| From ho-ho-ho to just so-so
In the first weekend of this month "whoever came spent more than they normally would," Wiegand said. There is mixed sentiment among consumers about spending this holiday season in the Roanoke Valley. While the national picture for spending so far this Christmas is bleak, some Roanoke area retailers are reporting a mixed bag. For some, holiday sales are higher compared with last year. For others, sales could use a pick-me-up. Nationally, spending for the holidays is slower than in years past. Based on results from ShopperTrak, which monitors traffic at the nation's malls and retail locations, traffic was about 4.7 percent less during the last week of November compared with the same week last year. And a report Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers said sales at chain stores rose only 0.2 percent during the week ended Dec.
Wisconsin/Illinois briefs
HARVEY, Ill. -- Authorities in the southern Chicago suburb of Harvey say a 15-year-old boy died after a fire engulfed his family's home there early Friday evening. The blaze also displaced seven people. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office has identified the dead youth as Larry Powell. Harvey police spokeswoman Sandra Alvardo says that when firefighters arrived on the scene they found the house fully engulfed in flames. The burning house was completely destroyed, but firefighters managed to keep the fire from spreading to neighboring houses. Another Cook County death blamed on cold CHICAGO -- The death of an elderly Chicago-area resident is being tied to the cold. The Cook County medical examiner's office says 69-year-old Rosella Ehrlich fell in her Park Forest home and suffered hypothermia.
U.S. courts consider legality of laptop inspections
Henri from Montreal posted this. I have news for you Henri! This is no longer true since a US Citizen named Jose Padilla was arrested and convicted on THINKING of attacking the US. Oh, I can hear you all screaming that it happened to him because he's a Muslim terrorist. Well, I have more news for you all. There's something out there called "THE PATRIOT ACT" that nowhere in it's body mentions the word "terrorist". Which means, very clearly by the way, that it can be used against anybody for any reason. And please don't come crying with the "Constitution" thing… The Patriot Act abolished the Constitution, believe it or not. .
Coming Soon: SR to Release E-mail Exchanges ... (Not so fast...)
Update: After reviewing the messages and our options (none good), we've decided not to post the messages. Here's the situation: Of the 50 messages, a few have explicit photos embedded in the message. We can't publish those photos (one shows a toddler's penis). We also have a strong ethical policy against blurring or otherwise manipulating photos. Some of the messages are completely innocuous. The rest of the messages only refer to attachments. Those attachments are explicit, so we can't publish them. We've also gone through each message to blur e-mail addresses for privacy reasons. So, if we don't publish any of the explicit images, and we refuse to blur, crop or otherwise alter them, all we're left with is a bunch of forwarded messages that say things like "take a look at this!" We decided that did not advance the story in any significant way.
Walker Valley b-ball sweeps Cleveland
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EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
PUBLISHER'S NOTICE: All real estate advertised in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Tennessee Human Rights Act which makes it illegal to advertise "any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap / disability, familial status, or national origin or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination."
This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis.
Merkel: No Reason For Pessimism - Web Site
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel sees no reason for pessimism despite recent financial market turbulence, she says in a podcast released on her Web site Saturday. According to Merkel, Germany shows all the prerequisites for continued robust growth in 2008, although growth will likely slowdown somewhat compared to last year. She points out many companies have full order books and unemployment is expected to continue sinking in 2008. She says the lesson to be learned from the turbulent financial markets is that greater transparency is needed for new financial instruments. Government Web site: http://www.bundesregierung.de -Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 49-69-29725-500. (END) Dow Jones Newswires January 27, 2008 08:40 ET (13:40 GMT) Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Bay Area Vista
Market St., between St. John and San Carlos Call: Son Nguyen, 408-292-8283
Visit at http://www.vsfsanjose.com American Diabetes Association Diabetes Expo Author, Bo Caldwell joins us to discuss her current projects including her work with her book, "The Distant Land of My Father," as the featured work of the Silicon Valley Reads program. "The Distant Land of My Father" by Bo Caldwell will be the subject of numerous programs throughout Santa Clara County in February 2008, when readers throughout Silicon Valley are asked to read the same book, at the same time, and discuss it. This will be the sixth year of Silicon Valley Reads, which is co-sponsored by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, Santa Clara County Library, and San Jose Public Library Foundation.
Hardware High-Def Sales Tip Towards Blu-ray Disc Following Warner ...
The Invasion (Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig) was originally slated for a January 29 release on both formats, but now the HD DVD version has been pushed back three weeks to February 19. The Blu-ray Disc version retains the original January 29 date. An even bigger delta will hit The Assassination of Jesse James (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck), which will release on HD DVD on March 19, while the Blu-ray Disc will street on February 5. Even older movies from Warner's catalog will see a staggered release. Twister (Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton) will touch down on Blu-ray Disc on May 6, with the HD DVD version on May 27. The late May release for Twister could grant it with the trivia of being the first DVD pressed and last HD DVD released from Warner Bros. .
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