Well, isn't this a fine kettle of chowdah? As the actor John C. McGinley says to Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger) in "Platoon" when he's asked to lead a small band into the jungle one more time, "I got a bad feeling about this one, Skip." The Cleveland Indians are, for the third time in these American League playoffs, going to have to send a boy out to do The Man's job. No usual boy, this Fausto Carmona kid, but still a boy when it comes to this grown man's game of major league baseball. On Thursday night, C. C. Sabathia — ostensibly The Man and in the hunt for the Cy Young Award along with his mound opponent, the estimable Josh Beckett — took the hill in a situation that called out, nay, begged for a strong stomach, if not utter brilliance, from two men. One came running, the other didn't even bother to answer the bell.

Councilman MikeK Recalls Knievel Action Figure

I have been a customer for over 25 years and am a bit upset that we are not receiving official records for Kootenai County anymore, but instead for Spokane County. My interest is in Kootenai County and what is happening in our neighborhoods and at our courts. It seems that there is very little coverage of our area by your paper anymore, not what I am wanting to purchase daily. I have conferred with others and they are upset also. Please advise if this is a permanent change and if it is, all I have spoken with will be canceling their subscriptions too.
Sad for all/Jacqui.

Answer: In response to complaints about the disappearance of the Idaho public records in our newspaper, we're working on a solution. We believe we'll be able to publish them in our weekly zoned editions -- the Handle Extra and the Post Falls Voice.

University of Michigan's Zell Lurie Institute Awards $85,000 to ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business today announced the recipients of the 2008 Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream Grant Program and 2008 Michigan Business Challenge award. Grant recipients and award winners were presented with resources in the form of advice and counsel and funding totaling $85,000 for excellence in new business plans and concepts.

Bringing together entrepreneurial-minds from business, engineering, medicine and other departments at the University of Michigan, Dare to Dream and Michigan Business Challenge offer students the opportunity to develop and present their business plans, receive feedback from skilled entrepreneurs and faculty, and be rewarded with funding and support.

Campaigning in hard times

Indeed, in the tight race now unfolding, Democratic strategists exude calm certitude that, barring a catastrophic world event, the Republicans are toast. "All the fundamentals point to the Democrats winning the White House," says veteran party pollster Mark Mellman, who predicted that Michael Dukakis would lose in 1988 even when midsummer polls showed him 17 points up. The reason: a strong Reagan economy.

The calculus isn't always so clear-cut. Consider a few recent exceptions: In 2000 the economy was tipping toward recession - the dot-com stock bubble began bursting in March - but no one thought Al Gore, the incumbent-party candidate and winner of the popular vote, suffered for it. Two years later the economy was still recovering from the 2001 recession, yet President Bush's Republicans enjoyed unprecedented gains in the congressional midterm elections as a new threat, terrorism, trumped economic concerns.

New Clorox(R) Plus(TM) Coldwater Bleach; Conserving Clothes and Energy

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Washing clothes in cold water as a way to save energy and money is a hot topic in households across the country, but the switch from hot to cold often comes at the cost of so-so laundry results and residual stains. Answering America's call for high-performance cleaning in cold water washing, The Clorox Company announced today the nationwide availability of new Clorox(R) Plus(TM) Coldwater Bleach.

"The problem is that most detergents don't perform as well in cooler temperatures -- we have found that you need an extra boost," said Harold Baker, the associate research fellow from The Clorox Company, known as "Dr.