15:07:36

PRIDE AND JOY

"Just grab some leather and hang on," instructed Margaret Chester, revving her motorcycle with other Dykes on Bikes lined up and ready to lead Sunday's Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco.

Right on time, at 10:30 a.m., the 400 or so motorcyclists were off and roaring, marking the official start of the 37th annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade. Thousands of spectators lined Market Street. Stoplights were to be ignored. Helmets and clothing were optional.

The Harley-Davidsons were deafening. The Yamahas, Suzukis and Kawasakis sounded like a swarm of insects. Chester, riding a tricked-out, chromed-up 2003 Honda Shadow Spirit 750, allowed a reporter on board. The Dykes on Bikes are always out front. Next in the motorcycle contingent are other registered motorcycle clubs, then independent riders, followed by a few men -- allowed to bring up the tail.

19:38:11

CARE reaffirms rating Hero Financial Services

CARE has retained the rating assigned to the outstanding Fixed Deposits (FD) aggregating to Rs.0.14 crore (as on March 17, 2007), of Hero Financial Services Ltd (HFSL), at CARE BB+ (FD) [Double B Plus]. Instruments with this rating are considered to offer inadequate safety for timely servicing of debt obligations. Such instruments carry high credit risk.

The rating takes into account limited financial activities of the company, operating losses and sharp deterioration in asset quality. However, HFSLs satisfactory capital adequacy and support from the Hero Group cushion the fall in rating.

HFSL, a closely held company of the Hero group, was incorporated in 1987 to finance the sale of two-wheelers, namely Hero Puch and Hero Honda motorcycles. Currently, the operations of the company are negligible and it is concentrating on repayments to fixed deposit holders.

8:13:20

Els happy with renewed putting touch

World number five Ernie Els was relieved to regain some putting touch in the BMW International Open first round in Munich, Germany, on Thursday after what he called an awful time on the greens in last week's US Open.

View the latest video highlights

Els, who shot a five-under par 67 at Eichenried to feature among the early leaders, finished tied 51st at Oakmont, where in 1994 he won the major after a playoff with Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts.

"I didn't hit the ball too badly last week, hit quite a few fairways and greens, but my putting was just awful," the South African told reporters after his opening round at Eichenried.

"If you're off on any part of your game, it was really going to be exposed at Oakmont, but I played the course basically the same way I played it in '94, apart from the putting.

13:20:32

Putting Designers In The Driver's Seat

Clay Dean's bosses at General Motors Corp (GM ). have lofty expectations--perhaps insanely so--for the new Chevrolet Malibu. The family sedan, which Dean spent three years designing, must compete with the likes of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord and is supposed to sell 20% better than its predecessor. Even Toyota Motor Corp. (TM )would be hard-pressed to hit that target. .

15:09:40

Big car owners want quirk-fixes

NEW DELHI: A Texas ranger who wanted to immortalise his pet cow after it died asked a bunch of BMW designers to customise his car's upholstery with its hide. Indian high-end car buyers may not go to such great lengths but they do have their quirks. While some insist on a particular shade of champagne, others are wont to pick up show models, no matter what the cost. And the snootier the car, the quirkier some of the requests that come with it. Take BMW. Its M6 show car that was on display in one of its dealerships attracted the attention of a customer who wanted it right there, right then. "The dealer tried to explain that it was a show car but the customer was persistent and in the end, the car was sold," says BMW India president Peter Kronschnabl. BMW's 7 Series customers routinely ask for some nifty bells and whistles.

21:36:53

Shares boost for ITIS

SHARES in traffic data business ITIS Holdings motored to their highest level for two years after the Altrincham-based firm unveiled annual turnover and profits ahead of market expectations and announced its maiden dividend. The shares gained 2.56 per cent, or 2p, to 80p, valuing the AIM-listed company at 拢80m. Sales during the year to March 31 climbed 30.3 per cent from 拢14.42m to 拢18.79m while pre-tax profits before exceptional items rocketed from 拢1.63m to 拢3.9m. ITIS is to pay a dividend of 1.5p a share. In March, ITIS sold its stolen vehicle tracking division NavTrak to an Italian business to leave it focused on traffic data collection. It gathers information about traffic flows to warn drivers about congestion and to help highways authorities and other bodies with their planning for road improvement schemes.

16:55:50

World Superbike: Test Dates Announced

The SBK development teams participating in the tests are: Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra (Biaggi-Kagayama), Ducati Xerox (Bayliss-Lanzi), PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse (Laconi-Nieto), Winston Ten Kate Honda (Toseland-Rolfo), Yamaha Motor Italia (Haga-Corser).

The SS development teams are: Winston Ten Kate Honda (Charpentier-Sofuoglu), Kawasaki Gil Motorsport (Foret and Riba), Suzuki Hoegee (Veneman-Kalio) and Yamaha Germany (Parkes).

The FGSport and Development tests will take place on 7th and 8th July at Vallelunga and will see involved all SBK and SS teams.

The development test already scheduled for the 2008 season are:
25th-26th-27th November: Qatar - Development Team Test
8th-9th January: Phillip Island - Development team Test



PaddockTalk Perspective

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13:33:30

Doctors warn - Kubica return could be fatal

The Pole, limping only slightly, checked out of hospital on Monday following his frightening high-speed crash in Montreal just 24 hours earlier, vowing to be ready to race at Indianapolis.

But Hamburg-based Dr Bernd Kabelka told Germany's Bild newspaper that Kubica risks death if he sustains another concussion at Indianapolis, which features concrete-lined banking that only a few years ago left Ralf Schumacher unconscious and in hospital.

"Sensory and motor losses are possible, so are memory gaps and visual disturbances," he said.

"In the worst case the brain can swell and the pressure can be fatal.

"I consider it extremely dangerous for Kubica to drive again straight away."

F1's former doctor Professor Sid Watkins, meanwhile, is also quoted as saying that the risk of serious injury with a second concussion is "quite high".

20:55:01

CEO Poker Launches Flash Online Marketing Campaign to Promote ...

Los Angeles, CA (FV Newswire) - CEO Poker, an Executive Games company, launches a Flash online marketing campaign today, to promote the 2007 CEO Poker Tournament hosted by the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 19-25, 2007. "Using an eye-catching Flash evite, with background music, was a great way to convey to poker players our unique brand and event," says William Peraza, CEO, CEOPoker. "Poker players are not used to receiving unique Flash driven advertisements for poker events, giving us a marketing edge."

The Flash evite, which depicts a variety of images of executives playing poker, with details about the Trump Taj event, set to music, will be sent to over 100,000 registered poker players nationwide and will be placed on the ceopokertour.com website for visitors to see.

21:02:23

Stanley 2 Hereford 0

DAVID Brown should have been celebrating his fourth goal of the season. Instead he was bemoaning his first sending off.

It was with a heavy heart that the striker greeted his former Hereford colleagues, just over an hour after he had set up current club Accrington Stanley's first back-to-back wins since September, and the first time the Reds had kept back-to-back clean sheets in League Two, with Peter Cavanagh wrapping things up in the second half with his second in as many games.

It was more sweet-bitter than bitter-sweet for Brown.

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8:24:50

VISTA GETS LIVE-WIRED FOR PC GAMES IN MAY

Microsoft has said that it is planning to launch games for Windows Live on May 8. The release aims to ensure that Windows Vista gamers will be able to log onto games for Windows - Live, with the same functionality. The company said Games for Windows would ensure that your account will not be booked to your PC only, but can be shared with your Xbox Live account, and visa-versa. Users will be able to share gamer scores; friend lists between Xbox 360 and your PC. The user will also be able to log into their account from both."Right now, we're focusing on what matters most, which we really think is gaming," Xbox Live Aaron Greenberg marketing manager explained.The price of the service will be the same as the Xbox Live service. Silver memberships will be free, whereas Gold memberships will cost USD 49.99.The company also mentioned that users with an already existing Xbox Live membership would not have to pay anything extra to use the service on Windows Vista.The launch of Games for WindowsLive marks an expansion of the Xbox Live service across multiple platforms, uniting gamers with a single identity, a single gamer tag, a single friends list and a single list of achievements attainable on the Xbox 360 and a Windows-based PC.

11:35:39

Motorola Launches PDA MOTOROKR E6

Commented Malcolm Dawe, vice president, Motorola, and general manager, Motorola India Mobile Devices, "MOTOROKR E6's greatest advantage lies in its design and its unique mix of lifestyle-focused features. E6 has been specifically designed to create superior experiences around video, music, games and photos. Whether you want to capture special moments on camera, listen to music anytime, anywhere, play games or movies, or even check your e-mail while on the go, E6 makes it all simple and easy."

Commenting on the launch of MOTOROKR E6, MOTOSTAR Abhishek Bachchan said, "Dedicated music keys, expandable memory, movie watching and movie-making capabilities, plus all of the essential business tools, are just the beginning - E6 is truly the ultimate entertainment PDA. The new MOTOROKR handset offers you a superior mobile multimedia experience in a stylish device that lets you create, enjoy and share your music, videos, photos and games, all while managing your work and your life."

The new mobile from Motorola has the following features: 2.0 mega pixel camera with 8x digital zoom to capture the moment; CIF and QVGA video capture for up to 5 hours; full screen video playback; integrated MP3 player with dedicated music keys and built-in FM radio; PDA featuring business card reader, POP3 e-mail, document viewer to view PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, PPT, etc.; connectivity includes integrated stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, HTML Browser, hi-speed USB 2.0 EMU, 3.5 mm stereo jack; and removable SD memory card slot, up to 2GB SD Card support; 8MB dynamic user memory.

10:00:20

Sony lists games compatible with PlayStation 3

Reuters: Sony Corp. on Tuesday moved to head off a public relations disaster by announcing which older PlayStation 2 games will work on the European version of the PlayStation 3 console due out on Friday.Sony said last month that the PS3 model to be launched in Europe would lack a chip used in the earlier models introduced in Japan and North America in November last year.

The function of the chip would be replaced by software, making the console cheaper to produce but taking away the almost full backward compatibility enabling PS2 games to play on PS3.

Sony's website lists games that should work. "If your game is not listed here, emulation is not yet supported on PlayStation 3," it says.

The acceptance of the new PS3, with reduced compatibility, will have a big impact on Sony's earnings.

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Liberal Opposition Forces Flaherty Flip-Flop

OTTAWA - Following weeks of pressure from the Liberal Opposition, Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty has finally reversed himself on a policy that threatened to undermine our businesses on the global stage, open them up to foreign takeover, and cost us jobs at home, Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum said today. "We are happy to see the Minister has seen the Liberal light on this issue and, for once, bowed to reason," said Mr. McCallum. "This is a complete reversal of an ill-conceived budget measure that would have seriously compromised the ability of Canadian multinationals to compete on the world stage, and that would have hurt us at home by putting thousands of jobs at risk." The Minister announced this morning that interest deductibility would be preserved for Canadian companies investing abroad, and that the policy would now target so-called "double-dippers" - those companies that claim the same deduction in multiple jurisdictions.

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Kensington Group sells sub-prime broker TML

The Kensington Group has sold its specialist mortgage and remortgage provider TML Financial Solutions to Customer Financial Solutions.

The deal follows Kensington's sale of a 拢2 billion loan folder to Bradford & Bingley (BB.) last month and a profit warning earlier this year.

The company had struggled to integrate sub-prime broker TML, also known as The Mortgage Lender, since a 2002 buy-out described by brokers as 鈥榩retty disastrous'.

Kensington shares rose to 579p on the announcement but fell back to 577p by lunchtime. It had earlier said that it was considering options on asset sales.

Customer Financial Solutions has not revealed what it paid for the 200-strong company based in Whiteley, Hampshire, which has annual sales of around 拢400 million.

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National Real Estate Investment Club Acquires OC VIP Investor

PLEASANTON, Calif., May 15, 2007 -- National Real Estate Investment Club (NREI Club) has recently announced the acquisition of OC VIP Investor. With this acquisition, NREI Club is now able to provide all OC VIP Investor members with top-notch, nationally known speakers as well as investment opportunities provided only to large block buying groups. Both companies will work together to build strong long-term mutually beneficial relationships with their clients in real estate investments.

OC VIP Investor is a Professional Membership Organization in the Southern California Area, which trains and supports its members in developing effective skills and practices for successful real estate investing. With their knowledge, they help investors determine the best real estate markets and provide pre-screened investment opportunities nationwide.

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Fractional Fairytale: The dream of owning a vacation home can come ...

In the last 10 years, buying a second home has become the epitome of the American dream. Homeownership may have marked entry into the promised land, but it was the vacation property that fueled the most ecstatic visions: wineries, beach houses, pieds-à-terre and mountain cabins. These were not places where people lived, worked and paid bills, but where life unfolded according to the seasons, with the ebb and flow of recreation, family reunions and private retreats.

As the real estate boom crested, the second-home market swelled as well, even helping to stem falling prices when the boom busted. In 2005, second-home sales rose more than twice as fast as all new single-family-home sales and nearly four times faster than all resale homes, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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Sales Can't Buy Love for Some Top Bands

Young people who "are introduced to these bands on the radio, they don't have a lot of baggage," Brackett said. "A lot of kids don't care if an act, you know, kind of took their guitar sound from some other band."

Post-grunge outfits like Nickelback and Hinder continue to be popular — or wreak havoc, whatever your opinion — in part because they appeal to the estrogen set, said Craig Marks, editor in chief of Blender magazine. A "slightly hipper band" will sell more albums to guys than girls, he said.

"They're selling a lot of records to very casual music fans who don't buy a lot of CDs," Marks said. "When you're selling 5 million albums like Nickelback or 2 1/2 million like Hinder, and especially when you're making your mark with big ballads that are kind of wedding songs, then you're selling records to both males and females.

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Couple feels fallout of ethical investing

In Victoria, a couple we'll call Henry and Theresa insist that their investments be socially responsible. At their respective ages of 39 and 37, they work for units of the B.C. government and have advanced degrees, though little knowledge of capital markets.

Over the years, they have entrusted their money to mutual funds and money managers linked to what they have insisted be ethical investing. They have put their social principles ahead of asset selection, with what have turned out to be mostly below average returns by the majority of their mutual funds, which they have used for their registered retirement savings plans and their two children's registered education savings plans.

What our expert says

Facelift asked Derek Moran, president of Smarter Financial Planning Ltd.

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Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust Announces Joint Venture with ...

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust Inc., a diversified real estate investment trust (REIT), announced today that it has closed on a joint venture with Developers Diversified (NYSE: DDR), the leading owner, manager and developer of market-dominant community centers in the United States.

Developers Diversified has sold a portfolio of three newly developed properties totaling approximately 1.5 million square feet (675,000 square feet owned) to the joint venture for a purchase price of $161.5 million. Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust owns 90% of the joint venture, with Developers Diversified retaining a 10% interest. Developers Diversified will also provide asset management and property management services on behalf of the joint venture.

The retail centers are located in the Raleigh, NC, Philadelphia, PA and Pittsburgh, PA, markets, respectively.

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GSE Council to decide on share pricing

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) Council is expected to take a decision on whether share prices should be quoted to four or two decimal places.

At a meeting in Accra recently, involving GSE officials and the brokers, no decision to choose one of the two options was reached. The final decision must be made before the end of June.

However, in an interview with BusinessWeek, Philip Abodoh of First Atlantic Brokerage indicated that trading to two decimal places means there would be changes in value, in which investors would lose huge sums of their investment.

He cited, as an instance, the share price of Super Paper, which trades at 225 and when the new cedi is introduced will become 2.25 pesewas, thus causing investors to lose the 0.25 pesewas.

He noted however, that trading to four decimal places means that the losses in old currency and the gain in new cedis will be the same, and there will not be changes in value.

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Should I max out my 401(k) or also invest in other retirement ...

When it comes to planning for retirement, more is always better than less, financial planners say. Let members of the Financial Planning Association of Greater Indiana fill you in on the details. For a list of area financial planners, visit the group's Web site at www.fpagrindiana.org. .

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Ventas to offer nearly $1 billion of common stock

Ventas Inc. plans to offer 23.4 million shares of its common stock to help it repay debt it incurred in its purchase of a Canadian real estate investment trust last month, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ventas said it expects to receive about $961.5 million in proceeds from the public offering, based on an assumed price of $42.83 per share (the last sale price of its stock on May 11). The company will set the price at a later date.

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Hypercom to Include Planet Payment鈥檚 Multi-Currency Processing ...

PHOENIX & LONG BEACH, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) and Planet Payment [LSE:AIM: PPTR and PPT], a leading international multi-currency payment and data processor, today announced support for Planet Payment's multi-currency processing product as an available application configuration within Hypercom's SPOS 32 software for the popular Optimum T4100 in the United States. The two solutions, Planet Payment's Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and Multi-Currency Pricing (MCP) services, provide merchants with powerful pricing localization tools that can drive additional sales from international customers and improve customer service.

With DCC, merchants continue to price their goods in United States dollars. After a MasterCard or Visa card issued in one of the supported foreign currencies is swiped on an Optimum terminal, the device will automatically display the transaction amount in both US Dollars and the customer's currency.

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Forex Daily Technical Report Euro Strengthens against Dollar and ...

Euro strengthens against dollar and yen ahead of the highly anticipated ECB rate decision and press conference today. It's widely expected that ECB will raise rate by 25bps to 3.75% today after Trichet's signal with the usage of "vigilance' in last meeting. While ECB is still expected to continue tightening this year, the opinion on the timing is divided and hence, focus of the markets will again be on the following press conference on clues on timing of next hike. The below 2% target inflation and persistently strong money supply growth have been the major topics in the market on forecasting ECB's next moves. Today's 2008 inflation forecast will be closely watched and should solve part of the puzzle. Meanwhile, BoE is expected to keep rates unchanged at 5.25% and will likely be a non-event.

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TD Ameritrade Cuts Guidance, Blames Soft Trading

Investors took shares offline at TD Ameritrade Holding (AMTD) after the online brokerage and bank missed estimates for its fiscal second quarter and told shareholders to expect weaker results for the full fiscal year. The stock dropped 9% in heavy trading Tuesday.

The company reported earnings of 23 cents a share for its second quarter ended March 31, compared to 30 cents in the year-ago period. Wall Street analysts on average expected earnings of 24 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.

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Deals, Deployments, and Short News

May 08, 2007 | Eclipsys will restate earnings following completion of a voluntary review of the company's stock option grant practices and related accounting issues. The review covered stock option grants made from the company's IPO in August 1998 until the present, with particular focus upon grants made before implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July 2002. Eclipsys identified stock option grants made that had exercise prices lower than the fair market value, and concluded approximately $8.5 million in additional aggregate non-cash stock-based compensation expense should have been recognized from 1999-2006. This results in approximately $500,000 in related incremental payroll withholding taxes over the same period. 鈥淭he Company is working diligently to prepare its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, which will affect the restatements as described above." Eclipsys incurred approximately $1.0 million in costs associated with the stock option review during the first quarter of 2007, and expects to incur approximately $1.5 million to $2.0 million in the second quarter of 2007.

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Marwyn's man : James Cosellis

James Corsellis, 36, is managing partner of Marwyn, a hedge fund with $130m of assets under management. It sets up Aim-listed shells and works with management teams to make acquisitions in sectors including gaming, utilities and insurance. Mr Corsellis was previously chief executive of online auction company icollector.com. He talks about the new hot investment sectors, and the important lessons learned from the dotcom era.

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Interactive Brokers launch direct access HK stock trading

(MENAFN - Asia Pulse) Interactive Brokers has recently added the trading of stocks and warrants in Hong Kong to its worldwide direct access platform.
Commissions for stocks and warrants are 0.088 per cent of the trade value, with an HKD 18.00 minimum, plus any stamp duty and SFC transaction fees.

Interactive Brokers continues to offer the trading of Hong Kong Futures with commissions for the Hang Seng Index and other Hong Kong futures contracts starting at HKD 9.50 and going as low as HKD 2.00 for high volume customers*.

A full list of all market centers and products that IB makes available in 16 countries can be found at http:/ www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/products.php .

Traders and investors with a need for direct international access to stocks, warrants, options, futures, forex, and bonds are encouraged to complete an electronic application at http:/ www.interactivebrokers.com .

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To Woo Wealthy, Lexus Attempts Image Makeover

For years, Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus division pitched its cars as the practical alternative to European luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes. And over time, the Lexus brand came to be known as kind of expensive, always respectable -- and a little boring.

"Lexus cars are made to be luxurious and forgettable," says Ryan Wilsey, a 29-year-old Boston resident who works in venture capital. Formerly an owner of a Porsche Boxster, Mr. Wilsey's dream cars are a BMW M3 coupe or a Ferrari.

Now, with Toyota's sales hitting new records, it craves a makeover for Lexus. It wants to become ...

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Lease-to-buy program moves forward

The La Salle County Board is inching closer to creating a new squad car rotation cycle to replace high-mileage cars in the fleet.

Sheriff Tom Templeton plans to present to Finance Committee members a proposal entailing a lease-to-buy program, which could provide the sheriff's office with seven new squads this year and each following year.

The county previously had a rotation cycle in which new squads were purchased every year, but because of lack of funds, that program was eliminated in 2004.

Squad cars, some which are approaching or have surpassed the 200,000-mile mark, continue to break down, and three of 28 squads used for patrol now are undriveable because of engine problems. Board members are faced with replacing those high-mileage vehicles.

"This is not going to stop; it's just a progression," Templeton told members of the county's Sheriff and County Radio and Court Security Committee Friday.

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What's up in the Mid-Hudson

The Fusileers Fife and Drum Corps will hold its annual two-penny social 6 p.m. Saturday at the Union Vale Firehouse, Route 82, Verbank.

Drawings will be at 7:30 p.m. There will be hundreds of prizes and refreshments.

Call 845-227-5412.

Rhinebeck GOP dinner to feature spaghetti

The Rhinebeck Republican Committee will serve spaghetti 5-8 p.m. Saturday at the American Legion, 30 Mill St.

The menu includes salad, bread, spaghetti, meatballs, homemade desserts and a beverage. Beer and wine will be available at an extra charge.

Adults cost $9; children 6-10 cost $3; those under 6 eat free.

Take-out will be available. Tickets can be bought at the door or by calling 845-876-2436.

Bingo night scheduled at Highland school gym

A bingo night will be held Saturday at St.

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Johnson: How does anyone survive turning 50? By cashing in

They had to go do it, to remind me in black and white of the one thing I was desperately trying to ignore for just a few more months.

In my mind, you see, it still seems like only, well, at least a couple of weeks ago that I was taking out of its plastic wrapper the powder-blue tuxedo, bow tie, cummerbund, and dress shirt with the ridiculously puffy blue ruffles that I wore along with white shoes beneath a giant, perfectly trimmed Afro to my senior prom.

That I cannot remember the name of the girl I took ought to remind me, I guess, of how long ago that was.

Wasn't it only a few years ago that Father Charley, unnerved by the incessant clickety clack of the steel baseball spikes I had forgotten to take off in my rush to make 6 p.m. Mass, finally stopped Communion, pulled up my altar boy's alb and glared at me?

Of course it wasn't, as the thick envelope my wife waved at me the other day screamed.

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Expanded 401(k) fee disclosures 'likely'

Congress is likely to pass legislation to expand 401(k) fee disclosures later this year, said James M. Delaplane, Jr., a partner with Davis and Harman LLP, this morning.

Mr. Delaplane spoke at the in front of nearly 400 attendees at the InvestmentNews 2007 Retirement Income Summit at the Grand Hyatt in New York.

Many political leaders are worried about the issue of fees, he said and legislators believe that retirement assets are being diminished because of the hefty fees that some participants are paying, Mr. Delaplane said.

While fee disclosures for 401(k) plans are a priority for Congress, he said, it is unlikely major tax changes with implications on retirement will occur until 2009 or 2010 because the Pension Protection Act that was passed into law last year.

Were seeing some fatigue among retirement issues, he said.

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Arizona Offers Auto Insurance Comparison Guide

The Arizona Department of Insurance has released the latest edition of its "Automobile Insurance Premium Comparison" to aid consumers with comparison shopping for auto insurance. The publication contains price quotes from 75 insurers for a dozen different driver scenarios, highlighting the advantages for those who reduce the number of miles driven.

According to the guide, on average, insurers offered a $94 discount for Phoenix residents who took the bus to work, although it noted carpooling or alternate means of transportation could have the same benefit. "At least 36 insurers offer discounts to customers who significantly reduce their annual mileage by taking the bus to work every day," said Insurance Director Christina Urias. "There are more reasons than ever to give the bus a try -- help reduce pollution, avoid the stress of traffic and save money on your auto insurance."

The guide also includes a summary and explanation of the different types of auto insurance coverage available, and provides insurer complaint ratios, representing the total number of written complaints the Department has received for each 1,000 policy exposures an insurer has in force.

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American Family offers Teen Safe Driver ProgramSM

The Teen Safe Driver ProgramSM, an innovative new program that helps young drivers overcome the challenges of learning how to drive, became available to American Family's automobile insurance customers in Wisconsin on March 1. More information is available from American Family insurance agents Kevin Carnine at 114 Monroe St, Pete Parker at 94 Stoddart St or Rick Schmitt at 1748 N Spring St. American Family, in association with DriveCam Inc., is providing Teen Safe Driver to American Family automobile insurance customers in Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin at no cost. The program is open to American Family customers who have a teen driver in their household, for up to one year. Teen Safe Driver provides teens and their parents an in-vehicle video and audio unit that captures risky driving behaviors.

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Nat-ural Philosophy: Wiener Opernball brings class to Stanford

For one night out of the year, the word "Wiener" ceased to be funny (at least for everyone else in the room), as Stanford participated in a nearly 80 year-old tradition that we conveniently appropriated from Austria, the Wiener Opernball, or Viennese Ball.

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That Was Then 3.9.07: The History Of The Madness Part 4 - Playing ...

When Macho Man Randy Savage went to WCW, he went from announcing Monday Night Raw to being booked with Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and Ric Flair. He was Where The Big Boys Play, and he was truly playing with the Big Boys of the business.

Following the end of his feud with Crush at Wrestlemania 10, Macho Man Randy Savage returned to his role as a TV announcer. However, this left him feeling unfulfilled with his career as it stood since he thought he still had some wrestling left in him, and it was this dissatisfaction which caused him to sign with WCW, a move which surprised Vince McMahon and caused hard feelings between the two which last to this day. He came to WCW intending to resume his career as a wrestler, and he started crossing paths with old acquaintances almost immediately.

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Appeal of smaller cars grows

You've seen them on Canadian streets for years in ever-growing numbers -- compact cars like the Honda Civic and Mazda3, subcompacts like the Toyota Echo hatchback, and baby-SUVs like Ford's Escape. Now the newest of those mite-sized vehicles are the majority.

For the first time since car dealers opened for business in Canada, more than half of all retail buyers bought a small, fuel efficient vehicle last year, new research shows.

The data, compiled by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, suggests most Canadians are already making the kind of auto-buying choices that will reduce their footprint on the environment. And it means that if the federal and provincial governments really want to make a difference to reduce vehicle emissions, they should focus on getting older beaters off the road instead of targeting new cars and trucks, the consultancy says.

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That Was Then 3.9.07: The History Of The Madness Part 4 - Playing ...

When Macho Man Randy Savage went to WCW, he went from announcing Monday Night Raw to being booked with Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and Ric Flair. He was Where The Big Boys Play, and he was truly playing with the Big Boys of the business.

Following the end of his feud with Crush at Wrestlemania 10, Macho Man Randy Savage returned to his role as a TV announcer. However, this left him feeling unfulfilled with his career as it stood since he thought he still had some wrestling left in him, and it was this dissatisfaction which caused him to sign with WCW, a move which surprised Vince McMahon and caused hard feelings between the two which last to this day. He came to WCW intending to resume his career as a wrestler, and he started crossing paths with old acquaintances almost immediately.

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Enspire Lightspeed XLC 680i

The joy of a Windows-based PC is that you're free to fiddle around with the hardware as much as you want – something Enspire has taken advantage of with its latest creation. Pacstar submitted our first quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX6700 PC, but that runs the stock speed of 2.66GHz. Enspire has taken the same CPU and pushed it to run at Pentium 4-like clock speeds – resulting in a massive 3.73GHz. No prizes for guessing that this is the fastest PC we've ever seen, with scores like 3.36 for our stressful multitasking test. This PC is, in demonstrable terms, up to three times faster than a top-end PC of a year ago. Granted, it costs about three times as much, but this is performance the likes of which we won't see for some time from off-the-shelf systems. This is, of course, the main point of overclocking: to get something now that you'd otherwise have to wait a long time for.It's beautifully made, too.

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Dodge launches two new contests to win cars

We'll be honest, we'd be much more inclined to drive a brand new vehicle if it were free, which is why we always give these little games and contests at least one shot. Dodge announced two new contests today, the grand prizes of which are a Dodge Ram 1500 and Dodge Avenger sedan. The first is called the Dodge Ram Rock'em Sock'em Challenge (Official Rules), which is obviously inspired by those Ram commercials in which the Dodge truck socks the block off of its toy challenger. In the game, you have to hit your arrow keys in a particular sequence, which correspond to punches on the screen. If you pop the noggin of your competitor fast enough, you'll be entered in the Tier 1 Heavyweight prize division for a chance to win a Ram of our own.The second contest is called the Dodge Avenger – Avenge Your Commute.

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New team, new start for Ravens' McGahee

That might not sound significant, but you have to realize that the past few years, McGahee spent March traveling - Korea, Switzerland, Italy - and waited until mid-April before beginning his offseason conditioning. "This year [is] different," he says.

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Province files insider trading complaint against former FPI executive

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) - The Newfoundland and Labrador government has launched an insider trading complaint about the sale of stock in seafood company FPI Ltd. (TSX:FPL) by former director George Armoyan.

A spokeswoman with the government's Fisheries Department says the province has asked security regulators to investigate a massive selloff of stocks by Armoyan, who resigned from the company's board of directors last month just as FPI was negotiating a sale of its assets.

Lori Lee Oates says the government launched the complaint after it noticed the company's stock price jump in late March and early April. It is illegal to trade in stocks based on information that has not been made public.

Last month, Armoyan's company Clarke Inc. (TSX:CKI) announced it had reaped $12 million in investment gains, before taxes, nearly half of which was from the sale of its shares in FPI.

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Buckeyes dodge big bullet in overtime win

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Ron Lewis provided the One Shining Moment. But Mike Conley Jr. delivered victory for Ohio State.

After Xavier's Justin Cage missed a free throw with 9.3 seconds left, Conley got an outlet pass to Lewis, who drained a long 3-pointer over Xavier's Drew Lavender.

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News Corp and NBC to challenge YouTube

The new video site is intended to provide an attractive platform for advertisers, with Cadbury Schweppes, Cisco, Esurance, Intel and General Motors already signed up.

The sitewill not follow the YouTube model of allowing users to upload copyrighted video, which has led to recent lawsuits. Since this is crucial to the popularity of Google's site, it remains to be seen whether or not this site will be a true challenger to YouTube.

blog@e-consultancy.com

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Getting a handle on contracted distribution fees

Trimming excess costs from circulation operations without jeopardizing customer service is a pressure all newspapers face.

For papers that contract out their delivery services, distributor fees represent a large portion of the cost. But legal hurdles make it difficult for circ managers to establish fair, but efficient, contract fees across a wide spectrum of distributors.

As a result, newspapers are forced to rely on the expertise of the few managers who have direct experience as contractors to base their fees.

While this approach is common, its not always the most efficient way to realign costs and resources. In many cases, because contracts are negotiated over months, years or even decades, different managers with different perspectives may arrive at varying fee targets.

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Man killed on I-495 probably walking to Lowell

LAWRENCE - He quit drinking years ago, but Robert Paquin still liked to reminisce about the times he spent in the bars of his hometown of Lowell, friends said.

Sometimes the 63-year-old even walked all the way to Lowell from Lawrence just to see his old haunts again.

Friends believe that's what he was doing yesterday morning when he was struck by a car and killed as he was attempting to walk across Interstate 495 in Tewksbury.

"He's done that before," said Charlene Fredricks, the manager of the rooming house where Paquin lived in Lawrence. "He used to do that all the time."

Police say Paquin was trying to cross the northbound side of the highway near Exit 39 to Route 133, when he was hit by a 2001 Saab sedan at 6:20 a.m. The driver, William Szabo, 57, of Acton, was hospitalized for observation.

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John Higdon to Lead Wholesale Mortgage Division for First National ...

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- First National Bank of the South has appointed John Higdon as Senior Vice President and Director of its wholesale mortgage lending division based in Greenville, South Carolina. The division, which was formed in January 2007, specializes in the origination, underwriting and closing of residential mortgage loans for community banks and mortgage brokers.

John has over 19 years of mortgage lending experience and was most recently employed as Vice President and Wholesale Mortgage Director for First National Bank in Christiansburg, Virginia. He brings with him an eleven- person team that collectively has over one hundred years of industry experience. John is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a bachelor's degree in economics.

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
First National Bank of the South provides a wide range of financial services to consumer and commercial customers through three divisions.

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Retiring detective's advice for community: 'Raise your kids'

Doyle Burke was a street cop fresh out of the Dayton police academy in 1978 and working the midnight shift when he first saw homicide detectives in action.

"We had a lot of homicides on the midnight shift — still do. The uniform officers would get little or no cooperation (from witnesses). But as soon as the homicide guys came in, they took charge and nobody challenged them. If somebody refused to talk, they'd say, 'OK, he's the first guy to go in for questioning.' I thought, 'OK, that's me. I want to be there.'?"

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Report: Auto industry decline will hurt Metro Detroit for decades

Dramatic losses in the domestic auto industry will keep Metro Detroit mired in economic crisis, fueling continued population losses and harsh changes in the job market for at least a decade, according to a bleak forecast issued today.

The report, issued by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, predicts that, for the first time ever, the Big Three's market share will fall below 50 percent next year and that an auto-borne regional recovery is unlikely.

Only a significant rise in education levels -- more college graduates, more skilled workers -- can alter the dour prediction, according to the report from SEMCOG, a regional planning organization that serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, Monroe and St. Clair counties.

"What it takes is a new Michigan," said Don Grimes, an author of the study and a research specialist at the University of Michigan's Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations.

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Car Wars: Wrestling for control with Capt. Kirk

As I drove up to a family get-together recently, my older brother asked -- in that tone men use to stick up for one another -- "Why don't you ever let your husband drive?"

How does this question make me crazy? Count me the ways!

First, I have never heard him -- or any other man, for that matter -- say to a guy: "Why don't you ever let your wife drive?" Second, I was in my car, not my husband's, and we were driving to my hometown -- which he knows not at all -- not his. Third, in all my single years, my beloved brother had never once remarked on the fact I drove myself to his home, so why would he raise the question just because I'm with a man?

So here's my little question: Does he think my bitsy VW is the Starship Enterprise, my husband's Captain Kirk, and that when he enters the bridge I'm supposed to salute and hand over the controls?

Or does said brother, who on other issues is downright feminist, believe Natural Law dictates: "When there is a man and a woman in a car, the man must drive."

You might think so if you watch the intricate dance that takes place when husbands and wives do drive-by drop-offs and pickups.

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Detainee admits beheading Pearl, plotting attacks

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mastermind of the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, confessed to U.S. military officials he beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl "with my blessed right hand."
In revised transcripts released yesterday by the Pentagon of a Saturday hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to determine his enemy-combatant status, Mohammed said he decapitated "the American Jew" in Karachi, Pakistan, in January 2002 because he was seeking information about a now-convicted shoe bomber.
"For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head," he said.
The confession was withheld in the first release of the 26-page transcript on Wednesday night, Pentagon officials said, to allow time for Mr.

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Barbs and bouquets

BOUQUET: Joining hands always seems to make a good thing better. The Lowcountry Estuarium in Port Royal has tapped Hilton Head Island's Coastal Discovery Museum as a venue to offer its educational programs about the area's coastal ecology.

Lectures and programs are offered at Coastal Discovery through November at various Hilton Head locations and will further enhance programs that the museum already offers on coastal ecology.

The need for ecology programs has never been needed more, as the influx of new residents and the proliferation of rampant development can be devastating to our once-pristine ecological composition.

Uninsured motorists harm everyone

BARB: A barb goes to the thousands of uninsured motorists who not only force local police to hold checkpoints but take our lives into their own reckless hands.

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Video: Modest Mouse and Johnny Marr: New Song

Modest Mouse's mainstream success was weird for about two months before everyone just accepted the ubiquity of "Float On" and got used to it, but seeing these videos of "The World at Large", "Dramamine", and "Float On" played live at a couple of the band's recent West Coast shows reminds us that Isaac Brock and co. are still pretty weird. All of their snaking guitar lines and deranged vocals remain intact, so much so that new member/ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is barely noticeable at first. He's even got the outfit down. But make no mistake, that's Marr on the far left, playing guitar and adding occasional vocals to all of those songs, as well as this new song--exploring the softer side of the band--which they played at their show at L.A.'s Avalon on November 5. The 2007 release of We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is now even more exciting.

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AMR pays off $285M debt

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - American Airlines' parent company said Friday that it paid off a $285 million debt and expects to complete refinancing another $350 million in debt by mid-April.

AMR Corp. said the $285 million principal balance was on a senior secured line of credit that had been fully drawn since being opened in December 2004. AMR said the credit facility could be redrawn depending on economic and industry conditions and the company's financial condition.

Fort Worth-based AMR also said that its American Eagle subsidiary recently prepaid $79 million in aircraft debt.

Together the moves should reduce annual net interest expenses $15 million, AMR said.

AMR said it expected to end the March quarter with $5.8 billion in cash and short-term investments, including nearly $500 million in restricted funds, up from $4.8 billion a year ago.

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Fulton Financial Anticipates First-Quarter Charge From Mortgage ...

Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FULT) ("Fulton") expects to recognize a pre-tax charge against earnings of $5.5 million during the quarter ending March 31, 2007 related to losses that may be incurred by Fulton due to the repurchase of residential mortgage loans and home equity loans that had been originated and sold in the secondary market by Resource Bank ("Resource"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Fulton. In addition, Fulton reported that it will recognize interest income of approximately $3.4 million before tax and a recovery of $400,000 to the allowance for loan losses during the quarter as the result of the resolution of a charged-off commercial mortgage by another of its subsidiaries, Fulton Bank. The net effect of these items is expected to reduce Fulton's first quarter 2007 earnings by approximately $.01 per share.

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Buchanan Surpasses $250M in 2007 Self-Storage Loans

Buchanan Storage Capital, a provider of financial resources to self-storage owners nationwide, surpassed the $250 million mark for year-to-date loan volume. According to the firm, it is on track to close more than $500 million in self-storage loans this year. With offices throughout the country and the support of loan originators in the field, the company says it is financing self-storage properties in every major geographical region. The majority of customers use its Buchanan Fixed Rate Direct program, with additional access to the firms advisory services. The firms parent company, Buchanan Street Partners, is a national real estate investment bank that provides real estate capital and advisory services for owners and developers and investment management for institutional and high-net-worth investors.

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Aston Martin statement on new shareholders

"Aston Martin is pleased to announce the start of a new chapter in its illustrious history following the announcement today that the prestigious sports car manufacturer has been sold to a consortium led by David Richards, John Sinders, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment, ending almost twenty years as part of Ford Motor Company.

"The consortium is a group of sophisticated investors who are committed to the brand, its success and existing business plan which envisages growth, profitability and new products, including the much acclaimed four door concept Rapide, shown for the first time at the Detroit Auto Show in 2006.

"With the full support of the investors, Dr Ulrich Bez remains committed to the future success of Aston Martin and will lead the management team into a new era as its Chief Executive.

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Credit cards pick up fee if you damage rented car

When you try to use your credit card to cover collision damage to a rental car, the rental agent may lie to you about the coverage your card provides. Recently, I received e-mails from two readers reporting on the same scam at two rental companies: Agents told them that although their cards covered damage to the vehicle, they didn't cover the additional "loss of use" fee the car company would collect for the rental revenue lost while a damaged car was out of service. That statement is a flat-out lie.

When you rent a car, you're on the hook for any damage done to that car during your rental, plus loss of use, so you have to find some way to cover your risk. Rental companies, of course, are happy to sell a "collision damage waiver" (CDW) or "loss and damage waiver" -- essentially the same thing -- to absolve you of that risk.

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Around the Towns

DARLINGTON -- The Platteville Chorale will be featured during the Sunday morning worship service March 18 at Darlington United Methodist Church, 546 Park Place, Darlington.

The chorale, under the direction of Greg Dennis, will perform several selections of music during the 10:30 a.m. worship service.

Darlington residents who perform as a part of the chorale include Matt Finkenbinder, Janet George, Marian Howard and Liz Lindstrom. The Darlington United Methodist Church invites the public to share in worship that day and enjoy this special presentation by the Platteville Chorale.

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Hospice to display quilt at Our Town event

DARLINGTON -- Lafayette County Hospice will be displaying its memorial quilts at the Our Town event in Darlington on March 25.

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'Promote capital market as funding source'

The Indonesian equity market, despite being huge in capitalization, is still largely untapped as an alternative source of investment, economists said at a seminar on the weekend.

Mohammad Ikhsan, an economist from the University of Indonesia, said the capital market is the ideal financing source for investment at a time when banks are yet to be optimum in extending loans to revive the real sector, but acknowledged that the local capital market was still underdeveloped.

"Most local companies here are reluctant to go public and are notorious for their rough accounting systems, especially the medium-sized ones," he said, adding that the existing taxation system had also discouraged companies from going public.

He said Indonesia would still have to rely on banking credits to boost the real sector, in addition to foreign direct investment.

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RMB hits new high against USD, breaking 7.74 mark

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The value of the Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar hit a new high on Thursday with a central parity rate of 7.7386 yuan to the dollar, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The yuan, also known as the Renminbi (RMB), gained 50 basis points from Wednesday's reference rate of 7.7436 to the U.S. dollar.

The yuan has gained 701 basis points since the beginning of 2007 from 7.8087 yuan against the dollar on Dec. 29, 2006.

There had been speculation over whether the yuan would see a sharp appreciation on Wednesday afternoon when the U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson began his third China trip in seven months in preparation for the second round of the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue scheduled for May in Washington.

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Cheboygan Catholic made run at State title in 1967

Sports dominated local news on the front page of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune 40 years ago today. Basketball was making top headlines on March 15, 1967.The Cheboygan Catholic Eagles were to journey to Charlevoix to face Ewen in the first step of the state post-season play. The Detroit Free Press predicted the Eagles would defeat Ewen, while The Associated Press forecast a win for Ewen. The game would have a huge Cheboygan contingent, as 1,000 tickets had already been sold in advance through a sale at the Callan Shoe Store. Ewen would prove victorious, defeating Cheboygan Catholic in a 76-54 win. Chris Lindsay led the Eagles in scoring with 19 points, hitting six of 13, most of them from the outside. John Baiers picked up 12 points for the Eagles.Several regional names were on the Northern Lakes League All-Conference team.

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Moore Unique Skin Care Products, LLC Announces Educational ...

HOUSTON, March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Moore Unique Skin Care (MUSK), LLC, today announced the launch of the Moore Unique Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB) Educational Awareness Initiative, a national effort to raise awareness of the long-term effects and risks associated with PFB, commonly known as 'razor bumps' and a common condition occurring in over 10.8 million men, but significantly impacting an estimated 60% of African American men & 15% of Caucasian men. If not treated professionally, PFB can cause keloidal scarring which has become an important issue in men's personal grooming.

The initiative is led by noted Houston dermatologist Dr. Milton D. Moore, CEO of Moore Unique Skin Care, LLC and will feature "expert grooming and skin care advice" to national media, participation in community events, and product sampling.

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