Chicago Tribune

Slumping economy brings boom in garage sales
Hard times offer opportunities for shoppers seeking bargains, sellers needing extra cash
By Vikki Ortiz Chicago Tribune reporter
11:39 PM CDT, July 25, 2008
Ryan Rudowicz, 6, pockets proceeds from the sale of a toy at his family's garage sale on Fieldstone Lane in Woodland Hills subdivision in Bartlett. (Tribune photo by Terry Harris / July 18, 2008)
For Sue Rolsky of Schaumburg, evidence of the tough economic times comes in a jumble of ugly vases, a 1986 Jim Thompson campaign button and other oddities put out this weekend for sale in her garage and driveway.
Rolsky and her sister-in-law are pooling their collectibles Saturday in hopes of clearing out their homes, not to mention making some extra cash.
Part of the challenge, Rolsky admits, is haggling with people who will drive hard bargains because they have less money to spend for the likes of that weird stuffed green beaver or that even weirder troll doll.
"You've got to expect that," said Rolsky, 56. "That's what they're out for, to get a bargain. . . . We're all trying to economize the best we can."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-garage-sale-both-26jul26,0,1937525.story



Daley won't rule out layoffs in tough budget times ahead
By Russell Working Chicago Tribune reporter
3:43 PM CDT, July 26, 2008
Mayor Richard Daley Saturday predicted tough times ahead financially for the City of Chicago and pointedly declined to rule out layoffs of police and other municipal employees.
Asked about a published report that the city is likely facing layoffs because of a $400 million-plus shortage in the upcoming 2009 city budget, Daley noted that the city -- unlike the federal government -- doesn't have the option of running up the deficit to fund its programs. Daley sidestepped a direct answer but left the possibility of layoffs on the table.
"I think everybody's concerned about this year's budget," Daley said at the rededication of two historic Monroe Street bridge houses. "It's going to take some tough decisions. But we're all working with people. Like everything else, we have to work together."
Daley noted that the economy nationwide is in a serious downturn that will trigger further belt-tightening at home.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-080726-daley-layoffs,0,7909165.story



Daley promises to fight to keep handgun ban
Weis urges residents to swap their guns for gift cards Saturday
By Deanese Williams-Harris and Melissa Patterson Chicago Tribune reporters
10:56 PM CDT, July 25, 2008
Mayor Richard Daley was adamant Friday about Chicago's intention to defend its handgun ban in court, despite news that a second area suburb was likely to repeal its ordinance next week.
Morton Grove, which along with Chicago and other communities was sued by the National Rifle Association, is poised to repeal its first-in-the-nation handgun ban next week. Wilmette already has suspended its handgun ordinance in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a similar law in Washington.
"Morton Grove can do anything that it wants," Daley said at an unrelated news conference. "I don't look at this lightly—that, 'Oh, because the Supreme Court's done it we're just gonna dismiss it and all of a sudden people can arm themselves,' " he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gun-turnin_jul26,0,6100999.story



Firearm trade-in locations
10:55 PM CDT, July 25, 2008
The city's gun buyback program will accept guns Saturday at the following locations:
Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church, 9231 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
Trinity All Nation Church, 9600 S. Vincennes Ave.
St. Stephen's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 8500 S. Maryland Ave.


Daley promises to fight to keep handgun ban
Uptown Baptist Church, 1011 W. Wilson Ave.
Wayman AME Church, 509 W. Elm St.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gun-turn-in-listjul26,0,3322103.story



Will clotheslines turn dryers into relics?
By Sheila Simon
July 27, 2008
Hang out with me.
In my most rich environmentalist fantasies I am off the grid, self-sufficiently solar. In real life I'm still on the grid because I'm not rich.
But even in real life with a budget, my family and I have scored big with one simple lifestyle change—we hang dry all of our laundry. It has reduced our power bill, and turned us, like converts to a new faith, into proselytizers.
We had long ago taken steps to reduce our electricity use. We replaced all of our light bulbs with fluorescents, use less air conditioning in the summer and turn the heat down in the winter when we're all out of the house. But nothing made such a dent in our power bill as abandoning the dryer. That simple change dropped our average monthly bill by more than $100.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/green/chi-oped0727dryjul27,0,7566844.story



Green Celebrities

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/green/sns-green-celebrities-photos,0,5226241.photogallery



Arizona Central News

Man accused in conspiracy to kill judge dies at 63
Jul. 26, 2008 02:00 PM
Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas - Jamiel Alexander "Jimmy" Chagra, accused of leading a 1979 conspiracy to assassinate the federal judge in San Antonio set to preside over his drug trial, died Friday. He was 63.
Chagra, who was living in Mesa, had been battling cancer since November, said his sister, Patsy Chagra of El Paso.
"That's where he was living with his wife," she told the El Paso Times for its Friday editions. "He died peacefully ... ."
U.S. District Judge John Wood Jr. was fatally shot in the back on May 29, 1979, outside his San Antonio home. Hit man Charles Harrelson, the father of actor Woody Harrelson, was convicted of murder in the slaying and died in federal prison in Denver in March 2007 while serving two life sentences.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2008/07/26/20080726chagraobit-ON.html



Huge housing rescue bill passes, but experts skeptical
Jul. 26, 2008 03:00 PM
Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Even as a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate voted Saturday to send a sprawling housing bill to the White House, economists, consumer advocates and other analysts said the package of programs for cash-strapped homeowners and shaken mortgage lenders is unlikely to relieve the foreclosure crisis that is driving the nation toward recession.
“This is not the end of the housing crunch,” said Jared Bernstein, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “Housing prices have already fallen 15 percent and they need to fall 10 percent more. This bill isn't going to change that equation.”
The Senate voted 72 to 13 to approve the bill, which seeks to halt the steepest slide in house prices in a generation, rescue hundreds of thousands of families from foreclosure and restore confidence in the nation's largest mortgage-finance firms. White House officials said President Bush is likely to sign it by midweek, despite his opposition to nearly $4 billion in aid to local communities.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/07/26/20080726housing-ON.html



Boy electrocuted as storm hits Tucson ballfield
Jul. 26, 2008 10:51 AM
Associated Press
TUCSON - Fire officials say an 8-year-old boy was electrocuted as fellow spectators and ballplayers rushed to get out of a storm at a Tucson ballfield.
The Tucson Fire Department initially received a report that the boy had been hit by lightning.
However, department spokeswoman Capt. Tricia Tracy says the boy was standing in a puddle about 10 feet from a light pole and could have been shocked after lightning struck the pole Friday evening.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/07/26/20080726boyelectrocuted-ON.html



Hospital hangs purple ribbons for drowning awareness
by Beth Duckett - Jul. 26, 2008 12:34 PM
The Arizona Republic
A day after a 2-year-old Mesa girl drowned in a backyard swimming pool, volunteers convened at Phoenix Children's Hospital Saturday morning to raise awareness about the Valley wide drowning crisis.
Nine children have drowned in Maricopa County this year. In June, four children drowned in less than two weeks.
On Saturday morning, helpers tied purple ribbons on hospital trees to spread the word about drowning prevention during August.
The ribbons are purple to commemorate the favorite color of Derek Gonzalez, 3, of Mesa, who drowned in a neighbor's unfenced pool in 2004.
"We want to honor Derek and all the other children who have died from drownings," said Tiffaney Isaacson, water safety coordinator for the Water Watchers program at Phoenix Children's Hospital.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2008/07/26/20080726purpleribbon-ON.html



Wheelchair vets find they still have game
by Lisa Halverstadt - Jul. 26, 2008 08:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
When they learned they would never walk again, four local veterans couldn't imagine becoming athletes.
Now, despite their injuries, they're competing in the National Wheelchair Games.
They are part of a 31-member team from the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System competing in such sports as power soccer, softball and weightlifting. More than 500 veterans from the U.S., Puerto Rico and Great Britain have gathered in Omaha, Neb., for the five-day event that began Friday.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2008/07/26/20080726phx-wheelchair0726.html



Snickers ad called homophobic pulled off TV
Jul. 25, 2008 10:38 AM
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. - U.S.-based candy maker Mars says it is pulling a Snickers television advertisement in the United Kingdom that prompted a complaint from a gay rights group.
A statement from McLean, Virginia-based Mars Inc. issued late Thursday said the ad featuring the actor Mr. T is the second in a series that was meant to be funny and has been received well there.
But Mars says the ad is not meant to be offensive and it is pulling it.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation criticized the ad as using stereotypes of gay men.
It's the second time in a year-and-a-half that the privately held company has pulled an ad after receiving complaints that it was homophobic.
In the ad, Mr. T berates a speedwalking man as a "disgrace to the man race."

http://www.azcentral.com/business/consumer/articles/2008/07/25/20080725biz-snickerad25-ON.html



Foreclosures: Worst still to come, experts say
by Michael Clancy - Jul. 24, 2008 10:54 AM
The Arizona Republic
Phoenix had a staggering 534 percent increase in foreclosures in the first half of 2008, and it appears the worst may be yet to come.
The percentage gain represents an increase of about 5,000 homes foreclosed from year to year, according to data provided by Information Market.
"This is not surprising," said Phoenix City Councilman Claude Mattox, who represents the hardest-hit areas of the city. "We're well aware of the problem, and we are doing all we can to mitigate it."
The real tidal wave may be yet to come.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2008/07/24/20080724phx-foreclosures0725-CP.html



Seattle Post Intelligencer

Bands thrill fans from 5 stages
By LYNSI BURTON
P-I REPORTER
One of Seattle's biggest summer music events is this weekend, and if you weren't at the Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday, Saturday is your last chance to check it out.
The nightclub strip on East Pike Street was buzzing with alternative music fans Friday, crowding around the Block Party's five stages under the beaming sun. In addition to music, there were abundant snack and drink stands, clothing vendors and voter registration drives, among other eclectic fare.
The party started at 4 p.m. with Black Eyes & Neckties, a rowdy Bellingham garage-rock band with a morbid dark side. The band's set at the Neumo's Stage was theatrical with an energetic urgency, complete with bloody makeup -- though when the band thanked the crowd at the end, you'd feel as though you could introduce the musicians to your mother.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372330_blockparty26.html



Another e-mail scandal rocks port
8 workers fired over offensive messages
By VANESSA HO
P-I REPORTER
A year after a scandal engulfed the Port of Seattle's Police Department over smutty, derogatory e-mails, 15 more employees in a different section of the port have been caught exchanging similar e-mails, some for nearly a year, authorities said Friday.
"This is especially disappointing as we have been clear with staff about our expectations that employees read, understand and abide by the port's policies," Port Chief Executive Tay Yoshitani said in a written statement.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372276_port26.html



Divers come up with new hook on lake's spikes
By KATHY MULADY
P-I REPORTER
Spikes pulled from the bottom of Green Lake, now a total of 86, may turn out to be less ominous and more practical than originally thought and have probably been in the water much longer than the month or two park officials originally estimated.
Several of the 2-foot or longer pieces of metal recovered by divers and snorkelers Friday had hooked tops like candy canes. Some speculated that the spikes, about as thick as pencils, had been used long ago to tether something to the bottom of the lake.
"Not in the last 20 years," said park officials.
When looked at closely, it appeared that the hook tops on some had corroded and fallen off the metal rods. What's left looks like a spike.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372218_greenlake26.html



Obama defends tour, says McCain shifting on war
By DAVID ESPO
AP SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
LONDON -- Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama brushed aside Republican criticism of his overseas trip on Saturday and stood outside the famed 10 Downing Street to say that both President Bush and Sen. John McCain were moving his way on the key issues of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hours before flying home, Obama also suggested his poll numbers might dip in the coming days, adding: "We have been out of the country for a week. People are worried about gas prices and home foreclosures."
At the same time, he said the journey to two war zones, the Mideast and Europe was important because "many of the issues that we face at home are not going to be solved as effectively unless we have strong partners abroad."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1131ap_obama.html?source=mypi



No 'blank check' for Iraq war, Democrats say
By ANDREW MIGA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jack Reed says America can't afford the Republican strategy of continuing to write blank checks for the Iraq war.
"At a time when the war in Iraq costs $10 billion each month, Americans are paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, and our economy is struggling, we cannot continue down the path that President Bush and Senator McCain propose: writing blank check after blank check," Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said Saturday in his party's weekly radio address.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153ap_democrats_iraq.html?source=mypi



Falling tree kills firefighter in California
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
REDDING, Calif. -- Federal forestry officials say a firefighter has died after being struck by a falling tree while working on a wildfire in Northern California.
Andrew Jackson Palmer was injured Friday while working on a forest fire near Junction City, about 50 miles west of Redding.
A U.S. Forest Service spokesman says the 18-year-old Palmer died while being flown to a hospital in Redding.
Palmer was a based at Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Wash.
The fire near Junction City Eagle is one of more than 2,000 blazes ignited during a huge lightning storm June 21.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_wildfires_fatality.html



Calif. fire threatens homes near Yosemite Valley
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIDPINES, CALIF. -- Authorities say a wildfire is threatening several hundred homes near the main entrance road to Yosemite National Park.
Cheryl Goetz, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, says the 1,000-acre fire is burning in steep, rugged terrain along both sides of the Merced River.
The Mariposa Sheriff's Department is warning residents of the town of Midpines to prepare to evacuate. Midpines is located along Highway 140, the thoroughfare to the west entrance of Yosemite National Park.
Campers on nearby Bureau of Land Management land were evacuated as a precaution.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_wildfires.html



Bodies of missing R.I. couple found in septic tank
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WARREN, R.I. -- Police have found the bodies of a missing Rhode Island couple in a septic tank in their yard.
Sixty-year-old James A. Soares Sr. and 53-year-old Marian F. Soares had last been seen at the beginning of the month. They were reported missing by family members July 15 after they missed a family reunion.
Police went to the couple's house in Warren on Saturday and excavated the yard with a backhoe.
Police removed two body bags with their remains, along with several bags of dirt.
The Providence Journal reported that a family member has been arrested, but no one has been charged. Authorities did not elaborate.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_bodies_found.html



Gunman at Pa. radio station bipolar, ex-wife says
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The ex-wife of a gunman fatally shot by police outside a central Pennsylvania radio station says the man struggled with bipolar disorder.
Coroner Scott Sayers says the gunman is 50-year-old Brian Neiman of Pottersdale.
Police say Neiman was killed Friday after he fired at officers and tried to run them over with his vehicle outside a radio station in State College.
Jean Neiman of Mifflin County says her ex-husband became angry when he didn't take his medication. She says they used to listen to the Christian station together before divorcing in 2006.
Police got a tip that an armed man was heading to the station and stopped him outside. No one at the station was injured.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_radio_station_shooting.html



Al Gore: Carbon-free juice
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Al Gore has challenged the nation to produce 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and carbon-free sources within 10 years. A few months ago, when folks suggested Gore run again for president, he declined, preferring to promote solutions to the national energy and environmental challenges.
We think Gore is on track with a practical approach to global warming -- it's the do-it-now alternative to gloom and doom. But he's not alone in this quest. Oilman T. Boone Pickens has offered his own plan. It's different (less about carbon, more about energy) but with a similar overall goal in mind -- energy independence. Pickens says we import 70 percent of our energy, essentially giving $700 billion each year to other nations.
"Scientists have confirmed that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the Earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year. Tapping just a small portion of this solar energy could provide all of the electricity America uses," Gore said. "Enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of U.S. electricity demand."
The time has come for our generation's Manhattan Project. One that balances the challenges of global warming mitigation with our need for energy (and economic) independence.
Can it be done? Yes. A carbon-free future can become reality -- if the nation is willing to invest money, creativity and national spirit. This type of impossible goal is exactly the sort of dream that's made America, well, America.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/372106_gored.html



WA firefighter dies in California wildfire
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
REDDING, Calif. -- A Washington state firefighter died when he was hit by a falling tree while assisting in a wildfire in California.
Andrew Palmer, 18, based at the Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Wash., was part of a four-member park engine crew that was dispatched Tuesday to a fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, about 50 miles east of Redding, Calif.
Officials said they are investigating the death. Steve Ritchie, a spokesman for the Redding-area fire command center, said the 18-year-old suffered multiple injuries and died while being airlifted to a hospital on Friday.
Ritchie said the Eagle Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest has burned more than 21,000 acres and was 68 percent contained as of Saturday morning.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_firefighter_dead.html

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