Frist Abandons 2008 Presidential Bid

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist renounced a bid for the White House in 2008 on Wednesday, an early dropout from the most wide-open presidential race in decades.

"In the Bible, God tells us for everything there is a season, and for me, for now, this season of being an elected official has come to a close," said the Tennessee Republican, a surgeon before he entered politics in 1994.

While the first national convention delegates won't be chosen for more than a year, jockeying among potential presidential contenders is well under way.

Frist made his announcement as several potential GOP hopefuls were descending on Miami for the annual meeting of the …

Girl gets 2nd chance at her wish

This summer, Janelle Eaton was so close to getting her wish, but it slipped away.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation had arranged a trip to Disney World for the smiley Dixmoor 13-year-old, who has Down syndrome and several other health ailments.

But after arriving in Florida, she got severely ill and spent two weeks in a hospital there. When Janelle was well enough to leave, she had to return home without visiting the park.

Her second family -- the health care workers at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn -- refused to let the wish end, however.

So, the hospital staff organized a fund-raiser and collected $2,400 to send Janelle back to Disney World. They …

SNOWFALL BRINGS CHEER FROM SKIERS.(Main)

NORTH CREEK -- Believe it or not, this week's snowstorm and sudden cold snap brought smiles to the faces of some. Sellers of heating oil and snow tires, as well as global warming skeptics no doubt welcomed the harsh weather.

No one, though, was happier to see the onset of winter than the region's skiers and snowboarders who have had to sit by helplessly as the traditional start of the season around Thanksgiving came and went.

That all changed Wednesday when the winter's first substantial snowfall and plummeting temperatures amounted to an opening bell for the region's belated 2009-10 ski season.

"Normally, I would be skiing right after …

GLENS FALLS AUTHOR PROFITS FROM CRITICS.(Living Today)

Byline: Patrick Kurp Staff writer

When criticized, most of us turn into children - and not very pleasant children at that.

Typically, we defend ourselves, deny the allegation, launch a counterattack or withdraw into stony silence. Mary Lynne Heldmann is convinced such knee-jerk reactions are not only dishonest and ineffective but downright self-destructive.

"Instead of letting criticism make a victim of you, use it as an opportunity for growth and change," said the Glens Falls business consultant who has just published her first book, "When Words Hurt."

Heldmann runs her own consulting firm, Heldmann Associates, whose clients include IBM …

SISTER MARGARET SHEA.(CAPITAL REGION)

GUILDERLAND -- Sister Margaret Shea, RSM died Monday, September 22, 1997 at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center in Guilderland after a long illness. Sister was born in Troy. Daughter of the late Daniel A. and Julia Mains Shea. She is survived by her sisters, Sister Mary Alma, CSJ of St. Joseph's Provincal House and Sally Doyle of Our Lady of Hope in Latham. She was predeceased by her sisters, Sister Angela CSJ, Helen Shea Doran, Ann Shea Burton and brothers, Daniel J. Shea and Francis X. Shea. Sister is also survived by her newphews, Father Kenneth Doyle, Pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Albany and Francis X. Shea, Esq of Ridgefield, CT and her nieces, Alma D. Hansen of …

Key Analytics; How to measure e-mail success.(E-mail)

Byline: Karen J. Bannan

When it comes to e-mail marketing, there are three metrics that most marketers rely on: open rates, click-through rates and conversion rates. But, experts say, there's more to each than meets the eye.

open rate

Open rate-a metric clocked whenever someone opens your message-is the one that most marketers use as a benchmark, but unfortunately, it's the least reliable of the three, said R. David Lewis, VP of deliverability management & ISP relations for Digital Impact, a provider of online direct marketing services.

"Many ISPs and businesses are moving toward image and link suppression, so your customers might open your …

Sri Lankan cease-fire officially ends 2 weeks after government withdrawal

A 2002 cease-fire between Sri Lanka's government and ethnic Tamil rebels that had all but collapsed in renewed fighting over the past two years officially ended Wednesday after the government pulled out of the agreement.

Though scrapping the truce has little direct impact on the already raging war, the Cabinet's unanimous decision to end the deal was criticized by peace mediators and foreign governments as a move that would make it even more difficult to end the decades-old conflict.

In the two weeks since the government notified officials from Norway, a key broker of the 2002 agreement, that it would end the cease-fire Wednesday, more than 300 people have …