Private School Review

Following her sister's death from drug addiction, a high school student is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for the competitive world of step dancing. Rated PG-13.

Meet the Spartans (Not reviewed): A spoof of "300" and other recent Hollywood hits. Rated PG-13.

Rambo (Not reviewed) : Sylvester Stallone tries to resuscitate his other iconic character. In Thailand, John Rambo (Stallone) assembles a group of mercenaries and leads them up the Salween River to a Burmese village where a group of Christian aid workers allegedly went missing. Rated R.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Not reviewed): A story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.

Goldman upbeat on oil outlook despite economy woes

But despite such concerns over an economic slowdown, latest government data shows no signs that oil demand in the United States and China is faltering.

Battery-operated buses for city’s V5 roads

The salary of Panjab University Professors, who were allowed to continue in service after attaining the age of 62, will be released soon.

Appearing before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, university counsel Anupam Gupta made a statement to his effect in response to an application filed by 10 professors of various departments. The applicants had claimed they had not been given salary.

In their petition they had claimed that the authorities were not complying with the provisions pertaining to extension of age from 62 to 65 years, following which the High Court had granted a stay on their retirement.

Those who had moved the petition were Prof DD Bansal of bio-chemistry, Santosh Kumar Sharma of the department of correspondence, Naresh Kochhar of the department of geology, Mohinder Singh Johal of the department of zoology, Sudesh Verma of the department of chemistry, Paramjeet Singh of the department of chemical engineering, ML Sharma of the department of botany, G Kumara Verma of the department of Indian Theatre, DS Gill of the department of chemistry and Mina Surjit Singh of the department of English.

Snow, Cold, Wind Head Into Northeast

Power was out in 40,000 homes and businesses, roads were slick and most schools in the Buffalo area were closed.

Jean Ewing stood with her back to the wind while waiting for the Buffalo pharmacy where she works to open Wednesday morning. She said a double-whammy of ice and blowing snow made for a difficult commute into the city.

"It took me 10 minutes to open my car" because it was covered in ice, she said.

In northern Illinois, high winds downed power lines and knocked trees onto utility lines, causing nearly 14,000 customers to lose power overnight, mostly in Chicago's south suburbs, said ComEd spokeswoman Judy Rader. Service to all but 1,300 had been restored by Wednesday morning.

Thousands also lost power in West Virginia, Ohio and Illinois.

Much ado about next to nothing

The city of Weeki Wachee assumed the lease and began a campaign to raise the money to save three generations of mermaids from extinction. That effort, with the battle cry of Save Our Tails!, has attracted the attention of media crews from around the globe. Donations of money and materials have helped in the effort to address the years of neglect. Still the SWFWMD presses to close the doors and control the property. The squabble will have its day in court soon. If you care at all about dandelion wine or about portents of the future, this link will allow you to make your voice heard. I would like to think that I am not the only one who would enjoy flashbacks of such a warm night as a summer evening in the company of mermaids. In any event, I will be storing this bottle of dandelion wine carefully.