| Unions rebound as GOP falters
The lowest moment for the modern American labor movement came after the 2004 election. Unions spent more than $85million trying to beat President Bush, money spent and gone forever, not to be used for future campaigns or organizing drives. The loss left unions facing another four years of hostile labor regulators and anti-union policies, as well as the relentless effects of globalization on American workers. "No one woke up the day after the election and didn't feel like they shouldn't go back to sleep for a few years," said Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. "We knew there was nothing good on the horizon." After the election, unions also faced an internal fissure, with the SEIU and its 1.8 million members, as well as six other major unions, splitting from the AFL-CIO.
Home Cookin'
"You got any strawberries back there?" Don Smith booms loud and clear from a table in the back corner, knowing not only that someone must be in hearing range but furthermore that whoever it is will recognize his bray. Sure, a dozen other people are in the diner, but Smith feels at home here, and he should: He first walked into the place more than 50 years ago. "No strawberries today," comes the response. But that won't keep Smith from returning for lunch tomorrow. The 73-year-old is among a familiar lineup of regulars who haunt the Shanty Cafe daily, or every few days, or on Saturdays, or just every once in a while, for breakfast or lunch. There's the couple that drives in from Issaquah; the walking-distance workmates from F-5 Networks or Holland America; the guy who single-handedly raises the volume at lunchtime; the retired flight attendants who hang out for two hours-plus on Sundays.
Two of Us: Robert and Marietta Cleasby: So Many Camp Ground Summers, This Couple Has Stopped Counting
He plays music and conducts; she draws. for both, the camp ground is the center of their artistic life. Robert C. Cleasby is director of programs at the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association in Oak Bluffs. During the summer he conducts the Wednesday night community sings at the Camp Ground. He is retired, though active in teaching private music lessons. His wife of 42 years is Marietta. Friends call her Bootsie. She tutors high school education and art at the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston, R.I. They spend their summers in a house on Commonwealth avenue on the Camp Ground that was bought by his father in 1965 for $5,200. They have three grown children: Meredith, Andrew and Jonathan. On Saturday morning, the couple celebrated the birth of their second grandchild, Alison, to Jonathan and Nicole Cleasby.
Dunkin’ Donuts Goes Trans-Fat Free
Dunkin' Donuts announced it will be pretty much trans-fat free by mid October. The company developed alternative cooking oil, and reformulated more than 50 menu items including doughnuts. But the ``zero grams trans fat' label won't mean there is literally no trans fat in their products. Federal regulations state food labels can say ``zero grams trans fat' if there's less than a half gram per serving. sh/ay Dunkin' Donuts
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News in Brief
Police officers without firearms training are to be allowed to use 50,000-volt Taser stun guns in a one-year trial. Previously the guns could be used only by firearms officers. Gang strips teenage girls naked Two teenage girls were stripped naked by a gang of older girls in Gorton, Manchester. The thieves also took a mobile phone from the 14-year-olds. Go-ahead for human hybrid research Research on human hybrids is likely to be approved in principle by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on Wednesday. .
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