A diamond celebration for a solid silver choir ; memories

Bath's Silver Ring Choir celebrates it 60th birthday this monthwith a special celebration dinner at the Guildhall on Saturday,October 29.

Lots of former choir members have been found and will beattending the dinner but they are still helping to find more 'lost'members in time for the end of the month.

The Silver Ring Choir of Bath was formed by Kelvin Thomas in 1951and he remained conductor until 1988.

During those 37 years the choir grew from strength to strength,taking part in competitions and eisteddfods across Britain.

They could be heard regularly on the BBC, taking part in andwinning the mixed voice class of Let the People Sing on more …

McCann's Bat Helps Braves Break Through

ATLANTA - Brian McCann delivered the slump-busting big hits the Atlanta Braves desperately needed. McCann's run-scoring single gave the Braves their first lead in a week, and he added a three-run homer to lift Atlanta to a 4-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.

The Braves snapped a five-game losing streak, their longest of the season. The streak included four shutout losses.

In the only game in that stretch they were not shut out, the Braves managed only one run - on a Chipper Jones homer - in a 2-1 loss to Detroit on Saturday.

The Braves ended a streak of 48 innings without holding a lead when McCann's fourth-inning single drove in Edgar …

Willis to return to Tigers, pitch next week

Detroit Tigers left-hander Dontrelle Willis is ready to return to the major leagues.

Manager Jim Leyland said Thursday that Willis, who has been on the disabled list since March 29 because of anxiety disorder, will start next Wednesday against the Twins in Minnesota.

"He can't really benefit any more down there, so it's time to find out," Leyland said before the Tigers played the Chicago White Sox. "So we'll find out."

Willis made his fourth minor league rehab start Wednesday night, giving up two runs in 7 2-3 innings while walking four and striking out four.

Leyland said reports had Willis throwing his fastball …

Fascinating Fabric Facts Fill Textile Encyclopedia

Exactly what is a challis? How are patterns printed on fabric?Is silk really made from silkworms? What is the jacquard weavingprocess? Who was John Kay and what did he contribute to the textileindustry?

These questions and many, many more are answered in a newresource book, the Encyclopedia of Textiles (Facts on File, $45).It's a must for any serious textile library, because no matter howmuch you think you know about fabrics, there is always something moreto learn.

Author Judith Jerde, a consultant, lecturer and writer aboutclothing and textiles, has compiled a myriad of fascinating factsabout fabrics and fibers - their history, manufacture, care …

Verifying Nuclear Disarmament: The Inspector's Agenda

In the past year, support for moving toward eventual nuclear disarmament has gathered force. In early 2007, an op-ed by four influential U.S. policy shapers, two Republicans and two Democrats, called on the nuclear-weapon states to "turn the goal of a world without nuclear weapons into a joint enterprise."1

Reaching this goal will require overcoming many political, diplomatic, and technical obstacles. In a June 2007 keynote address to the Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference, former British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett embraced the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons and sought to help with this task by offering her country as a "disarmament laboratory."2 What …

Belgium's Flemish region cuts subsidy for Volvo car plant to win EU approval

Belgium's Flemish region has reduced a subsidy to fund training at Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo car plant to win European Union approval for the payment, the European Commission said Tuesday.

The EU executive cleared the regional government to give Volvo a euro3.54 million (US$5.44 million) grant to pay the costs of basic training to help workers secure better qualifications _ well below the euro6 million (US$8.3 million) initially planned.

The EU said Belgium and Volvo had agreed not to pay for training …

He works, and plays De La Salle star Bogusevic is on a tear

De La Salle's Brian Bogusevic is a humble young man.

The Tulane-bound pitcher-outfielder is hitting .568 (21-for-37)this season, but he still doesn't seem pleased.

I started out slow but I've been coming around a little the lastfew games," Bogusevic said. Lately I've been hitting balls a littlebit harder."

In fact Bogusevic was hitting .400 through his first seven games,an average that many other players wouldn't mind having.

The modest senior seems intently focused on his team's performanceinstead of his own. The No. 9 Meteors were 13-1 through Tuesday.

Right now it's going pretty well for us," said Bogusevic, who is 3-0 on the mound. We're playing …