Fortunately, Gilmore gives voters a responsible and pleasing ballot choice. Gilmore has worked hard to position the city to lure more and better-paying jobs. He has earned re-election.

District 4, Red Stevens. A veteran council member, Stevens is the swing vote on many city issues, responsive to his City Council colleagues and attentive to the needs of city employees. District 4 is hard-pressed on matters of housing, crime and unemployment. Stevens is actively engaged in trying to address those issues. He faces a tough re-election bid against an attractive and engaging opponent, Kenneth Wilson, but Stevens has earned another term.

District 5, Verbon H. Muhammad. This district faces pressing issues of crime, unemployment and housing. It also has a host of pleasing possibilities, with city investment under way along U.S.

Newsmakers: Hulk Hogan says wife's divorce petition caught him 'off ...

Hulk Hogan's wife said in a divorce petition that she wants a share of the family's two multimillion-dollar Florida properties plus alimony and child support for their 17-year-old son.

Celtics' supporting cast just might be good enough

The shot, of course, was up and good.

But what happened?

Just a sturdy weak-side down-screen set by Thomas that immobilized both Duncan and Durant's defender. There was no switch, no help, no nothing.

Another timeout and the Spurs had a plan to tie the game. But what they wound up with was Ginobili executing one of his right-to-left crossovers before flipping a pass to a cutting Fabricio Oberto — who caught the ball on the move and flung up a flipper that missed by a mile.

Fabricio freaking Oberto takes the most important shot of the game?

Wow!

Who are these imposters that look like Spurs, but play like brain-locked stumble-bums?

Vox populi

In a recent column you mentioned Billy Ray Bates. I remember when he dominated the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Hornish can add fatherhood to list of challenges

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

Those emotions magnify for a few drivers. Rookie Sam Hornish Jr. is balancing first-time fatherhood with his move to stock-car racing. J.J. Yeley is seeking to prove that downsizing from Joe Gibbs Racing to a one-car team can revive his career. Jeff Gordon is focusing on a new approach to collect the title that slipped away last year. Kyle Busch is wondering what will happen when he pits for his new team.

To some, a Scottsdale canal; to others, the Riviera

In the Valley, our desperation for oceanfront property has reached a new level entirely. Yes, we worship the swimming pool and consider Rocky Point our own. But who could have imagined that a lowly canal could draw such devotion? In Scottsdale, a section of the mud-colored Arizona Canal has morphed into Destination: Glamazon. Million-dollar "waterfront" penthouses overlook it. Ritzy boutiques line its banks. During the Super Bowl, ESPN broadcasters hunkered down nearby, and reporters used the water as a glistening backdrop. It even has its own posh namesake restaurant, Canal, where you can dine on a $30 lobster sandwich while overlooking a large irrigation ditch and pretend you're feeling an ocean breeze. Isn't it romantic? .

Parrot Introduces Two Innovative Hands-Free Kits at CES 2008: One for ...

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Parrot, a leader in wireless peripherals around the mobile phone, introduced two new innovative and ground-breaking hands-free cell phone systems -- one for drivers of cars and trucks, and the other for motorcyclists.

The Parrot RK8200 is a full-featured Made for iPod(R) FM/AM RDS car stereo that has all the connections necessary to play digital and analog music and that also incorporates a Bluetooth(R) hands-free mobile phone kit.

These highlights brought to you by Parallels

I like watching some sports on TV, even more so now that I have a high-definition TV. Hockey, for instance—I can sit through a game even if I don't care about the teams involved because it's such a fascinating spectacle. I mean, it's not just the skill and coordination required to pass and shoot a puck, but these people are on ice skates the whole time. (And it's interesting to watch a sport where if you get into a little fisticuffs, you get a few minutes to catch your breath instead of being booted from the game altogether.) I also enjoy baseball, especially when I can cheer for the Los Angeles Dodgers or root against the San Francisco Giants.

But when it comes to many other sports, I'm less of a fair-weather fan than just a late-blooming fan. The major tennis events are fun to see in later rounds, after the wheat has separated itself the chaff.

June 2006

Higher) education is at a crisis point, the result of uncontrolled cost increases over the past 20 years that have greatly exceeded the rate of inflation or annual consumer price indexes," the Houston Chronicle observes in an editorial. "Tuition forces parents to pull all-nighters, too," adds Paul Daugherty in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

There should be no higher a priority in our national agenda.