Associated Press Writer William

• French Voters to Cast Ballots Today On New Eu Constitution; Opposition Leads in Opinion Survey by a 52-48 Margin

By WILLIAM KOLE Associated Press writer PARIS -- Europe's landmark new constitution faces a make-or- break referendum in France today, when a polarized nation decides whether to boost or block the next giant leap forward in a half- century of efforts to unite the continent.

• The Columbian
• May 30, 2005

• Shipping Woes Cut Chinese Fireworks Exports

LIUYANG, China - Chen Tiezhong will likely spend the Fourth of July worrying about the future of his sprawling fireworks factory. China is running short of ports from which to ship the dangerous cargoes abroad. China's fireworks industry provides 98 percent of America's overall needs, and 80 percent of the pyrotechnics needed for professional displays. But the U.S. fireworks business stands to lose $25 million to $30 million this year because of lost orders, says Julie Heckman, executive director for the American Pyrotechnics Association.

• Evansville Courier & Press (2007-Current)
• July 02, 2008

• Utilities Gird for Power Grid Issues; Officials Agree Electrical Transmission Lines Needed, but Who Pays?

PORTLAND -- There is one thing that just everybody agrees has to be done about the thousands of miles of electricity transmission lines that crisscross the West -- build more of them. The big question is, who pays for them? Another is, who controls them? And finally, how much should it cost to use them?

• The Columbian
• November 28, 2005

• Riots Leave 2 Chinese Ethnic Groups Reeling

URUMQI, China -- Incense was lit and paper money burned at the funeral Sunday for a Han Chinese family -- a man, his wife and his parents, all killed in last week's ethnic riots. Three Uighur neighbors approached, standing tentatively apart. Then one of the neighbors grasped hands with a mourning sister, walked to the altar with her and wailed in sympathy.

...Associated Press writer William Foreman reported from Hotan, ...

• Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
• July 13, 2009

• Candidates Focus On Oregon Economy

PORTLAND The recession is over, Oregon has the fifth-best job growth rate in the nation, and most of the major industries in the state are showing steady improvement. So why are candidates for governor spending so much time talking about Oregon's economy?

• The Columbian
• February 07, 2006

• Pollock Piece Is Restored

UTICA, N.Y. -- For the first time in nearly a half-century, Jackson Pollock's monumental frieze painting, "No. 2, 1949," is being seen as the artist created it. One of Pollock's pioneering paintings from his classic "drip" period, "No. 2" was covered front and back with polyvinyl acetate in 1959 by a well-intentioned museum conservator at the Munson Williams Proctor Museum of Art in Utica.

• The Columbian
• November 30, 2006

• Adidas Chief Plots Next Move; Merger with Reebok Is Start of Campaign to Knock Nike From Top

PORTLAND -- Plotting strategy in his office 10 miles from the headquarters of archrival Nike Inc., Erich Stamminger contemplates what it's going to take for Adidas to knock Nike off its pedestal as the No. 1 athletic shoe and apparel company in the world. We all know that this does not come overnight. Even if you do everything right, you will not in 12 months change the world," said Stamminger, the president and CEO of Adidas America Inc. who also serves as global marketing chief for its German parent, Adidas- Salomon AG.

• The Columbian
• August 21, 2005

• Emission Standards Approved

PORTLAND -- Tougher light truck and car emission rules based on California standards were permanently adopted Thursday in Oregon to reduce greenhouse gases and make the entire West Coast a more uniform market for automobile manufacturers. The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission unanimously approved rules that Washington state had made contingent on Oregon passage, to take effect with the 2009 model year.

• The Columbian
• June 30, 2006

• Bonneville Charts Energy Course for Much of West

PORTLAND At the halfway point between the West Coast energy crisis of 2001 and the next major electricity contract renewal year of 2011, the Bonneville Power Administration is proposing a policy change that could affect rates in the Pacific Northwest for generations. Northwest hydropower is one of the cheapest energy resources in the nation about half the current market rate for electricity. Bonneville announced this summer it wants to change the way it charges utilities for its wholesale power, to keep rates low.

... skyrocketed when customers who had pressured the agency to allow them to buy lower cost electri...

• The Columbian
• September 26, 2006

• Bad Economy Is Good for Clearing China Air

BEIJING -- Last summer, Xu Demin struggled to cut emissions from his coal-fired factories as part of China's all-out effort to clean the air for the Beijing Olympics. He could have simply waited six months. This spring, overseas demand for his farming and construction machinery plummeted, forcing him to close two plants and lay off 300 workers.

...An Associated Press analysis of government figures backs up his ...Associated Press writer William Foreman in Guangzhou and researchers Xi Yu...

• Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
• April 05, 2009