Wie Withdraws; Park Holds 2-Stroke Lead

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. - Angela Park shot a 69 to finish at 5 under 137 and take a two-stroke lead Saturday over three others after two rounds at the U.S. Women's Open, where Michelle Wie withdrew with a lingering wrist injury.

Park, whose opening-round 68 was best in the field at Pine Needles, saved par with a 30-foot putt on No. 18 and secured the lead over Amy Hung, Jiyai Shin and Julieta Granada heading into the third round, which officials hoped to start later in the afternoon.

"My caddie told me I spent the least amount of time reading that putt out of all the putts today," Park said. "I hit it and it went in, so keep it simple."

The 18-year-old LPGA Tour …

Kissell: Fort Bragg to get $88M for new facility

A North Carolina congressman says Fort Bragg will receive $88 million to build a new facility to help wounded soldiers transition back to active duty or civilian life.

Rep. Larry Kissell says the money is part of federal legislation President Barack Obama is expected to sign later this month.

The funding would help build the Warrior …

Financial markets shut down

Chicago's financial community treaded water for a while thismorning, then finally went under, shutting down trading floors andeventually evacuating office buildings.

The Chicago Board of Trade was the first exchange to halttrading, shutting down its financial futures pit at 9:45 a.m. afteropening at 7:20 a.m. Agricultural futures trading never opened.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed at 10:45 a.m., and theChicago Board Options Exchange shut down at 12:30 p.m.

By early afternoon, most employees and exchange representativeshad no idea when they would reopen.

Among the first Loop workers ordered to leave were those atChemical Futures and …

The umpires strike back, and back, and back again

If you tune into baseball games to see the umpire strike back, the All-Star break couldn't come at a worse time. July is already shaping up as one of the best months ever for ejections.

Since the calendar turned over, 17 players, managers and coaches have been sent to cool off early, the same number that were tossed during the first weeks of April, May and June combined.

The early leader in the clubhouse for best exit was Blue Jays pitcher Jon Rauch, who got a jump on things by shedding his jersey and hat even before stalking off toward the stalls. Then Tigers manager Jim Leyland did Rauch one better. Leyland was still standing in the dugout when he got tossed for the second …

Trust everyone: Mulder, Scully, series creators believe in `X-Files' audience

Some Mulder and Scully fans were dubious when the title for the new movie based on their favorite TV show was announced: "The X-Files: I Want to Believe."

How, the skeptics wondered, could the two former FBI agents be anything but true believers after years of encountering aliens, monsters, ghosts and everything else that might go bump in the night?

But so-called X-Philes want to believe in this franchise that started way out on the fringes and eventually brought the creepy and paranormal into the mainstream. The feeling among its creators is mutual.

"We want to believe in the audience," said David Duchovny, who reprises his …

Pub-goers take daring leap for charity

Daredevil drinkers from a Twerton pub are taking the plunge tohelp hundreds of tiny babies.

A group of five regulars from The White Horse in Shophouse Roadwill be donning parachutes to jump from a plane in aid of the ForeverFriends Appeal.

The city's Royal United Hospital desperately needs new facilitiesfor the one in ten babies who require special care after they areborn.

And this year the hospital's fundraising arm has launched theSpace to Grow appeal to raise the pounds4.5m needed to completelyrebuild the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and house all the equipmentand technology needed.

Builder Chris Coles, 39, of Oldfield Park, is one of those whowill …

"How High": Con mucho humor

Silas (Method Man) y Jamal (Redman) no tenian planes de ir a Harvard. Ni tan siquiera tuvieron planes de conocerse. Silas y Jamal no hacen planes.

En Staten Island, Silas reina sobre su barrio como medico con sus remedios herbales para todos los males, desde la gripe hasta la impotencia. Su mejor amigo Ivory (Chuck Davis) siempre le dice que deberia estudiar medicina. Silas nunca se lo toma en serio hasta que un dia terrible accidente termina con la vida de Ivory. En su honor, Silas planta las cenizas de Ivory junto a unas semillas especiales y una bellisima planta emerge de ellas. Es entonces cuando Silas, con su especial cosecha en mano, decide honrar el deseo final de su …