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Demons deflate Weber State

OGDEN, Utah A one-man show by Weber State forward Rico Washingtongave the home fans something to applaud, but DePaul brought thecurtain down early in a 88-65 victory Wednesday night before 6,184.

Washington, a 6-7 redshirt junior from Philadelphia, did all hecould for the Wildcats (1-5), setting a record for rebounds (18)against a Joey Meyer-coached DePaul team and leading all scorers with26 points.

But DePaul (5-1) countered by rounding out its first road showwith a complete cast that starred flu-weakened Kevin Edwards, whoscored 25 before leaving the game with eight minutes left left.

"I told the team at halftime if Washington kept it up, he'dhave …

Gas Consumption Strong Despite High Prices

WASHINGTON - High gasoline prices may dent economic growth, but consumers' fuel appetite is still strong. Those trends are likely to persist, experts said, as average nationwide pump prices approach $3 a gallon - a threshold once feared to be disastrous for motorists and potentially the economy.

Citigroup Smith Barney senior economist Steven Wieting said the conventional wisdom that $3-a-gallon was some kind of tipping point "has been largely overstated."

Sonja Hubbard, chief executive of E-Z Mart Stores Inc., which owns 319 gasoline stations across Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, said, much to her surprise, gasoline sales continue to rise. But she noted negative …

Clashes leave at least 20 dead in NW Pakistan

Clashes between security forces and militants left at least 20 people dead in a region of northwest Pakistan that the army claimed to have cleared of insurgents earlier this year, government officials said Friday.

The violence in the Bajur region underscores the difficulties Islamabad faces as it seeks to root out insurgents from the tribal belt along the Afghan border where al-Qaida and Taliban militants have long enjoyed a safe haven.

The deadliest fighting took place in the village of Chinnar in the Charmang Valley, where Taliban militants ambushed an army convoy Friday afternoon, said Jamil Khan, a local government official. Four insurgents and two soldiers were killed in …

Wealthy Baseball Owners Are Stuck on `Skid' Row

On your knees, baseball fans. The owners need your help.

No, no, no! Put your wallets back in your pockets. Leaveyour shirts on. Yes, your first-born children are safe. This isserious.

The owners don't need more of your earthly possessions. Theyneed your prayers.

Remember the glorious days of yore - say, 1970 - when the lordsof baseball could hoist maggots such as Curt Flood on their sabers,examine him and his pals and their piteous bleats for free agency,chortle in unison, then swallow everything whole? Urp. What awonderful era!

Owning a baseball team back then was akin to owning a flock ofgeese. Fatten the animals up, pluck the feathers, put …

NH's 10 Best Companies to Work For: Wire Belt Company of America

NH's #2 BEST SMALL COMPANY TO WORK FOR

Wire Belt Company of America

David Greer is passionate about creating and keeping manufacturing jobs in NH. He also believes that working in a manufacturing plant should be fun.

Wire Belt Company of America produces wire belts for the food processing industry, but Greer, the company's president, wants Wire Belt to expand to create more jobs and more opportunities for his employees.

Recognizing that management doesn't have all the answers, he has turned to his workforce to develop the company's next big idea with the "What's the Big Idea?" program. Employees submit their suggestions on a card and receive feedback from a …

Democrats offer compromise budget plan putting off decisions

Democrats controlling Congress unveiled an election-year fiscal blueprint Tuesday that puts the federal budget mostly on autopilot, leaving the winner of November's presidential election with a set of enormous challenges.

The House-Senate compromise, more than a month overdue, contains a host of shaky assumptions _ and forecasts that many of President Bush's signature tax cuts will expire on schedule at the end of 2010.

It predicts a $340 billion budget deficit next year, but achieves it only by understating likely war costs _ even if an anti-war Democrat takes back the White House _ and the $50 billion-plus cost of making sure more than 20 million …

We can triumph in Germany

A sensational 2-2 draw with Bayern at Pittodrie kept Aberdeen'shopes of making the last 16 of the UEFA Cup alive.

They now have to beat Bayern - or gain a high scoring draw of 3-3 or better - at the Allainz Arena on Thursday to advance to thenext stage.

Dons boss Jimmy Calderwood will be looking for a victory, eventhough Norwich City are the only British side to have beaten Bayernon their own soil.

The Canaries stunned the Germans 2-1 in 1993.

Celtic, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, NottinghamForest, Coventry City and the Dons - who drew 0-0 in 1983 - arethose who have failed to triumph in Munich in the past.

Calderwood knows the odds …

Pappas: Cook County's scavenger sale has begun

Pappas: Cook County's scavenger sale has begun

The 2001 Cook County Scavenger sale is being held now through Jan. 16 where 44,000 pieces of property will be on the auction block, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas announced.

The actual sale of the properties with unpaid taxes that have been delinquent for two or more years, is being held in Room B located on the Lower Level of the 69 W. Washington St. building beginning 8 a.m. until 4 p.m..

The list of properties will be posted for …

Report: California saves money by saving energy

California has saved about $56 billion in electricity costs and created 1.5 million jobs over 35 years by using energy more efficiently than other states, according to a new study.

The report released Monday by an economist at the University of California at Berkeley found that state policies that boost energy efficiency aren't just good for the environment, they're also good for the economy.

"Energy efficiency is very good for real incomes, purchasing power and job creation," said the study's author, UC Berkeley economics professor David Roland-Holst. "Energy efficiency has really helped us stimulate the economy."

…

Collection in aid of hospital centre

FUNDRAISING takes place in Carmarthen at the weekend in aid ofplans for a dedicated children's medical centre in the town.

Trustees of the Carmarthenshire Children's Centre will be inGuildhall Square from 10am on Saturday with collection boxes andinformation about the project's aims.

The centre would be based at the town's Glangwili Hospital.

The charity was …

Garko's 3-Run Shot Lifts Tribe Past Tigs

DETROIT - Ryan Garko hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Casey Blake had a solo shot in the fifth to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 5-3 win and a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Sunday night.

The Indians came to Detroit trailing by a half-game in the AL Central and they left in first place by a season-high 2 1/2-games.

Cleveland (31-17) has its best record after 48 games since reaching the same mark at this point in 2001, the last time it won the division and played in the postseason.

The Tigers were swept for the first time this season and have lost four of six.

Garko's home run gave the Indians a 4-0 lead and Blake's homer put them …

Tuesday's Sports Scoreboard

All Times Eastern

Baseball Spring Training

L.A. Dodgers 2, Florida 1 F

Minnesota 4, Baltimore 2 F

Pittsburgh 8, Cincinnati 4 F

Philadelphia 4, Tampa Bay 2 F

Washington 9, Detroit 1 F

Chicago Cubs 6, Kansas City 5 F

L.A. Angels 11, Milwaukee 4 …

A year after spill, Gulf Coast is healing, hurting

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It was the catastrophe that seemed to crush a way of life, an oil rig exploding in the darkness and plunging the Gulf Coast and its people into months of chaos.

One year after America's worst offshore oil spill began, solemn ceremonies will mark the disaster Wednesday and underscore the delicate healing that is only now taking shape. Oil still occasionally rolls up on beaches in the form of tar balls, and fishermen face an uncertain future.

But traffic jams on the narrow coastal roads of Alabama, crowded seafood restaurants in Florida and families vacationing along the Louisiana coast attest to the fact that familiar routines are returning, albeit slowly.

"We used to fuss about that," said Ike Williams, referring to the heavy traffic headed for the water in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where he rents chairs and umbrellas to beachgoers. "But it was such a welcome sight."

Although life is getting back to normal, many questions linger: Will the fishing industry recover? Will the environment bounce back completely? Will an oil-hungry public ever accept more deep-water drilling?

"It seems like it is all gone," said Tyler Priest, an oil historian at the University of Houston. "People have turned their attention elsewhere. But it will play out like Exxon Valdez did. There will be 20 years of litigation."

On Tuesday, the federal government reopened the last of the waters that were closed last year after the massive spill, about 1,040 square miles (2,694 square kilometers) near the sunken rig. And fresh revelations from a BP engineer's email exchanges with his wife highlighted the missteps made on the ill-fated rig before the explosion.

In the months since the April 20, 2010, blast aboard the Deepwater Horizon, an administrator has handed out $3.8 billion from a $20 billion claims fund set up by BP. The number of cleanup workers went from 48,000 at the height of the spill to 2,000 today.

Most scientists agree the effects "were not as severe as many had predicted," said Christopher D'Elia, dean at the School of the Coast and Environment at Louisiana State University. "People had said this was an ecological Armageddon, and that did not come to pass."

Still, biologists are concerned about the spill's long-term impact on marine life.

"There are these cascading effects," D'Elia said. "It could be accumulation of toxins in the food chain, or changes in the food web. Some species might dominate."

Meanwhile, accumulated oil is believed to lie on the bottom of the Gulf, and it still shows up as a thick, gooey black crust along miles (kilometers) of Louisiana's marshy shoreline. Scientists have begun to notice that the land in many places is eroding.

For example, on Cat Island, a patch of land where pelicans and reddish egrets nest among the black mangroves, Associated Press photographs taken a year ago and compared to those taken recently show visible loss of land and a lack of vegetation.

"Last year, those mangroves were healthy, dark green. This year they're not," said Todd Baker, a biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Land is eroding on sites where the oil has killed vegetation.

Confidence in Louisiana's seafood is eroding, too.

"Where I'm fishing it all looks pretty much the same," said Glen Swift, a 62-year-old fisherman in Buras. He's catching catfish and gar in the lower Mississippi River again. That's not the problem.

"I can't sell my fish," he said. "The market's no good."

But the BP spill has faded from the headlines, overtaken by the tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and political clashes in Washington.

"Nationally, BP seems like a dim and distant memory," said Douglas Brinkley, a Rice University historian. But the accident will have long-lasting influence on environmental history, he said.

A presidential commission and an internal BP report concluded that the disaster was caused by a cascade of technical and managerial failures, including a faulty cement job. A testing firm hired by the government concluded that the key device used for preventing blowouts failed because of a design problem that prevented it from cutting through pipe.

Fresh revelations from a BP drilling engineer who worked on the blown-out well shed some new light on the jitters and missteps overtaking the ill-fated facility in the weeks before the explosion.

Brian Morel first gained national attention when he referred to the Macondo as the "nightmare well" in an email to a colleague revealed by lawmakers last summer. Last week, the AP obtained additional email exchanges between Morel and his wife, including one in which he said his team at the company was "out of control."

"I can't take it, so I am staying away from the issues today," he wrote.

In a performance review a few weeks earlier, Morel had been told to "be aware of cynicism and criticism of company policies, actions, processes, etc. Don't be a victim."

Morel's wife, who also worked for BP, told him he was smart not to challenge some decisions. "They can live with the consequences if they are poor," she said.

The Deepwater Horizon was different from the two other major offshore spills in American history — the Santa Barbara blowout in 1969 that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Exxon Valdez. But BP's disaster was a "seminal moment ... seared on the American imagination forever," Brinkley said.

The BP gusher, caught by the "spillcams" a mile under the sea and delivered nightly to American living rooms, made oil, and its nasty nature, very real.

"It was a huge wake-up call for other treasured landscapes not to become a Gulf of Mexico," Brinkley said. "So the true historical impact may be in places like arctic Alaska, the Chesapeake, offshore Washington, places that have been contemplating offshore drilling."

Added Priest: "It made oil visible to Americans. We know we consume oil. In our subconscious, we know that is what fuels our economy and our society. But we never see it."

For 85 days — from the time the Macondo well began leaking until it was finally capped after a series of failed attempts — Americans got a crash course in deep-water drilling: They learned about blowout preventers, well casings, top kills and top hats, toolpushers and the difference between an oil platform and an oil rig. They learned about where oil comes from and how toxic, or relatively benign, it can be.

In that time, 206 million gallons (780 million liters) of oil — 19 times more than the Exxon Valdez spilled — spewed from the well. In response, the nation commandeered the largest offshore fleet of vessels since D-Day, and BP spent billions of dollars to clean up the mess and save itself from collapse.

The blast also killed 11 rig workers, including Gordon Jones, an engineer killed when the rig exploded. Jones left behind a 2-year-old son and a baby he never met.

"I know other people have experienced losses like this. The difference I guess is that we're reliving it essentially every day," said Jones' brother, Chris. "I don't think I've picked up the newspaper in the last year where there hasn't been an article about one part of this disaster."

For the most part, the damage was eventually contained.

"If you come out and see the progress, you'd think so too," said Mike Brewer, a Plaquemines Parish oil spill response supervisor, reached Tuesday by telephone as he worked in Bay Jimmy, the hardest hit marsh area where oil remains in a thick crust along the marsh edge.

Brewer, who has spent 25 years cleaning up spills in Louisiana, said this spill was the Big One that he always feared. But was it the last spill ever?

"You expect sooner or later it will happen. And sooner or later, I believe it will happen again," he said. "You need the industry to continue to produce, to continue to drill, and you just need more cautionary measures. You just can't cut corners."

Wednesday also marks the final day to file some legal claims against rig owner Transocean Ltd., which is the focus of a trial next year to determine the company's liability for the disaster.

For now, the fishing communities of the Gulf Coast are praying for a good spawning season and a good catch — exactly as they had hoped a year ago before the Deepwater Horizon blew up.

Swift, the catfisherman, will be putting out nets when the anniversary dawns in the hope of supplying some fish for the local Cambodian-Americans, who are celebrating their New Year.

He said fishermen are getting by, thanks in large part to money from BP, which has helped assuage the pain of the spill, allowing poor and often homeless fishermen to buy trailers, boats and other gear.

"I made the most I've ever made. And I'm sure there were a lot of others the same," Swift said. "I had to pay $10,000 in tax."

With the $65,000 he received last year — working on the cleanup for BP and getting $12,000 in compensation for the loss of his livelihood — he bought a boat, a 21-footer (6.4-meters), and two motors.

Will Americans get over the image of that BP gusher fouling the Gulf? Swift wonders.

"A lot of people think it's a dirty place," he said. "The oil has given it a bad name. I was at one of these seafood chains, and they advertised their shrimp as being fresh and 'Pacific.'"

___

Associated Press writers Melissa Nelson in Pensacola, Florida, Jay Reeves in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Harry Weber in New Orleans contributed to this report. Videographer Jason Bronis contributed from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Oilers slip past Flames 2-1

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Taylor Hall scored with 1:17 remaining in the third period and the Edmonton Oilers got past the Calgary Flames for a 2-1 preseason win on Saturday.

With the score tied 1-1, No. 1 draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got a shot toward the net that hit a Flames defender and ended up on Hall's stick in front.

Ryan Jones also scored for the Oilers.

Rene Bourque scored for the Flames in the second period. Bourque's hard shot from the top of the circle beat Nikolai Khabibulin low to the glove side.

Calgary almost made it a two-goal game late in the second period as a shot by Lee Stempniak got past Khabibulin, but hit the post.

The Oilers tied the game with just 7 seconds remaining in the second as Jones beat Stempniak to a loose puck and scored a short-handed goal on a backhand through Leland Irving's legs.

Oilers center Sam Gagner left the game in the second period after a hit along the boards by Brendan Mikkelson.

Notes: Edmonton forward Ales Hemsky, who has been limited to just 69 games in the past two seasons due to injuries, has been cleared for contact and could play as early as Sunday. ... Defenseman Andy Sutton made his debut with Edmonton after an offseason trade with Anaheim.

Notable portrait of freed slave sold in Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An early portrait of a freed slave has been sold to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the 1819 painting by Charles Willson Peale was sold by the Philadelphia History Museum. The portrait went on public view Friday.

The painting of Yarrow Mamout is one of the earliest formal portraits of a black man. Peale painted the portrait of the elderly Muslim and former slave in Washington, D.C.

The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent is selling off some paintings and artifacts to pay for a $5.9 million expansion. The price was not disclosed.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will finance the purchase be selling some pieces from its collection. Director Timothy Rub tells the Inquirer (http://bit.ly/rqnLA5 ) the painting's historical significance makes it worth it.

Internet credit reports halted

WASHINGTON A new Internet service that promised to let peopleview their credit reports on the global computer network was abruptlyshut down Friday after at least four people were given financialinformation about somebody else.

Experian Inc., one of the country's leading credit bureaus,pulled the plug only 48 hours after launching the service andassuring visitors to its Internet site that they could receivesecure, private reports almost instantly for $8 apiece in moststates.

Company officials blamed the trouble on unexpectedly highdemand from consumers and faulty software that routed the files tothe wrong computers."We've disappointed the people" who wanted the service, saidMartin Abrams, vice president for information policy and privacy atExperian. "My true hope is that other than an inconvenience, no onewas harmed."The improperly disclosed files included information aboutmortgage loans, overdue credit card bills, spending patterns andSocial Security numbers - the sort of financial data routinelyanalyzed by lenders, landlords and automobile dealers to determinethe credit worthiness of potential customers.Company officials said they could not estimate the number ofbreaches that occurred until they contact more than 200 people whobought reports online Friday.To protect against unauthorized access, the service - whichbegan Wednesday - required each person requesting his or her reportfrom the site at www.experian.com to provide a Social Securitynumber, one former address, a personal credit card number and otherpersonal details.

Best Places to Work in PA: HealthAmerica Pennsylvania Inc.

In six years, Nicole Bennett has never woken up and dreaded going to work.

"I believe in this company's mission and in what they do for people," said Bennett, human resources analyst at HealthAmerica Pennsylvania Inc. in Swatara Township, near Harrisburg. "Health care coverage is something people need, and as a result, the company is working to improve individuals' quality of life."

HealthAmerica has been providing health care benefits for more than 27 years. It offers a variety of plans.

While providing coverage to 600,000 members in Pennsylvania and Ohio, the company also makes sure the health needs of its employees are covered.

"All our benefits - medical, dental, vision - start on an employee's first day," said Cathy Radlein, a company human resources consultant. "There is no waiting period. An employee leaves one job, comes to HealthAmerica and immediately has coverage without having to pay for interim coverage, which can be costly."

There can be a lot of stress in starting a new position, she said. "By providing immediate health care coverage, employees have one less thing to worry about," Radlein said.

Bennett is pleased with the company's benefits package.

"We can use sick time for doctor visits for ourselves or our family," she said. "We have voting leave, which gives us the opportunity to go vote in elections. We can also have time off to do personal volunteer work that is beyond the volunteer efforts of the company."

Bennett also appreciates HealthAmerica's work in the community. The company supports various agencies, including the United Way. One touching activity that Bennett recalled was when workers helped to build a playground for children who are bum victims or who are missing limbs.

Radlein said in addition to remaining competitive in the marketplace, the administration strives to show employees that the company cares about them not just their work but also their personal fulfillment.

"Many companies talk about career development, but few have formalized programs in place," she said.

In the company's career development program, managers sit down with employees to discuss career paths. "Personal style" inventories help individuals understand and identify the career path to which they are best suited. Kiosks throughout the building provide career information, including aptitude tests.

Each year, the administration hosts an Employee Appreciation Week, with events such as picnics and dessert taste testings.

"We work in a very fast-paced industry," Radlein said. "This week is a special time we set aside for employees, to let them know we understand and appreciate that they are the backbone of the company."

Lake County Tour's 60 Models Have Wide Range

This year's Lake County Tour of Homes - with everything fromaffordable town houses to $1 million mansions - will be held June10-18.

At least 60 models from many builders will be ready forinspection during the scattered-site show. The homes are located inat least 20 municipalities.

The 1995 tour will feature single-family homes priced from thelow $100,000s to $1 million, and town houses priced from $90,000 to$400,000. Lake County Tour of Homes. Home Builders Association of LakeCounty, (708) 816-4663; .

Germany to settle outstanding WWI debt

BERLIN (AP) — Germany marks 20 years since reunification with pomp and ceremonies Sunday — and a final payment for outstanding interest due on loans dating back to the end of World War I.

The last installment will be paid on Oct. 3, as the country makes good on a 1953 international agreement, Germany's Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues said Thursday .

Germany issued several series of bonds in the 1920s and '30s to help pay for WWI reparations demanded by the victorious Allies and to bolster its economy. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they suspended all payments.

Following World War II, Germany worked together with the United States, Britain and other European nations to hammer out an international agreement known as the 1953 London Treaty that stipulated how Germany should repay its outstanding debts, including the old bonds.

The treaty dictated that holders of bonds were to bring them in to be reissued so that they could be reimbursed. It also allowed for payment on the outstanding interest accrued from the end of the war in 1945 to the year the treaty was formalized in 1953— roughly €150 million ($200 million) — to be suspended until Germany reunified and then paid in installments over 20 years.

"The sum is actually not so large that it couldn't have been paid off directly following reunification," said Axel Hermann of the Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues. "But Germany stuck to the London Treaty."

The London Treaty also set up the validation process for the outstanding bonds, most of which were reissued by 1958. Anyone in possession of an old bond can still have it reissued through a complicated process, including proving they or their relatives held the bond already in 1944 — a step to ensure stolen or forged papers are not recognized. The Soviet Army purportedly plundered thousands of bonds in 1945 from a Nazi vault as the war ended.

"Under German law it is still possible to trade in the old bonds," Hermann said.

A half-dozen people in the U.S. are seeking to force Germany to repay old unvalidated bonds in their possession. Germany insists any outstanding bonds must be validated in keeping with the international accord.

The bonds were sold in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere, from 1924 to 1930 to help Germany invest in new projects and industries and pay war reparations. One series, known as the Dawes Bonds, raised $110 million in 1920s dollars — the equivalent of about $1.2 billion today; another series called the Young Bonds generated more than $98 million — about a billion today.

Man charged with sex crimes can leave prison

A judge has ruled that a wealthy Russian-born entrepreneur can be let out of prison while he waits for a trial on international child-sex charges.

Thirty-eight-year-old Andrew Mogilyansky, however, won't be allowed to go home yet, because prosecutors have filed an immediate appeal.

Mogilyansky is charged with traveling to orphanages in his native country to molest young girls and hire them out as prostitutes.

Federal Magistrate Carol Sandra Moore Wells on Wednesday said Mogilyansky can await trial on house arrest, but only if he posts more bail money.

Mogilyansky is a dual citizen who lives in suburban Philadelphia. Prosecutors say he has the money to flee, but defense attorney George Newman says Mogilyansky has strong ties to this area.

Youth charged in gun death of friend at party

The 18-year-old son of a Cook County sheriff's police officerwas charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter after heaccidentally shot and killed a friend. Fatally wounded was GeraldStange, 18, of Midlothian. He was shot once in the head byChristopher Langhamer of Midlothian, who hosted a party for more thana dozen other young people at his home while his parents were out oftown, said Midlothian police Capt. John Bittin. Langhamer found a.357-caliber magnum revolver belonging to his father, Ronald, in adresser and began playing around with it, police said. Stange wouldhave been a senior next fall at Bremen Township High School,Midlothian. Bridgeview residents sue Unocal over blast

A group of Bridgeview residents sued Unocal Corp. Wednesday,alleging negligence that led to a July 25 chemical plant blast. Thesuit in Circuit Court charges Unocal "carelessly and negligently"failed to warn residents that the area around the plant wasdangerous. As a result, the residents became sick and sufferedemotional distress after the explosion, said the suit, which seeks$50 million in damages, or a sum equal to 1 percent of the company'snet worth. GOP members pick Carr for County Board

Six suburban Cook County Board members - all Republicans - namedAllan Carr to the vacancy created by the retirement of Joseph Woods.Carr, of Cicero, a restaurateur, is Cicero Township Republicancommitteeman, township clerk, controller and registrar. Board memberRichard A. Siebel said Carr was picked because he "demonstratedsuccessful experience in the area of economic development in CiceroTownship, not only in attracting new inductry but in retainingindustry." He will be sworn in at the Aug. 22 meeting to replaceWoods, of Oak Park, who retired last month. Glendale Heights police chief gets Ore. job

Daniel McCollum, police chief in west suburban Glendale Heights,was selected as the new police chief of Corvallis, Ore. He was chosenfrom a field of 34 applicants for the job, said Richard Rodeman, cityattorney. McCollum, 34, was the top candidate among four finalistsfor the $52,800-a-year post, Rodeman said. McCollum will head adepartment with 40 sworn officers, 30 civilian employees and a budgetof about $3.6 million. Glendale Heights has a population of some23,000, compared with 42,000 in Corvallis. Missing-family report phony; man charged

A North Side man whose phony report that his wife and twochildren fell from a capsized boat in Montrose Harbor was chargedWednesday with disorderly conduct. Ronald Falknor, 30, of 3120 W.Ainslie, who police said doesn't even own a boat, reported his familymissing when he was pulled from Lake Michigan near Montrose Harbor bya passing boat, police said. Two Chicago police boats, two U.S.Coast Guard boats, a Coast Guard helicopter and a Fire Departmenthelicopter made a futile search before police discovered Falknor'swife, Patricia, 27, and two children, Heather, 2, and Seteva, 5, safeat home. Detectives said Falknor first gave an alias of Ronald Grayand a nonexistent North Side address before giving his actual nameand address. N. Glenview Mobile Home Park reprieved

There will be no attempt to evict residents of the NorthGlenview Mobile Home Park until after an Aug. 29 court hearing,lawyers for the park said Wednesday. Residents of the park, at 2000Waukegan Rd., are fighting to prevent the new owner from closing thepark and replacing it with a car dealership. Julie Ansell, one ofthe Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation lawyers representing someresidents, said the closing violates state law. Lawyers for the parkcontend that occupants do not have a "grant of perpetual occupancyrights" on someone else's property.

Suicide car bomb explodes near Kabul police chief office, casualties feared

A suicide car bomb exploded in front of the office of the Kabul police chief early Saturday, the Defense Ministry spokesman said.

The car contained five 107 mm rockets rigged to explode, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi. He said two of the rockets detonated in the explosion but that three did not. The sound of the blast reverberated through Kabul around 8:20 a.m.

Firefighters at the scene of the blast hosed down the shell of the vehicle used in the attack. Casualties were feared though police and other officials did not immediately release any details.

Meals on Wheels needs drivers to deliver food

Meals on Wheels needs drivers to deliver food

Meals on Wheels is looking for volunteer drivers to deliver hotlunches to those unable to prepare their own food.

More than 100 meals are delivered daily Monday through Friday.The nonprofit organization has enough drivers for regular mealdelivery but needs substitute drivers who can fill in when needed.Average time required to deliver a route is two hours.For more information call 348-0707 or 345-3660.

Rightists Torch Tent City For Refugees in Germany

BERLIN Right-wing protesters burned down a tent city for refugeesas Germany grappled again Sunday with a surge of racist violence.

Police agencies reported neo-Nazi attacks in at least eightcities, mostly in economically depressed eastern Germany. Theattacks were a continuation of anti-foreigner outbursts in 10 citiesSaturday.

At least 26 people were arrested and a dozen injured Sunday.About 180 arrests were reported the day before.

The weekend of violence by young, right-wing radicals wasinspired by five days of attacks last week on refugee homes andclashes with police in the Baltic Sea city of Rostock in former EastGermany.

Saturday, about 13,000 people marched under tight security inRostock to denounce the violence. Ninety people were arrested onweapons and other charges.

The last week has been the most harrowing for foreigners inGermany in the past two years, as the neo-Nazi movement - composedmostly of uneducated, apolitical young people - has begunsystematically attacking Slavs, Africans, Arabs and Asians.

The surge in violence has coincided with a huge influx ofrefugees into Germany. This year could see a doubling of last year'srecord 256,000 asylum-seekers.

Nepal parties agree to pass budget, avert shutdown

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal's main political parties agreed Tuesday to approve the annual budget despite a long-running political stalemate, averting a government shutdown in the Himalayan nation.

Leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Nepali Congress, and Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) met Tuesday and agreed to back the proposed budget, which the government plans to present to parliament later this week.

The three parties control more than two-thirds of the seats in parliament.

The budget was supposed to be approved by mid-July but a political stalemate in which parliament has been unable to agree on a new prime minister has delayed the proceedings.

An interim budget that allowed the government to function expires Tuesday.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and his government resigned in June. Since then, parliament has tried repeatedly to elect a new prime minister without success. Nepal and his Cabinet are running a caretaker administration, attending to little more than the most urgent functions of government.

The prime minister is elected by a majority vote of parliament. No party has more than 50 percent of the seats and attempts to forge a coalition government have failed so far.

Syrian security forces fire on protests, killing 8

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrations Friday, killing at least eight people as thousands took to the streets despite the near-certainty they would face gunfire, tear gas and stun guns, human rights activists and witnesses said.

The casualties included three people in Qatana, a suburb of the capital, and four in the southern village of Dael, according to the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which help organize the protests. One person also was reported killed near the border with Lebanon.

The 10-week protests in Syria have evolved from a disparate movement demanding reforms to a resilient uprising that is now seeking President Bashar Assad's ouster. On Friday, protests erupted in the capital, Damascus, and the coastal city of Banias, the central city of Homs and elsewhere.

Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed since the revolt began in mid-March — a death toll that has enraged and motivated protesters.

Many activists have been opting for nighttime demonstrations and candlelight vigils in recent days, aiming for a time when the security presence has thinned out.

"We refuse to let them sleep," a 28-year-old Dael resident said of the security forces.

"We drive them crazy, as soon as they come to the neighborhood we go quiet and they get lost. And then we start again when they leave," he told The Associated Press.

The resident, an engineer who asked that his name not be used, said the protest started at 2 a.m. and was peaceful until security forces opened fire an hour later. He said three cousins from the same family were killed.

Since then, there has been a curfew in the town.

"I cannot stick my head out the window, if they see a cat they'll shoot at it," he said.

A witness in Damascus, who asked to be identified only by his nickname, Abu Moustafa, said up to 1,500 people were chanting for the downfall of the regime in the Qaboun neighborhood. More than 20 buses carrying soldiers and security forces arrived on the scene, raising tensions, he said.

At least two other gatherings also were reported in the capital.

Another witness in the central city of Homs — the site of some of the largest demonstrations in recent weeks — said thousands of people were chanting for the downfall of the regime. Security forces held their fire but closed all the roads leading to the city center.

Also Friday, human rights activist Mustafa Osso said Syrian security forces opened fire at demonstrators in the northeastern town of Deir el-Zour, but it was not clear if there were casualties.

He added that 5,000 people demonstrated in the northeastern city of Qamishli, while more than 3,000 protested in the village of Amouda and 2,000 marched in the nearby town of Derbasiya.

Syria has banned foreign journalists and prevented access to trouble spots, making it difficult to verify witness counts independently.

Assad appears determined to crush the revolt, which is posing the most serious challenge to his family's 40-year rule. The harsh crackdown has triggered international outrage and U.S. and European sanctions, including an EU assets freeze and a visa ban on Assad and nine members of his regime.

But the country is getting support from longtime ally Russia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday there is no need to slap any new sanctions on Syria.

Speaking at a news conference following the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France, he also said Assad should introduce democratic reforms and stop using violence against opposition protesters.

Turkey, which shares a 545-mile (880-kilometer) border with Syria and has been highly critical of the regime's brutal crackdown, said Friday that Syria may yet still be able to achieve stability.

"What is needed now is shock therapy," Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a televised interview. "If reforms are brought about now, this would open the way for peace and change."

Assad has acknowledged the need for reforms, offering overtures of change in recent weeks while cracking down on demonstrations. Among his overtures to the protesters was abolishing the country's reviled state of emergency, in place for decades, which gave the regime unchecked powers of surveillance and arrest.

Also Friday, Assad was quoted in Lebanon's daily As-Safir newspaper as promising there will be "no going back" on reforms. He did not elaborate.

On Thursday, the Syrian opposition called on the army to join the uprising against Assad's regime, saying regime elements are targeting protesters and troops. The opposition said on Facebook that protests planned for Friday will honor the "Guardians of the Nation," a reference to the army.

The call appears to be an effort to break a stalemate after nearly 10 weeks of protests. During the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the armed forces broke with the regimes and sided with the protesters.

The regime blames the unrest on "armed groups," not reform-seekers.

The protests in Syria are raising concerns that the unrest could spill over into neighboring Lebanon.

The Syrian Committee for Human Rights said Friday that a leading opposition figure, 86-year-old Shibli al-Aisamy, a defector from Assad's ruling Baath Party, went missing along with his wife in Lebanon.

The rights group urged Lebanese authorities not to hand him over to Syria.

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AP writers Zeina Karam and Elizabeth A. Kennedy contributed to this report from Beirut.

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Bassem Mroue can be reached at http://twitter.com/bmroue