Transportation seat puts Lipinski on a roll

Since he was elected to Congress in 2004, Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) has been trying to wrangle a seat on the House TransportationCommittee.

After a two-year internal campaign, this week he was tapped forthe panel. Lipinski told me he is most interested in keeping federalfunding flowing for the mega-project called CREATE to improve theregion's railroad infrastructure. He also wants to watchdog MidwayAirport at a time the city is considering taking it private.

In 2004, Lipinski's father, former Rep. Bill Lipinski, fixed thepolitics so his son, then an assistant professor in politicalscience at the University of Tennessee, could move to the districtand inherit a …

Hasselhoff's Visitation Rights Suspended

LOS ANGELES - A judge on Monday suspended David Hasselhoff's visitation rights with his two teenage daughters after last week's surfacing of a videotape showing the recovering alcoholic apparently intoxicated in his Las Vegas home.

"This videotape changes the landscape, it just does," Superior Court Judge Mark Juhas said.

The judge set a May 21 hearing to determine if the tape is authentic and who was responsible for its release. His visitation order will remain in effect until then.

Hasselhoff, 54, did not attend the hearing, but his former wife Pamela Bach was there.

Portions of the video were aired last week on syndicated entertainment shows. The …

Japan shares rise on upbeat US data

Japanese shares rose sharply Thursday with sentiment turning upbeat as investors took heart from better-than-expected U.S. economic data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average gained 156.34 points, or 1.84 percent, to 8,636.33. The broader Topix index added 1.02 percent to 826.81.

"Investors bought back shares as sentiment improved on the better-than-expected new home sales and durable goods orders," said Yutaka Miura, senior strategist at Shinko Securities Co. Ltd.

U.S. new home sales rose 4.7 percent in February, while orders at U.S. factories for cars, household appliances and other durable goods climbed 3.4 percent in the month. …

Umpires end two-day walkout

NEW YORK Major-league umpires agreed to a new contract Monday andended their two-day walkout, but the deal came too late for them toreach seven of the eight season openers.

Amateur umpires, who took over for the final two days of springtraining, worked all but one of Monday's games, the first timeregular umpires missed games during the regular season since 1979.

Regular umpires are scheduled for today's nine games.

The only Monday game with regulars was in Texas, where JimEvans, Durwood Merrill, Larry McCoy and Tim McClelland umpired as theRangers played the Milwaukee Brewers.

"Money was the biggest issue," commissioner Fay Vincent said."I …

Internet Porn-Linked Donors: Filthy Lucre?

Internet pornography became an issue in Virginia's 2001 gubernatorial race in an unexpected way early in June. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Earley faced a political trap just days after winning his party nomination when disclosures surfaced that a major donor to Earley owned a company that marketed online ad servicing software to sexually explicit Web sites.

Earley's campaign announced it would return $47,000 it received from Bruce M. Waldack, owner of Thruport Technologies Inc. …

Accidental overdose of prescription pills killed Heath Ledger; 6 sedatives, painkillers

The actor Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of six different drugs _ painkillers and sedatives _ the medical examiner said Wednesday, leading doctors to warn of the dangers of mixing prescription drugs.

The 28-year-old film star died "of acute intoxication" from the combination of two strong painkillers, two anti-anxiety medicines and two sleeping aids, according to the medical examiner's office.

Among the drugs found in his body were oxycodone, a painkiller sold as OxyContin and used in other pain relievers such as Percodan and Percocet. Others included drugs sold as anti-anxiety pills Valium and Xanax, which are sedatives.

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Top trio hot favourites

Middlefield, Newhills and St Josephs, the top three in the R A MTubulars Primary League Three, start favourites to gain maximumpoints when they face Kaimhill, Kirkhill and Tullos respectively toopen up a gap over nearest challengers Walker Road who are on cupbusiness.

SATURDAY'S FIXTURES

9am

Harlaw 1: Milltimber v Muirfield (L2); 2: Scotstown v Newtonhill(WC); 3: Greenbrae v Braehead (L4); 4: Crombie v Fernielea (WC); 5:Woodside v Abbotswell (L2)

Nelson St: Bucksburn v Kittybrewster (L4)

Groat's …