Manchester United-bound Wilfried Zaha ensured his Crystal Palace farewell party will be at Wembley after his two goals sank arch-rivals Brighton to set up an all-London Championship play-off final against Watford.

The winger has already earned Palace $15million after agreeing a switch to Old Trafford in January, which will be completed in the summer.

And a well-taken double means he could now leave the Eagles a parting gift of a place in the Premier League next season and the millions of pounds that go with it.

A tense derby encounter was going the same way as the goalless first leg until Zaha broke the deadlock in the 69th minute, just moments after Brighton substitute Ashley Barnes had twice come agonisingly close to giving the hosts the lead.

And the 20-year-old England international killed off the Seagulls with a fabulous turn and shot with two minutes remaining.

It means Ian Holloway's Palace, who only secured their place in the top six on the final day of the season following a dismal run of form, will play Gianfranco Zola's Watford in the final in a fortnight.

It was a different story in the first half for Zaha, who struggled to make an impact and became frustrated at some of the close attention he was receiving from Brighton's defenders.

Instead the Seagulls bossed the early stages with Julian Speroni having to keep out Will Buckley's drive before David Lopez's shot was deflected narrowly over.

Former England defender Matt Upson headed Andrea Orlandi's corner wide, Dean Hammond was also off target with a fierce, low drive and Orlandi's volley was straight at Speroni.

But Palace were a different proposition after the break and Jonny Williams missed a gilt-edged chance to put them ahead when he was sent clean through by Aaron Wilbraham.

The young Wales midfielder's low shot beat the dive of Seagulls goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak but rolled just wide of the far post.

Brighton striker Barnes twice came even closer to breaking the deadlock just a minute after climbing off the bench.

He latched onto Leonardo Ulloa's flick-on, only for Speroni to tip his shot onto the crossbar and from the resulting corner saw his header cleared off the line by Dean Moxey.

And the fine margins which decide these play-off encounters were brought home to Brighton moments later.

Palace sub Yannick Bolasie got the better of Inigo Calderon on the left and swung in a cross which Zaha, who had got in front of Wayne Bridge, met with a firm diving header which crashed into the net.

And as Brighton pushed for an equaliser they left a hole at the back which Kagisho Dikgacoi exposed by playing in Zaha, who turned Gordon Greer before thumping his shot into the roof of the net in front of the jubilant travelling fans.

With just under four minutes remaining, Henrik Zetterberg made the mistake of throwing the puck over the glass on a backhand clearing attempt to signal a delay of game penalty. It was now or never.

The Ducks made it now on a fluke goal much like Game Six. Fracois Beauchimin threw a puck to the front of the net that bounced off of Jonathan Ericsson's skate and behind Jimmy Howard to make it 3-2. At least Justin Abdelkader's goal wouldn't be the winner.

Time ticked down but Detroit would not allow the Ducks to get Jonas Hiller out of the net for an extra attacker again after an icing call late pinned the Ducks deep. It wouldn't matter as time would run out and the game would end.

It's fitting that my only loss of the year as a blogger comes in the final game of the season for Anaheim as they fall in game seven 3-2, losing the series 4-3. Despite outshooting Detroit 8-5 in the third period for a 33-32 final advantage, the Wings were the ones moving on.

Good season, readers. And to the Wings... good riddance. I won't miss seeing your faces and your deluge of fans in our building multiple times a year.
 

Wedbush Securities, one of the nation’s leading broker-dealers and award-winning equity research firms, congratulates Corinna Freedman, Vice President, Equity Research, as she secures the number one position in The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” survey in the “Clothing & Accessories” category. The publication selected these “master stock pickers” calculating performance scores “based on estimated total return, including price changes and dividends, of each eligible stock an analyst covered in an industry, as well as the number of stocks the analyst covered within that industry. Analysts got credit for being right about buy and sell recommendations.”

“Covering a variety of retailers including Fifth & Pacific Cos, Coach, Deckers, Michael Kors and Nike, allows Corinna to offer insightful analysis to investors throughout clothing and accessories,” said Mark Benson, Director of Research, Wedbush Securities. “We’re pleased to see Corinna recognized for her stock picking abilities and excellent performance over the past year.”

“Trends are getting faster and faster, and the consumer is armed with a ridiculous amount of product and pricing information,” Ms. Freedman told The Wall Street Journal. “I primarily look for stocks with catalysts and differentiated products that are resonating well with customers.”

Wedbush Equity Research offers in-depth and differentiated research coverage across a wide variety of consumer, technology and life sciences sectors. The team, comprised of more than 25 publishing analysts, generates timely, insightful analyses including the firm’s award-winning Wedbush Best Ideas List - an actively monitored compilation of stock ideas identifying outperformance trends over the forward 6 to 12 month period. Wedbush Equity Research has repeatedly been named a “Top Stock Picking Firm” by Barron’s and Zacks Investment Research, and consistently ranks among the industry’s leading performance surveys including StarMine’s “Analyst Performance Survey,” Financial Times’ “Top Analysts,” Institutional Investor’s “Rising Stars of Wall Street Research” and The Wall Street Journal’s “Best of the Street.”

Police said the message was written in black magic marker on the cafeteria window at Baldwin High School on Ethel T. Kloberg Drive between 10:30 p.m. Friday and 8:07 a.m. Saturday.

Officials did not disclose the content of the message, but students said it was a bomb threat.“It stated that the school was gonna blow up on certain days at certain times,” sophomore Daniel Fisher told CBS 2/s Kathryn Brown.In response to the threat, additional security was provided at the school on Monday.

The school felt more like an airport security checkpoint as students checked their book bags at the front door and were forced to turn over everything except what they could hold or fit into clear plastic bags.“It’s happened several times before so it gets kind of annoying,” freshman Tyler Ortiz told CBS 2′s Janelle Burrell of the threat.

Bags that didn’t meet the criteria were labeled and then lined up outside of the building for the day.“They said just in case there’s bomb threats so they said just in case they had to check the bags and make sure that everybody’s safe,” freshman Adan Broderick told Burrell.

Parents said they got a robocall from the school’s principal alerting them to the threat.Father P.J. Green said he was anxious after dropping off his 14-year-old son at the school on Monday.

HOUSTON -- At this weekend's National Rifle Association Convention, Carrie Bradshaw met Annie Oakley.

On display in the 9-acre firearms expo alongside Civil War-era antique guns, black AR-15 rifles and camouflage-patterned hunting gear? Pink rifles and hand guns, "Concealed Carrie" purses with hidden handgun pockets, and "Flashbang" holsters that attach to the front or side of a bra.

"We kinda started this because we didn't want women to have to dress like a man to be able to carry a gun," said Taylor Johnston, a Flashbang Holsters sales representative. "We want them to look feminine, look good, and still feel safe.

Leslie Deets modeled her concealed carry purses on high-end designers.

"It looks like a Coach bag," she said, adding that she named her "Concealed Carrie" company after the leading character in HBO’s "Sex and the City" because "Leslie just didn't have the same ring to it."

Retail options aside, the NRA is stepping up its outreach to women after facing criticism in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings that killed 20 elementary school children and 6 adults in December. At the convention, they offered a luncheon, cocktail hour and pistol shooting course just for women.

In February, they hired Natalie Foster -- who founded the blog "Girls Guide to Guns" -- to assist with NRAWomen.tv, a website promoting ways to “explore, connect, celebrate and unite with the women of the NRA.” Sections include “Armed & Fabulous,” and “Refuse to be a Victim.”

"The NRA is definitely making an effort to really let our voices be heard," Foster said.

There's a political motive: The GOP is concerned about wooing female voters, and women overwhelmingly favor stricter gun laws. An April NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 65 percent of women favor more restrictions, compared to just 44 percent of men. Among women with children living at home, support runs even higher.

That's an overwhelming gender gap that could cause a problem for the NRA. The group claims 5 million members, but just a fraction of them are women. Foster said the NRA has a goal of reaching 500,000 women members by 2014 -- so right now, women make up less than 10 percent of the organization. More than half of the electorate, of course, are women.

The gun lobby helped defeat a Senate gun bill that would have expanded background checks to cover all commercial gun sales -- a less aggressive measure than banning assault weapons and a policy that polls show most Americans support.

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre drove the convention with aggressive rhetoric on that issue -- he said that President Barack Obama's background check bill "ordered the law-abiding to participate in a maze of regulation that could criminalize lawful firearms transactions and potentially create a massive government list of every gun-owning citizen in the country."

But Foster took a notably softer tone in her interview with NBC News.

"When it comes to expanding background checks, we all want people to be safer. These laws that have been proposed recently have not been effective to that end, unfortunately," Foster said. "We all want people to be safer, we all want to protect our children. That is absolutely critical in our society."

From the beginning of the post-Newtown focus on gun control, Republicans -- with behind-the-scenes advice from groups like the NRA -- have put women front and center in their fight against new restrictions. At the first major hearing on gun control after Newtown, Republicans invited Gayle Trotter of the Independent Women's Forum to testify -- and she told the committee stories about women who used guns to protect themselves.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., underscored the point, arguing that women need high capacity magazines to appropriately defend themselves.

"My basic premise is that one bullet in the hand of a mentally unstable person or a convicted felon is one too many. Six bullets in the hands of a mother protecting her twin 9-year-olds may not be enough," he said.

That, in turn, drew a response from Vice President Joe Biden, who told a Google hangout he would advise his wife to use a shotgun, instead.

"You don't need an AR-15," he said. "Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun."

Biden is continuing to push for new gun control laws. Supporting him are groups like Moms Demand Action, which had members protesting the NRA Convention. They argue that women want more restrictions, and are planning a week of activism surrounding the upcoming Mother's Day holiday.

"I think every mother knows where she was when she heard about Newtown," said Michelle Green, who heads the Houston chapter. "It resonated so much and mothers want to take care of their children."

Twelve months ago, Facebook’s (FB) mobile business was just a blip. Last week it reported that nearly one out of every three dollars it produces comes from advertising on smartphones and tablets.

Before you pour a glass of champagne to toast the mobile growth, however, consider these two facts:
The mobile app audience is estimated at 224 million users, about the same size as the online audience today;

Yet mobile represents only 9 percent of the overall digital advertising pie of $37 billion, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau.

A huge gap exists between the massive size of the mobile audience and the corresponding miniscule advertising budgets that brands are investing in mobile.

This is not to say that mobile isn’t experiencing explosive growth. In 2012, mobile advertising grew 111 percent over 2011 advertising, going from $1.6 billion to $3.4 billion, according to the IAB.

But mobile has not monetized a full 40 percent of its audience or more than $15 billion in potential advertising revenue. Suddenly, Facebook’s Q1 mobile ad sales of $374 million are not that impressive when compared to the total opportunity that exists in the mobile space.

Is it lack of performance that is keeping brands from opening their mobile advertising purses?

Exactly the opposite is happening. As Fortune 500 brands continue to test and pilot mobile advertising efforts, many are finding that the right campaigns are outperforming online efforts. Even simple mobile banner ads are outperforming standard click-through rates—and, as they also cost less, they are causing savvy marketers to take notice.

For example, Mashable reported that Nanigans, a firm that buys Facebook ads on behalf of clients such as Nordstrom (JWN)’s Hautelook and Zynga (ZNGA), saw click-through rates on Facebook sponsored stories that on average were 12 times higher on mobile, compared to desktop. Yet they were 45 percent less expensive.

When you layer in the additional mobile-only features such as location-aware ads, contextual local search, click-to-call, SMS opt-ins and a host of others, it’s truly puzzling why more marketers are not taking a hard look at their overall marketing budgets and reallocating to the mobile platform in a big way.

The key insight from Facebook’s mobile turnaround is that those who jump into mobile marketing today will be rewarded handsomely, now and in the future.

The types of bags that will be allowed into Heritage Park during the Aloft festival over Memorial Day weekend will be restricted due to concerns in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, Simpsonville Police Chief Steve Moore said.

Only specific people will be allowed to bring backpacks, and bags that are allowed will be screened, he said.

Moore said that after the Boston bombing he sought advice from the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force and the State Law Enforcement Division’s counter terrorism unit.

“All of them were telling us to really look at not allowing people to bring backpacks into an event like that,” Moore said.

Aloft, formerly known as Freedom Weekend Aloft, is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to a park that spans more than 90 acres May 24-27.

The four-day event will include hot air balloons, carnival rides, kayak and paddle boat lessons, Slack Line, foot race, comedians, games, contests, Family Fun Zone and more. The entertainment schedule includes Third Eye Blind, Sister Hazel, Kip Moore, Corey Smith and Andy Grammer.

The safety concern goes beyond actual bombs to potential false alarms, Moore said. With the public on high alert for unattended backpacks, one left in the middle of the event could interrupt the festivities whether it has a bomb or not, he said.

“Basically, your event is shut down until SLED can get their bomb unit up here to blow up that thing — and that can usually take hours,” he said.

Diaper bags will be allowed for people with small children, Moore said. People with medical issues can bring bags for insulin and other supplies, he said.

The tugboat Kaleen McAllister sank before 10 p.m., Mike Reagoso, the vice president of Mid-Atlantic operations for McAllister Towing, said Sunday. No one was injured in the incident, Reagoso said. Everyone had left the boat by the time it sank, said Petty Officer David Marin, a Coast Guard spokesman operating out of Baltimore's Curtis Bay yards.

"It is too early to determine what the extent of the damage may be, but the submersion of the tug is not expected to interfere with any harbor operations or any port operations," Reagoso said in a statement.

He said the tugboat struck a submerged object, leaving it damaged and taking on water.

The Coast Guard "got a report that they were taking on water" sometime before midnight, Marin said, referring to the tugboat. Nearby tugs, including the Robert E. McAllister and Dann Marine Towing's Treasure Coast and Sun Coast, tried to assist the vessel but were unsuccessful, Reagoso said.

Efforts to pump water out of the tug faster than it was coming in failed, Marin said, and it sank at the pier, which is used by McAllister. The vessel began to sink about 7:30 p.m. and was submerged before 10 p.m., Reagoso said.

There was a report of a "small leak" of diesel fuel and lube oil after the tug sank, Marin said. The site has been "boomed off" to prevent any further spread of the leak, he said. McAllister notified an environmental cleanup firm it has on contract, Miller Environmental Group, Reagoso said.

McAllister plans to raise the tug, perhaps by using inflated air bags, and send it to a shipyard for repairs, Reagoso said. He is unsure how much it will cost to raise the tug.

"We kind of have to" get the tugboat out of the slip, Reagoso said. "You can't just leave a vessel there like that."

When it comes to security, the most obvious change for runners – was having to use clear plastic bags to check any items.

“It’s not really that big of hassle when you look at the problems they had up in Boston,” Mike Purpura of Cranberry said. “I think Pittsburgh taking the precautions are doing the right thing.”

Twenty-nine bomb sniffing dogs inspected the marathon route.

The Coast Guard also made inspections under bridges.

And a device on top of a building as well as this hand-held version were used by a local company to look for any chemical agents or fertilizer that could be used in a bomb.

Another change was that spectators were kept farther away from the runners’ starting area.

Backpacks and bags weren’t allowed beyond the checkpoint – an officer even looked at the stroller Russ Shelly’s daughter Maggie was in.

“There’s understandable concern these day,” he said. “It’s just a reality of our times.”

The city determined which garbage cans along the route to remove – and which ones to keep.

There were extra police and paramedics had extra gear including tourniquets.

At 10 a.m. there was a report of a suspicious package found at the intersection of Fifth Street and Liberty Avenue, investigators got there right away, but found nothing.

The race went off rather smoothly.

“It’s a sense of relief, the event happened,” Marathon Director Patrice Matamoros said. “I think we found a nice balance between security and safety reassuring our runners and still creating a fun atmosphere.”

Buy anything on the Internet lately without paying sales tax? In all but a few states, you're probably a tax cheat.

That's right, even if Internet retailers don't collect sales tax at the time of the purchase, you're required by law to pay it in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

The Senate is expected to pass a bill Monday making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases. Some of the nation's largest retailers are rejoicing. But small-business owners who make their living selling products on the Internet worry they will be swamped by new requirements from faraway states.

"It's a huge burden for a company like ours," said Sarah Davis, co-owner, a California-based company that sells high-end pre-owned handbags and purses. "We don't have an accounting department, we've got my father-in-law."

Davis started the company in 1999 and now runs it with her brother-in-law. They have 26 workers and three stores, in Beverly Hills, San Diego and San Francisco. Last year,did $10 million in sales, the vast majority of it online, Davis said.

sells bags directly from its website and on eBay. The company collects sales taxes from customers who live in California, but not from people who live in other states, Davis said. Under the law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state.

That means big retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target, with stores all over the country collect sales taxes when they sell goods over the Internet. But eBay, Amazon and other online retailers don't have to collect sales taxes, except in states where they have offices or distribution centers.

In states with sales taxes, if you buy something from an out-of-state retailer and don't pay taxes, you are supposed to pay those taxes when you file your state tax return, said Neal Osten, director the Washington office of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Only Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no sales tax. Alaska has no state sales tax but does have local ones.

Unpaid sales taxes are usually referred to as "use taxes" on state income tax returns. Use taxes apply to purchases made over Internet, from catalogs, television and radio ads and purchases made directly from out-of-state companies. State officials, however, complain that few people pay these taxes, Olsten said.

"I do know about three people that comply with that," says Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the main sponsor of the Senate bill.

Enzi's bill would empower states to require businesses to collect taxes for products they sell on the Internet, in catalogs and through radio and TV ads. Under the bill, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.

The Senate is expected to pass Enzi's bill Monday. Already, the measure has survived three procedural votes. President Barack Obama supports it, but the bill faces an uncertain fate in the House where some Republicans consider it a tax increase.

Supporters say the bill is about fairness for local businesses that already collect sales taxes, and lost revenue for states. Many governors, both Republicans and Democrats, have lobbied the federal government for years for the authority to collect sales taxes from online sales.

States lost a total of $23 billion last year because they couldn't collect taxes on out-of-state sales, according to a study by three business professors at the University of Tennessee. About $11.4 billion was lost from Internet sales; the rest came from purchases made through catalogs, mail orders and telephone orders, the study said.

"This is a sales and use tax which is on the books," said Michael Kercheval, president and CEO of the International Council of Shopping Centers. "This isn't a tax issue. It's a tax collection issue."

Kercheval's group is part of a broad coalition of retailers that supports Enzi's bill, including Internet giant Amazon, which says it wants a uniform national policy for collecting taxes on Internet sales.

Supporters say the bill makes it relatively easy for Internet retailers to comply. States must provide free computer software to help retailers calculate sales taxes, based on where shoppers live. States also must establish a single entity to receive Internet sales tax revenue, so retailers don't have to send them to individual counties or cities.

"The same software that allows people to figure out shipping costs by ZIP code can figure out what the taxes are," Kercheval said.

Opponents say the bill doesn't do enough to protect small businesses. EBay wants to exempt businesses with less than $10 million in sales or fewer than 50 employees.

"Complying and living under the tax laws of 50 states is a major undertaking because the process of complying with tax law goes far beyond just filling out the right forms," said Brian Bieron, eBay's senior director of global public policy. "You have to deal with the fact that all of these government agencies can audit you and can question you and can actually take you into court and sue you if they think you are doing something wrong."

"We collect and pay sales tax here in California and we're happy to do that. We receive benefit from that. We can influence lawmakers locally on how those taxes are spent and how much those are and how they're collected," Davis said.

The Guilford Lakes Green Team challenged Lakes students this Earth Day to minimize their food waste and trash output in the school’s first annual Zero Trash Lunch initiative. The results took the custodians’ breath away--and left all around unable to stop marveling at the huge impact rendered and discussing the need to make limiting trash a daily event.

During the April 22 competition to determine which lunch period could produce the least trash, bought lunches were served on compostable plates, sparing 100 Styrofoam trays from landfills. Organic waste was collected for composting. Kids were encouraged to minimize their food waste. Students were reminded of the Green Team’s plastic bottle redemptions and bottle cap collection, of items collected in the cafeteria for upcycling, earning Lakes two cents a pop: snack bags, snack bar wrappers, juice pouches.

Inspired participants brought unfinished food from their packed lunches back home to eat as after-school snacks, saved uneaten bread crusts to feed the birds, and kept their yogurt spoons to be washed and reused.

They welcomed the chance to do better for our Earth, and they asked questions. At the end of the day, 252 students left behind just 12.6 pounds of waste. Their total trash filled just one-quarter of a big trash barrel, compared to the usual two FULL trash barrels. First graders won the competition, producing .5 ounces trash per person, followed by the fourth grade (.6 ounces per person), second grade and Multiage (.8 ounces), and third grade (1 ounce).

“It was stunning,” said Green Team chair Pam Medvecky, “The kids felt so good about being empowered to make such good choices for our Earth. My Green Team colleagues and I were thrilled to teach and witness the ‘high-five me’ pride displayed by these children, who knew they had personally made a difference and together broken through the trash barrier to discover a greener frontier.”

Medvecky credited participating students for the success of the Zero Trash Lunch initiative, but said it could not have happened without the invaluable support of Lakes parents, teachers, principal, cafeteria staff, custodians, lunch aides, and much hands-on guidance from the Green Team’s six parent volunteers. Despite the exciting end result, Green Team members were disheartened by the number of untouched yogurts and unopened carrot bags bound for the trash.

“The value of Food Banking programs like the one in place at Baldwin was made clear,” said Sue Ireland, a founding member of the Green Team.

“Did Lakes students learn a lot?” queried Medvecky. “Definitely. Are they newly inspired? Sure. Will it last? Only if the expectation is kindled from within our school system and the direction is given by those watching over every lunch period.”

Added Medvecky: “As teachers of the next generation, we have a responsibility to model proper recycling in our schools. We need to do better than Styrofoam trays in this era of green choices. Allowing Guilford’s students no choice but to toss hundreds of Styrofoam trays daily into our Earth’s trash bin teaches that environmental responsibility is someone else’s problem. Why can’t composting be part of the equation? In the absence of a dedicated recycling manager for our schools, we ALL need to take ownership of the direction in which we are subliminally steering Earth’s youngest caretakers.”

In related news, the Green Team announced that Guilford Lakesstudents exceeded the goal of earning $50 before April break with their recycling/upcycling collections and plastic bottle redemptions. Juice pouches, snack bags, snack bar wrappers are each worth two cents apiece, with other items worth more. Earnings totaled $52.93, bringing total earnings since the program’s inception in November to $105.28.

“We sure hope so,” says Medvecky. “With this first initiative, we demonstrated that reducing, reusing, and recycling truly matter—at this school, in life, in every moment that you stand with something disposable in your hand. With luck,Guilford Lakes students will continue to stop before they toss and proudly boast to friends about their zero trash lunch.”

These cameras, which detect body heat, sit at the entrances and above cash registers at most of Kroger's roughly 2,400 stores. Paired with in-house software that determines the number of lanes that need to be open, the technology has reduced the customer's average wait time to 26 seconds. That compares with an average of four minutes before Kroger began installing the cameras in 2010.

"The technology enabled us to execute at the front of the store without that additional (labor) expense," said Marnette Perry, senior vice president of retail operations for Kroger."It's remarkable that we've been able to improve execution as much as we have without a big price tag."

Reducing wait times is becoming a top priority for retailers, from high-end department stores to hardware chains to fast-food outlets. Battling both online rivals that offer at-home convenience and intensifying competition among fellow brick-and-mortar outlets, many companies see enhancing the shopping experience as a way to build loyalty.

"Since the checkout is the last experience in a store, if it's a bad experience, you'll probably see that financially," says Kurt Kendall, retail strategist with Kurt Salmon, a management consulting firm. "Retailers could speed up their service if they fully staffed their lanes, but they are trying not to staff all their checkout locations. This is the dirty little secret of this."

Other retailers and restaurant chains are experimenting with technologies to speed up service, including mobile ordering and payment systems that use customers' mobile devices or hand-held gadgets by sales people.

McDonald's Corp., seeking to improve customer service amid mounting complaints, is implementing a new "dual point" ordering system in which customers place their order at one end of the counter and pick it up at another once their number appears on a screen.

The order-taker is supposed to focus on the customer while a "runner" performs other tasks such as dispensing drinks and condiments. The new system is in place at just under 10% of the company's 14,000 U.S. restaurants and is expanding.

"While dual point was in test, we saw better attention paid to hospitality—specifically eye contact and full attention being paid to the customer—which results in a better customer experience and order accuracy," a McDonald's spokeswoman said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is testing a new "Scan & Go" system in which customers use the Wal-Mart iPhone app to scan the bar code of the items they want to buy and bag them as they shop. When they get to a self-checkout lane, customers hold their iPhone up to the self-checkout screen, which wirelessly receives the scanned items and prompts them to pay. The company began testing the system in December 2012 in about 70 stores and has since expanded it to more than 200 stores in 14 markets.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the company is experimenting with innovative technologies like mobile self-checkout because its "customers are shopping differently than they ever have before—they're using their mobile devices to search for coupons, compare prices and navigate aisles."

Some experiments with new checkout technologies haven't gone well. Many companies are expanding use of self-checkout systems, where customers scan in their own items and place them on weight-sensitive platforms designed to make sure all goods are paid for.

But IKEA, the Swedish furniture giant, and Albertsons LLC, the Boise, Idaho, supermarket chain, are doing away with self-checkout because they believe the systems make shoplifting easier.

The military has used infrared vision extensively for navigation and surveillance purposes, as have law-enforcement officials, including those in Watertown, Mass., who used the technology to determine that one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers was hiding in a boat. Since the late 1960s, when the first commercial infrared cameras were developed, the technology has been used for a number of civilian ventures, including art restoration and building inspections.

Kroger's system, dubbed QueVision, is now in about 95% of its stores, which operate under the Kroger, King Soopers and Dillons names, among others.

The system includes software developed by Kroger's IT department that predicts for each store how long those customers spend shopping based on the day and time. The system determines the number of lanes that need to be open in 30-minute increments, and displays the information on monitors above the lanes so supervisors can deploy cashiers accordingly.

Kroger declined to specify the cost for installing QueVision, but says the cost of running it is minimal. While it is hard to break out the exact impact faster lines have had on sales, the company says surveys show customer perception of its checkout speed has improved markedly since 2010.

And Kroger executives said they learned something surprising from QueVision data that helped them boost certain orders. The system showed that there were more customers than Kroger realized buying a small number of items in the morning and during lunchtime, and that the express lanes were backing up. So Kroger added 2,000 new express lanes to its stores nationwide, which it credits with growing the number of those small orders over the last two years.

Kroger in March reported fourth-quarter profit of $461.5 million, exceeding analysts' expectations, compared with a year-ago loss of $306.9 million that included a big pension charge. Sales increased 13% to $24.15 billion.

Kroger executives say they are continuously improving the QueVision software to better predict shopping behavior and fine-tune the staffing of the checkout lanes. And they are testing other ways to get shoppers out more quickly, including a tunnel-like device resembling an MRI machine that scans items as they go through, then automatically bags them.

"The bottom line is we want our checkout experience to be the best and it's our goal that our customers will enjoy the experience so much that they'll want to return," Ms. Perry said.

The packs will even be the focal point of a conference this summer of stadium-security personnel in Orlando .

"After what happened ... I wouldn't be surprised if the number of people eliminating backpacks would increase," said Lou Marciani, director of the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security, founded in 2006 and based at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

Next Saturday, more than 165,000 people are expected at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby. Backpacks, duffel bags and large purses have been banned from the track since 2002 -- part of the clamp-down that followed the Sept. 11 attacks. Still, Derby officials have told fans their bags will undergo increased security checks for this year's race.

No matter where the world ends up on the bag-check spectrum, some fans may never again regard the pack slung across their body quite the same way.

"I never really thought about backpacks until last week, and now you notice backpacks all over the place," said Ryan Hershberger of Hartwell, Ga., as he headed into a Colorado Rockies game carrying a black backpack. "It makes you think."

Down the street, at the Denver Nuggets game, a handful of fans shared the same sentiment.

"I've been thinking about it all day," Joel Cross said on the concourse at the Pepsi Center in Denver. He and his wife traveled from Harrisburg, Neb., to attend Tuesday night's Nuggets playoff game. "We're from a community where our whole county only has 600 people in it. Nobody is going to bomb us because there's no one there. But we're coming to a populated area."

The NFL beefed up security for thousands of fans attending its annual draft, which runs through Saturday, with metal detectors, pat-downs and about 20 percent more personnel in place than previous years. Backpacks are banned. The league said it would consider what, if any, changes might be made for the 2013 season, which ends with the Super Bowl in New York next February.

Major League Baseball's security officials met Thursday but Commissioner Bud Selig said no changes are expected in the rules on bags fans can bring to ballparks, generally limited to 16x16x8 inches. The meeting was scheduled before the Boston explosions that killed three and injured more than 260/

"I wouldn't say that Boston has changed anything," Selig said. "Each club makes its own decision."

At Yankee Stadium, for example, briefcases, coolers and other hard-sided bags or containers are not permitted. At Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium, wrapped presents are banned along with cameras with lenses of 12 or more inches. The Baltimore Orioles ban bags with wheels at Camden Yards.

Boston and San Francisco were among the teams opting to use metal-detecting wands on fans and their possessions this week.

"We've added people, and people are getting in faster now, so we're going to stick with the plan," Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said.

Though the marathon bombings caught the attention of the world, not every event or championship, especially overseas, is beefing up or changing security measures.

For instance, officials at Manchester United, the FA Cup final and the European Champions League say their policies, which either ban large bags or strongly discourage them, are under constant review but not set to change.

"We did, of course, contact the police in the aftermath of the Boston bombings, as part of our commitment to the security of fans and visitors to the stadium," Manchester United said in a statement.

At Wimbledon, where tennis action starts in June, no changes are planned.

"It was a terrible event, but we have no reason to believe it's something that has a direct impact on Wimbledon," All-England Club chief executive Richard Lewis said, referring to the Boston explosions.

At the Summer Olympics in London, soft-sided bags were required to fit under seats and couldn't hold more than 25 liters (6 gallons).

Sebastian Coe, who led London's organizing committee, says a ban on backpacks at sports events would not be justified.

"We have to make some pretty tough decisions in the way we want to live our lives," he said. "It's very easy to draw all sorts of conclusions (from the Boston bombings). Do we want to live in a world where people can't wear backpacks to sporting events? I'm not sure we do."

Four hours after police had cordoned off the area around a shuttle bus stop Friday because of a suspicious package found there, the owner returned to retrieve the blue duffel bag, which contained her clothes.

A Maine State Police explosives disposal unit had arrived in Kittery at 3:30 p.m. to help local authorities deal with the unattended bag at the corner of Hunter Road and Water Street.

Police and firefighters evacuated two homes and a lobster pound and kept people about a quarter-mile away for hours after a person reported the unattended bag at a stop for a shuttle bus that runs hourly between Kittery and Portsmouth, N.H.

Interim Chief Theodor Short of the Kittery police said U.S. Route 1 in the area was closed off, but that caused less of an inconvenience than it would ordinarily because Memorial Bridge is closed for construction work.

Chrystal Ryan saw the commotion when she returned to the area to reclaim her bag. Ryan, who is homeless and had spent the night at the Northeaster Motel on the U.S. Route 1 Bypass, said she left the bag at the bus stop temporarily while she went to retrieve her sleeping bag from the motel. Along the way, she stopped to have coffee with her boyfriend at the Circle K convenience store.

The event reflects the heightened vigilance that many people feel since two homemade bombs inside backpacks went off at the Boston Marathon two weeks ago.

A massive manhunt led to the killing of one suspect in the bombing and the capture of a second suspect, his brother.

Short said his department's response is no different from what it would have been in the past, but he thinks the public response is different.

"On the civilian side of things, they're more aware of these things than they were two weeks ago," Short said.

Deb Braun, a Kittery resident who was out for her daily walk with her golden retriever, Mya, said she can feel the difference since the Boston bombings happened.

"I think 'anxiety' is a perfect word," she said. "I think people are really on alert lately." In the past, she has seen backpacks and duffle bags left in the park alongside the U.S. 1 approach to the Memorial Bridge and not thought twice about it.

"But I would today, and I guess somebody else did too," she said.

Short said that while police thought it likely that a traveler simply had forgotten his or her bag, they regarded it as potentially dangerous when it went unclaimed for more than three hours.

The Boston bombings also have led departments to evaluate their preparedness for such a situation, Short said. The lengthy response time to get a bomb disposal unit from Augusta might be something worth examining further, he said.

Shortly after winning the college women’s distance medley relay Thursday in the Penn Relays, the Villanova runners were treated to a surprise.

Handing them their championship watches were former Villanova track stars Vicki Huber and Michelle Bennett, both part of the Wildcats’ 1988 distance medley relay team that still holds the Penn Relays record.

“Michelle Bennett pointed out their record was set before any of these girls were born,” Villanova women’s coach Gina Procaccio said. “We can’t believe that many years have gone by. But we’re thrilled that we’re able to keep the tradition alive.”

Villanova certainly has a proud tradition in the Penn Relays, a meet the Wildcats put a lot of emphasis on because of its proximity to their campus. The title Thursday was Villanova’s second straight and 12th overall.

The race was the highlight of the first day of the 119th running of the meet that opened under tightened security and heightened awareness following the Boston Marathon bombings.

Spectators were prohibited from bringing backpacks or coolers into Franklin Field, and there were two fenced-in areas in the infield where athletes could keep bags that had already been checked at the entrance. The presence of additional law enforcement was also more visible outside the iconic football stadium located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

But one Penn official noted that lines to get in weren’t any longer than usual as many spectators and athletes heeded the advice that was given and arrived early to Franklin Field. And the 23,310 fans in attendance — the 10th best Thursday crowd in Penn Relays history — were treated to a full day of high school and college events, highlighted by Villanova’s win in the women’s DMR.

The Wildcats led for most of the race, thanks to a strong opening leg from Piccirillo, who has had a lot of success at Penn Relays. The Villanova freshman won two championships in the mile while at Homer-Center (Pa.) High School.

“I’ve definitely had good luck here,” Piccirillo said. “This track has been really good to me.” Morganne Phillips briefly gave Kentucky the lead after completing the 400 in 53.3 seconds, but Akande took it right back with a big run in the 800.

It was the second straight year that Akande came from behind to put Villanova in the lead heading into the anchor leg. The only difference is that last year she handed the baton to Sheila Reid, one of the greatest runners in Villanova history. Reid, who represented Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics, graduated last year.

“Last year I think I was a bit younger and more naive, but I just wanted to put Sheila in a good position,” Akande said. “This year I really just wanted to take an old-school Villanova approach and just go out hard and try to keep it up and give it to Emily in the lead.”

Lipari, who ran the leadoff leg in last year’s DMR-winning team, held on to the comfortable lead and wasn’t threatened at all in her four laps around the track.

The junior later said that she was a little disappointed that Michigan — which ran the season’s fastest DMR time to edge Villanova in the NCAA indoor championship — pulled out of the event to focus on other races. But that didn’t make Villanova’s accomplishment any less special.

“I think I was more fired up for this than I had ever been for a relay,” Lipari said. “Second place hurts. We came out here wanting to win for Villanova again.”

Other winners on Thursday included Penn State’s Laura Loht, who captured the college women’s javelin title at 154 feet, 8 inches. . It was the fourth straight year a Penn State athlete won the event. Ramapo’s Michelle Favre won the college women’s pole vault at 13-5 1/4.

Three men whose identities surfaced during New York's "Cannibal Cop" kidnap conspiracy investigation pleaded not guilty Thursday to their own conspiracy charges, federal prosecutors said.

Michael Vanhise, Richard Meltz and Robert Christopher Asch entered not-guilty pleas to conspiracy to kidnap charges and remain in custody, according to Jerika Richardson, spokeswoman for the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Vanhise was arrested in January after authorities uncovered e-mail conversations he had with New York police officer Gilberto Valle. In those online conversations, Vanhise agreed to pay Valle $5,000 to render a woman unconscious, stuff her into a suitcase and bring her to Vanhise's home in New Jersey, where she would be raped, according to authorities.

Valle, whose attorneys argued in court that his online conversations were the product of "fantasy role-play," was convicted in March of conspiracy to kidnap and accessing a law enforcement database illegally. He will be sentenced in June.

According to the complaint against the three men, authorities allege Vanhise engaged in a series of e-mail and instant messages with Asch and Meltz beginning in 2011 during which they discussed and planned in great detail the kidnapping, torture and murder of women.

Police arrested Meltz, 65, and Asch, 60, last week on charges of conspiring to kidnap, torture, rape and kill women and children, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office. Meltz is the chief of police for a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Bedford, Massachusetts. Asch is a former high school librarian.

According to prosecutors, an undercover FBI agent met with Asch April 15 to conduct surveillance of a kidnap target, who unbeknownst to Asch was an undercover female agent. During this meeting, Asch brought two bags of tools intended to be used in the kidnapping including a taser gun, rope, meat hammer, duct tape, gloves, cleaning supplies, zip ties, and a dental retractor, a wireless modem, and a leg spreader.

Vanhise's attorney, Alice L. Frontier, meanwhile, said "the evidence against Vanhise hasn't changed and he obviously maintains his innocence."

Referring to the government's case against her client, Frontier said "they have little more than his words."

"Obviously we are going to be filing motions seeking to dismiss the indictment; First Amendment grounds will be one of them," Frontier said Thursday.

Meltz's attorney, Peter Bril, told CNN, "No matter what other defendants may have done, Mr. Meltz never took part in anything other than pure fantasy play, this was nothing more than his fantasy life ... He never had any intention in actually engaging in hurting another person."

The four males, aged between 16 and 18, were arrested by the Selangor police task force at the flats of Sri Medan and Bukit Gasing Indah yesterday and have been remanded until April 29.

Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said the task force picked up two youths, aged 16 and 18, at about 1.30am at the Sri Medan flats and two others aged 17 and 18 in the Bukit Gasing Indah flats at 3.30am.

"We believe the four suspects are involved in the attempted robbery and murder of the 52-year-old victim," he told a press conference at the state police headquarters yesterday.

DCP Tun Hisan clarified that the incident did not occur at the Bukit Gasing jogging track but at a secluded road near it.

"I assure the public that the Bukit Gasing jogging track is safe. But police will increase patrols at the track and its surrounding areas," he said.

He added that a team of policemen had patrolled the area at about 1.30pm on that day but the incident occurred some three hours later.

"Based on our record, this is the first case which happened in the area. It is an isolated incident but police will remain vigilant," he said.

DCP Tun Hisan said Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamad had already met the area's residents association to explain the matter and would meet residents at 2.30pm today.

Ong had bravely defended her teenage daughter from a knife-wielding attacker when they were strolling in Bukit Gasing here at about 4.30pm on Saturday.

She pushed her daughter away during the incident and shouted at her to run to safety when they were approached by the robbers armed with knives.

When the 17-year-old girl ran for help, Ong blocked the robbers who then stabbed her several times before escaping without taking her belongings, which were placed in two small bags.

Her daughter, who returned with help, found her mother lying in a pool of blood and holding the bags.

The five most annoying things passengers do on planes have been revealed in TripAdvisor's first Australian survey on air travel. Are you guilty?

The number one pet peeve when it came to plane manners was people who rudely reclined their seats. This scenario has lead to fist-fights in the skies in recent years.

Parents who don't control their children and annoying kids who constantly kick the seat in front of them were the next most annoying etiquette faux pas in the skies.

In fact, more than a third of those surveyed would be willing to pay more for a child-free flight, an idea airlines have cottoned on to, with AirAsia X and Malaysia Airlines creating "quiet zones" on their planes where children are banned.

Prior to the implementation, the city’s Department of Sustainability launched an extensive education campaign for citizens and retailers. Resource Conservation Coordinator Micah Bonkowski was pleased to find that most of the affected stores were prepared for the law.

Seattle passed a similar ordinance a year ago, and most of the big retailers in Issaquah also have locations in the larger city. Because of that, Bonkowski said they were familiar with the protocol and management of the decision.

“Chances are if you have a store that big, you have a store in Seattle,” he said. “The wording of the ordinance is consistent with every other city’s, and because of that, those retailers had no trouble.”

Though there were initial hurdles immediately after the bill passed, the change did not create a very large stir with most.

“It’s been really up and down,” Nic Scheiner, manager at the Meadows QFC, said. “Some are literally outraged, saying, ‘I’ve never voted for it,’ but it’s definitely just a matter of time before they are used to it.”

“Most people didn’t know,” Front Street Market Store Manager Tracye Randall said. “They might mumble under their breath, but most are OK with it.”

Most all of the retailers affected by the bag ban were large chains, such as Safeway and Target. Front Street Market was the sole locally-owned operation that had to stop using plastic bags, according to Bonkowski. They have taken a different approach by still offering plastic bags to customers to buy. Store Manager Lori Surridge understood the reasoning for the ban but believes the city could have approached it differently.

“We still do our plastic bags that everyone begged us not to get rid of,” she said. To align with the ordinance, which stipulated the thickness of regulated bags, they increased the weight of the bags they supplied. Selling five for $1, Surridge said those bags are already recycled.

For her, the timing, consideration and implementation were all problematic.

“I do think it should be done, but the timing was not right,” she said. “With the economy the way it is, it was just one more thing to put on peoples’ plates. The city could have focused on something a little more important.”

She also voiced disappointment with the lack of education she felt the city provided, saying that the citywide push that was promised did not occur until after the ordinance was in effect.

Though “picking your battles” was often heard when discussing the ban, there is one group that has set its sights on this one.

Bonkowski said there was a “vocal minority” that continued to speak out against the city’s action. One of the most prominent of those rejecting the ban is the Save Our Choice group, a regional organization that has previously fought against a like ordinance in Seattle and turned its attention to Issaquah. The crux of its argument, according to the group’s website, is that it does not want what it feels are personal liberties to be decided by a “nanny state.” It collected 2,700 signatures last summer to bring the issue to a referendum, but the city said that a portion of those collected were too late for inclusion on the November ballot.

Save Our Choice launched another recall effort March 1 to collect enough signatures in hopes of recalling the decision in this year’s election. Save Our Choice representatives did not respond to attempts to contact them.

For Bonkowski, the effort is all about changing consumer perception, and he believes that it is going well.

“The biggest objective is just to get people to remember their reusable bags,” he said. “The larger goal is to help the long-term cultural shift.”

If you’re at all like me, you didn’t get the garden fully cleaned up before the snow came last fall. That means when it melts, we’re going to have a bit of work to do before it looks presentable.

As you pull out dead annuals, cut back perennials to their new growthand generally clear away dead foliage, consider placing it in a compost pile so it can be reused later in the summer to amend your garden soil.

No matter what kind of garden soil you have, one way to make it more hospitable for your plants is to amend it with organic material such as compost. And one wonderful way to create your own compost is to recycle your garbage and garden scraps.

Each one of us disposes of nearly one ton of waste annually. That’s a lot of landfill space ... unless we recycle kitchen and yard waste into rich, dark compost for personal use.

Just think of the things you bag up for disposal: coffee grounds, grass clippings, leaves, pine needles, table scraps, newspapers. These are all waste items that can be composted for later use in your garden. Composting is an earth-friendly way to dispose of our trash. And it’s a smart way to garden.

Plus, from personal experience, I can tell you it’s economical, too. The cost for purchased compost can add up.

Adding compost improves the drainage and aeration of your soil. It holds moisture in and releases fertilizer nutrients slowly while increasing the activity of earthworms and other organisms that are beneficial to plant growth.

To make compost, layer small pieces of “green” and “brown” waste material. Green waste is fresh plant materials such as weeds from your yard, fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, coffee grounds and tea bags, twigs, etc. Use caution when adding very fine green material such as grass clippings since it can mat and prevent air and water movement through the layers.

Brown wastes are dry, dead materials such as straw, dried weeds, newspapers, wood chips or sawdust. (Do not compost wood treated with preservatives or clippings from grass treated with chemicals. Also, don’t use meat or dairy products as these could cause odors and attract animals. It’s also not recommended to use fresh manure in compost because of concerns about new strains of E. coli and other bacteria that cause human illness.

Mix the pile several times per month to add oxygen and keep the heat uniform throughout the materials. Because our summers here are so dry, you also may need to occasionally sprinkle water on your compost layers. It should be moist but not soggy throughout. If the compost is properly mixed and maintained, a final product may be obtained in one to two months under optimum summer conditions. It should shrink to about half of its original size and have a nice earthy smell.

Once the wastes have decomposed, use your compost as a soil amendment, a mulch or make compost tea (the liquid from a settled mix of half compost/half water) as a boost for house plants, seedlings and transplants. You’ll be doing something good for your garden and for your community.

If you aren’t into creating your own compost pile, Twin Enviro Services offers “curbside compostable item” pickup in Steamboat as well as delivery of their locally-made compost.

When I first headed out to Richmond just before 8pm, there was mayhem everywhere.

Streams had suddenly flooded and then receded just as quickly, leaving a trail of rocks and debris strewn across the road. Vegetation was woven through fences near flattened by the force of the water.

People had stopped their cars and were out walking the street, assessing the damage, unsure how far they could proceed.

Others were still working to keep the flooding off their properties. It seemed emergency services hadn't made it to many of the problem spots yet. Instead, members of the public or roading contractors were directing traffic.

Floodwaters were too deep for my vehicle to get down Saxton Rd to Main Rd Stoke so I instead went through Saxton Field. I narrowly made it through some floodwaters in there only to find it impossible to turn onto Main Rd Stoke near the freezing works entrance. That road had turned into a river with at least two cars that I could see abandoned in the middle.

It was obvious I wasn't going to get anywhere so I returned home to get our 4WD and give it another crack. This time I went along Nayland Rd to get onto the bypass but it too was now closed. Traffic was bumper to bumper along Saxton Rd and not prepared to wait; many were turning back in the direction they came. I got back through Saxton Field. Floodwaters had started to recede a bit and I was able to get on to Main Rd Stoke, still travelling through surface flooding.

Once at Pak 'n Save I joined a team of helpers - not even sure where half of them had come from but they were doing a tremendous job, pushing water out the door with brooms and mopping up with whatever they could find. Water had been ankle deep halfway through the shop but the worst of it had been dealt with by the time I got there just before 9pm. Adding to the mess were all the bark chips that had flooded in from outside gardens, getting into every nook and cranny. Bags of rice and kitty litter had done little to keep the floodwaters out.

Inside the mall appeared worse, particularly around the newly refurbished food court area which resembled a small lake. I suspect they were bailing water from there most of the night.

By 10pm there was little more I could do to help in the supermarket so I started the journey home, heading first down Queen St. Every second shop was being mopped out. The florist appeared to have an entire shop out on the footpath while they cleaned up. Others were obviously leaving the mess to deal with in daylight.

It was amazing how different the drive home was. Road blocks were all gone. Most of the surface flooding had disappeared and even the abandoned cars had been removed. There was very little sign of road workers or emergency services. Hard to believe the difference an hour or two can make.