DDSN audit: Care home review falls short (The Greenville News)

The state agency for people with mental retardation and brain injuries reviews the quality of its adult residential facilities one-third as often as other states and didn't adequately follow up when it found expired food, missing smoke detectors and water heaters set too hot, a new audit said.

Surviving the storm: Celina continues growth amid turbulent 2008 (The Celina Record)

The nation’s lackluster economy finally made its way into Collin County. The county ranks second in the United States in growth, but the recession found a way to shackle its economy.

All News... Medway at Large - Reporters' Notebook (The Kent Messenger)

Writing this remotedly from from home up northish in the hood. Didn't have time to update today but just wanted to write a few lines to keep up appearances before this blog returns with a proper regular flourish in the New Year.

Review: iLuv i399 2.1-Channel Hi-Fi Audio System (MacNN)

The growing capacity of the iPodís internal storage means we carry around larger and more diverse types of music and audio. This brings up the issue: What is the most convenient way to listen to that music? Headphones are great when on the go, but when sitting at home it is more convenient to plug the iPod into a good speaker system. The iLuv i399 looks to deliver that home speaker system by ...

Nigeria: Abuja Estates - All Aesthetics, No Amenities (AllAfrica.com)

For over 30 days now, we have not had light; even when there was light, it was like a candle light. Some of us do not enjoy water from here. Just imagine me living in an estate but spend an average of N5,000 every week to buy water."

Blaze damages Minerva Club site (Santa Maria Times)

Fire damaged the Minerva Club’s historic building in Santa Maria on Tuesday night, destroying a storage room with tables and chairs but sparing silver teapots.