Etheostoma nianguae
| Status | Threatened |
| Listed | June 12, 1985 |
| Family | Percidae (Perch) |
| Description | Slender fish with a long head that tapers into a slender, pointed snout; its basic color is yellowish-olive with seven or eight dark saddle bars on its back, and orange spots scattered on the upper sides. |
| Habitat | Shallow pools with silt-free bottoms. |
| Food | Aquatic insects. |
| Reproduction | Spawns in the spring. |
(In Partsi I and II, I go to Badger Bob for advice on bow to proceed with a column promoting socialized health care, but only succeed in starting a heated argument between Bob and his panner in horseshoes, Hoot - an ardent libertarian and member of MOBBS. Actually, it would be easier for you just to go back and read Pans I and II than for me to try and explain it all. Suffice it to say, I'm having doubts as to whether I'll ever get a column promoting socialized health care out of all this, and I'm starting to wish I'd stayed home and written a nice little tribute to Karl Maiden or Ed McMahon or somebody. But it's too late now. We rejoin the story as Hoot adamantly defends the competitive …
Bradley Dredge had seven birdies for a 6-under 66 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Irish Open.
Dredge, who lost to Padraig Harrington in a playoff here last year, overcame a slow start by making six birdies over the last 10 holes to sit at 9-under 207. Richard Finch, who won the New Zealand Open in December, is one shot back after a 65.
Lee Westwood had a tournament-best 64 and held third place, one clear of David Frost (66), Felipe Aguilar (67) and Robert Karlsson (69).
Darren Clarke looked to be putting himself in contention by making four birdies in five holes on the back nine, leaving him two off the lead, but …
A Grieving woman was caught when she bought drugs for the firsttime to ease the pain of a workplace accident.
Linda McKenzie broke down in the dock as her solicitor told thecourt how police spotted her buying cocaine in a city park.
The 42-year-old admitted buying pounds100 of the class A drugswhen she appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Defence agent Karen Merry said McKenzie was "full of remorse" forthe out-of-character behaviour when she was riddled with pain andracked with …
The Co-operative Group said Wednesday it had struck a deal to acquire British supermarket Somerfield for 1.56 billion pounds (US$3.12 billion).
The deal would secure the Co-op's place as Britain's fifth-biggest food retailer.
The Manchester, England-based Co-operative Group Ltd. is the world's largest consumer cooperative. It already has some 2,200 stores, part of its empire of food, drug, travel, financial and funeral services. The Somerfield Group operates about 900 stores, including 140 gas stations.
Somerfield was purchased by a consortium of investors in 2005 for 1.1 billion pounds (then about US$1.9 billion). The consortium, which includes property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, private equity firm Apax Partners and investment bank Barclays Capital, was reportedly seeking about 2 billion pounds (US$4 billion) for the supermarket chain.
The Co-op, a mutual company owned by 2.5 million members, recently announced plans to double its profits and invest 1.5 billion (US$3 billion) in its real estate holdings.
Co-op Chief Executive Peter Marks said Somerfield's acquisition would provide "rocket fuel" for his group's growth plans.
The deal is still subject to regulatory approval.
Wall Street headed for a narrowly mixed open Friday ahead of economic reports on durable goods, new home sales, and consumer sentiment.
Investors might be hesitant to jump back into equities, as major indexes fell about 2 percent on Thursday after a steeper-than-expected decline in existing home sales and concerns about financial services companies. The Dow Jones industrial gave up more than 280 points.
On Friday, investors are awaiting a government report expected to show new home sales in June fell for the seventh time in the past eight months. The Commerce Department's report is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. EDT.
Sales are expected to have declined by 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 505,000, down from a rate of 512,000 in May, according to the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.
A revised report on July consumer sentiment is expected to show that Americans remain downbeat about the economy. Wall Street expects the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly index of consumer sentiment to come in at 56.4, according to estimates. That would be down slightly from the preliminary reading of 56.6, and unchanged from the June index of 56.4, which was the lowest level in 28 years. The final July report will be released at 9:55 a.m. EDT.
Investors will also pore over data that is expected to show that demand for costly manufactured goods fell in June, another sign of the economy's weakness. The Commerce Department's index of orders placed at U.S. factories for big-ticket goods, such as cars, appliances and machinery, will drop by 0.4 percent in June from the previous month, according to the consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR. The data will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 9, or 0.03 percent, to 11,342.
Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.25, or 0.07 percent, to 1,254.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 1.75, or 0.10 percent, to 1,821.25.
Bond prices edged higher Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.99 percent from 4.00 percent from late Thursday.
The dollar was higher against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Oil extended a small rebound after sharp declines over the past two weeks. The market remained weighed down by the belief that flagging fuel demand did not justify the recent high prices. A barrel of light sweet crude rose 63 cents to $126.12 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In corporate news, chemicals maker Huntsman Corp. said it was approached by investors offering funding to help complete its $6.5 billion takeover by Apollo Management.
Juniper Networks Inc., the maker of networking equipment, reported a 40 percent increase in earnings for the second quarter, helped by a new product line. Results narrowly surpassed Wall Street projections.
Shares of DaVita Inc. could jump after Standard & Poor's said the provider of dialysis services will replace Clear Channel Communications Inc. in its flagship S&P 500 index. The change will happen after the close of trading July 30.
Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.97 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.81 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 1.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 0.64 percent.
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A labor leader who led some of the largest protests in communist Chinese history and was released from jail this week after serving a seven-year sentence said Tuesday he has no regrets about the activism that led to his arrest.
Yao Fuxin, 59, was released Monday from Lingyuan No. 2 Prison in Liaoning, a province in China's industrial northeast, after serving seven years for subversion of state power.
Yao and another laid-off factory worker, Xiao Yunliang, were arrested in 2002 after tens of thousands of fired workers demanded better benefits from bankrupt state-owned factories in protests in Liaoyang, an industrial base in Liaoning.
They were among the largest protests reported since China's 1949 communist revolution.
"There's nothing wrong in what I did," Yao said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I was just exercising my rights, which are given by the constitution. What did I do wrong as a citizen? It was worth it. I feel no regret at all."
State media said after their trial that the men were convicted of subversion for trying to set up a Liaoyang branch of the would-be opposition China Democratic Party that hoped to challenge the Communist Party's monopoly on political power.
The China Democratic Party was suppressed and its leaders arrested soon after they announced its formation in 1998. Relatives of Xiao and Yao have denied they had tried to set up a party branch and said they had only passing contact with the group.
Yao said Tuesday he had connections with the group but declined to elaborate. He insisted he was not guilty of subversion.
"What I did was protect the interests of the country and the interests of the people, the law-given rights and interests of the workers," Yao said. "I had a responsibility to do it. If I didn't, who was going to?"
Xiao was freed in 2006, 24 days before serving his full 4-year prison sentence.
Yao confirmed reports by human rights groups that he had suffered abuse in prison and said he planned to take legal action against prison authorities.
"In the coldest weather, they put me under the window, which they left open," he said. "My legs were twitching. My lower body was numb with cold."
The European Union had pressed for Yao's early release, citing concerns about his treatment.
Ten years ago, protests by laid-off workers were relatively common amid mass layoffs and closures of state industries across China. Rising unemployment is again a major concern of the government as a drop in worldwide demand for Chinese products has forced thousands of factories to close.
