They were studies forecasting a spells out 0. 1% increase in overall prices and a 0. 2% rise minus energy and food. Paychecks continued to shrink. Weekly wages dropped by 2. 5% in September compared with a year earlier, the 12th straight period in which wages have been down. This year, consumer prices have risen at an annualized pace of 4. 5%, faster than the 4. 1% increase for all of 2007. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — Hillary Rodham Clinton chalked up an easy victory in Sunday's Puerto Rico primary, a widely expected win that underscores the advantage she has enjoyed among Latino voters over Democratic rival Barack Obama. Clinton trounced Obama 68% to 32%. Obama remains the front-runner for their party's presidential nomination. Romney has now lost twice, and Clinton, who ran third in Iowa, found New Hampshire a lot tougher than anyone could have anticipated. He was arrested and deposited in a jail cell. --miscelLAnyThe College Football News says that if the investigation of ex-USC football star Reggie Bush for possible NCAA violations results in penalties for the school, "the balance of Pac 10 power could take a drive a few miles north. " A few miles NORTH? Reader David Chan wonders where that would be. Fred Thompson and a cast of lesser-known contenders. "As a matter of political practicality, this is over," said Rich Galen, a Thompson advisor. For McCain, Romney's departure effectively marked the end of a tumultuous struggle for the nomination.

The moment you have a rock band onstage, it makes it clear that Andrew Jackson is going to sing rock songs, and that's OK. "Friedman, who is classically trained, came relatively late to the theater . SB 836 by KuehlFamily leaveWould let workers take unpaid leave to care for adult children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and domestic partners . The Clinton campaign exchanged e-mails with Rome about arranging the arts gathering in Ohio. According to Clinton officials, the campaign has no arts policy committee but instead has opted for what domestic policy advisor Catherine Brown calls "a more organic approach" of reaching out to "Hillary Clinton's many friends who know about her passion for the arts. "Overall, the Democrats' formal responses to ArtsVote are similar in how they parallel the ArtsVote priorities. The Clinton campaign has outlined nothing comparable to Obama's Artist Corps, but it has proposed a Putting Arts in Reach initiative, which would "offset the cost of musical instruments, art supplies, drama equipment, and other things used in arts education for children from low-income communities. "Will such words actually produce programs?Says Burnham: "I've lived long enough to know that platforms mean relatively little when people get in there and find out what is going on . people wanted to eradicate another terrible disease -- they can't be faulted for that. " Indeed not. When the polio eradication campaign began in 1988, the disease killed or paralyzed 350,000 children every year . "World peace is precious to us all," says one character in zombie tones. It was truly the end of the UCLA basketball dynasty. On March 17, 1977, Idaho State upset the second-ranked Bruins, 76-75, in the second round of the NCAA West Regional in Provo, Utah.

"That also tells me, sir, that in the event of a precipitous U. S . Elected officials have complained privately that they can't always tell if the person talking to them is getting paid to sway them on an issue, said David Tristan, the commission's director of program operations. The badge "was never meant as something negative," he said . In a visit with the Women's Caucus on Thursday morning, Michelle Obama delivered a message that she's been honing: Her most important role is mom, and female voters will make the difference in November. "We are going to need you every step of the way," she said . The Getty and a few other art institutions have tested fading of various materials, but the study of feathers is new. "Any time you get in on the ground level, it makes for exciting research," says Keene, observing a computer screen that's tracking the process of an experiment. Pearlstein caught the feather bug when she became a consulting conservator for an upcoming exhibition of Mexican featherwork . MOSCOW — Russia plans to establish a long-term presence in Georgia and one of its breakaway republics by adding 18 checkpoints, including at least eight within undisputed Georgian territory outside the pro-Russian enclave of South Ossetia, a ranking Russian military official told reporters Wednesday. The checkpoints will be staffed by hundreds of Russian troops, the official said, and those within Georgia proper will have supplies ferried to them from breakaway South Ossetia. If implemented, the plan would in effect put under Russian control the border between Georgia and the South Ossetia region, which is seeking independence, as well as a small chunk of Georgia proper. "This is the essence of it," Col Gen.

IT was time -- probably well past time . "We relied on residents to take care of the problem, and that wasn't OK. "--tony. barboza . They are nestled between Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard. Within the gates are enormous mansions -- in Tuscan, French chateau, Spanish and modern styles -- set on large, flat lots of 1 to 3. 5 acres . Ken Seymour, a native Southern Californian. Robert Heded, 32, a Time Warner technician who lives in Culver City, was about 30 feet up a telephone pole at La Cienega and Pico boulevards in Los Angeles when the quake hit. "I just sat there and waited, kinda rode it out," he said a while later as he bought an energy drink at a 7-Eleven, still dressed in his reflective safety vest. The lines were "swaying a lot more than usual, about four feet from side to side," he said . I'm a little disappointed because I haven't run a 200 yet this year, but I have to trust Bobby. "Tyson Gay was the sprint star of the afternoon, where the temperature hit 110 degrees on the track and where the sizzling metal bleachers remained mostly empty, with only 3,508 in attendance. Voters still tend to trust McCain more on international affairs, while they think Obama has better ideas for strengthening the economy. But there are indications Obama is building on his strengths and chipping away at some of McCain's. Perhaps if the donors earmarked the money for a leadership program. Bruce NeckelsStudio CityThe writer is a former PTA president of Walter Reed Middle School. --The folks who complained about the photo of the school being shown during the Republican convention are oversensitive.

I've heard of drivers reading a newspaper, typing on laptops or (those two old standbys) shaving or applying makeup. But the other day I saw a commuter sport that was new to me: playing fetch with a canine passenger. This driver would throw a toy into the back seat, whereupon her poodle would scamper to retrieve it, return to the front seat and jump into her lap . He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics at Swarthmore College in 1943, his master's at the University of Michigan in 1947 and his doctorate at Princeton in 1949. At Princeton, he was a classmate of John Nash, the Nobel laureate in economics who was the subject of the book and movie "A Beautiful Mind. " Nash credited Gale with being partly responsible for the simplicity of the proof of the theorem for which he received his Nobel. Gale spent a year at Princeton as an instructor, then 15 years at Brown University before joining Berkeley in 1966, spending the remainder of his career there. Gale "thought math was beautiful, and he wanted people to understand that," said his daughter Katharine . And it can be especially difficult to strike a deal with a collector who has a fixed idea about how the art should be displayed. In a case dating to 1969, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York landed a collection of nearly 3,000 artworks assembled by one of its trustees, Robert Lehman, by building a wing that emulated his house on West 54th Street, outfitted with the same wall fabrics, draperies, rugs and furniture . Finerman says recovering joints should have the same range of motion as the healthy joints, and the limb should be worked until it regains its full strength . Reporting scandals involving public officials is a leading growth industry in the country. It took 14 months for news of former New York Gov.

Ori Ben-Yehuda, who directs the coronary care unit at UC San Diego Medical Center and was not involved in the study. Ben-Yehuda said the levels of stress recorded in the study were probably less than some other popular activities. "I have yet to see a patient come in with a heart attack after a roller coaster ride," he said . caught a career-high 10 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown reception. at No . County program the year before and the year after they entered the program. The A1c guideline was met by only 28% of participants when they were under traditional medical care . Speaking on Al Iraqiya television, Musawi said one of Dulaimi's guards had committed the killing and then sought shelter in the politician's office compound. Musawi did not accuse Dulaimi of involvement. Dulaimi has been at the center of a number of security scandals . "While disappointed in this outcome, Dow remains committed to its Middle East strategy," the Midland, Mich. , company said. The project, in which Kuwait was to hold a $7. 5-billion stake, had been criticized in the country as a waste of public funds, and lawmakers threatened to question the prime minister in parliament if it was launched. . JERUSALEM AND GAZA CITY — It was graduation day at Gaza City's main police station, and a host of VIPs had turned out Saturday to honor the latest class of Palestinian cadets amid the usual pomp and circumstance. "We were feeling safe and calm," said officer Hussein Ahmad, 24. What happened next has been broadcast repeatedly in all of its chaotic intensity across the Arab world and around the globe. But the final vote count put Diep, 25, a member of the Midway City Sanitary District board, ahead by a few dozen votes, giving him the second-place win. Loomer said Monday that she may seek a recount. Diep's election stands as a milestone for the small, conservative city that has been transformed by Vietnamese refugees into the thriving enclave of Little Saigon. The election once again shows the Vietnamese community's propensity for voting absentee.

After his most recent alcohol-related scuffle -- the latest in a long list of misdeeds -- the NFL suspended him for a month, probably spelling the end of his brief stint with Dallas . Four soccer fields were built, including a large synthetic grass field with floodlights . He later broadcast University of Missouri football games with his father. His baseball broadcasting career began in the 1960s with the minor league Tulsa Oilers and the Atlanta Crackers In 1967, he returned to St . "We will have a currency that we can use for strategic acquisitions and a currency to attract great talent. "Zaslav, a former top NBC Universal executive, has been shaking up Discovery Communications since he took the helm in January . Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday that he planned to veto the state budget passed early that morning by the Legislature, setting the stage for an unprecedented confrontation in California's Capitol. "When they send me the budget, I will veto it," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference here. A budget veto would be a first for modern California. The governor also said that if lawmakers decided to override him -- which they were openly planning -- he would kill most of the legislation they passed this year. "Hundreds of bills will be vetoed," he said. Schwarzenegger had warned lawmakers before they passed the spending plan, which was 78 days late, that he would reject it if it did not include three provisions to ensure the state a reliable rainy-day fund for times of fiscal trouble. New York time when a packed crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium suddenly couldn't help itself. Physically unable to remain seated after a 16-shot rally in the second-set tiebreaker that epitomized the frantic points of a rousing match, New York bolted to its feet for a long ovation of two young women it has known for a decade, but maybe never quite like this. Even the oddity of Venus Williams converting zero of 10 set points simply piled more intrigue onto a match that ended with Serena Williams baffled at how she won their U. S.

Peter's Square, which was made festive with a towering twinkling Christmas tree and, next to it, the Vatican's life-sized Nativity scene. Officials unveiled the Nativity set Monday, revealing the statues of Mary and Joseph, Jesus' parents, in a house-like structure. This year, the scene of Jesus' birth was portrayed in a re-creation of Joseph's Nazareth home rather than the traditional manger in a barn in Bethlehem . They would have to take it off-line before they could do the job. "I'll authorize that," said McDougall, 66, who owns a carpet dying company . That changed in 1978, when the league expanded its regular-season schedule to 16 games . She was wailing and screaming," said Sweeney, who was ordered back in the batter's box, where he feebly struck out "It comes down to you don't want anybody getting hurt . He's a fine storyteller with a real scholar's facility for the apt rather than the showy quotation. Lynch begins by describing three alternate versions of Shakespeare's Stratford funeral "on Thursday, 25 April, 1616. " In one, the cream of the London theatrical scene gathers to bid farewell to their most valued colleague. "A lot of parents use it as a financial training tool for their kids," Bridges said. With so many prepaid options, making a choice can be paralyzing. "I've been looking at plans for a year and a half, and I still can't make a decision," said real estate broker Barbara Solomon of Culver City.

Duncan was kneeling, facing Blake and holding a stethoscope to his chest . Not enough data were available on the water use of a third member, Richard Alarcon, because he joined the council only in March. The officials' water consumption was calculated using two sets of figures: The DWP first provided The Times with the number of gallons used by each official . Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky. ) said he welcomed the opportunity to discuss progress in Iraq. The measure cleared a procedural hurdle, 70 to 24, with 45 Republicans joining 24 antiwar Democrats and one antiwar independent voting to proceed to debate the bill . Italian and Dutch deals have also been made, and it will be auctioned in the U. S and U. K this month. . After all, the hostile takeover at South Bend -- a 27-24 overtime victory for Nebraska that ranks among the low points in Notre Dame history -- occurred under far different circumstances. With Bob Davie as coach, the Irish were suffering one mediocre season after another. Roozrokh did anything that was unethical, illegal, immoral or medically inappropriate. "At a court hearing in February, Schwartzbach argued that his client acted properly when he ordered the pain and anxiety medication. Navarro "was going to die shortly, whether in minutes or in hours," and "in that situation, you err on the side of ensuring that he's pain-free," he said. He also said Navarro may have needed large dosages because he had lived with pain and pain treatments for so long. --ron. lin@ latimes. com.

I wanted to prove that I was tough enough to hang in a tough situation. "Meanwhile, the Russians were facing that time-honored tradition of second-guessing, over the decision to bench the fourth-ranked Davydenko. "I think that our best chances to beat Blake today were with Youzhny out of all the players that we have today," said Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev . But in Kashmir itself, "we have faced a lot of problems. "Last fall, in collaboration with a New Delhi-based arts association, Hussain was able to organize an artists' conference similar to ones that were regularly held here before the political and military turmoil put the arts into a deep freeze . She showed it to her boyfriend, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, and asked if he had ever heard of the character. And, of course, Rodriguez turned out to be a rabid fan of the Marvel Conan comics and Sonja as well . When the product is heated, the moisture evaporates and the gluten becomes rigid, setting texture and structure. Some of the old gluten foods weren't even particularly healthful . The Mile High City is not the optimal place for a player to get his wind back. All the same, Corey Maggette will test it out tonight against the Denver Nuggets. Maggette, the Clippers' leading scorer who returned from a strained right hamstring this week, will have no restrictions on how many minutes he can play. 13, 1946. Quoteworthy: "We looked terrible today, real terrible. " -- Roy Williams, Lions wide receiver.

That's not what happens here. "The public is smart enough to know that sometimes there are violations of those rules . My daughters asked if there was anything in the home I wanted, and, of course, it was only this painting . Among them are a beautifully wrought tree stump, a dagger (with a small self-portrait cleverly reflected in the blade) and what may be the most remarkable sculpture of a dead bird you will ever see . An immediate pullout from Iraq would be a victory for Iran, a regime that has declared its ambitions to wipe Israel off the map and establish a caliphate throughout the Middle East . Use the arms to propel the body upward and strive for a full-body extension if making a long jump.