Cebu begins checking hotels, eateries for ASEAN Summit.
Byline: MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR. CEBU CITY - The local government here will start inspecting hotels and restaurants next week to determine if there are establishments that are not fit to serve foreign guests during the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit scheduled in December....

Football Island offers much too much.
Just looking at the proposed football stadium on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County is enough to give me indigestion. This six-dollar hamburger is simply too big to eat. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Even by the high standards for excess in Southern California, the numbers for...

The Napa County grand jury.
The Napa County grand jury has concluded that oversight of two farmworker housing projects that went far over budget was lacking and that "public servants who were supposed to oversee these projects failed to do their job and have not acknowledged that they had any responsibility for the problems."...

City appeals U.S. estimate showing dip in population.
Byline: Nick Kotsopoulos WORCESTER - The city is challenging a U.S. Census Bureau estimate that it lost 316 residents last year, putting its population at fewer than 174,000. City Manager Michael V. O'Brien has filed an appeal with the Census Bureau in which he outlined...

Love those stoves; Households race to switch to firewood, pellets to lower heating costs.
Byline: Thomas Caywood Pamela and Roger Shaylor of Worcester took one look at their heating oil bill in January and decided to spend several thousand dollars on a stove that burns wood pellets to heat their home. "That last tank of oil we bought was...

Home builders look for the bright side; Downturn in housing could offer opportunities.
Byline: Matthew Bruun With the foreclosure crisis continuing to push down the housing market, the volume of new homes being built has slowed to a crawl. But despite the national economic upheavals, several local builders said they see signs of a housing turnaround. In August,...

Pleasanton housing element lawsuit may proceed: court gives advocate 3 years to challenge city's policies.
A lawsuit challenging the City of Pleasanton's housing policies has been reinstated by the First District Court of Appeal after a trial court judge had ruled the lawsuit was filed too late. The unanimous three-judge appellate panel determined the statute of limitations for the lawsuit had not expired. The...

July sustains slip 'n' slide economy.
Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard Ongoing job losses and a residential housing market that may be scraping near bottom kept Oregon in the economic doldrums in July, according to the latest University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators. The state appears to be in...

`Underground' notes; Skirting of state hiring laws focus of forum.
Byline: Lisa Eckelbecker WORCESTER - Employers who skirt the law by paying workers under the table or improperly treating them as contractors make up a significant part of the construction and trades industry, making it harder and more costly for law-abiding union and nonunion businesses to survive,...

Big burdens from growth management.
MEDIAN FAMILY incomes in Raleigh, N.C., almost are identical to those in Seattle, Wash., but a family purchasing a house in Seattle would have to pay more than twice as much as for a similar home in Raleigh. The additional cost almost entirely is due to a form of...