• Home Improvement - Hot Off The Presses - Mini-Posts

    Whew. Our nearest Starbucks isn’t closing, but…

    … a lot of them are being closed in areas that tend to appeal to ethnic minorities, and they’re sorry that the iconic brand is leaving their neighborhoods. Cafe closings hit minority areas — chicagotribune.com Starbucks has identified 18 stores in the Chicago area among the 600 nationwide targeted to close through March 2009, including several in minority neighborhoods that had counted on the green-and-white medallion to signal rebirth.

  • Radio - Today

    NPR Moments: Happy Friday

    Remembering ‘The Heart Of NPR,’ Gary Smith : NPR Longtime NPR Greeter and Client Services Coordinator Gary Smith passed away this week. For years, he sat at the reception desk at NPR’s Washington headquarters. Smith was a force field of good cheer; he was a big man who became the heart of NPR. As I drove home, listening to Michele Norris talk about Gary Smith, I was moved by her description of a man who made greeting the often jetlagged or on-deadline visitors to the NPR building his number-one job. It seems that every week, Mr Smith always began his…