Pa. officials angry over power plant plans

CAMERON - Several community leaders in Pennsylvania are outragedthey weren't notified of plans to build a $600 million, gas-firedpower plant in West Virginia within 200 feet of the state line.

Marshall Power, a subsidiary of Cogentrix Power of Charlotte,N.C., plans to start construction this spring and open the 1,100-megawatt plant by 2004 on a 67-acre tract in rural Marshall County.

The plant has been under discussion for two years, said ZackBlair, project coordinator for the Ohio Valley Industrial andBusiness Development Authority.

It will likely sell power to Allegheny Energy and AmericanElectric Power.

The city of Cameron will own the plant and lease …

Vladimir Vujtek named Slovakia coach

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Vladimir Vujtek will be the coach of Slovakia's national ice hockey team.

The 64-year-old Vujtek is the first Czech to coach the team and the second foreigner. Glen Hanlon of Canada was fired after the team's poor performance at the ice hockey world championship earlier this year.

The Slovak Ice Hockey …

Calif. pension funds grow more than 20 percent

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The nation's largest public pension fund has posted its highest investment returns since before the recession, reporting returns of 20.7 percent for the fiscal year ended June 30, the fund's investment team announced Monday.

That preliminary figure is the best after-fees return in 14 years for the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which oversees benefits for 1.6 million current and retired state and local government employees and their families.

It's also the second consecutive year CalPERS has topped the 7.75 percent investment return target assumed in its long-range financial model.

Critics say the assumption is too optimistic …

SK8R

At one time, skateboarding was nearly an underground activity. Skaters were often considered rebels or troublemakers, young punks who didn't care about the rules and created their own skate parks in empty swimming pools or wherever they could.

But over the last few decades, skateboarding has become part of mainstream society. Now, video games tout the accomplishments of the most famous professional skaters, and international skateboarding contests are broadcast on ESPN. Communities across the country have their own custom-built skateparks, where adults, children and teens go to play.

Celebrations like Go Skateboarding Day seek to bring even more devotees into the fold by …

Gilmore Drops Presidential Candidacy

RICHMOND, Va. - Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore ended his long-shot campaign for presidency on Saturday, acknowledging he couldn't raise enough money.

The former Republican National Committee chairman is the first of the 10 GOP presidential candidates to drop out. He barely registered in the polls, and his latest financial disclosure report showed him with about $90,000 in cash on hand.

A former Army intelligence officer and state prosecutor, Gilmore had stumped on reducing illegal immigration and creating a new strategy in Iraq.

"I've developed a national following," Gilmore said in a telephone interview. "But that following really hasn't included getting a …

US: 10 insurgents killed in Afghanistan

International and Afghan troops killed at least 10 insurgents Wednesday in a battle in central Afghanistan, U.S. forces said.

Meanwhile, Germany said its foreign minister was in Kabul for two days of talks with Afghanistan's president and other leaders. Further details were not immediately available.

Wednesday's fighting erupted about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Kabul when a patrol moved into a village in Logar province in the early morning to search out Taliban operatives, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Militants fired on the troops as they approached the targeted compounds. The Afghan and international forces killed two …

Credit rating agencies face growing pressure

WASHINGTON From Congress, from state attorneys general, from thecourts, the heat is on for credit reporting agencies.

These massive, computerized data bases, which track thefinancial lives of millions of Americans - usually opening the doorto instant credit but sometimes causing mystifying denials - havebecome key players in the nation's day-to-day commerce.

But by making themselves difficult for ordinary consumers todeal with, and by royally fouling up people's lives from time totime, the bureaus are looked upon in many quarters today as a crossbetween Hal, the run-amok computer in the movie "2001," and theGestapo.

"Out of control," is how Rep. Charles …