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2003 ford focus recalls

Louisa Snellings Keith

Funeral services will be held tomorrow for Louisa SnellingsKeith, 90, mother of a distinguished Chicago pediatrician and publicbenefactor, Dr. Laurel Keith, who was the first black admitted to thestaff of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago.

Mrs. Keith died last Thursday of natural causes at the CassCounty Nursing Home, Cassopolis, Mich.

Dr. Keith, the youngest of her two sons, was a member of thehistoric 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first …

Bulgaria expels senior Libyan diplomat

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria says it is expelling a senior Libyan diplomat in charge of consular affairs.

The foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday that Ibrahim Al-Furis has been declared persona non-grata and asked to leave Bulgaria within 24 hours.

The ministry did not say why Al-Furis was expelled. It quoted Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations …

India vs. Sri Lanka Scoreboard

Scoreboard Wednesday in the final of the tri-nation series limited-overs international between India and Sri Lanka at Dhaka's Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium:

India Innings

Virender Sehwag c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 42

Gautam Gambhir b Kulasekara 0

Virat Kohli c Sangakkara b Welegedara 2

Yuvraj Singh c Samaraweera b Welegedara 0

Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 14

Suresh Raina b Welegedara 106

Ravindra Jaeda lbw Dilshan 38

Harbhajan Singh lbw Randiv 11

Zaheer Khan c Samaraweera b Kulasekara 16

Ashish Nehra not out 2

Shantakumaran …

Accusations fly in W. Side race

In the combative 29th Ward aldermanic contest, each candidateblasts the other as an opportunistic carpetbagger with no stake inthe community, a puppet of political allies, and a guy not aboveusing threats to get elected.

And this is one of the quieter contests in the rough-and-tumbleworld of West Side politics.

"We've had some real rough ones where there was literallyfist-fighting, but times have come and gone," said Mary JohnsonVolpe, executive director of the Northeast Austin Organization.Each of the candidates in the April 13 runoff accuses the otherof trying to turn back the clock in the Far West Side ward, whichincludes a long, narrow strip of the Austin …

Tenants fighting BHA over demolition plan

Up-scale developments have begun to invade the East Boston waterfront, raising property values and threatening to crowd-out poorer residents.

It is a mainly low-income development which has a group of neighborhood residents up in arms, however.

The Boston Housing Authority plans to raze two of its affordable housing structures in the area to make way for a mixed-income project which would include slightly fewer low-income units.

Critics say the BHA's grab for federal funds is aimed at sprucing up its housing developments so they will fit in with the expensive market-rate and luxury developments planned around them, and is not in the best interests of the low-income …

DNA, odd behavior led FBI to US anthrax suspect

Advanced DNA testing led U.S. government investigators to suspect a government scientist in the 2001 anthrax killings. The scientist's odd behavior, suspicious e-mails and unusual work hours convinced them they had the right man.

The government declared the 2001 attacks solved Wednesday, pointing the blame at former Army scientist Bruce Ivins, who committed suicide last week as prosecutors prepared to bring charges. The Justice Department said it was confident it could have convicted the scientist, who spent his career developing anthrax vaccines and cures at the bioweapons lab at Fort Detrick, MNaryland.

Authorities cited advanced DNA testing that showed …

Dealing with your first slowdown ; India Inc. faces an internal acid test, as bosses and managers try to help GenX graduate from fairy tales to real life.

Infosys chief mentor N. R. Narayana Murthy had not done a townhall ever since he stepped down from the executive post in August2006, but the 62-year-old industry veteran, who founded Infosys wayback in the early '80s along with half a dozen other ITprofessionals made an exception in January this year. He walked intothe Infosys auditorium at Bangalore where over 5,000 Infoscions werewaiting patiently to hear him for the first time in many years someof them may be for the first time (the average age at Infosys isjust 26 years).

The IT industry was in the grip of the global slowdown and theSatyam fraud had damaged India's 'software' reputation abroad. Afteran opening speech …

Defender editor takes on Chicago talk radio audience

Beginning Monday, a new, challenging and thought-provoking talk show will take to the airwaves and help diversify the influence of the Chicago Defender, which is celebrating 100 years of publication this year.

Roland S. Martin, the newspaper's executive editor, will hold down a three-hour time slot on WVON-AM/1450, formerly allotted for the "Matt & Perri Show," from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. It can also be heard at www.wvon.com.

"I've really given Roland the reins to do whatever he wants," Melody Spann-Cooper, president of WVON Radio and chairman of its parent company, Midway Broadcasting, told the Defender. "He's such a dynamic personality I think he'll …

Toshiba posts net loss in third quarter

Toshiba Corp. sank into the red in the third quarter and expects a loss for the full year as the global economic crisis sinks sales of digital products and home appliances.

The Tokyo-based electronics company Thursday reported a net loss of 121 billion yen ($1.36 billion) for the October-December quarter, plummeting from the 80.5 billion yen profit it booked in the same period the year before.

Toshiba also posted an operating loss of 158 billion yen ($1.78 billion) from a 42.1 billion yen operating profit a year earlier, with sales declining 79 percent to 1.49 trillion yen ($16.72 billion).

Toshiba, one of many Japanese exporters hurt by the …

Snow, cold, twisters kill 23 in Great Plains, Midwest siege

The storm system that raked the Chicago area Tuesday also buriedthe Southwest in snow and spawned killer tornadoes in Arkansas.

The death toll was at least 23 since Saturday, including sixkilled by a tornado that hit West Memphis, Ark.

Schools were closed in parts of Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Michigan,Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa and Kansas, aswell as Illinois.

Highways remained icy or snowpacked across the Great Plains,which the storm crossed Monday after dumping 30 inches of snow on aski resort in New Mexico.

Thunderstorms hit parts of the South and rain and sleet movedinto New England, icing many Massachusetts roads and …

Google 2Q Earnings Surpass Expectations

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc.'s second-quarter profit more than doubled, maintaining the Internet search leader's penchant for topping analysts' high expectations and further underscoring the advantage the company has built over its chief rivals.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said Thursday that it earned $721.1 million, or $2.33 per share, during the three months ended in June. That compared with net income of $342.8 million, or $1.19 per share, at the same time last year.

Excluding expenses for employee stock compensation and several other one-time items, Google said it would have earned $2.49 per share - well above the average estimate of $2.22 per share among …

Pending sales of existing homes in US fall 4.7 percent as housing market troubles continue

A measurement of pending home sales fell to the third-lowest reading on record in May as the U.S. housing market's recovery continued to prove elusive.

The National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 4.7 percent to 84.7 from an upwardly revised April reading of 88.9. The index was 14 percent below year-ago levels.

"The overall decline in contract signings suggests we are not out of the woods by any means," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not yet closed. Typically there …

Business briefs

Energy Star sales tax holiday begins West Virginians who buyenergy-saving home appliances and building materials during the nextthree months will get a tax break. The Energy Star sales tax holidaybegan Tuesday and runs through Nov. 31. The holiday applies towardall noncommercial purchases of Energy Star products worth up to$5,000. State officials estimate that the sales tax holiday willsave consumers $3.9 million. A limited, weeklong holiday last yearsaved consumers around $350,000.

Group opposes support of rally MORGANTOWN The Center forBiological Diversity is calling on Verizon Wireless to drop itssponsorship of a Friends of America Rally and free concert organizedlargely by the coal industry. Director Kieran Suckling says thecenter will also inform 250,000 supporters that Verizon promotesglobal warming and opposes unions, environmentalists and endangeredspecies. Company spokesman James Gerace says Verizon was placed onthe sponsors list after it paid a fee to support the community andgain access to the event to sell its products. He says Verizonsappearance is not a statement of the companys policy on any publicissue. The Labor Day rally is intended to focus attention on theneed to protect American jobs and is expected to draw at least70,000 people.

W.Va. among states touting federal funds BILOXI, Miss. Transportation officials from across the Southeast say federalstimulus funds have allowed them to create and preserve roadconstruction jobs during the slumping economy. They spoke at a newsconference Tuesday during a meeting of the Southeastern Associationof State Highway and Transportation Officials. SASHTOs 12 memberstates are to receive over $7 billion in stimulus funding forhighways and bridges. Dan Flowers, executive director of ArkansasState Highway and Transportation Department, says his state hasawarded $162 million for 69 projects. Paul A. Mattox, secretary ofthe West Virginia Department of Transportation, says his state has$148 million in projects under contract.

Readers Q&A

USING PRESSURE TREATED WOOD IN COMPOSTING BIN CONSTRUCTION

Q:

If a composter wants to build a compost bin for yard trimmings and/or manure and/or yard trimmings, and eventually wants to put that compost on a vegetable garden, should they avoid using pressure treated lumber?

A:

Prudence suggests that you should not use pressure treated lumber for constructing a composting bin. It is now well demonstrated that chemical components of the pesticide do leach from treated lumber. The compost is likely to retain a good share of those chemicals (although some would also be carried with water into the soil or drains below). Potentially, this could affect the compost's quality, if not its safety and performance.

The predominant type of pressure treatment chemical currently used is chromated copper arsenate or CCA. Copper (Cu), chromium (Cr) and Arsenic (As) are the chemical elements that can leach from the wood. General ly, the greatest concern is the leaching of As, which is a carcinogen and an acute poison in certain forms and in sufficiently high amounts.

Recent research has demonstrated that CCA-treated lumber does leach Cu, Cr and As over time. Its been found that soil beneath CCA-treated wood decks has higher than background levels of these chemicals. The research demonstrates that the chemi. cals move with rain from the wood into the soil. The chemical concentrations are highest near the drip line and decrease with soil depth. Similarly, soil adjacent to raised garden beds made from CCA-treated wood contains higher than normal levels of As, and those levels decrease with distance from the wood (to background levels at roughly six to 15 inches away). The situation is possibly worse for CCA-treated wood used for a composting bin. At least one study found greater Cu losses from CCA-treated blocks of wood (jack pine exposed to composting vegetable matter, compared to the Cu losses from similar blocks that were soaked in wa. ter or buried in soil (Cooper and Ung, 1992; Forest Products Journal, 57(42v.9)57-59). The authors suggested that the organic acids that developed during composting enhance leaching of Cu. However, it also was reported that the losses were not large enough to affect the "efficacy" of the compost. If you already have a composting bin or storage unit that has CCA-treated lumber, and you are concerned about it, you can paint the wood or apply a sealant or line it with plastic to minimize the leaching of the chemicals in the wood.

Cu, Cr, and As are all regulated elements within the U.S. EPA Part 503 regulations on biosolids, which are often used as a standard for other organic residues. Therefore, adding more Cu, Cr, or As via leaching from bin lumber could be a problem if the compost is on the borderline of meeting the regulatory limits. However, yard trimmings and manure composts are rarely in this situation (although livestock manure can have high copper levels).

Unlike the soil next to a deck, the elements leached out of wood will not accumulate for a long period in a given batch of compost. The different batches of compost that move through the bin will disperse the elements into the environment. However, if the compost is consistently used on the same ground, like a vegetable garden, the leached chemicals will accumulate in the soil.

Research conducted in Florida indicates that compost can influence arsenic leaching positively or negatively, depending on the characteristics of the compost. Aziz Shiralipour, the principal investigator, reports that "the municipal solid waste compost (MSW) reduced the leachability of As in soil, especially in the native soil, whereas the biosolids compost greatly increased the leachability of native As" (as opposed to the chemical As added for the experiment). The difference appears to be due to the electrical conductivity (EC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of the composts. More leaching occurring with the biosolids compost that had higher EC and DOC. According to Shiralipour, "these findings indicate that composts with high EC and/or high DOC are not suitable for reducing arsenic leachability. On the other hand, composts with low EC and/or low DOC are effective in reducing arsenic leachability in contaminated soils, therefore reducing the chance of contaminating the groundwater." Although much depends on the specifics, in general, yard trimmings compost would tend to act more like the MSW and manure compost more like the biosolids product. The Florida research is expected to be reported in Compost Science and Utilization this year.

An answer to the question of using pressure treated lumber for composting bins would not be complete or balanced without some mention of risk. Pressure treated wood proponents and some scientists argue that As is naturally ubiquitous in the environment and that the amount lost from the wood does not increase the health risks. In fact, the most critical pathway of As exposure from CCAtreated wood appears to be hand to mouth contact for children playing on CCA-treated wood playgrounds (neglecting worker exposure at construction sites). Many proponents would advise you to use the pressure treated wood for the bins because the risks are small.

In any case, the debate may soon be irrelevant. The U.S. EPA and the wood preservative industry recently agreed to phase out the use of arsenic-based wood preservatives in two years. The announcement is careful to state that the agreement does not imply that CCA-treated lumber poses unreasonable health risks. In fact, EPA will continue with the risk assessment for CCA-treated lumber that is currently in progress.

Honorary chairman of Taiwan's incoming ruling party to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao

The honorary chairman of Taiwan's incoming ruling Nationalist party will meet China's President Hu Jintao in Beijing next week, a party official said Saturday.

The visit appeared to be another indication of warming relations between rivals Taiwan and China, who split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing has threatened war if the self-governed island tries to make the break permanent, but tensions are likely to thaw following the China-friendly Nationalists' ouster of a pro-independence party in elections last month.

Honorary Nationalist party Chairman Lien Chan will brief Hu on the incoming Taiwanese government's China policy, Nationalist Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung told reporters.

Lien's visit follows recent trips to China by Chiang and Vice President-elect Vincent Siew.

Siew also met Hu earlier this month.

Taiwan's United Daily News reported Saturday that Lien will arrive in Beijing on Monday and meet Hu on Tuesday. It will be Lien's fourth meeting with the Chinese leader.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Commercial Times said senior Chinese official Chen Yunlin was likely to visit Taiwan in late June. It has been widely reported that Chen was to become the head of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, a quasi-governmental Chinese agency dealing with Taiwan affairs.

A series of recent high-level exchanges between the Nationalists and China are in stark contrast to the hostility between Taiwan and the mainland under outgoing Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian during the past eight years.

Chen has long advocated Taiwan's sovereignty and rejected close trade ties with China. Many Taiwanese, however, blamed Taiwan's underperforming economy on Chen's reluctance to allow closer relations that would let the island benefit from China's recent economic boom.

It is widely believed that the Nationalists' Ma Ying-jeou's March 22 presidential election victory was largely due to his promises to forge better trade ties with the mainland in a bid to bolster Taiwan's economy.

Constellation Brands' profit slumps in 3Q

ROCHESTER, New York (AP) — The maker of Robert Mondavi wine and Svedka vodka says its third-quarter profit fell 25 percent on weaker wine and beer sales in North America.

Constellation Brands Inc.'s earnings narrowly missed Wall Street estimates.

The New York-based company reported net income of $104.8 million, or 52 cents per share, in the September-to-November quarter. That's down from $139.3 million, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Constellation earned 50 cents per share. Wall Street expected 53 cents per share, according to a survey by FactSet.

Its revenue slumped 27 percent to $700.7 million from $966.4 million largely because it sold the bulk of its Australian and British wine business last January.

Its wine and spirits sales in North America fell 4 percent. Beer sales dropped 12 percent.

NU wins creative-arts program grant

The Ford Foundation has awarded Northwestern University a$450,000 grant to develop a creative arts program that can be anational model for colleges and universities.

Northwestern President Arnold R. Weber said the grant will beused over three years to establish an undergraduate arts program tobegin in the fall of 1988 on the Evanston campus.

Northwestern was chosen because of its top-ranked Speech andMusic schools, as well as a highly regarded College of Arts andSciences, Weber said.

The program will be aimed at students with talent or interest inthe arts but a major in another field.

Death crash trial date set

THE case against a lorry driver accused of causing the death of aPencader student has been adjourned for a trial.

Olin Poulsen, 20, was killed last September when his bike wasinvolved in a collision with a lorry on the A40 near Whitemill.

Olin, of New Inn, Pencader, was an electrical engineering studentat Cardiff University.

The driver of the Volvo lorry was Christopher Thomas Shapland,formerly of Llandrindod Wells and now of Coryton Close, Brecon.

Shapland, 27, denies a charge that he caused Olin's death bydriving without due care and attention. A case management hearingwas held at Swansea Crown Court on Friday and the matter wasadjourned for a trial, to take place on November 7.

Catherine Walker, designer to Princess Diana, dies

LONDON (AP) — Fashion designer Catherine Walker, whose work was championed by late Princess Diana, has died after suffering from cancer, her family said Sunday. She was 65.

Walker was born in France, but found fame after moving to Britain and is best known for creating some of Diana's most famous outfits. The princess was buried in a black dress created by Walker.

The designer studied philosophy at the universities of Lille and Aix-en Province in her native France, before she moved to London where she married lawyer John Walker.

After her husband died in 1975, Walker was left to raise their two daughters alone, enrolling on a fashion course and eventually building a successful business.

"Catherine Walker overcame young widowhood and fought cancer twice with enduring bravery," her family said in a statement Sunday. "She built one of the most successful British couture brands and at the same time raised a loving family."

The family said their mother had "dressed many of the world's most beautiful women," since she first sold garments in 1976, offering her designs from a basket as she walked up and down the Kings Road shopping district in London's Chelsea neighborhood.

Walker, who had suffered from breast cancer, also designed a wedding dress for Lady Helen Taylor — the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.

The designer eschewed fashion traditions, never showing her clothes in catwalk shows and usually shunning the limelight, but was named couture designer of the year at the 1990 British Fashion Awards.

In recent years, as her health declined, she trained a design team to continue her eponymous brand Catherine Walker & Co.

"She will be missed by both this team and her family, all of whom are determined to grow the brand and the legacy of this great designer," the statement said.

It said a memorial service is expected to take place next month.

Tibet tourism rises 60 percent last year, increasing pressure on transport, environment

Tourist arrivals in Tibet soared 60 percent last year to 4 million visitors, forcing the government to add hundreds of new tour buses to allay transportation strains, official media reported Sunday.

Tourism in the remote Himalayan region has roared ahead since the opening of a direct rail route to its capital Lhasa in 2006. An additional 775 tourist buses were recently added to the region's fleet, Xinhua said, bringing the total to 2,777.

The growth of tourism is part of an overall push to develop Tibet's economy, one that critics say is leaving Tibetans behind and threatening the fragile environment of the plateau _ the source of rivers that feed hundreds of millions of people in Asia.

In one sign of growing bottlenecks, Chinese state media has repeatedly reported on worsening traffic in Lhasa, an ancient city of Buddhist temples and stone buildings now largely subsumed by modern roads and infrastructure.

However, the government has dismissed criticism of its development policies as unfounded, accusing opponents of favoring the return of exiled Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama and Tibet's independence from China.

Centennial Year Grad

After three years of attending Rosthern Junior College, I am about to leave the school as a member of the 100th graduating class. For three years RJC has been a big part of my life, taking part in sports, music, drama, coffee houses, guys' nights out, musicals, service projects, retreats, and when time allowed it, even school. The inclusion of almost the entire student body in all of these events, and the close relationships that are made are what this school is all about. I think those are the values that RJC was built upon.

In grade nine, my parents and I made the decision to enrol and give the school a shot. For me it wasn't as big a decision to make as it was for others, probably because I wasn't leaving home. Many of my friends were either going to go to RJC or would be close by in town. It wasn't as if the school was foreign to me anyway. Being the son of an alumnus, attending drama productions, open houses and concerts at the school had already made RJC quite a familiar place. The biggest reason why I chose to go wasn't because there was a better class selection or that there were better music, arts or sports programs. The reason I chose RJC was to meet and get to know new and exciting people. Looking back, I think I made the right decision.

Once I started attending the school I found that everyone was very welcoming of me as a new student. It didn't matter who I was, I was part of a group that included all students in all parts of school life. Everyone had their own stories and they all came from interesting backgrounds. It seemed like nothing about school life was monotonous and that every day had its new and exciting challenges. The school year starts busy and gets busier until the year is over. But that's one of the reasons RJC is so interesting and rewarding. I am only now beginning to explore what it means to be a member of not only an RJC graduating class, but of the 100th RJC graduating class. Walking through the halls looking at all the alumni, I think about all the memories that I have made in the past three years. I also think about what going to RJC has meant to so many other people over the past 100 years. I feel very privileged to be a part of a group of people from over 100 years with common values and beliefs. Being a part of the 100th year's graduating class is going to be very special. I will join my fellow classmates in celebrating the conclusion of our high school education, as well as the achievement of 100 years of an education with a plus. It will be a time of joy no other RJC graduating class will experience. Taking a look at 100 years of alumni while walking through the halls, I begin to suspect something that is special to RJC. Once you leave, you are more than just a picture on the wall. You become part of a greater community that seeks to shape the world with the same values that helped shape it. You become part of a tradition that won't soon be forgotten.

"I feel very privileged to be a part of a group of people from over 100 years with common values and beliefs, Being a part of the 100th year's graduating class is going to be very special."

[Author Affiliation]

Joel Thiessen lives in Rosthem with his parents. He plans to enrol in Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan in the fall.

-Editor's note

Survivors Reflect 40 Years After My Lai

Forty years after rampaging American soldiers slaughtered her family, Do Thi Tuyet returned to the place where her childhood was shattered.

"Everyone in my family was killed in the My Lai massacre _ my mother, my father, my brother and three sisters," said Tuyet, who was 8 years old at the time. "They threw me into a ditch full of dead bodies. I was covered with blood and brains."

More than a thousand people turned out Sunday to remember the victims of one of the most notorious chapters of the Vietnam War. On March 16, 1968, members of Charlie Company killed as many as 504 villagers, nearly all of them unarmed children, women and elderly.

When the unprovoked attack was uncovered, it horrified Americans, prompted military investigations and badly undermined support for the war.

Sunday's memorial drew the families of the victims, returning U.S. war veterans, peace activists and a delegation of atomic bombing survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"We are not harboring hatred," said Nguyen Hoang Son, vice governor of Quang Ngai, the central Vietnamese province where the incident occurred. "We are calling for solidarity to defend peace, to defend life and to remind the world that it must never forget the massacre at My Lai."

Although the occasion was somber, many visitors said they drew hope from it.

"So much positive energy has come from such a negative event," said Richard Chamberlin, 63, a returning veteran from Madison, Wisconsin. "The people here have amazing resilience. I'm grateful that they've treated us as friends, not enemies."

Chamberlin was part of a delegation called the Madison Quakers, a Wisconsin group that has built a peace park and three schools in My Lai, including a new one that was dedicated Sunday. The group's leader, war veteran Mike Boehm, honored the dead by playing a mournful fiddle tune.

Boehm also arranged for a group of atomic bombing survivors from Japan to join his delegation.

Among them was Fujio Shimoharu, who was playing in a Nagasaki schoolyard on Aug. 9, 1945, when the earth shook, a strong wind howled and the sky went dark as a mushroom cloud rose over the city.

"I'm very angry about the indiscriminate killing both here in My Lai and in Hiroshima and Nagasaki," said Shimoharu, 74. "I came here to send a message of peace to the world."

Shimoharu feels connected to My Lai survivors such as Tuyet, who returned to a replica of her home and wept after Sunday's service ended. U.S. troops torched the original thatch-roofed house; the new one is part of a museum dedicated to the victims.

On that morning 40 years ago, Tuyet and her family were getting ready to go to work in the fields when members of Charlie Company burst into their house and herded them outside at gunpoint.

They were pushed into a ditch where more than 100 people were sprayed with bullets, one of which hit Tuyet in the back, paralyzing the right side of her body.

Her parents, three sisters and a brother were slaughtered. The oldest child was 10, the youngest just 4.

"I was here when the shooting started," Tuyet said, sitting by a family altar in the replica of her simple two-room home. "The troops rounded us up and took us to the ditch."

Her 4-year-old brother, who was eating breakfast when the troops came, died with his mouth full of rice, Tuyet said.

Four decades later, she is still overcome by grief. But Tuyet has managed to build a life for herself. She became a pharmacist, married and had two children.

When they arrived in the hamlet 40 years ago, the frustrated and angry members of Charlie Company were on a "search and destroy" mission, trying to track down elusive Vietcong guerrillas whose tactics had depleted the company's ranks.

The soldiers began shooting in My Lai that day even though they hadn't come under attack. The violence quickly escalated into an orgy of killing.

The young troops had found themselves in a bewildering war where it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe, said Stanley Karnow, an American historian who wrote "Vietnam: A History."

Their actions shocked the American public, who had preferred to think of U.S. troops as heroes making the world safe for democracy, Karnow said.

"But there is a human capacity for committing atrocities," Karnow said.

Do Ba, another My Lai survivor, lost his mother, his brother and his sister in the massacre. But he, too, has managed to build a new life for himself.

He now lives Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, with his new wife and their 14-month-old daughter. He has a job in an electronics factory.

Ba had a chance reunion this weekend with Larry Colburn, who saved him from the rampaging American troops 40 years ago. Colburn was a member of a three-man U.S. Army helicopter crew that landed in the midst of the massacre and intervened to stop the killing.

Colburn returned for this year's ceremony, as he did 10 years ago for the 30th. He came the first time with Hugh Thompson, the pilot who landed their helicopter, who has since died.

"Today I see Do Ba with a wife and a baby," Colburn said. "He's transformed himself from being a broken, lonely man. Now he's complete. He's a perfect example of the human spirit, of the will to survive."

Boehm, whose Wisconsin group helped plan Sunday's ceremony, takes solace from such stories.

"If hope can rise from the ashes of My Lai," he said, "it can rise from anywhere."

Toyota paying about $300 million to boost stake in Subaru car maker to nearly 17 percent

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said Friday it plans to sell 61 million shares to Toyota Motor Corp., raising the Japanese automaker's stake in the maker of Subaru cars to nearly 17 percent.

Fuji Heavy said in a statement it will sell shares worth 31.1 billion yen (US$293 million) to Toyota, Japan's largest automaker.

Toyota, already Fuji Heavy's top shareholder, will raise its stake in the company to 16.61 percent from the current 9.50 percent. Toyota's payment is expected to be completed by July 14.

U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. used to be the top shareholder in Fuji, but sold its entire 20 percent stake in 2005 as part of its efforts to raise cash.

Toyota, on track to beat GM as the world's biggest automaker, bought an 8.7 percent stake in Fuji for about US$315 million to become the top shareholder.

The latest move is symbolic of a global industry shift as cash-rich Toyota takes over what GM has abandoned.

In 2006, Toyota also bought a significant stake in another GM's former Japanese alliance partner _ truckmaker Isuzu.

Toyota had announced its intention to raise its stake in Subaru earlier this year.

Certain relatives may not be covered by some car policies

Here's a relatively easy question: If your father remarries, hisnew wife is your stepmother. If she has a son from a previousmarriage who now lives with your father and you, is he yourstepbrother?

More importantly, is he insured under your automobile insurancepolicy, which says it insures you and your relatives living with you?The term "relative" is defined in your policy as "a person related toyou or your spouse by blood, marriage or adoption who lives withyou."

Before you answer, let me change the facts a bit. Let's sayyour stepmother doesn't bring her son to live with you and yourfather; she brings her brother. Is he your stepuncle?

More importantly, is he insured under your automobile insurancepolicy?

Before you answer "yes," you should know that the rest of thiscolumn is about a case in which the stepuncle was held not to be arelative insured under his stepnephew's policy.

The real issue in the case was whether the term "relative" asused in the policy was ambiguous. Any ambiguity in an insurancepolicy usually is resolved against the insurance company.Apparently, this was the first time Illinois courts were asked if theterm "relative" as used in insurance policies is ambiguous. After afascinating analysis, the court found no ambiguity at all.

The stepuncle apparently was using the car without thestepnephew's permission, otherwise he would have been covered whetherhe was a relative or not. He was involved in a collision in whichthree people in the other car were killed. The stepnephew'sinsurance company filed a suit for a declaratory judgment, claimingit was not obligated to provide liability coverage for the stepuncleunder the policy.

The trial court's ruling in favor of the insurance company wasaffirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court. It should be an eye-openerto anyone believing that steprelatives living in the same householdare automatically insured as relatives under their auto insurancepolicy.

Under the terms of the policy, the stepuncle would have to berelated by blood, marriage or adoption to the policyholder: thestepnephew. It was conceded that he was not a relative by blood oradoption. In order to be a relative by marriage, the court said, thestepuncle would have had to marry into the stepnephew's family. Hedid not.

In a somewhat different situation a few years ago, the courtruled on appeal that the wife of the stepgrandson of the policyholderwas not related to the policyholder. That court said the wife wasrelated by marriage only to the blood relatives of her spouse, whichincluded his parents and brother - not his stepgrandmother.

Likewise, a few years ago, the court ruled that the daughter ofa person living with, but not married to the policyholder, did notqualify as a relative under the policy.

The gist of the ruling in this case is that the courtsrecognize a relationship by marriage between a stepchild and astepparent, but have not expanded it to other "step" relations.

So, if you live with a steprelative, before you drive his orher car, be darn sure that you have express permission so you will beinsured under that part of the insurance policy that covers peopleusing the car with the insured's permission. Otherwise, you may notbe covered, because the insurance company may not consider you to be"a relative of the insured living in the same household," even if youconsider yourself to be a relative.

Send legal questions to Leonard Groupe, Chicago Sun-Times, 401 N.Wabash, Chicago 60611. Questions of general interest will beanswered in the column, but letters cannot be answered individually.

Rapper T.I. Arrested Before Awards Show

ATLANTA - Grammy-winning rapper T.I. was arrested Saturday - just hours before he was to perform at the BET Hip-Hop Awards - in a parking lot where federal officials said he planned to pick up machine guns and silencers his bodyguard bought for him.

T.I., born Clifford Harris, is charged with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers, as well as possession of firearms by a convicted felon. Harris was in federal custody, said U.S. attorney's office spokesman Patrick Crosby, who would not disclose his location.

Sydney Margetson, a spokesman for T.I.'s label, Atlantic Records, declined to comment Saturday evening.

The arrest resulted from an investigation that began this month. A federal firearms dealer told the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that a man was inquiring about buying a machine gun without registering the weapon as required, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

After trying to buy several machine guns from an undercover ATF agent, the unnamed person began cooperating with the government and said he was buying the machine guns and silencers for Harris, the complaint said. The bodyguard said that he had bought about nine firearms for Harris, and that the rapper had given him cash to buy guns four times, the complaint said.

Harris brokered the deals through the bodyguard because the rapper is a convicted felon, the complaint alleged. It is against federal law for a convicted felon to have another person get firearms on their behalf.

The 27-year-old rapper arranged to meet with the bodyguard Saturday to exchange cash for weapons, the complaint said. After his arrest in the shopping center parking lot not far from the awards show, agents found three firearms in the vehicle he was driving, including a loaded firearm between the driver's seat and center console, according to the complaint.

As the awards were being taped in Atlanta on Saturday night, federal authorities were still searching T.I.'s home in East Point, about 15 miles southwest of the city.

Agents found six guns in a closet, including three allegedly bought by the bodyguard for the rapper last month, according to the complaint. Five were loaded, agents said.

T.I. had been expected to perform at the BET show, which is to be broadcast Wednesday, and was nominated in nine categories. Instead, the rapper was noticeably absent from red carpet festivities before the show began at 6 p.m.

The co-chief executive of Grand Hustle Records won three awards at last year's inaugural BET Hip-Hop Awards and received nine nominations this year, including CD of the Year, Lyricist of the Year and MVP of the Year. His sixth album, "T.I. vs. T.I.P.," was released July 3 and debuted at No. 1.

T.I. won two Grammys in 2006, including best rap/sung collaboration for "My Love" with Justin Timberlake. He also hit the big screen in "ATL" that year, and he has a role opposite Academy Award winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in "American Gangster," set for release Nov. 2.

T.I. grew up in Atlanta and was selling crack by the time he was a teenager. In 2004, warrants were issued for his arrest on probation violations for a drug conviction, and he was sentenced to three years behind bars. It wasn't clear Saturday how much of the sentence he actually served.

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Associated Press writers Jason Bronis in East Point and Jonathan Landrum Jr. in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Official T.I. Web site: http://www.trapmuzik.com

National Hockey League

W L OT Pts GF GA

New Jersey 32 15 3 67 157 125

N.Y. Rangers 29 18 4 62 132 134

Philadelphia 26 14 9 61 159 145

Pittsburgh 24 22 5 53 157 157

N.Y. Islanders 15 29 5 35 123 169

Northeast Division

W L OT Pts GF GA

Boston 36 8 6 78 175 112

Montreal 28 15 6 62 153 140

Buffalo 26 19 5 57 149 140

Toronto 19 23 8 46 149 182

Ottawa 17 23 7 41 112 135

Southeast Division

W L OT Pts GF GA

Washington 31 15 4 66 159 143

Carolina 25 21 5 55 128 147

Florida 23 18 8 54 138 138

Tampa Bay 17 23 10 44 129 157

Atlanta 17 29 5 39 148 181

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central Division

W L OT Pts GF GA

Detroit 31 11 7 69 179 144

Chicago 27 13 8 62 161 123

Columbus 24 21 5 53 136 142

Nashville 21 24 3 45 117 140

St. Louis 20 24 4 44 138 152

Northwest Division

W L OT Pts GF GA

Calgary 30 14 4 64 154 141

Edmonton 25 20 3 53 137 149

Minnesota 25 21 3 53 128 114

Vancouver 22 20 8 52 143 146

Colorado 23 26 1 47 138 154

Pacific Division

W L OT Pts GF GA

San Jose 36 7 5 77 167 112

Anaheim 25 22 5 55 149 146

Phoenix 24 22 5 53 129 150

Dallas 23 18 7 53 143 157

Los Angeles 20 21 7 47 125 137

Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss or shootout loss.

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Saturday's Games

Washington 4, Detroit 2

Boston 1, N.Y. Rangers 0

Montreal 4, Los Angeles 3

Anaheim 4, Colorado 3

Dallas 7, Columbus 3

N.Y. Islanders 3, Florida 1

Toronto 5, Pittsburgh 4

Carolina 2, Atlanta 0

St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 0

Buffalo 2, Phoenix 0

Minnesota 4, Vancouver 3, OT

Chicago 4, San Jose 2

Sunday's Games

Ottawa at Washington

Boston at Montreal

Nashville at Edmonton