15:07:58

Florida Dealer Group Deploys Xtime Software

Xtime, Inc., one of the leading provider of CRM solutions for service operations, recently announced that the Ferman Automotive Group of Tampa, Fla. has committed to a group-wide rollout of Xtime's flagship software product, ServiceCRM.

Xtime's ServiceCRM software combines consumer web scheduling, service BDC automation, advanced shop control and sophisticated service marketing into one complete and unified solution for automotive service departments. By combining these features into one, easy-to-use, affordable system, Xtime gives automotive dealerships the ability to schedule and manage more service appointments per day, increasing profitability through increased customer-paid service.

"Xtimes software makes it easier for the customer to do business with us, over the telephone and through the Web," said Keith Britts, fixed operations director for Ferman.

21:35:20

Spied: BMW's upmarket 1-series twins

We've got another three months before BMW finally launches the 1-series coup茅 at the Frankfurt motor show in September. These spy shots are the clearest yet of the two-door notchback, designed to expand the appeal of the 1-series range when it launches in the USA next year.

The disguise around the rear is hiding 3-series coupe-style lights, and under the covers the bootlid is curved, not flat. At the front there are M3-style air intakes in the bumper and heavily flared wheelarches.

What about an M1?

Speculation has been rife that BMW is working on an M-Division version of the 1-series coupe, and Autocar's sources recently confirmed that a proper, M-badged 1-series is in the pipeline for not-long-after the standard car's launch.

The engine it'll run is still unknown.

16:54:15

Rossi chases record points haul in Britain

LONDON: Valentino Rossi returns to a favourite circuit this weekend for a British Grand Prix that should crown him the all-time leading points scorer in motorcycling's top class.

The Italian needs just nine points to overtake Mick Doohan's haul of 2,298 but he will want the full 25 at Donington Park on Sunday to reel in Casey Stoner, the youngster who could be Australia's next champion.

Ducati's Stoner has a 14-point lead after seven rounds, the 21-year-old seizing his fourth win of the MotoGP season at the last race in Barcelona after holding off a charging Rossi to the chequered flag in a thrilling battle.

The Australian has now won more races in a single season for Ducati than any other rider.

Honda's Dani Pedrosa, dominant at Donington last year from pole position, also promises to be a threat as the little Spaniard seeks to end a 15-race winless streak dating back to that triumph.

Pedrosa is third in the overall standings but now 42 points behind Stoner.

聯Donington is always like my second home race,聰 seven-time world champion Rossi, who has a home in London, said in a Yamaha team preview.

聯It's one of my favourite racetracks in the world and I've had some fantastic victories there in the past, including my first ever 500cc win back in 2000.

聯Even though it hasn't been one of his best tracks in the past, I am expecting Casey to be strong again and Dani won last year so we can expect him to be fighting too,聰 added the charismatic Italian.

Rossi, who broke Doohan's record for career podiums at the last race with his 96th appearance in the top three, has won seven times at Donington in all categories.

With many riders expecting a wet weekend at the East Midlands circuit, Australian Chris Vermeulen could also have a good chance of becoming Suzuki's first winner at Donington since Kevin Schwantz in 1994.

Vermeulen, who qualified second at Donington last year, took his first win in France in May when the heavens opened.

In the 250cc category, champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain is the man to beat with a 36-point lead over Italian Andrea Dovizioso after five wins.

Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi leads the 125cc standings for Aprilia, 13 clear of Spaniard Hector Faubel.

Sunday's race is the first of three in a row in northern Europe, with the Dutch round the following Saturday and then Germany two weeks later.

13:31:56

Close vote likely on fuel economy proposal

WASHINGTON -- The Senate's No. 2 Democrat said today that a coming vote on a proposal to soften legislation calling for aggressive increases in fuel economy mandates would be "very close" and could come down to the level of Republican support.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who opposes the compromise bill, said between seven and nine Democrats were expected to support the measure, including the bill's four Democratic sponsors: Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Carl Levin, D-Mich., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Republicans Kit Bond of Missouri and George Voinovich of Ohio also support the compromise.

Durbin, the majority whip, said "rumors abound" about a compromise between the Pryor-Bond-Levin bill and the Senate energy bill, which calls for a more dramatic increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, mandates.

20:53:26

Verizon and PMS Clan Play Games for a Cause at ScreenBurn Festival

Visitors to the ScreenBurn independent film festival here this weekend can test their online gaming skills against some of the worlds top female online gamers at the Verizon FiOS booth in the ScreenBurn Arcade. Located in the Austin Convention Center, the gaming arcade is free and open to the public on March 10 and 11 from noon to 6 p.m.

Some of the top women gamers in the country - members of the PMS Clan - will take on all opponents at the Verizon FiOS booth (Booth S1) and sell raffle tickets to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas. PMS Clan is the first and largest multiplatform female gaming group.

Verizon also will demonstrate its free, revolutionary online gaming service, PlayLinc, which gives gamers all the tools they need to effortlessly connect, communicate and have more fun playing online.

21:00:48

Be the first to comment!

New media agencies across the U.S. must be rubbing their hands in glee. In a speech at the recent AAAA media conference Mich Matthews, senior vice president of Microsoft's central marketing group, announced that, "We're actually pretty confident that by 2010, the majority of our media mix will shift to digital."According to Advertising Age Microsoft spent $945 million in marketing dollars in 2005 alone. That is a huge amount of money to be pulled from traditional TV and print channels.M. Mathews has heralded in a new marketing epoch they are calling 鈥淭he Era of Customer Participation" where broadcasting to a passive audience is being substituted for customer interaction.TV and print channels aren't, however, being completely ruled out and Matthews insists that they will be retained for tactical roles.

8:23:16

Pogs, Trolls, Giga pets, Skip-it, Pokemon

The days of Giga Pets are long gone, and Pogs may not be available in stores, but most children of the '90s can remember the good ole days when the toys they played with helped them be more creative.

According to students, the toys and games of today are quite different from what they grew up with. Ryan Shaw, a junior in business, said one of his favorite childhood games that isn't played much anymore is "butt ball," a game in which the players throw a ball against a wall and catching it until someone misses a catch. Then the rest get to throw the ball at the backside of the person who missed.

Emilie Thompson, a parks and recreation junior, said some of her favorites were night games. These included classics like hide-n-seek, kick-the-can and flashlight tag. Both Shaw and Thompson agree that many of these games they used to play are becoming extinct.

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11:34:00

New Screens and Details for Meet The Robinsons Video Games

Wilbur Robinson, "Boy from the Future", is set to traverse the timeline later this month in Disney's Meet The Robinsons video game, an off-the-wall adventure in which the crafty Wilbur utilizes an arsenal of cool gadgetry to aid in his travels. New descriptions and screenshots feature a few of the innovative gadgets essential for solving puzzles, defeating enemies and uncovering hidden secrets throughout the wacky Robinson world.

Available March 27, 2007 on all major consoles and PC, Meet The Robinsons is published by Disney Interactive Studios and rated "E 10+" for "Everyone 10+" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

Download the new screens here (40 MB).

Gadget Descriptions:
- Charge Gloves - The game's default gadget, Wilbur uses them to play Charge-Ball, a sport in which one glove generates a ball of energy, and the second glove creates an energy shield.

9:58:45

The Yanks Are Coming!

Today in San Luis Obispo California it is around 70 degrees, and the sun is shining. However, a group of students from Cal Poly have forsaken their homeland to visit a chilly South Wales. They will find that we know how to keep a very warm welcome in the hillsides, and you can do your bit to warm up the welcome by coming to Sardis Road on Friday evening to watch them play rugby against our Youth XV.

Cal Poly is a nationally ranked comprehensive public university, with an emphasis on a "learn by doing" educational experience. This is very much like our own University of Glamorgan (the former Polytechnic of Wales) here in Pontypridd, and in terms of student numbers the two institutions are of a similar size. The similarity doesn't end there. Cal Poly is nestled in the foothills of San Luis Obispo, just minutes up the El Camino Real highway from California's Central Coast beaches.

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Petrofac shows equity flair

This year Petrofac Resources will submit plans for the West Don and Don Southwest oil fields in the North Sea, decide whether reserves at the Cendor field offshore Malaysia warrant a second development phase, and bring onstream the Chergui field offshore Tunisia.

There would be nothing unusual in this if it were not for the fact that Petrofac is primarily an oil industry engineering and services group. Its Resources division was created in 1998 to take equity stakes in selected development projects, the rationale being that it would provide long-term cashflow to a 鈥渓umpy" core business and leverage to win more and bigger engineering jobs.

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Broker tips: Unilever, Tesco, Barclays, William Hill,

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever continued its rally after Citigroup upgraded the shares to buy from hold following Thursdays first quarter results. The broker also raised its price target to 25.5 from 21.3 as maker of Knorr soup and Lux soap posted a pre-tax profit of 1.33bn for the period, up from 1.31bn the previous year as it improved operating margins. Analysts had expected profits of between 1.137bn and 1.245bn. Tesco marched higher Friday as ABN Amro lifted the UK supermarket to buy from neutral and upped its price target to 602p. The broker reckons Tescos intention to do more property deals, unlocking value from freehold assets, was justification enough for the upgrade. Last month the firm reported record full year profits and announced plans to return 3bn to investors from the sale of property assets.

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Going Global Or Staying At Home

Sydney, Apr 27, 2007 (ACN Newswire) - The rise of the Australian dollar doesn't only make foreign travel and imports more attractive, foreign shares, especially ones classified as 'global', have become more interesting to some investors.With our strong dollar we can afford to look at shares in the US and Japan a little more closely, or look at indirect investments offshore through managed funds or through investors, such as the about-to-list Platinum group which has made its money out investing offshore.The head of Strategy at the AMP, Dr Shane Oliver says there is a theoretical case for Australians to have a higher allocation to global shares on a very long term view ."The recent out performance by Australian shares and the loss of their valuation advantage has made the case for global shares a bit stronger."But, he says that on a 3 to 5 year view Australian shares still provide better return prospects than mainstream global shares thanks mainly to the China boom and higher dividends.Here's his thinking...........................Australian shares have outperformed global shares dramatically so far this decade returning 14.2% pa over the last 7 years versus 1% pa from global shares in local currency terms.

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Nikkei dips on Golden Week selling, weak data

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nikkei average lost 0.17 percent on Friday as investors booked profits on tech shares such as Fanuc Ltd. and other gainers ahead of holidays, offsetting gains in automakers that benefited from a weaker yen.

Some investors also shifted funds out of stock futures and into Japanese bond futures after inflation and industrial output data increased doubts about how soon the Bank of Japan will be able to raise interest rates.

Nikko Cordial Corp. gained nearly 3 percent after Citigroup said it secured 61 percent of Nikko's voting stock in a tender bid that expired on Thursday.

The takeover of Japan's No.3 brokerage will cost about $7.7 billion, making it Citigroup's second-biggest deal outside the United States.

With the earnings season nearing its peak, company reports continue to be a major factor in trading decisions.

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FOREX: Ringgit Lower US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar and most major currencies Wednesday as market players continued to buy the greenback to fulfil the commercial demand, dealers said. At the close, the ringgit was quoted at 3.5000/5020 compared with 3.4935/4965 Tuesday. Dealers said the ringgit's current movements were influenced by the recent Bank Negara Malaysia's decition to maintain its overnight policy rate at 3.5 percent. Against the Singapore dollar, the ringgit depreciated to 2.2893/2929 compared with 2.2881/2916 Tuesday and against the yen it fell to 2.9559/9590 from 2.9212/9245 previously. The local unit strengthened against the British pound to close at 6.8452/8521 compared with 6.8637/8717 Tuesday. It declined against the euro to close at 4.6206/6256 from 4.6170/6220 previously.

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Investigators questions BP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional investigators this week asked BP Plc to explain why it plans to delete a key finding from a consultant's report that detailed "budget pressure" as a contributor to the biggest oil spill on the Alaska North Slope last year.

BP wants to remove a finding in a March 2007 report by consultants Booz Allen Hamilton that concludes cost pressures led BP to cancel planned internal inspections of the corroded pipeline that leaked at least 200,000 gallons of crude oil last March, Democratic lawmakers said in a May 10 letter to BP.

Robert Malone, chairman and president of BP America Inc., is expected to testify before the committee on May 16 about the massive spill that eventually spurred the partial shutdown of the largest oil field in the United States in August 2006.

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Silicon Image Announces Upcoming Investor Event Webcast

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Silicon Image, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIMG) , a leader in semiconductors for the secure storage, distribution and presentation of high-definition content, today announced that Silicon Image management will participate in and webcast its presentation at the RW Baird's Growth Stock Conference on May 9, 2007 at 8:40 a.m. PT. The webcast for this presentation will be accessible on the financial events page of the investor relations website at http://ir.siliconimage.com/events.cfm. An archive of the webcast will be available within two hours of the event.

About Silicon Image, Inc.

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Silicon Image, Inc. is a leader in driving the architecture and semiconductor implementations for the secure storage, distribution and presentation of high-definition content in the consumer electronics and personal computing markets.

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Epic helps Train to Gain Skills Brokers meet their standards

3-May-2007 禄 Training Press Releases 禄 Epic are delighted to announce they are working with the Learning and Skills Council on a project, to develop e-learning and resource materials for use by Train to Gain Skills Brokers.

Case studies and simulations have been developed to present challenging situations that allow Skills Brokers to explore the effective practice necessary to meet their standards. The programme uses Epic's highly successful Learn/Apply model, offering learners the opportunity to practice their new skills in a safe environment.

The Train to Gain service is focused on helping businesses improve their productivity and competitiveness by ensuring that staff have the right skills to do the best job.

By completing this e-learning package, Skills Brokers will be able to prepare themselves for assessment and help themselves become licenced Skills Brokers with Train to Gain..

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DGAP-Adhoc: plenum AG: plenum expands its core business and ...

Release of an Ad hoc announcement according to 搂 15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. =--------------------------------------------------------------------------

plenum AG: plenum expands its core business and consultancy capacity

- 36% growth in the core business of Management Consulting versus the previous year - 30% expansion in consultancy capacity in the core business since Q4 2006 - Consultancy expansion affects EBIT in Q1 2007 as expected - Company confirms 2007 prognosis of EUR 26.5 million revenues and EBIT of EUR 0.5 million

Wiesbaden, 15 May 2007 - plenum AG (Prime Standard, ISIN DE 0006901002), a management consulting firm focusing in particular on solutions for strategic task completion for banks, insurance and utility companies, announces its financial figures for the first quarter 2007.

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Stock Market Update - Fri May 11 09:40:01 EDT 2007

[BRIEFING.COM] In the wake of widespread profit taking that pushed the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq down 1.4% on average yesterday, stocks are rebounding right out of the gate. While a sense that yesterday's sell-off was overdone attracts bargain hunters, today's economic data are also providing a floor of early support.

With the Fed recently saying that inflation remains its "predominant" concern, core PPI for April checking in unchanged again has pushed the year/year rate to more tolerable 1.5%. Combine the tame inflation read with a retail sales report that further underscores the slowing economy also welcomed by the Fed and investors are back to believing that a rate cut might be coming sooner rather than later.

NYSE Adv/Dec NA/NA...Nasdaq Adv/Dec NA/NA

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China Raises Foreign-Currency Reserve Requirement (Update2)

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- China's central bank raised the amount of foreign currencies that lenders must keep as reserves, seeking to cool the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Banks must keep 5 percent of their foreign-currency deposits as reserves starting May 15, up from 4 percent, according to a People's Bank of China circular to lenders obtained by Bloomberg News. The increase will remove about $1.7 billion from the economy.

The decision will make less of the $165 billion of foreign- currency deposits as of March 31 available for lending and investment in the stock market, which surged to a record today. It may also ease pressure for appreciation of the Chinese yuan, which has gained 7.5 percent since July, 2005.

``The central bank probably wants to curb excess liquidity and indirectly ease the pressure on the yuan to rise,'' said Guo Zhaoyang, a foreign-exchange analyst at China Everbright Bank in Guangzhou.

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Forex Mid-Day Technical Report Dollar Mildly Lower after ...

Dollar weakens mildly in early US session after disappointing ADP employment report but the move is so far limited. The ADP report, which is usually used as a preview of the NFP, increased 57k jobs only, much lower than expectation of 100k. The US calendar is pretty light today with only Fed's beige book left. Though, Fed Moskow's speech on economic forecasts for 2007 will be watched. After all, traders are still cautiously awaiting main events of ECB meeting tomorrow and NFP on Friday.

Before that RBNZ, will announce rate decision in the coming Asia session and is widely expected to raise rate by 25bps to 7.5%. Despite being on hold in Jan, the accompanying statement delivered a strong message that further tightening is on the way. RBNZ is expected to remain hawkish after this hike as strength in household demand is still considered a serious threat to inflation in medium term by Bollard.

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Oil prices fall below US$62 a barrel on weak crude demand

SINGAPORE (AP): Oil prices retreated below US$62 a barrel in Asian trading Monday following a sharp fall late last week on continued expectations of weak crude demand. Light, sweet crude for June delivery dropped 26 cents to US$61.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midmorning in Singapore.

"It looks like a continuation, a reaction here in Asia, of the very sharp dip on Friday in the U.S.,'' said Tobin Gorey, a commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "Its taken quite a sharp fall on the open of U.S. trade and quite a few people haven't quite caught up yet.''

On Friday, the contract dipped US$1.26 to settle at US$61.93 a barrel.

"With no signs of rise in crude demand any time soon, traders have closed longs,'' said Ken Hasegawa of Tokyo brokerage Himawari CX.

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Festival organisers looking for help as firm pulls out

ORGANISERS of a massive river festival in St Ives have applied for a local kitchen builder or supplier to come forward to help with the event after a DIY firm pulled out.

Focus was to have supplied the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) with kitchen units for a cooking event during the three-day festival over August Bank Holiday but has withdrawn its offer.

Gillian Bolt, from the IWA, said it now hoped another local kitchen supplier or builder would be able to fill the gap.

"We need someone who could provide us with enough to build two workstations and some storage for the chefs to keep their equipment in," Mrs Bolt said.

She said ex-display cabinets would be ideal if a local supplier was changing the stock it had on show.

Mr Bolt said, in exchange for the use of the cabinets, the supplier would be able to have a banner and display at the show.

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SuperDerivatives Opens Mumbai Office and Data Center to Support

SuperDerivatives, the benchmark for options and leading derivatives solution provider for option pricing, independent revaluation, trading and risk management systems, today announced the opening in Mumbai of a sales and support office, together with a dedicated data center, to support the company's rapidly expanding customer base in India.

The new regional office and extended local team will provide sales, support training and professional services to the hundreds of SuperDerivatives users coming from both the private and public sectors. These include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Forexserve, Greenback Forex, Bharti Airtel and Essar Group. The Mumbai office is an new addition to SuperDerivatives' long established APAC offices in Singapore and Tokyo and future planned office locations in Hong Kong, Sydney, Bangkok and Seoul.

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Woman Dies In Car, Bus Collision On Ala. Highway

Police in Montgomery, Ala., said a car went the wrong way on a divided highway and collided head-on with a Greyhound bus early Saturday morning.

The woman driving the car was killed and 20 people were injured.

Passengers, forced to crawl out windows, describe panic on the bus after the accident.

The crash jammed the bus door shut, as the car sat smoking.

Passenger Clint Cannon said, "People were screaming. They were handing babies out the windows. It was a frenzy."

Cannon also said the bus driver did all he could to avoid the crash. He described the driver turning left and right, only to have his moves matched by the oncoming car.

Greyhound said the bus was carrying 49 passengers and two drivers when it left the Montgomery terminal.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Cellphone-blocking Clarins Expertise 3P skin care wafts into the ...

We're always wanting that skin to glow around the virtual office here, but never would we suspect that "Artificial Electromagnetic Waves" could be hurting us. While the merits of studies that show radiation from wireless handsets harm or don't harm humans are far from final, it's pleasing to know that anti-cellphone skin care is close at hand. In addition to those cheaply made "anti-radiation" stickers that go for about 10 cents these days, the new Expertise 3P skin care product from Clarins will -- get this -- protect you from "Artificial Electromagnetic Waves." We're not sure how one determines if certain RF emissions are "artificial" or not, but nonetheless this new skin care product features a "Magnetic Defence Complex" that protects skin from the effects of "Artificial Electromagnetic Waves" and also has an "Anti-Pollution Complex" that contains White Tea and Succory Dock-Cress.

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DMV employee charged in license fraud

REIDSVILLE 鈥?An employee with the state Division of Motor Vehicles was charged Wednesday with selling fake driver's licenses, authorities said. Gee Annette Holloman, 48, and her husband, Vicente Munoz Trujillo, 38, are accused of selling driver's licenses to two undercover officers on March 16, authorities said. On Tuesday,detectives executed a search warrant at the couple's home at 2501 Friends Ave. in High Point. Located in the residence were numerous licenses, birth certificates, passports, Social Security cards and other documents believed to be used in the case, authorities stated. Holloman is charged with two counts of obtaining property through false pretenses and two counts of wrongfully issuing a driver's license. Trujillo is charged with two counts of obtaining property through false pretenses and aid/abet the wrongful issue of a drivers license.

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BY MIKE SULLIVAN

NORTH AURORA -- One of life's most frustrating -- and expensive -- propositions is getting your car to the shop for regular maintenance. Or worse -- getting your car repaired.

But a new company says beleaguered motorists no longer need rely on the phone book or an Internet search to determine which shop will give them the best price and most responsive service.

Ianauto.com (International Automotive Network+auto) has arrangements with professional mechanics who provide online estimates for needed repairs in just a few minutes, says Drew Turnbaugh, president.

He says he dreamed up the concept a few years ago. Last year, with the help of a silent partner, Turnbaugh got financial backing from business developers and rolled out Ian Auto.

Turnbaugh left his previous job, staffing and training of people for the mortgage industry, in order to devote more time to his company, based in North Aurora.

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Off The Menu: Make Time for Thyme

Marie Graham grew up in her grandmothers restaurant kitchen in San Leandro, and now shes playing in her own kitchen restaurant, appropriately titled, Thyme to Eat.

The name might as well be time to play since thats what this 48-year-old has been doing ever since she opened her cafe doors a little over a year ago.

I love to cook, its in my blood. And I love to talk, so everyone at the restaurant has a hard time shutting me up! says Graham, of Danville, who recently celebrated her one-year anniversary at the very place her life-altering career decision took place, Sakuras in San Ramon.

We celebrated with sushi and sake, she says.

Before pots and pans took over, Graham worked as an insurance agent for State Farm, while helping her husband, Michael, run his auto repair business.

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Your car insurance rate can go down, if you shop

The typical American driver will pay less for auto insurance this year than in 2006, according to the Insurance Information Institute. This is the first decrease in insurance premiums since 1999.

But the average annual cost for car insurance is still a hefty $847 (it was $851 in 2006).

There are ways to bring down your costs:

• Shop around for insurance quotes. Get estimates from at least three places.

• Consider insurance costs when buying a car. Some cars just cost more to insure.

• See if buying your homeowners and auto insurance from the same company is cheaper.

• Raise your deductible. But be sure you can afford to pay it if you have an accident.

• Ask for discounts.

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State Farm gives out dividends

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. announced Thursday that slightly more than 1 million policyholders in Missouri will receive a share of $21.8 million in dividends. State Farm will distribute $1.25 billion nationwide.

Each policyholder in Missouri will receive 7.3 percent of their semi-annual premium, an average of $22 per vehicle insured, a State Farm press release said.

Tia Lindell, a State Farm spokeswoman, said the dividend was a result of fewer losses than the company anticipated when it estimated premiums last year as well as a higher return on its investments.

The last time State Farm paid out dividends was in 2000.

Lindell said because it is a mutual fund company, the dividends pay directly to policyholders.

Our policyholders are like our stockholders, she said.

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Pentagon transcripts: Suspected Nine-Eleven mastermind confesses during hearing

WASHINGTON The man believed to be the mastermind of Nine-Eleven is said to have confessed to the attack and others.

That's according to court documents from a military hearing held for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (HAH'-leed shayk moh-HAH'-med) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

According to transcripts released by the Pentagon, Mohammed claimed responsibility for planning, financing, and training others for a list of attacks. They ranged from the 1993 attack at the World Trade Center to the attempt by would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.

In all, Mohammed said he was responsible for planning 29 individual attacks, including many that were never executed.

Some information on the transcripts was blacked out.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

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Bus life: The other side of college sports

It is 11 hours of red dirt, flat land and two-lane highways from Texas A&M-Kingsville to Eastern New Mexico, and the best way to do it is by night. This is where they separate the shoe deals from the Hardee's meals, on a crowded bus with 40 college athletes, a driver named Pete and snoring giants.

This is life on the road in small-college athletics.

"You learn a little more about the guy sitting across from you or next to you," said D.R. Coleman, a fullback at Kingsville. "It makes you appreciate them more."

The bus carrying the Bluffton University baseball team that crashed early Friday morning in Atlanta could have come from almost any school, any sport, anywhere -- Kingsville, Texas, or Hanover, Ind., or Bellevue, Neb. A bus is the mode of transportation for the majority of money-strapped small-college programs that don't fall under the letters BCS.

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Women take the wheel in car buying

When Jennifer Schwanberg graduated with a doctorate in clinical psychology last year, she felt a reward was in line.

"I just decided as a graduation present to myself I would get a new car," she said.

She knew what she wanted: safety, high gas mileage, a five-speed transmission and a sunroof. The 54-year-old St. Cloud woman found it last month in a 2007 periwinkle Forester

With increasing numbers of women staying single longer, working outside the home and earning higher wages, more women are taking control of the car-buying experience.

"I see more women involved because there is a lot of independence and shared decision-making with relationships," said Patty Yarbrough, owner of McKay's Family Chrysler Jeep Dodge in St. Cloud. "It's been going on for years."

National statistics now show women buy 50 percent of new cars and 48 percent of used cars.

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Clijsters plays Key Biscayne for the final time

KEY BISCAYNE – One more Key Biscayne before she retires later this year. One more trademark split as she races to her forehand corner to retrieve a ball.

And, of course, before Kim Clijsters departs this place for the last time, one more hug for the woman handing out towels in the locker room, for the security guards she has befriended over the years, for the drivers who get players back and forth to their hotels and for a great number of other people at the Sony Ericsson Open, who are annually amazed that one of the world's finest tennis players could care this much about ordinary people.

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Haryana reduces CST on cars

Chandigarh, March 31: The Haryana government Friday reduced central sales tax (CST) on Maruti cars and vehicles from three per cent to two per cent with effect from April 1, 2007 on the basis of the representations made by Maruti Udyog Limited.

A decision to this effect was taken by the state cabinet in its meeting held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, an official spokesman said.

It was decided to reduce rate of CST on inter state sale of cars, vans including gypsy jeeps manufactured by Maruti Udyog Limited to any registered dealer on production of prescribed declaration in form "C" from three per cent to two per cent with effect from April 1, 2007, the spokesman said.

Bureau Report

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Wyoming wins attendance battle

BROOKINGS - The decision makes dollars and sense, yet South Dakota State University associate athletic director Rob Peterson couldn't help but wonder if he made a misstep in the bidding process.

After selling out Frost Arena for their first two WNIT games, breaking the program attendance record twice in six days and bringing organizer Triple Crown Sports the second and third largest turnouts of the tournament, how could the Jackrabbits be sent on the road for Sunday's quarterfinal?

"I asked them if there was anything that we did that would have prevented it and they said obviously not, they loved the atmosphere, they watched the game online last night and said it was incredible," Peterson said of Triple Crown, which receives both the bid and a portion of any profits from WNIT games.

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Turn Lukewarm Leads into Loyal Customers

Zag Inc.'s CEO shows dealers how to use patience, consistency and some common sense to turn up the heat on those lukewarm online leads.

Sure, you'd rather be able to feed your sales team hot leads of ready-to-buy consumers; people who want appointments for that very afternoon. That's an understandable, even good, strategy. But what about online window shoppers? How do you make the most of "lukewarm" online leads to seed future sales?

The immediacy of the internet means it's easier than ever to find people close to a purchase, since consumers often have similar goals: find what they want and buy right away. Or, in the case of shopping for cars, get as close to the actual transaction as possible while online.

Of course, there are some buyers who know what they want and if you don't have it, they won't be back.

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Chess news

Last November the British parliament passed the Charities bill, which among other things, changed the definition of sport to include physical games such as chess. This mean that chess can now receive government funding and chess clubs and organisations can apply for charity status. Hopefully the same bill will be passed in Ireland. Junior chess The Chess School Polimac is in the final phase of its preparations for the All-Ireland junior championship which will take place in Limerick in April. Around 30 young players aged from 8 to 16 will represent Kilkenny and the Chess School Polimac Kilkenny. This year the teams are very strong in all the age groups and chess coach Darko Polimac is expecting two All-Ireland titles this year for Kilkenny. In the under 12s Robert White and John Courtney will be the favourites.

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5 More Undiscovered Growth Stocks

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CAPS applies user input to rate stocks from one to five stars. So, using CAPS, we're once again going to search for stocks that haven't yet met the threshold for a star rating, that have a minimum $250 million market cap, and that are expected to grow their earnings by at least 15% annually over each of the next five years.

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Cheboygan Catholic made run at State title in 1967

Sports dominated local news on the front page of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune 40 years ago today. Basketball was making top headlines on March 15, 1967.The Cheboygan Catholic Eagles were to journey to Charlevoix to face Ewen in the first step of the state post-season play. The Detroit Free Press predicted the Eagles would defeat Ewen, while The Associated Press forecast a win for Ewen. The game would have a huge Cheboygan contingent, as 1,000 tickets had already been sold in advance through a sale at the Callan Shoe Store. Ewen would prove victorious, defeating Cheboygan Catholic in a 76-54 win. Chris Lindsay led the Eagles in scoring with 19 points, hitting six of 13, most of them from the outside. John Baiers picked up 12 points for the Eagles.Several regional names were on the Northern Lakes League All-Conference team.

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Tension over ECB rate rises

The ECB's forecasts for growth and inflation are based on the premise that the bank's base lending-rate will rise by half a percentage point to 4 per cent during the course of the year. It last rose, to 3.5 per cent, in December.

Most economists expect a quarter-point rise on Thursday and many predict the ECB's governing council will decide a similar increase in May, June or July. A few observers even see rates hitting 4.25 per cent in the latter half of the year.

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Huge Profits Spawn Critics

NEW YORK -- The headline numbers were eye-popping: Allstate reported a record $5 billion profit for 2006. State Farm Insurance's profit climbed 65 percent for the year. St. Paul Travelers' earnings rose sixfold in the fourth quarter; American International Group's rose eightfold.

A year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, profits at the nation's major property-casualty insurance companies soared - and are expected to be strong again in 2007, according to estimates by the A.M. Best Co. rating agency.

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