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Archive for November, 2009

Special Session Begins Thursday, More Details Emerge

Senate President Jeff Atwater advised lawmakers Monday to plan be in Tallahassee on Thursday for a special session to deal with rail issues and revealed the specifics of the legislation they will be voting on. Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said the special session, which is expected to continue into next week when lawmakers had scheduled [...]

Some Jobless Seeking Day-Labor

Growing ranks of U.S. citizens are heading to street corners and home improvement store parking lots to find day-labor work usually done by illegal immigrants. The trend is most pronounced in regions where hot construction markets have collapsed, says Abel Valenzuela Jr., a professor of urban planning at the University of California-Los Angeles. “You had [...]

Ouch: West Coast Woes Continue for Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars (6-5) dropped another game on the West Coast by losing 20-3 to the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on Sunday. The 49ers (5-6) snapped the Jaguars’ three-game winning streak with solid play from quarterback Alex Smith, the No. 1 overall pick in 2005. Mistakes were the story of the day for [...]

SunRail Loses Labor Backing

Hopes for broad support – including from organized labor – for a proposal to allow central Florida commuter rail dwindled Friday as a major union said the bill being drafted doesn’t protect railroad workers’ rights. Organized labor had in past years been a major opponent of Florida’s efforts to allow the SunRail commuter rail system [...]

Woods Speaks Out, Questions Still Remain

Tiger Woods, who rarely has shared anything about his personal life during a golf career that has made him the highest-paid athlete in the world, finally broke his silence Sunday about his car crash in the wee hours of Friday morning. The world’s No. 1 golfer said in a statement on his website Sunday that [...]

Weekend Sees Rise in Shoppers

Shoppers took to stores in big numbers over the holiday weekend, but average spending per person fell as they snapped up bargains – trend retail analysts expect to continue through Christmas. The National Retail Federation reported Sunday that Americans spent an estimated $41.2 billion over the holiday weekend, an amount on par with last year. [...]

Bama vs. Florida: Rematch Made in Heaven

Before the season, Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said the Crimson Tide’s proud legacy wouldn’t be restored until the team won a Southeastern Conference title or a national championship. Months later, the resolve is the same. “I think we are exactly where we want to be, exactly where we thought we could be,” McElroy said last [...]

Pats Aim to End Big Easy’s Party

Darren Sharper was trying to describe the atmosphere in the Big Easy as the New Orleans Saints put their 10-0 perfection on the line against the New England Patriots at home today. “It’s like Mardi Gras in November,” the safety said. New Orleans finally has a team worth a Bourbon Street celebration before the playoffs [...]

Coming of Age, Young Wins Again

NASHVILLE – The only thing missing was a Rose Parade. Vince Young had his finest game as a pro Sunday, leading the Tennessee Titans to a 20-17 comeback victory against the Arizona Cardinals that was strikingly reminiscent of the heroics that delivered a national championship to the University of Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl. [...]

Cancer Screenings: More Not Always Better

Women across the USA have been shocked and angered by new advice to get fewer mammograms. Yet experts have been debating the risks of mammograms and other cancer screenings for more than a decade. There’s growing evidence that cancer screenings aren’t always helpful – and can sometimes be harmful, say Lisa Schwartz and Steve Woloshin [...]