| Saying buy-buy to economic blues BY THE NUMBERS
Gas costs $3 a gallon, the real-estate and stock markets are struggling, and food prices have risen. But you'd never know it if you visited the Spotsylania Towne Centre yesterday. Consumers flocked to the mall and other Fredericksburg-area shopping centers, as Black Friday ushered in the start of the holiday shopping period. Because of where Thanksgiving fell this year, the pre-Christmas shopping period is the longest possible. But many people didn't waste any time checking off their holiday gift lists. "This place is packed," Stafford County resident Lori Kasey said as she lugged numerous shopping bags outside Macy's. She'd bought some Heelys shoes and another item that was a secret. Kasey said it took her 20 minutes to find a parking spot.
Flint man gets 18-27 years in 1995 drug slaying
Frazier was 17 when he surrendered to police days after the June 1995 slayings of Aaron McColgan and James Goff. Frazier was convicted in 1996, but it was thrown out in 2003 because of ineffective legal counsel. He was sentenced on Monday in Genesee County Circuit Court. .
Husseys selected for T20
Michael and David Hussey and have both been named in Australia's Twenty20 squad for the international against India on Friday. The Husseys could become the first brothers to represent the world champions since Steve and Mark Waugh in 2002. Australia claimed a 2-1 victory in the Test series between the nations, but reigning ICC World Twenty20 champions India should provide a stern test. A crowd of up to 90,000 is expected at the MCG and younger Hussey, David, admits the call-up is a surprise, despite a fine season domestically. "I'm nervous about it but excited as well," he said. "To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting it. "When everybody keeps asking 'when are you going to play, when are you going to get picked', it gets on your mind and you start believing it a bit." Mixture The 30-year-old led Victoria to the Twenty20 national title earlier in January, scoring 237 runs at an average of 47.40 and taking eight wickets with his spin bowling.
In Fla., age is an issue for McCain
McCain can talk about the past better than anyone I know." And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in an editorial endorsing McCain, expressed concern about his health and noted his two bouts with melanoma, a serious skin cancer. McCain, who campaigns at least as hard as his rivals, has things on his mind in his closing Florida push other than trying to show people that he's young and vigorous enough to serve. He is trying to show he is conservative enough to command the loyalty of the GOP rank-and-file. To impugn his credentials, the Romney campaign has pointed to reports of his friendship with Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and yesterday labeled him the candidate of the New York Times, which endorsed him Friday. In conservative circles, that's an insult. He is trying to show he is savvy enough to run the economy.
Gizmos find a dog, ungunk your gutter
Above: The iRobot Looj uses stiff brushes and fins to unclog gutters. A remote control runs the unit so you can keep your feet firmly on the ground. Left: Whirlpool's Centralpark refrigerator has a built-in dock for an iPod and PC just above the ice maker. The company said that eventually all of its refrigerators will be equipped with the docking system. .
Valley philanthropist named museum board chairwoman
The National Museum of Industrial History board of trustees has elected philanthropist Priscilla Payne Hurd as its chairwoman.
In the past three years, Hurd has donated $2 million to the effort to build a museum on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel in south Bethlehem.
Hurd, 87, has donated tens of million of dollars in the Lehigh Valley, including to St. Luke's Hospital and to Moravian College, where she also sits on the board of trustees.
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Un-Clogging Outlet Traffic by J. Bell
For the past 18 months, workers have been rushing to rebuild the interchange near the Prime Outlets at Grove City. The 18-million dollar project was funded with federal, state and private dollars. Those involved in the effort formally dedicated the finished product, just a few weeks ahead of their their busiest day of the year: The Christmas shopping season. Shopper Amanda Dunn calls it "Crazy. It's fun because there are a lot of people around but it's kind of a pain in the butt." Mary Jarsic, a customer from the Pittsburgh area recalls, "The traffic's from Eat N' Park all the ways maybe halfway up the parking lot." It usually backs up for miles along I-79. But maybe not this year. Route 208 has gone from three lanes to six. There's now a mile-long slip lane from the Prime Outlets entrance that allows vehicles to continuously flow to the interstate.
The kinder, gentler energy superpower
This government has no Balls, and is weak and more akin to Vichy France then anything coming close to a ruling government. They march goose-step with the imperials in office down south.
Thanks Canada for getting screwed again. Posted 28/01/08 at 1:00 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .
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