Unemployment still taking a toll on retail sales – Detroit News
Best Buy Co., whose electronics make it a barometer of discretionary spending, is opening its U.S. stores an hour earlier than usual this holiday season in a bid to win over consumers battered by job losses. With the unemployment rate at a seven-month high …

American Apparel founder to remain on board – Los Angeles Times
Shareholders elected to keep American Apparel Inc. founder Dov Charney on its board of directors, according to voting results announced at the troubled Los Angeles clothing maker’s annual meeting Friday. In recent months American Apparel has been beset by …

Sale of Bank Midwest to NBH completed – Boston Herald
B OSTON National Bank Holdings Corp. says it has completed its acquisition of Bank Midwest, which has more than three dozen branches in Missouri and Kansas. Dickinson Financial Corp., the parent of Bank Midwest, announced in July that it had agreed to …

BC-IA–Iowa Top 10 Ballot – Daily Oklahoman
It’s time to rank the top 10 Iowa news stories of 2010. The Associated Press in Des Moines each year asks member newspaper editors and broadcasters to choose. Our nominees follow in random order. Please mark your first choice with the numeral 1, your …

Neb. disappearance suspect linked to other crimes – CharlotteObserver.com
OMAHA, Neb. A South Carolina man charged in the disappearance of a missing Peru State College student faces accusations of public indecency when he was a student at another Nebraska school, according to court documents. Joshua Keadle, 29, was being held …

KJ’s Biz Partner: Estate Doesn’t Care About MJ’s Kids – TMZ.com
The man doing business with Katherine Jackson just thumbed his nose — BIGTIME — at the Michael Jackson Estate … essentially saying they’re just a bunch of lawyers who don’t care about MJ’s kids. Last night Howard Mann slammed the Estate for the …

New student fee withdrawn at NDSU – Jamestown Sun
FARGO (AP) University President Dean Bresciani said Friday that a proposal to charge a new fee for North Dakota State University business students has been withdrawn. FARGO (AP) University President Dean Bresciani said Friday that a proposal to …

Don’t charge Wikileaks – Washington Post
WIKILEAKS FOUNDER Julian Assange has irresponsibly released thousands of sensitive national security documents, including some that Pentagon officials say could put in harm’s way Afghans who have cooperated with U.S. efforts. But that does not mean he has …

Flashover Repels Rescue Attempt In Deadly Fire – FireFighting News.com
United States (Virginia) – Firefighters got so close to Edward Earl Pace Jr. in his burning, smoke-filled home that they could touch him as he lay unresponsive on his bathroom floor. Then, what firefighters call a “flashover” sent fire coursing throughout …

150th anniversary stirs Civil War controversy – News-Sentinel
CHARLESTON, S.C. At South Carolina’s Secession Gala, men in frock coats and militia uniforms and women in hoopskirts will sip mint juleps as a band called Unreconstructed plays Dixie. In Georgia, they will re-enact the state’s 1861 secession …