| Costs in Chinese factories rising, cheaper markets eyed
The higher costs mean Western consumers are bound to face steeper prices for iPods, TVs, tank tops and many other imported products made by small Chinese subcontractors. "Americans continue to want to buy at lower prices," said Kevin Burke, president and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association. "They are used to going to the store during Christmas and getting something cheaper than a year ago." That's no longer a sure thing. For instance, American toy makers, who rely heavily on Chinese factories, expect prices to increase 5 to 10 percent for the 2008 holiday season, largely because of rising manufacturing costs. Costs in China are climbing nationwide, but the greatest pain is being felt in the south, where about 14,000 Hong Kong-run factories could close in the next few months, said Polly Ko of the Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong, which neighbors Hong Kong.
MLB Commissioner Selig to Speak at Bethany College Graduation
Miller said Monday. ‘‘As the state's oldest private college, Bethany has been a small college of national distinction,'' Miller said. ‘‘It is fitting and proper that our graduates have the opportunity to hear firsthand from the leader of our national pastime.'' Selig was elected the ninth commissioner of baseball on July 9, 1998, by a unanimous vote of the 30 Major League Baseball club owners. Credited for keeping baseball in Milwaukee, Selig, a Milwaukee native, was the team owner and president of the Milwaukee Brewers prior to being becoming commissioner. After the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta in 1965, Selig founded Teams Inc. The group, which later changed its name to The Brewers, was an organization dedicated to returning Major League baseball to Milwaukee. In 1970, a Seattle bankruptcy court awarded the Seattle Pilots franchise to Selig and his investors.
Police log: Home electronics, camera gear taken in break
METHUEN — Thieves broke into a Vincent Avenue home and ransacked it before leaving with assorted home electronics, camera gear and two bicycles, police said. Officers were sent to the home at 5:58 p.m. Wednesday and spoke to the owner who told them he had left for work about 7:45 a.m. and returned about 5:45 p.m. to discover the house had been broken into. Police could find no sign of forced entry but did find two unlocked windows which they said they believe could have been used by the thieves to gain entry. Taken in the break were an Apple Mac Mini Man computer, 20 to 30 DVDs, a Panasonic camcorder, a Fuji digital camera, an Olympus 35 mm camera, and two bicycles. Both bicycles were recovered on Emsley Terrace. The following were taken from area police logs for Wednesday: Methuen Arrest: Richard O'Connor, 34, 6 Anthony Drive, Londonderry, N.H., driving while under the influence of alcohol, 108 Howe St., 2:08 a.m.
I'm hungry
My four-year-old daughter, Danni, is home with the flu. I'm home with her, thanks for nice, understanding people above me. She doesn't do well with the stove, so my wife and I have decided it's best if there is always an adult with her. Today is an anomaly, she is still sleeping and it is 10 a.m. Most mornings she's up before 7 a.m. whispering in my ear, "Dad ... dad ... DAD ... do you want to play?" Last night my wife, Laura, slept in the same bed as Danni to comfort her. My wife gets automatic entry into heaven for that. This isn't normal for us, we insist she sleep in her own bed, by herself. Anyone that has slept with a small child knows that as soon as they fall asleep they grow. It's amazing, my 41-inch-tall daughter can grow to over 6-feet and 500 pounds when in bed with her. She could take up two-thirds of a California King.
'Pod People
New eras can reveal themselves in the oddest ways. A revelation came to me at a recent Los Angeles screening of an animated feature for kids. As soon as the lights went down and the first sequence filled the screen -- a huge curved expanse in one of the city's last remaining single-screen movie palaces -- a young mother sitting with two kids near me pulled out a pair of earbuds, stuck them in her ears and started watching her own show on her iPhone. I couldn't tell what it was because her screen was so small, but it didn't matter. Watching her fixated by whatever wee spectacle it was, I thought I could see the death knell -- can you see a knell? In this case yes -- of theatrical exhibition as we know it. The YouTube generation has already begun to lose the theatergoing habit, this mother's semipresence notwithstanding, and has embraced the notion of video on iPods and cellphones, as well as on computers.
Hip-Hop Rumors: Lil' Wayne Engaged? Ashanti Talks Nelly/Irv! Ghostface ...
I hope somebody started this gaudy rumor just to get to me. After being seen at a basketball game, bossip is suggesting strongly that Wayne and Lauren London are engaged! No way do I believe this! There is also talk of a huge rock on her ring finger. That may be factual, since she is a star, but that doesn't mean Lil Wayne copped it. I'm gonna keep the faith like Biggie!
I ain't gonna lie…my heart is hurting a lil' bit here. I'm going to throw this stuff up and get back to the rumors in a few. Lauren, why? Why!
RODNEY KING IS HARD!
Rodney King gets shot in the face and rides his bike. What! Anyway, check out a summary of what Rodney King must contend with over a decade after LAPD tore him down.
Parking deck planned for Chastain Park
The Atlanta City Council's community development/human resources committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a master plan for the city's largest park and one of the region's most popular concert venues. About 1 million users visit Chastain each year, park management officials say. The plan will likely go before the entire City Council on Monday for a vote. The deck —likely three levels— would be located next to the park gymnasium, about a quarter-mile south of the ampitheater. Chastain Park Conservancy leaders said the proposed deck would be covered by trees, which they say has allayed some concerns when the plan was presented to each of the city's 26 neighborhood planning units in recent months. "Some wondered why [build a deck] and others said 'Have you been there?' " said Mark Root, the conservancy's executive director.
Holmes Improvement
Being in Florida, I really don't get to come home." Holmes' journey to the Hytche Center on Monday was a long time coming. It all started back in high school, when during a senior season that saw his team fall in the state semifinals, then-UMES coach Larry Lessett made a halfhearted recruiting effort to get him to play for the Hawks. "Some of the staff and faculty members turned him on to a couple of us local kids," Holmes said. "Aaron Wyatt [of Stephen Decatur] and I came out the same year of high school. He talked to both of us, but I think it was more of a thing where he thought I better talk to these kids because of outside pressure, because he never saw me play. Not once." Holmes did have some problems with his grades and thought about prep school, but ended up taking the junior-college route.
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