "They ask, 'Why The Women's Times?"' she said ... adding that all the emphasis is placed on the word women's "No one asks, 'why Cosmopolitan?' or 'why Glamour?' or 'why the Ladies Home Journal?'"

The reason, she theorizes, is that while most people recognize the need for publications that cater exclusively to women at that national level, many can't extend such thinking to a local market such as Western Mass.

But Sills, 39, thought there would be interest in a publication devoted to women and the issues that impact their lives. And she was confident that she could convince advertisers that women conduct the lion's share of the consuming in this country, and thus should be the target of their marketing efforts.

So she took her pent-up entrepreneurial energies and started The Women's Times in Pittsfield in 1992. Last year, she introduced a separate edition for Hampden County. The monthly publication is thriving, she said, and recently opened its third office in the Springfield Enterprise Center at Springfield Technical Community College.

As the paper's name has become increasingly well known, so to has Sills'. She has become a sought-after speaker on women's issues and entrepreneurialism.

So, as it focuses on Women in Business this month, BusinessWest conducted a wide-ranging interview with Sills, gleaning insight into the issues still confronting women in the workplace; her own thoughts on entrepreneurialism; and about the hard to-answer question - do we still need to call them "women in business?"

Pressing Issues

To that last question, Sills started with a forceful 'no,' but then admitted that maybe the question can't be answered that easily.

She said the time has definitely come actually it passed some time ago - for the phrase 'women in business' to be retired, and for the press and everyone else to focus merely on 'people in business' instead, giving women more due on a regular basis. She said the press often performs a disservice to women by highlighting their companies merely because they are run by women - insinuating that this is the only reason why the company or its manager are worthy of note.

But like others, however, she said the issues facing women are deserved of special attention and debate.

Start with the glass ceiling, and the fact that there are stiff many companies and individuals who have reservations about (if not unwritten policies against) giving people certain jobs or titles simply because they are women. There's the equal pay issue which, while it is still debated by some, is in Sills' mind a very real problem for women today. And then there are lingering biases and perceptions about women which just don't exist for men, she said.

So there is considerable grist for the mill, said Sills, who believes her publication and others like it help by putting discussion of the issues out where people can read and analyze them.

Meanwhile, when talking about The Women's Times and herself as its publisher, Sills begins by talking about what both she and the publication are - and are not.

Usually, she talks more about the latter, because there are many misperceptions.

For starters, says Sills, she is not a fesminist nor even a strong liberal. The publication, meanwhile, is not a mouthpiece for feminists, nor is it a "lesbian rag," as some have tried to label it, especially after it opened an office in Northampton. The paper will write about Gloria Steinem coming to town, she said, but it doesn't preach her message.

What the Times is, she said, is a publication (not a magazine and certainly not a newspaper) about women. It doesn't glorify them or attempt to make them into victims or martyrs or anything else. There are no beauty or fashion tips, no advice columns, no personals, and no lingerie ads. There are simply stories and advertisements about, and directed to, women.

Is there really a market for this? That's a question Sills gets asked all the time. She answers, in part, by referring back to her sentiments about Cosmopolitan and other publications devoted to women. Obviously, women have an interest in reading about other women and the issues that affect them, she said.

And judging by the thickness of those magazines, companies recognize the intrinsic value of advertising in a publication that won't wind up in the hands of many men.

It's still a niche market, she acknowledges, but a fairly lucrative one, although she declined to release specific revenue numbers.

Word Is Out

The publication devotes its pages mostly to news. It tells about what women are doing - the front page of one recent issue was devoted to the issue of women and philanthropy and about what they should do - many issues are dedicated to the broad subject of mental and physical health.

Each edition has a specific focus, but most issues contain stories about women writers, educators, lecturers, and others making what the editors consider news.

"Women have similar interests, but they don't all think alike," Sills said. "That's good ... we want to present different views on things, that's what we do well. A lot of us spend way too much time with people who think like we do."

The Times also delves into the subject of women and business, often highlighting the efforts of specific entrepreneurs, but also shedding light on issues.

One recent edition focused on women who have penetrated the glass ceiling ("Women who make it to the top"), while another centered on those who apparently can't ("What's holding women back?"). In another edition, the magazine gave male executives a chance to talk anonymously about the famed glass ceiling. And with that license to be candid, many were, verifying what most theorized - that in closeddoor meetings, executives and boards of directors discuss whether they can put a woman in a certain position and many times they decide they can't, said Silts.

The Times' approach to reporting women's news is to be as objective as possible and report on the subject as if the title on the masthead didn't identify a specific gender. There are no editorials, said Sills, because that's not what the publication is about.

"Our editorial mission is to tell women's stories and share resources," she said. "We do not advocate for women ... my politics and the politics of the editors are of no concern to our readers."

In Good Company

While the magazine is getting some attention in the region, more so in Berkshire County than Hampden or Hampshire County, Sills is becoming a fixture on the local lecture/seminar circuit. As more area groups and colleges focus energies on women and entrepreneurship, Sills' and her own story are in demand.

She told BusinessWest it is a story similar to those told by most women who strike out on their own - one of a desire for the freedom and empowerment that comes with owning one's own business, and somehow finding the ability to overcome fear of the unknown and become willing to accept risk.

Sills was working for special effects master Douglas Trumbell at Berkshire Motion Picture, as director of administration, when she first started thinking about entrepreneurship. After helping create the famous Back to the Future theme park ride, she came to the conclusion that if she were to ever work that hard again, it would be for her own company.

She enrolled in a class at Berkshire Enterprises in Pittsfield, where she acquired additional business and management skills. She was literally on her way to the bank to apply for a loan to open a rental business centering on special occasions, when she decided she didn't really care if it rained on someone else's wedding.

"I determined that I just didn't have a passion for that business," she told BusinessWest. "And I promised myself that if I did this, it would be with a business I did have a passion for."

Believing that she had such a passion for publishing, she spent nine months studying the market to determine if there was a need for a women's publication. With a patchwork of financing, she set up shop in Great Barrington, and has never looked back.

She admitted that it took time to sell potential advertisers on the value of a women's publication, but she says that bridge has been crossed. Today, she's working to create orderly growth for the company and expand visibility in the Pioneer Valley.

As a female entrepreneur and one who started a magazine devoted to women, she is asked about women's issues practically every day. While she shared her views with BusinessWest, she remains reluctant to print them in her publication. As she said, that's not what the Women's Times is about.

While not a feminist, nor, as she said, even an advocate for women, Sills nonetheless has strong opinions on the subjects involving women today.

She said there definitely is a glass ceiling, and will still be one as long as current perceptions about women and their abilities are allowed to persist. She said the problem in the business world isn't women's abilities ... it's perceptions about them that are holding back progress.

She nearly jumped out of her chair when asked to comment on the widely held view that women who take over companies from their parents are somehow not considered pure entrepreneurs.

"When a man does that, it's great, it's part of Americana, upholding a great tradition of taking over the business from one's father," she said. "Men have no problems. When it's a woman, people say, 'it's no big deal ... she took it over from her parents. The reality is that it's not easy for anyone to take over a family business."

There are other lightning-rod issues and perceptions that strike a chord with Sills, including the subject of equal pay. She said that while some men (and even women) think it's a myth, the reality is that studies show that women are paid less (75 cents to the dollar paid a man) for doing the same work.

Meanwhile, another phenomenon, the so-called sticky floor, remains an issue for women, she said, noting that wage scales in occupations dominated by women (teaching, secretarial positions, even nursing) remain far lower than those occupied by men. "When the janitor gets paid more than a nurse, you know there's a problem," she said, "and it's because it's a man who's the janitor and a women who's the nurse."

Women are also still plagued by misperceptions about management and styles of same, she said. While volumes have been written on the subject of whether men and women manage differently, and if so, which style is better, the perception is that women manage too emotionally.

And when women have emotions, they get labeled differently than men who behave the same way, she said, citing the widely held notion that it's okay for men to be aggressive and opinionated, while a woman with the same traits is branded with a term that should be reserved for female canines.

And while she has seen progress, she also knows women still have a long way to go.

End Note

Indeed, when the publication was doing its section on the glass ceiling, both men and women were reluctant to talk on the record for fear of two vastly different kinds of retribution.

The purpose of the segment was to cast fight on what apparently is still debate over whether the glass ceiling exists, said Sills. In the course of interviewing people for the story one freelance writer (also a business consultant) was told that just by doing the story, she was ruining her own business career.

"What does that tell you?" Sills asked.

Baseball union resists change Organization wants to retain the gross inequity that is hurting the league

Major League Baseball's labor negotiations involve two paradoxes.The players' union's primary objective is to protect the revenues ofa very few very rich owners--principally, the Yankees'. The owners'primary objective is a more egalitarian distribution of wealth.

The union believes that unconstrained spending by the richestthree teams pulls up all payrolls. Most owners believe thatbaseball's problems--competitive imbalance, the parlous financialconditions of many clubs--result from large and growing disparitiesof what are mistakenly treated as "local" revenues.

These disparities largely reflect differences in teams'broadcasting revenues. The Yankees' broadcasting revenues ($62million) are more than those of seven other teams (Kansas City,Minnesota, Oakland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Florida, Milwaukee)combined.

The owners' initial proposal included two recommendations of theBlue Ribbon Panel on Baseball Economics (George Mitchell, PaulVolcker, Yale's President Richard Levin and this columnist). One isincreased revenue sharing (from 20 percent to 50 percent of so-called "local revenues"). The other, to slow payroll growth, is a 50percent tax on the portion of any team's payroll in excess of $98million. Neither recommendation involves a new or radical concept.Baseball has revenue sharing now. It had a luxury tax from 1997through 1999.

The union's initial proposal was to increase revenue sharing onlyto 22.5 percent, and no tax. The union likes the status quo. But thisis the status quo:

Of the 224 postseason games since the 1994 strike, 219 have beenwon by teams in the top two payroll quartiles. All World Seriesgames since the strike have been won by teams in the top quartile.In 1991, 13 of the other 25 teams had payrolls at least 75 percent aslarge as the Yankees' payroll (which was smaller than Oakland's).Today, only four of the other 29 do. When the Yankees play the TampaBay Devil Rays, which they do 19 times this season, there is a $97million payroll disparity ($135 million to $38 million). One day thisMay, the Mets fielded a $63 million starting lineup against a $4million Padres lineup.

Unlike the NFL and the NBA, both of which adopted their basiceconomic arrangements after (and because of) the advent oftelevision, baseball's economic model predates radio. And flight. Andthe internal combustion engine. Today, as when the National Leaguewas founded in 1876, locally generated revenues stayed with the localowner.

But the concept of "local revenues" is problematic because no teamsells a local product. To buy a team is not to buy an entitlement toall dollars generated by games in that market. Rather, it is to buyan association with MLB. All revenue streams of all teams flow fromthat association.

As Clark Griffith (of the old Washington Senators family) says,suppose a store sells baseball caps with four differentornithological emblems: a Cardinal, an Oriole, a Blue Jay--and aGoldfinch. The first three will sell much better than the fourth, andthe value of those three derives from their association with MLB,which should receive at least 50 percent of those misnamed "localrevenues," to enhance MLB's collective health--particularly,competitive balance.

Many players have scant knowledge of today's negotiations. On ateam flight recently, a superstar, a very intelligent man, discussedthe labor negotiations with a team executive. The player said: Wewill never accept a salary cap. He was startled to learn that nosalary cap has been proposed for eight years.

Players who disbelieve MLB's financial difficulties may beconvinced by developments already under way. Attendance is down forthe third consecutive season (5.7 percent this year, which meansalmost $80 million in lost ticket revenue alone). Four of the topfive amateur players picked in the June draft remain unsigned asteams balk at the players' demands.

The San Francisco Giants' payroll is $75 million, up from $65million last year. Because of back-loaded contracts, just keeping thecurrent roster would make next year's payroll $85 million. But theGiants plan to trim to $70 million. This is a team averaging a league-best 38,658 fans per game in a park that seats 41,503--but a teampaying $20 million yearly in interest on that park, which was builtwithout public funds.

Negotiations are creeping at a glacial pace, primarily because theunion is being dilatory. It may soon set a strike date, under thepressure of which differences will be split--or not. The union mightmiscalculate, as in 1994 when it assumed the strike begun on Aug. 12would be brief because the owners would surrender. Instead, thepostseason was lost.

If a strike starts, do not expect to see baseball before nextApril. And do not expect to see today's levels of attendance then, oragain.