| Parents maintain vigil for Army son captured in Iraq three years ago
BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) - Yellow ribbons across Sgt. Matt Maupin's hometown are constant reminders. Fundraising events in his honor draw overflow crowds. Soldiers back home relay details of the ongoing search for him in Iraq.These are the signs of support and hope that keep Maupin's parents going three years after he was captured in an insurgent attack on his Army convoy.Keith Maupin said he took comfort hearing from the father of a military interrogator in Iraq who said detainees are asked if they know anything about his missing son."He said, 'These guys are not going to give up on Matt. Their mission is to stay focused on finding Matt and get all the information they can out of these detainees,"' Keith Maupin said. "That made me feel good."The Army won't confirm that detainees are questioned about Maupin."We don't talk about what we are or aren't doing," Lt.
A convenient truth about Melissa Duvall : She wants to make the ...
Melissa Duvall is up front about being a tree hugger. The 17-year-old Broadneck High senior's life, like many area residents, is entwined with the outdoors: she's hiked outdoors, played sports on county ball fields and swum in local waters and pools. She likes her planet clean and green. Last year, the Arnold teen - related to a long line of Duvalls who settled in the area centuries ago - founded the high school's Outdoor Environmental Club. Instructor Nancy Bourgeois is the club's adviser. The club's mission is "to promote awareness and enjoyment of the natural world and to plan and implement environmental service projects."
Its 20 student members learn about the environment in myriad hands-on projects, including strengthening recycling efforts inside the school and raising baby bay grasses in tubs under grow lamps for replanting in local coves.
BigBand Goes Public
BigBand Networks made loud and sweet music at its debut as a public company on Thursday as the cable network-switching company's share price jumped more than 25 percent shortly after the market opened. In what will be a closely watched IPO, BigBand priced its shares at $13 late Wednesday, a beat above its expected IPO price range of $10 to $12. The performance of BigBand's stock will give observers some indication of investors' attitudes toward telecommunications equipment suppliers in the post-bubble era. So far, so good. The market has already shown what it thinks of one telecommunications services company. Clearwire, a wireless service supplier, went public last week and saw its stock tumble almost immediately (see Did Clearwire Hurt WiMAX?).
Problems remain in frozen N. Korean funds despite US optimism: source
SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- Despite a recent U.S. announcement that it has found a way to release North Korea's frozen funds at a Macau bank under U.S. restrictions, the financial issue will continue to hamper the denuclearization of the communist nation, a source close to the international talks on ending the North's nuclear program said Sunday.
"Basically, nothing has changed," the source said while asking not to be identified.
The North Korean funds, about US$25 million in total, were frozen in late 2005 when the U.S. blacklisted a Macau bank, Banco Delta Asia, on suspicions of being a front for Pyongyang's illegal activities, such as counterfeiting and money laundering.
Washington agreed last month, amid a new round of six-nation talks in Beijing over the North's nuclear ambition, to release all of the North's frozen funds via a North Korean account at a Chinese bank.
US Housing Market - All Foreclosures, All Subprime, All the Time
At the risk of being all subprime, all the time, this week we look at what I think are the real risks for the economy as a result of the subprime debacle. How can one side say it is a contained risk (and in one sense it is) and not a problem for the economy while another side says it will drag the US into a recession and thus be a drag on the world economy? The answers will give us a handle on the whole issue, as we look at how the problem developed. But first, let me correct an error. Last Monday in my Outside the Box, we used a brilliant piece of work from Dr. Woody Brock on why we need more derivatives and that the real problem in the derivatives market is not the size of the market. If you did not read it, you should.
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Fonterra sees world as land of milk and money
Prices for milk and skim milk powder are as high as they've ever been, but the changing face of the world dairy industry means Fonterra is increasingly looking overseas for new supply. Andrew Janes reports. It is a far cry from the early 1990s when the New Zealand dairy industry's main concern was where it was going to sell its so-called white wall of milk. Back then the conversation was about whether New Zealand would be better off producing less milk, says Fonterra head of strategy Graham Stuart. "We even looked at disposing of butterfat by burying it or burning it in boilers. In the end we sold it to Russia, though we didn't get much money for it." Times have certainly changed. Today international prices for whole milk and skim milk powder are the highest they have ever been.
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