Famed Tasmanian devil euthanized after tumor found

A Tasmanian devil named Cedric, once thought to be immune to a contagious facial cancer threatening the iconic creatures with extinction, has been euthanized after succumbing to the disease, researchers said Wednesday.

The death of the devil _ previously heralded as a possible key to saving the species _ is another blow for scientists struggling to stop the rapid spread of the cancer, which is transmitted when the furry black marsupials bite each other.

"It was very disappointing indeed," said scientist Alex Kreiss of the Menzies Research Institute in Hobart, Tasmania, which has led the studies on Cedric. "It's just made us more determined to …

At Your Service

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

THIS PAST FALL, the University of California, Berkeley, launched a new, graduate-level certification program in the emerging discipline of SSME, or Services Science, Management and Engineering. SSME is a multidisciplinary approach that merges the skills of such seemingly disparate areas as economics, computer science, engineering and management. Many other schools are also dipping a toe into services science, including Stanford University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The aim is to bring improved skills to the service sector, which employs more than 75 percent of Americans, and to help manufacturers improve their marketing, …

Man shown twice on Page One _ painting window in one, taking wallet in another _ gets 30 days

A man identified in a front-page newspaper photo has been sentenced for theft, an act caught in another photo on the same front page.

Michael Millhouse, wearing a blue and black checkered coat, is painting decorative Christmas greetings on storefront windows in one photo published Dec. 13 in the Lewiston Tribune. The other image was taken from surveillance video footage that reportedly showed a then-unidentified man slipping a women's wallet in the pocket of that same coat and walking away.

Copy editors at the Tribune spotted the similarity of the person in the photos, and an employee the next morning …

Players drained, admits domone

Gary Domone will face the biggest test of his managerial career sofar when he sends his players out to meet rivals Brislington intomorrow's Screwfix League Premier Division derby at Moor House Lane.

Hallen's players are physically and mentally drained in the wakeof Tuesday night's sensational FA Cup penalty shoot-out triumph overTeam Bath and Domone admitted: "We could have done without a biglocal derby just four days later!" Hallen were originally scheduledto meet Corsham, but the Wiltshire side are on County Cup duty andScrewfix League officials stepped in to rearrange a game betweenBrislington and last season's First Division champions.

"My players are absolutely …

SOUND OFF: WHAT YOU SAID

Last week's question:

Should the commonwealth hold a constitutional convention as a systematic review? Why or why not?

YES: "We have been deviating from the constitution of the commonwealth and there needs to be a serious review. That review needs to include reviewing legislation that has been passed that violated the constitution."

-Beverly Cullen, York County

YES: "A convention is necessary and long overdue not for a 'systematic review' but a systematic overhaul! Pennsylvania has the most archaic, bloated, ingrained legislature in the country. Isn't Pennsylvania's legislature second only in size to California?

A convention has been discussed ever since …

US praises Japan's release of Chinese captain

NEW YORK (AP) — The United States is praising Japan's decision to release a Chinese fishing boat captain involved in a collision near disputed islands.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters Friday that the U.S. hopes the decision will ease tensions between the two longtime Asian rivals.

Crowley says this is "how mature states resolve these things, through …

Woods withdraws from own golf tournament

Tiger Woods withdrew Monday from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from a car crash near his Florida home. He said he would not compete again until next year.

Woods said in a statement on his Web site that his injuries prevented him from playing in the Chevron World Challenge, which he hosts annually for a small, invited, field.

"I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week," Woods said. "I am certain it will be an outstanding event and I'm very sorry that I can't be there."

His decision to withdraw comes after a car crash left him with cuts and bruises when his SUV hit a fire hydrant and a …