Village 1/12 radio control race car club

ANY persons interested in helping form the above indoor club isinvited to attend a meeting …

Military: Errors Made in Tillman's Death

WASHINGTON - Nine high-ranking Army officers, including four generals, made critical errors in reporting the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, but there was no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting of the former NFL player, the military concluded Monday.

In releasing a pair of reports on the 2004 killing, however, defense officials did not rule out that criminal violations may have been committed by officers who provided misleading information as the military investigated the killing. While saying they believed there was no orchestrated cover-up, they left the decision on whether crimes occurred to the Army.

Army and Defense Department …

England reaches 270-7 in 1st ODI against Windies

Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah hit half centuries Friday to take England to 270-7 in the first one-day international against the West Indies.

Collingwood struck six fours to top-score with 69 off 77 balls, while Shah compiled 62 off 86 balls with five boundaries at Providence Stadium. The pair anchored the visitors' innings in a fourth-wicket stand of 98 off 113 balls.

Opener Ravi Bopara hit 43 while Matt Prior helped boost the lower order with an unbeaten 26 off 21 balls.

Medium pacer Kieron Pollard took 2-46 and Dwayne Bravo 2-65 to lead the home team's bowling on a slow pitch.

England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and batted …

Chinatown `officials' nabbed

Federal agents swept across Chinatown today to arrest some of 29people indicted on charges of using Chinese merchants associations inChicago, New York and Houston as a front for a multimillion-dollargambling operation.

The indictments include racketeering charges against theNational On Leong Chinese Merchants Association, headquartered in NewYork, as well as its Chicago, Houston and New York chapters.

Locally, the case marks the first time Chicago attorney RobertCooley has been mentioned in any court document as an unindictedco-conspirator. Cooley also has been working as an undercovergovernment operative in a massive investigation of the 1st Ward,which …

Information session turns into angry harangue

Ailsa Craig, Ont.

About thirty people gathered at Nairn Mennonite Church last month to hear former MC Canada staffer Sakoieta' Widrick speak about ways Mennonites can build relationships with their aboriginal neighbours. At least that is what they expected to hear.

Instead, they were treated to one angry comment after another from Widrick about MC Canada, Mennonite Central Committee Ontario, Mennonite pastors (including four in the audience), and white people's ignorance in general. Widrick seemed loath to answer the question in the title of the event sponsored by the Nairn, Zurich and Brussels congregations. Even direct questions about how to go about building neighbourly …

Hostages Held in Venezuelan Bank Seige

Hostages inside a bank waved signs in the windows with desperate pleas for help and used cell phones to call their relatives Tuesday as the standoff languished into a second day.

The gunmen released a female bank employee, the seventh captive to come out of the bank since the crisis began Monday morning with a botched robbery.

A man identified as one of the gunmen said they planned to release at least one more, but later an apparent gunshot rang out _ police said from inside the bank _ breaking a window and sending reporters and police scattering behind cars.

During the night, the gunmen had accepted a package with diapers and a bottle for a …

Not all players comped equally

Whether comps come in the form of meals, hotel stays, cash back, free play or anything else, players who are the most valuable to the casino have always been given the most incentive to return.

Along with wagering totals, the house edge is taken into account. Given equal bets, a roulette player is worth more to the casino than a blackjack player, and those who make the really bad bets at craps are worth more than either.

So it goes on electronic games, and that brings me to a question from a reader, who asked via e-mail, "Can you tell me why they now penalize video poker players by awarding us less points than slot players?"

Video poker players do get fewer points …

Drawing a line

FAMILY TIES

The decisions we make as parents have long-term implications. This obvious reality made itself even more clear to me one night recently when we hosted our young adult son and several of his friends. The topic under discussion was wrestling, the made-for-arenaover-the-top-kind, that drives fans to squeal and non-fans to ridicule or bemusement.

One young man gleefully defended such wrestling as playful entertainment, a farce-like re-enactment of the big themes of life: good and evil; struggle, defeat and victory; sex and all its drama. He acknowledged that his parents did not share his passion. Our son agreed with him, to my surprise, saying, "My parents wouldn't …

Omaha's Qwest Center undergoes storm repairs

Hundreds of swimmers resumed practice for the U.S. Olympic trials at the Qwest Center's two pools Saturday, while repairs were made to the arena after damage by a severe storm a day earlier.

Powerful winds tore siding off the front side of the building, and heavy rain overloaded the arena's main drains. A 12-inch pipe in one section was blown out, causing water to cascade down steps in the seating area and onto the pool deck.

"We're not pretty, but we're functioning," said Roger Dixon, president and chief executive officer of the 7-year-old arena. "We're beat up a little bit. We're very lucky we had no injuries."

About 600 …

'Lucky' Guy: Josh Hartnett has it good -- he's starring with big name actors and dating one of Hollywood's hottest women

You can call him an actor on the move. Minnesota hunk JoshHartnett was jogging in New York's Central Park the other day when agaggle of tabloid press picked up his trail.

"I was really into my run, but I

noticed all these photographers who started to run after me. So, Ikept running and making fast turns and going the other way. It's wasrunning and turning, running and turning.

"I think some of those photographers nearly passed out," he says."It was one of the longest runs of my life, too. I was even late toan interview."

Hartnett is on the go in other ways. He is busy romancing A-listbabe Scarlett Johansson and stars in the twisty, turny "Lucky …

Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations

Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations by Brad Christerson, Korie L. Edwards and Michael O. Emerson New York University Press, December 2004 $55, ISBN 0-814-72223-7

Statistics show less than eight percent of all Christian congregations in the United States are racially integrated to any significant degree. In Against All Odds, the authors use six case studies to examine the factors that perpetuate segregation in churches. Notwithstanding doctrines of love and brotherhood that dominate Christian ideology, the authors assert that conflict persists because cultural and racial identities drive biblical interpretation, bureaucratic structure, …

Doctor: 1,500 pills don't prove Smith was addicted

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A pain-management doctor testified Wednesday that Anna Nicole Smith was not a drug addict, rebuffing a prosecutor who suggested the model's prescriptions for 1,500 pills in a single month amounted to an addiction.

"It speaks to potential danger and risk to the patient, but it doesn't speak to addiction," Dr. Perry G. Fine told jurors in the drug conspiracy trial.

Fine, who testified as a defense witness, said there might be a toxicity risk if Smith took all the drugs but added that her medical records showed no indication of actual harm.

The definition of an addict is central to the case against Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Howard …

AN AP ARTS REVIEW: The Wooster Group `Hamlet' honors another `Hamlet'

It's not only the ghost of Hamlet's father that stalks the Wooster Group's idiosyncratic, often labored examination of Shakespeare's melancholy Danish prince.

Hovering against the back wall of the Wooster production of "Hamlet," which is on view at the Public Theater, is a grainy film version of the celebrated 1964 Broadway revival that starred Richard Burton.

The movie unspools spasmodically as the Wooster version, directed by Elizabeth LeCompete, plays out in front of it. Admittedly, there is a certain fascination in watching the two productions unfold _ with the use of jump cuts and fast-forwarding _ at approximately the same time. Sort of like synchronized swimming but without the water.

Yet the eye is inevitably drawn more to the minimalist, black-and-white movie featuring not only Burton, but Hume Cronyn as Polonius, Alfred Drake as Claudius, Eileen Herlie as Gertrude and Linda Marsh as Ophelia. And check out a youthful John Cullum as Laertes. They are all eminently watchable.

Which brings us to LeCompete's crew, dominated by Scott Shepherd as an aggressive, pro-active Hamlet. Shepherd, a blond, sturdy actor, is an energetic performer, and he propels the on-stage production forward. His voice is strong and he gives the play's language its due, which can't said of some of the other actors in the Wooster Group, a collective of enterprising theater artists.

But then LeCompete's celebration is more of a visual homage, a high-tech honoring of the low-tech past. In contrast to the relatively plain, straightforward Burton version, the Wooster production is awash in technology _ television screens, overamplified sound, rock music and an eclectic array of costumes.

Of the other performers, Kate Valk does double duty as Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, and as his beloved Ophelia. Ari Fliakos works even harder as Claudius, Marcellus, the ghost and the gravedigger. One wonders why Bill Raymond is left with only Polonius. Unfortunately, the acting style is more declamatory than illuminating.

And once you see what LeCompete and company are up to, the novelty of the production quickly wears thin, particularly since the evening lasts nearly three hours.

But then there are those cinematic flickerings of Burton, dressed all in black and emoting like crazy. Makes you wish you had been a member of the audience at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre 43 years ago and seen the actor's Hamlet in person. Now that would have been a revelation.

UN urged to help trace Sri Lankan journalist

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The wife of a Sri Lankan journalist believed to have been abducted a year ago has urged the United Nations to help trace him, saying she believed the government was complicit in the crime.

Prageeth Ekneligoda was critical of the government's conduct during its civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels, who fought for 25 years for an independent homeland.

Prageeth's wife, Sandya, handed a letter to the world body's office in Colombo on Monday that accused the government of having no interest in finding her husband.

Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody rejected the allegation.

Sandya says in her letter that Prageeth had been outspoken about alleged use of chemical weapons in the civil war and was gathering evidence on the subject.

A Flesh-and-Blood Tale of Princess Di's Trials

In his international best-seller, Diana: Her True Story, AndrewMorton exposes Princess Diana's bouts with bulimia, her allegedsuicide attempts and Prince Charles' lack of affection. Yet Mortoninsists it's not a tell-all.

"I have quite a lot of material I had to keep out for legal andeditorial reasons," Morton said. "Besides, people can only bear somuch reality."

When Morton's book was published in 1992, it was considered soexplosive that the British edition was printed in Finland to maintainsecrecy. Even Martin Poll, executive producer of this weekend'smini-series on NBC, "Diana: Her True Story," was not allowed to readMorton's book beforehand. By then, he already had agreed to payhandsomely for the movie rights.

Now that the film has finally come to American television (8 to10 p.m. Sunday and Monday on WMAQ-Channel 5), it may not seem soexplosive. There are no shocking revelations, no love tapes, nothingyou haven't already read in People magazine.

It's almost a dignified account of the ill-fated marriage,starring David Threlfall and Serena Scott Thomas and told fromDiana's point of view. It is apparently an account that pleasedDiana.

"She has not spoken to me personally about it, but if she had made comments, I'd keep them private," Morton said. "But I do knowthat she's very happy to educate people about bulimia. She prefersto be seen not as this perfect role model, but as a flesh-and-bloodindividual."

Morton, who broke the story of the royal couple's separation,has no qualms about revealing intimate details of Charles and Diana'scourtship, marriage and current arrangement. And he has littlepatience with other journalists' moralizing about the violation ofprivacy at Buckingham Palace.

"These people are without question public figures," Morton said."The marriage was on television, the separation announcement was readin the House of Commons.

"By definition, reporting is an intrusion into privacy, butususally that is discussed only as an intrusion into the privacy ofthe rich, the privileged, the powerful.

"You rarely hear any agonizing about the television cameras inSomalia, showing these people when they're sick, dying, in intimatemoments."

Florida senator denies embellishing family history

MIAMI (AP) — In Florida, where Cuba and Fidel Castro can be highly combustible political issues, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is defending himself against allegations he embellished his family's story in saying his parents left the island after Castro came to power.

So far, prominent members of the Cuban American community are standing by him, including the head of one of Miami's oldest and most respected exile groups, who said Friday that he is willing to give the rising GOP star and tea-party favorite a pass.

The 40-year-old freshman senator has always publicly identified with the exile community and has a strong following within it. In a campaign ad last year, he said: "As the son of exiles, I understand what it means to lose the gift of freedom." Rubio's biography on his Senate website previously said he was "born in Miami to Cuban-born parents who come to America following Fidel Castro's takeover." It has been changed to say Rubio "was born in Miami in 1971 to Cuban exiles who first arrived in the United States in 1956."

But The Washington Post reported that Rubio's parents actually left Cuba in 1956, nearly three years before Castro seized power in a revolution against dictator Fulgencia Batista. Rubio's father was a store security guard when he and his wife left, according to Rubio's staff, and came to the U.S. for economic reasons.

Rubio responded to the story with a statement saying his parents had tried to return to Cuba in March 1961 but quickly left because they did not want to live under communism.

"After arriving in the United States, they had always hoped to one day return to Cuba if things improved and traveled there several times," he said. "In 1961, my mother and older siblings did in fact return to Cuba while my father stayed behind wrapping up the family's matters in the U.S. After just a few weeks living there, she fully realized the true nature of the direction Castro was taking Cuba and returned to the United States one month later, never to return."

In addition, Rubio has said publicly on previous occasions that his parents left Cuba before the revolution.

Rubio's staff said it would change his Senate website.

The issue is magnified because of the formidable political clout of the Cuban exile community in Florida and the fierce passions in Miami that still surround Castro and the communist island, and because Rubio is often mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich have said he would make a great running mate.

Democrats are trying to make an issue of it, saying it calls into question Rubio's character. The Florida Democratic Party accused Rubio of "self-serving deception," and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said Rubio has a credibility problem.

"The latest bombshell confirms that Rubio seriously struggles to tell the truth and can't be trusted," said DSCC spokesman Matt Canter.

But Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the GOP National Committee, said the attacks will only strengthen Rubio by causing Republicans to come to his defense. The conservative was elected in 2010 after an upset over the GOP establishment's choice, Gov. Charlie Crist.

"There's no question he has an amazing life story. His family came here to pursue a better life, and that is all accurate. There's folks out there who have seen a great success story and are plotting to figure out how to take him down," Spicer said.

The head of the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation, Pepe Hernandez, himself an exile and longtime opponent of Castro, said Rubio's parents' initial departure date was unimportant.

"There were a number of people who came here during the Batista regime because they were against Batista somehow," he said. "Then they returned to Cuba when Castro came in because they thought now things were going to change, and then after some time they realized this was not going to happen."

"Maybe their case is not exactly the same. They really came here as immigrants, but the second time the reason was that they couldn't live in Cuba under those circumstances. I don't see any difference between his parents and myself and everyone else who came here."

Former Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who left Cuba as a teenager after the revolution, said the Post story showed "a gross lack of understanding about the Cuban exile experience. The fact is that they would not have left Cuba permanently if not for extreme fear of persecution and in search of freedom, like so many of us did."

Fernand Amandi, a pollster whose company specializes in Hispanic public opinion and works more often with Democrats than Republicans, said the episode alone might not be that damaging, but it could invite further scrutiny of Rubio's record.

"It's a chink in his armor of what was somebody who up to this point had almost uniformly positive and favorable coverage," he said.

___

Brendan Farrington reported from Tallahassee, Fla.

Farrington can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bsfarrington

Nation & world

Agency says swine

flu deaths at 1,154

GENEVA - The World Health Organization said Tuesday that 1,154swine flu victims have died since the virus emerged in April.

WHO said that includes 338 deaths reported in the week leading upto last Friday.

More than 300 of the new deaths were in the Americas, bringingthe death toll in that region to 1,008 since the virus first emergedin Mexico and the United States, and developed into the globalepidemic.

WHO also said there is no evidence that the new H1N1 virus ismutating into a more dangerous form.

Fishermen mourn

passing of carp

LONDON - Britain's fishing community is mourning the death ofBenson, the 64-pound carp.

Fans of the 25-year-old Benson would travel for miles to theBluebell Lakes complex in Cambridgeshire for a chance to have theirpicture taken with weighty monster.

She was voted Britain's favorite carp in 2005 by the readers ofAngler's Mail because of her sheer size and quirky looks.

Tony Bridgefoot, the owner of the Bluebell Lakes, was quoted inThe Times of London as saying the fishing community has been rockedby Benson's death.

Baby born outside

N.Y. firehouse

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Firefighters in an upstate New York citydidn't have to go far to help a woman deliver her baby.

When Cora Burns of Saratoga Springs went into labor Mondaymorning, the plan was for her neighbor to drive her to give birth ata hospital in another city 20 miles away. But the baby was in a bighurry, and after calling for help, the pair drove to meet anambulance at a Saratoga firehouse.

They pulled into the firehouse driveway, and firefighters rushedout to help. Two minutes later, Burns gave birth to her fourth sonin the car. Baby Grahm, who weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and hismother were then taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where theywere doing well.

Pricey wine stolen,

returned to store

HOPKINTON, Mass. - A $20,000 bottle of wine stolen from a liquorstore has been returned unopened.

The bottle of 1945 Mouton Rothschild plus three other bottles ofwine valued at $300 to $875 were stolen from Hopkinton Wine &Spirits last week.

Store security video had been shown on local televisionnewscasts, and Boston police received a call Sunday from someone whorecognized the suspect in the video.

The caller contacted the suspect, got the wine and turned it into Boston police. They in turn contacted Hopkinton police, whoreturned the wine to the store owner.

YMCA to offer

rooms to students

GREENSBURG, Pa. - A YMCA in western Pennsylvania is hoping tofill 20 vacant residential rooms with students from nearby colleges.

The Greensburg YMCA will begin housing college students inJanuary. The city about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh is home to SetonHill University, a private Catholic school with about 2,000students, and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, whichopened last month with more than 100 students.

The student rooms became available when a youth shelter thatoccupied the YMCA building's third and fourth floors closedrecently.

compiled from wire reports

Students will be able to use the YMCA's health and fitnessequipment as an incentive to live there.

The YMCA stopped renting rooms to men in the 1960s.

Woman says gift

box held remains

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - An Ohio woman says she found what appearedto be cremated remains inside a packaged keepsake box she receivedfor her birthday.

Thirty-three-year-old Erin Lemasters of Cuyahoga Falls says theoval box, 5 inches long, held a plastic bag of ashes and bonefragments.

She got the gift Sunday from her mother, who bought it at aCarlton Cards store in nearby Akron. The keepsake box was packed infoam and bubble wrap inside cardboard packaging with "Jen 8 oz."written in ink on the outside.

The women say the store told they could return the item for arefund, but they're holding off in hopes the owner of the ashes willcome forward.

A message for comment was left Tuesday with Schurman Fine Papers,the owner of Carlton Cards stores.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia, 1942

Briefly Noted Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia, 1942. The University of Chicago Press. 64 pages; black and white illustrations; $9.99.

During World War II more than one million U.S. soldiers were deployed to Australia, few of whom were familiar with that nation. Luckily, the U.S. Army's Special Service Division prepared a pocket guide to acclimate troops, with such handy tips as "Australians eat and drink too," and "the Australian has few equals in the world at swearing." Pressing concerns were addressed to relieve anxieties: "Housewives 'down under' are supposed to make coffee with a pinch of salt and a dash of mustard, but that's probably just another Axis propaganda story."

This vintage guide has been reproduced, including charts and illustrations. As the handbook touches briefly on geography, history and culture, it emphasizes similarities between Americans and Australians. To promote unity, the guide advises that if one encounters a cultural inconvenience, "There's no use beefing about it-it's their country." This attempt to foster camaraderie was essential for a successful defense of the country if Japan attacked. A quick read, this pocket guide provides an amusing and interesting glimpse of World War II-era Australia and Australian-American relations.

New home sales second slowest on record in August, unchanged from a month earlier

WASHINGTON (AP) — New home sales second slowest on record in August, unchanged from a month earlier.

Age doesn't matter if you're Masters champion

AUGUSTA, Ga. Sam Snead's eyes sparkled as he stood under the giantoak tree in front of Augusta National's clubhouse, relivingeverything from his ceremonial first drive to how he told PresidentEisenhower to stick his rear end out when he played years ago.

A few feet away, an aging trio of former champions trudged downthe first fairway Thursday, more interested in just being able tofinish than worried about what they would shoot.

Doug Ford, looking all of 78, didn't make it far. He packed awayhis clubs after spraying it weakly off the tee and making doublebogey on the benign opening hole.

For Ford, it was a record 49th Masters appearance, one of thebenefits of his 1957 win. He got $5,000 and became the subject ofMasters News Bulletin No. 11, which solemnly announced his officialwithdrawal.

"Bad hip," he told playing partner Billy Casper before leaving.

The portly Casper fared even worse, making a quadruple-bogey-8 onthe first hole. But he and Charles Coody shuffled on anyway,virtually ignored by the crowds that had come to see the likes ofTiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson.

"These are the old guys," one fan said to another as Casper walkedby. "That's the guy who used to eat the buffalo meat."

Casper would need a back-nine rally to break 90, and he made a 10-footer on 18 for 87.

"Carpal tunnel," said Casper, who turns 70 this summer. "I justdon't have the power in my right hand I did before. Plus, my back wasgiving me problems."

Talk of physical ailments was almost as common as discussion ofthe fast greens among players in the Masters, where a contingent offormer champions plays on and on and on.

Though they have no chance of winning-and little of even makingthe cut-former champions such as Casper, Ford, and 69-year-old GayBrewer use their winner's exemption to return each year in an annualspring rite.

"All of us still enjoy playing the course," Casper said. "It'sjust so beautiful out here."

The 93-player field, already the smallest by far of any major,shrinks even more with the departure of players who can draw SocialSecurity and Masters' paychecks at the same time.

Not that anyone would dare criticize the green jackets who run theMasters in the tradition of Bobby Jones, where past champions arerespected, even revered, and certainly allowed to play any time theywant.

Still able to swing the club at the age of 89, Byron Nelsonthanked the crowd for supporting him since he played in the secondMasters in 1935, saying he has enjoyed all of it.

"This has helped keep me alive in golf," Nelson said.

Ford was once asked why he continued playing, despite missing thecut for the last 30 years.

"Because I won the darned thing," he replied.