After enduring postponements or cancellations to four dual matches already this season, the Gators (3-1) were anxious to compete against a highly-ranked squad, but it was the Blue Devils (2-0) who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to snap a five-match losing streak to Florida, which now holds a 30-4 all-time record against Duke. The Gators' last loss to the Blue Devils was a 4-3 decision on Feb. 9, 2003 in the finals of the National Team Indoor Championships. Florida went on to win the NCAA title later that season.

The Gators opened Friday's match winning the doubles point, sweeping all three positions. The No. 1 pair of sophomore Megan Alexander and newcomer Marrit Boonstra produced the clinching 8-5 win over Amanda Granson and Melissa Mang, after Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan topped Tara Iyer and Reka Zsilinszka, 8-6, on court No.

Combine nature and elegance to transform home

Let sunlight pour in through clerestories, skylights and transom windows. •Live outside as well as in. Open whole walls to the outdoors, extend the roof outward, let the floor slip seamlessly outside to become a deck. Cook and eat on the patio, build a fire in an outdoor fireplace, take a nap in a hanging bed on the porch. •Listen to the rain. Replace the downspouts hanging from your gutters with rain chains. The next time rain falls, go outside and listen to the chains sing. .

Omaxe to set up Rs 1,200 cr township in Raipur

MUMBAI: Real estate company Omaxe on Monday said it will set up a township at Raipur in Chhattisgarh with a project value of Rs 1,200 crore.

Omaxe has won the bid from Naya Raipur Development Authority, Chhattisgarh to build the township, which would include residential and commercial buildings, golf villas and a hotel, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The project would be built on over 400 acres at Naya Raipur, capital city of Chhattisgarh, the company informed.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 257 in mid-session, up 0.65 per cent on the BSE. .

Liberals support Afghan extension until 2011

Richard Stanczak from Corunna, Canada writes: I heartily agree with Rachel M., it is good that the ConLibs have eliminated the need for us ignorant, cowardly citizens to have a say in how our country is being run.'

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richard, as spicydoc posted on another thread, you had a say in how the country is being run when you voted (if you voted). if you voted conservative, then you knew they were hoping to extend the mission. if you voted liberal, then depending on the day, you may have well voted for an extension of the mission. if you dont like what these two parties are doing, you have other choices.

'F.T. Ward from Canada writes: It lets NATO off the hook and ties Canada into an obligation that costs us at least $6 million per day now and certainly much more in following years.'

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the mission is indeed expensive.

New Pima Canyon parking too tight for comfort

The idea was to revamp Pima Canyon to prevent visitors from parking on the dirt in the park and to make sure there was room for emergency vehicles to get to the trail head. But in protecting the park, the number of vehicles that could be parked was severely reduced and the newly-striped parking spaces are so small that pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles can barely fit in. "You have to be really careful when you park," said Ryan Page of Tempe, who was in the park last week preparing to hike into South Mountain Park. "The spaces are just too small and people don’t know how to park." The spaces are small because Phoenix has a double standard when it comes to parallel parking spaces: 21 feet long for a metered parking space downtown and 18 feet everywhere else, including Pima Canyon.

EPA staff backed waiver for Calif. on emissions, files say

The staff report was given to Johnson in a PowerPoint presentation dated late October.

EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said Boxer's decision to release the excerpts was "troubling," though he didn't dispute their accuracy.

Lancaster boy beaten with bat over a bike 5:18 PM

LANCASTER, S.C. -- A 13-year-old boy endured a brutal beating, as a police report the details of how he was hit with a bat, punched in the abdomen, kicked in the side, rolled down a hill -- all because of a bike.

"It was a bike made up of many different parts, it was blue, and it was a trick bike," said Hartley.

Researchers Try To Film Migration Of Lone Predator

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. (AP) ― Winds estimated at 30 mph froze the air to 23 below and pierced through layers of clothing straight to the bone. Gusts roared strong and loud like a jet flying just feet above the ground and pushed against one's body, an awesome, otherworldly force. And even where patches of trees offered a small respite, a frigid cold lingered. Crouched in a small windbreak, Dr. Dave Augeri peeled off his gloves. More important than the cold biting the researcher's fingers was the exact placement of a camera attached to the tree with old bicycle tire tubes. He ripped duct tape from rolls around his water bottle and taped the camera in place. It wasn't perfect, so he tried again. And a third time. Finally, he adjusted the camera just right to capture a variety of predators that might trip its infrared sensor -- mountain lions, coyotes, foxes and maybe even a lone wolf.

Bow a beacon of rediscovery

Winter storms pounding the North Spit continue to whittle away at the foredune that once encased the remains of a mysterious wooden ship. As of Wednesday afternoon, the dune behind the ship revealed that only the bow section and a wooden mast are all that remain on the beach about half way between the wreck of the New Carissa and Coos Bay's north jetty.-World Photo by Lou Sennick .