GM's new world order

Five developing-nations assembly plants -- including Blue Macaw - set the mold for a new global manufacturing process.

General Motors is creating a new global manufacturing process intended to eventually bring a new level of uniformity, efficiency and savings at its assembly plants worldwide. Top GM executives tell AI the company will roll out the new common-process manufacturing and management systems at all its existing assembly plants over the next few years as the plants undergo major model changes or renovations AI has also learned that the program will include GM's revolutionary "Blue Macaw" plant in southern Brazil.

The strategy will eventually allow GM to move …

Moderately strong quake jolts Japan; no reports of damage or injuries

A moderately strong earthquake shook Tokyo and its environs on Saturday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage, officials said.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said no tsunami warning was issued.

The magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck at 4:49 p.m. (0749 GMT) and was centered off the coast of Ibaraki, about 90 miles (140 kilometers) north of Tokyo, the agency said. The quake was felt in the Japanese capital.

A police spokesman in Ibaraki said there …

Fifth 'double-dipping' case goes to court: ; Officer pleads not guilty to defrauding mall

Charleston policeman Cpl. Keith Peoples faced a Kanawha Circuitjudge and was the fifth officer to be charged with what many havetermed "double dipping."

Visibly shaken, an emotional Peoples entered a plea of not guiltyTuesday to computer fraud and obtaining by fraudulent schemes. Hewas indicted by a grand jury last month of defrauding CharlestonTown Center Mall of at least $1,000 between January 2000 and August2004.

Peoples, 44, is a well-known officer on the force, particularlyin the black community. He is also a frequent witness in criminalcases.

He appeared at his hearing out of uniform, wearing a suit. Heresponded quietly to questions from the judge. He …

Savvy shoppers use smart shopping strategies

Countless closet doors have been slammed shut with the exclamation "I have nothing to wear!" That's because too often, shoppers fill their closets without really filling their wardrobe needs. This was recently demonstrated by a survey that showed most shoppers don't have a clear shopping strategy.

In response, the pros of the Woolite Fashion Forum have literally "written the book" on smart shopping with Shop Talk, The Fashion Lover's Guide To Savvy Shopping. This free, eight page booklet offers solutions to many purchasing issues, such as how to spot true bargains, how to care for clothes, how to find clothes that flatter your figure, and how to work new garments into your …

United States sweeps 10k races at Pan Pacific meet

LONG BEACH, California (AP) — Americans Chip Peterson and Christine Jennings won the 10-kilometer open water races at the Pan Pacific swimming championships.

Peterson won the men's race in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 2 seconds Sunday at Marine Stadium, home of the 1932 Olympic rowing competition.

Richard Weinberger of Canada led with two kilometers to go, with Peterson and teammate Fran Crippen in close pursuit. Peterson broke out first and out-touched Crippen and Weinberger at the finish.

Crippen took the silver in 1:56:02.74, while Weinberger earned the bronze in 1:56:02.98.

"I know the Americans the best and they were all behind me so I was thinking if I can get in the …

Landmark overhauls may not help Democrats at polls

Anxious and angry, Americans are not in a congratulatory mood. That's bad news for President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies.

After winning a landmark health care overhaul earlier this year, Obama now stands on the brink of seeing Congress approve the most far-reaching overhaul of Wall Street regulations since the 1930s. Democrats aim to put it on his desk by July 4.

Yet with the economy still wobbly and the stock market retreating, Americans remain nervous about the possibility of a double-dip recession. They have seen few concrete benefits yet from the slow-to-unfold health care law. Likewise, it may be some time before Obama can point to results from …

Dunbar Council hears complaints, Man says others interfering with access to river

Dunbar City Council heard concerns voiced by a city property ownerwho is having trouble accessing a riverbank dock and land at the endof 13th Street. David Turner, who has since moved from the city,still owns property purchased at the end of 13th Street along theKanawha River in 1985. "Every time we've attempted to ingress oregress from the property, the police have been called," Turner toldcouncil members Monday.

Steps to his dock were torn out by people whom he believes arelocal residents, he said.

Turner said it was important that he and other friends have accessto the property. They dock several large boats there, one of which isthe temporary and soon to be …

Hillman ready for new challenges in Kansas City

Even though Trey Hillman's departure from Japan was less than perfect he's ready for the next challenge as manager of the Kansas City Royals.

Hillman managed his last game in Japan on Thursday when his Nippon Ham Fighters were on the losing end of a perfect game in the finale of the Japan Series.

The 44-year-old Hillman had never played, coached or managed in the majors. But he was successful as a minor league manager, and the Fighters played in the Japan Series for the second consecutive year after winning Japan's version of the World Series in 2006.

Hillman rejects the notion that his lack of major league experience will be a problem.

…

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1756–1791

Composer
Musician

Early Genius.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's father described him as "the miracle which God let be born in Salzburg." Leopold Mozart, a well-educated musician, devoted great energies to nurturing and promoting the talents of his son, whose musical genius manifested itself very early. Playing the harpsichord at the age of four and composing by the time he was five, Wolfgang quickly became a star attraction. His father took him on a three-year European performing tour, with his older sister Maria Anna that began when he was only seven. He excelled as an organist and violinist as well as at the harpsichord, and later would turn to the piano. The tour helped expose Mozart to the musical styles in all parts of Europe, and so aided the development of his own style as a composer. In 1764 at the age of eight, he performed before King Louis XV of France, and traveled with his father to London, where he composed his first symphonies, and published a set of violin sonatas. In London he also met Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. After the family's return to Salzburg in 1766, …

Zac Efron can't part with his flat iron? How gay!

Billy Masters

"I masturbate a lot!"

- Ernest Borgnine tells his secret for looking so young. And here I thought he used Tova's youthful elixir. Kinda makes you wonder what her secret ingredient is.

In the dozen or so years that I've written this column, I'd like to say I'm proud to have never been sued. But, that actually pisses me off - imagine what a lawsuit would have done for my career! Over the years, four people have threatened, but those threats were never followed-up. First was Noah WyIe, who called me a "gossipmonger" in the tabloids (which sounds like grounds for me suing him). There was a Mr. Hotlanta whose name escapes me (Google it) who threatened to sue …

AP Interview: US senator says bankruptcy provision unlikely, but mortgage rules may tighten

Democratic efforts to let bankruptcy judges rewrite mortgages for strapped borrowers won't make it through Congress this year, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said Tuesday.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank told The Associated Press in an interview that the only thing lawmakers can do to get lenders to help struggling homeowners avoid slipping into default is to threaten the lenders with tougher regulation in the future.

"The only other thing we can say to them is, 'If you don't do this, then there are going to be tougher rules going forward than there might otherwise have been,'" said Frank, who plans to meet with mortgage …

Naomi Campbell due at Taylor war crimes trial

Having lost her battle to avoid testifying, British fashion model Naomi Campbell is due to give evidence at the war crimes trial of former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor on Thursday.

Campbell will be questioned about claims made by actress Mia Farrow that Taylor gave the model an uncut diamond after a dinner party hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1997. Prosecutors say if that's true, it's evidence that he received diamonds from Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for weapons during that country's 1992-2002 civil war.

On Wednesday, judges rejected a last-minute protest from Taylor, who had argued that Campbell should not appear until prosecutors provide a …

Green bungalow seminars set; Programs to be presented next week on North, South sides

Looking to limit increases to your heating and cooling bills?Interested in bringing the latest in green building technology toyour Chicago bungalow? "Greening Your Chicago Bungalow" seminarswill be presented next week at North Side and South Side locations.

Green Home Partners will outline the most important aspects ofrehabbing for energy-efficiency, highlighting the latest in greenbuilding products and money-saving tips.

The procedures range from simple tasks (like the installation ofa programmable thermostat) to large-scale projects (like solar andgeothermal systems).

The program will be presented at 7 p.m. Tuesday at WoodsonRegional Library, 9525 S. Halsted, and at 7 p.m. Thursday at SulzerRegional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln. Each seminar should take abouttwo hours.

The Historic Chicago Bungalow & Green Home Expo, scheduled forOct. 27 at the Merchandise Mart, also will offer products, servicesand expertise for bungalow and other homeowners to complete greenrenovations.

Greening Chicago Bungalows. If you have any questions or want tomake a reservation at a seminar, please call the

Historic Chicago Bungalow Association, (312) 642-9900, or send ane-mail to: reservation@chicagobungalow.org.

POSSESSION OBSESSIONS

Collectors of interesting items will have a chance to win $20,000in the Possession Obsession Contest. To enter, collectors can submita short video online.

"Whether it be shoes, stamps or porcelain dolls, more than 40percent of U.S. households have someone who finds great joy andhappiness in their hobby of collecting," said Lisa DeVries, aspokeswoman for Apartments.com, the sponsor of the contest.

To enter, send in a one- to two-minute video that shows off yourcollection. Each entry should include how the collection began andhow it has grown, and it should illustrate funny situations aboutthe collection.

The deadline to enter is Sept. 10. Contest entries will beevaluated based on creativity, humor and originality by a panel ofjudges.

Between Sept. 17 and Oct. 19, finalists will be posted on the Website, where the general public can view the submissions and vote forwho they think should win the grand prize. One grand prize winnerwill receive the $20,000 cash prize, and the two runner-up finalistseach will get a cash prize of $500.

Possession Obsession, www.apartments.com/ possessionobsession/.

DESIGNER SEMINAR

Brice Cooper, star of HGTV's "Design on a Dime," will hold adesign seminar on Sept. 8 at Cambridge Lakes in Pingree Grove.

The topic for the session will be "Defining Your Personal Style,"including how to personalize homes even on a tight budget.

"There's so much information out there about home design, but howdo you find out what will work for you?" Cooper said. "Good designis not always about spending a lot of money."

Admission to the seminar is free, but tickets are required.Tickets are available at the Cambridge Lakes sales offices. Seatingis limited.

The seminar will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 8 at the development'scommunity center.

"Defining Your Personal Style With Brice Cooper." Cambridge Lakesin Pingree Grove, www.mycambridgehome.com.

Report reviewing Stanley Cup riots released

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Police underestimated the number of people who would descend on Vancouver's downtown and faced communication problems when they lost control of the massive, alcohol-fueled crowd that rioted following the Vancouver Canucks' defeat in the National Hockey League finals in June, said a report released Thursday.

About 150 people were injured, nine police officers were wounded, more than 50 businesses were vandalized and looted, and 15 cars were burned during the June 15 riots that made international headlines and embarrassed the city, which had successfully hosted the Winter Olympics only a year before.

Adding to the city's embarrassment is the fact that police have not yet charged anyone in connection with the riots. Police Chief Jim Chu said police are still identifying people from video and photographs.

The report said that the Vancouver Canucks' Game 7 loss of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals to the Boston Bruins resulted in "significant criminal behavior" because the crowd of 155,000 was larger and arrived earlier than officials had anticipated and overwhelmed security forces, whose communications equipment failed.

The situation was heading out of control long before the game as drunk people filled the downtown area, said the report, released by Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics CEO John Furlong and lawyer Douglas Keefe.

"Alcohol fueled those bent on destruction," Furlong said Thursday. "It resulted in a nightmare that embarrassed and shocked the city, the province and the country."

The report found that the Vancouver Police Department crowd control unit and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police tactical squad could not communicate with each other or the command center due to radio incompatibility.

As the game ended, fights began and bottles were being hurled at a giant outdoor screen.

"It is clear the (Vancouver Police Department) underestimated the number of people who would take the whole day off to get downtown very early," said the report. "The opportunity to establish police control was lost."

Soon after the game ended, the first car was flipped near the game arena.

"At 7:46 p.m., a Twitter user with the handle Marimo tweets: 'Get ready for a riot, Vancouver,'" the report said.

Firefighters trying to douse burning cars were mobbed, the report said.

Police found themselves targeted with Molotov cocktails as three police cruisers were burned, said the review, which was requested by the province's solicitor general, minister of public safety and the city's mayor and police board.

The riot began to spread while bystanders recorded it on cell phones.

By 10 p.m. local time, police were using smoke, pepper spray and tear gas throughout the city's downtown.

Windows at major department stores were smashed and the stores' contents were looted, the report said.

Vancouver hospitals dealt with three stabbings and a man with critical head injuries after he fell from a viaduct. Hospitals were on standby for mass injuries.

The report made 53 recommendations for large-scale events, including regional coordination between government officials, media, the Canucks and the NHL.

Among the suggestions: gain greater control of alcohol possession and sales during large events.

"Alcohol consumption and binge drinking are significant problems in our society and on June 15 were like fire on gasoline and triggered law breaking that shocked and galled us all," the report said.

Britney plays one-on-one with Maloof

It's good to be the Kings. Or merely part of the family that ownsthe Kings.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday: The London papersare all atwitter, calling every local journalist they can reach atall hours, over Britney Spears' night on the town last week withGeorge and Phil Maloof." Brothers Joe and Gavin run the SacramentoKings.

Pop diva Spears, 21, and Phil Maloof, 36, are something of an oddcouple in the aftermath of her breakup with Justin Timberlake. Shegenerally has dated younger guys such as actor Colin Farrell and LimpBizkit frontman Fred Durst.

Said a witness to a Maloof-Spears candlelit dinner at a Vegasrestaurant: She was staring straight into his eyes and laughing atall his jokes. She was infatuated. He couldn't keep his eyes offher."

*Fans who buy tickets to a Bulls home game (only two remain) atbulls.com or by phone at (800) 4NBATIX by Tuesday have a chance towin a trip for two to the NBA Finals--tickets, airfare andaccommodations included--and a trip for two to a Christina Aguilera-Timberlake concert with backstage passes and a meet-and-greet sessionwith the singers. In case Jerry Krause is interested.

*Singer Avril Lavigne is featured in a new TV ad campaign calledIt's All About The Cup." As in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which--forHawks fans unfamiliar with the concept--means the postseason.

Austria's Voestalpine to cut employee work hours

Austrian steel maker Voestalpine AG will reduce working hours for about 10 percent of its 42,000 employees because of the global economic downturn, the company said Wednesday.

The decision will affect roughly 2,500 workers in the company's Austrian-based steel division, a statement said. About 1,500 workers at Voestalpine's automotive division sites in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands also will be impacted.

The Linz-based company said the cost-saving measure is aimed at avoiding job cuts and will stay in place over the coming months.

Voestalpine CEO Wolfgang Eder said the current economic situation could only be handled through "radical measures."

"Every one of us will have to make sacrifices in order to avoid layoffs in large scale, which remains our primary goal," he said.

____

On the Net:

http://www.voestalpine.com/

Quality time in Denver

EDITORIAL

THE FIRST BioCycle National Conference was held in May of 1971 in Denver, Colorado. The 33rd Annual BioCycle National Conference on Composting & Organics Recycling will be held May 5-7, 2003 in Denver. It's interesting to compare the Conference agendas which are separated by more than three decades.

The 1971 Conference theme was: "How Can We Put Waste Recycling into Practice?" The program stressed the economic changes that environmental awareness caused in the 1970s and its impact on composting technology. Topics focused on: How to turn a sanitary landfill into a recycling station; The impact of composting on waste transportation costs; Do ecologists make good composters?; New economic incentives for sorting wastes.

As we prepared the 1971 agenda, we invited readers to contact us with their ideas. One response came from Sam Hart, a former agricultural engineering professor at the University of California, who wrote: "Somehow I would like to see the Conference take the form of the Phoenix bird. We might recite all our failures why they occurred, and what each past advocate would have done differently. For instance, we could hear from the St. Petersburg, Florida Naturizer people; the U.S. Public Health Service about its Johnson City, Tennessee compost plant; the Phoenix, Arizona Dano operation; the ones in Mobile, Alabama and Houston, Texas. The session would be a garment shredding, weeping and wailing castigation of ourselves and composting as it was conceived in the past. Then we could begin to build on all this."

And so that first Conference came to be a reality - a blend of grassroots, diehard composters who mixed well with the engineers and research biologists. We had presentations from people like Clarence Golueke of the University of California's Sanitary Engineering Research Lab discussing sorting, grinding, composting and applying recycled organics.William Coors of Coors Brewery participated in a recycling dialogue in a session titled, Industry, Government and Citizen. Presentations were given on soil studies with MSW compost and applying treated wastes - sludge, sewage effluent, feedlot manure and other agricultural residuals - for land reclamation and nutrients. The legislative director for Senator Gaylord Nelson, founder of the first Earth Day in 1970, discussed the new laws that would help recycling.

And - in 2003, once again in Denver - the spotlight will be on the role of an organic residuals recycling industry as environmental problem solvers, economic developers and energy producers. Sessions will focus on how the products recovered from composting, energy conversion and other recycling processes are used for reduced erosion, water conservation, increased food production, green power and enterprise development. Throughout major sections of North America, the dominant word is Drought - a topic well covered in sessions on how and how much compost and other organic amendments improve soil performance, enabling crops to grow with less water while reducing runoff and sediment loss.

Many other facets of organics recycling will be featured at the May 5-7, 2003 BioCycle Conference. For the full agenda and registration data, see pages 15-17 of this issue. We invite you to join us at the Renaissance Denver Hotel and look forward to seeing you there.

Column: Changes at Golf's 'Fifth Major'

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - What some bill as the fifth-best golf tournament looked more like an open house Monday. One by one, players pulled their courtesy cars to the front of the 77,000-square-foot clubhouse at The Players Championship and were pointed in every direction. Volunteers guided them to the locker room, to a players-only dining room where not even their agents were allowed, and to the "Tunnel of Champions" that led them out a back door to the refurbished Players Stadium Course on the TPC Sawgrass.

Most of them didn't know where they were.

"I'm a little lost," U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said. "It's such a big building."

And despite the new look at The Players Championship, one thing hasn't changed: No one is quite sure what it is.

The fifth major?

That won't get too many arguments because the golf course is superb, the field is the strongest and deepest of the year and the purse for this year's tournament will be $9 million, the richest of any tournament in the world.

But there are only four majors, which is why Jeff Sluman's famous line from four years ago still holds true.

"When you go to Denny's and order the Grand Slam breakfast, they don't give you five things, do they?"

One reason The Players moved from March to May was to give golf a major event every month, starting with the Masters in April through the PGA Championship in August and even the FedEx Cup finale in September.

But even with a new clubhouse and a refurbished golf course meant to play firm and fast in any weather, there is still enough evidence to suggest that one of these is not like the other four.

Tiger Woods, coming off a two-shot victory at the Wachovia Championship, won't arrive until Tuesday. Woods arrives no later than Monday for majors, sometimes even Sunday.

Major championships attract fans from all over the country who come to watch. The Players largely remains a local event, drawing most of the crowd from county limits, and a lot of them come to be seen. The PGA Tour is starting a campaign to attract more fans from outside the state of Florida, although this will take time.

And it probably doesn't help that The Players is held a week after the Wachovia Championship, which drew seemingly endless comparisons with a major championship last week, especially after Woods said he was "ecstatic" to have won considering the quality of the golf course against the strength of the field in such difficult conditions.

More than one player was asked at Quail Hollow what the difference was between last week and this week.

In every case, there was a pause for contemplation before a nod was given to The Players.

But they had to think about it.

All this feeds into a broader problem at PGA Tour headquarters: The Players is its showcase event, but the conversation seems to always be what the tournament is not, rather than what it is.

"I think enough fun has been made of their place in the golf kingdom," Sluman said over the weekend. "There are still only four majors, but it is an unbelievable golf course with bar-none the best field in golf."

Shouldn't that be enough?

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has said that he only wants The Players Championship to be the best it can be, and he has stopped at nothing to accomplish that. The tour wants the tournament to be known as "The Players," similar to "The Masters." Television coverage will include only four minutes of commercials every hour, just like the Masters.

The winner of The Players gets as many FedEx Cup points as the winner of a major. In the World Golf Hall of Fame ballots, The Players is listed in bold print alongside the four majors.

"Nobody likes being force-fed," Sluman said. "I think everybody associated with the tournament needs to let it take its course. It will find its spot wherever that ends up in five, 10, 15 or 50 years. But just let it happen."

Ogilvy called it the fifth-best tournament in the world, which probably is what The Players Championship is. But what inevitably followed were more examples of what it's not.

"It's not a career-defining win," he said.

Fred Couples and Davis Love III often get labeled as underachievers for having so much talent and only one major championship to show for it, even though both have won The Players twice. Ogilvy also felt that while winning The Players was as physically challenging as winning a major, it was not as psychologically demanding.

"I've gotten so tired of that six, seven, eight years ago," Jim Furyk said. "Is this a major? Is it not a major? My answer was simply, 'Does it matter?' It's a good, strong field. I would say it's by far the strongest field in golf, year in and year out. And it's probably the best way to market it."

Carl Petterson offered the best answer when asked his definition of The Players.

"It's our championship," he said.

That should be enough.

Renault shares up on prospect of government stake

Shares in Renault SA rose Monday after a top French official said the government could raise its ownership in French car makers as part of measures to help the auto industry.

In an interview in daily newspaper Le Figaro, Luc Chatel, France's junior minister for industry said the government could lift its stake in car makers in exchange for financial aid.

"Car makers don't necessarily need equity, but in exchange for our financial support, taking a stake could, in certain cases" be considered, Chatel said.

Renault shares rose as much as 4.8 percent in early Paris trading. Mid-morning, the stock was up 3.6 percent at euro17.21 ($22.84). Rival French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen shares were up 1.9 percent at euro13.81.

The French government already owns 15 percent of Renault.

Representatives of French car makers, suppliers, labor unions and the government are to meet Tuesday to discuss how to aid the car sector, which employs 10 percent of the French work force.

In the interview, Chatel said possible measures to support the industry include loan guarantees and convertible bonds. In exchange, the car sector will be required to pledge to keep production in France and give up dividend payments to shareholders.

EU backs plan to protect sharks from overfishing

EU nations have agreed to work harder to protect the 80 types of sharks that swim in European waters, many of which have been excessively hunted.

The EU's 27 fisheries ministers on Friday backed a ban on catching sharks only to cut of their fins _ which are a gastronomic delicacy in Asia, especially China. The EU also wants to institute special no-catch zones to serve as safe havens for sharks.

Because of their long life spans and low fertility rates, sharks are very vulnerable to overfishing.

A study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature suggests as many as one-third of the 80 types of sharks in EU waters are now threatened by overfishing.

Ten of millions of sharks are killed across the globe every year.