Mets 6, Marlins 5

New York @ Florida @

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JFelicn cf 5 1 2 1 Coghln lf 4 2 2 0

RTejad ss 4 2 1 0 GSnchz 1b 5 0 2 1

DWrght 3b 5 1 2 2 HRmrz ss 4 2 2 1

I.Davis 1b 5 0 1 1 Cantu 3b 4 1 2 1

Bay lf 5 1 1 1 Helms ph-3b 1 0 0 0

Carter rf …

'Tis the season to be...maxxed out

IF SANTA CLAUS HAS A CREDIT CARD, IT'S almost certainly maxxed. After all, no time of year is tougher on consumers trying to control their personal debt than the Christmas season.

An Ernst & Young opinion poll conducted in September 1995 found that 38% of Canadians were carrying outstanding balances on their credit cards. And, despite the approaching holiday season, most were hopeful: nine out of 10 expected to eliminate or reduce their balances within the next 12 months. But, nine months later, in June 1996, 38% of Canadians still had outstanding balances on their credit cards. And 49% of those with outstanding balances reported their balances have increased from three years …

Communist rebels pose single biggest threat to India, PM says

Communist rebels roaming India's hinterlands pose the country's single biggest threat, the prime minister said Thursday, calling for the creation of special police forces to combat the increasingly well-armed and organized insurgents.

The communists, known as Naxalites, are undermining efforts to spread India's economic boom to hundreds of millions of people being left behind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. "The answers to the problem are well known. We need to cripple Naxalite forces with all the means at our command."

India has long contended with scores of militant and insurgent groups, from Islamic extremists blamed for bombings that have …

New county fines of up to $1,000 a day for problem vacant buildings

Owners of problem vacant buildings across stretches of unincorporated Cook County will have to clean up their act or pay fines of up to $1,000 a day under a measure passed easily by the county board Wednesday.

The measure calls for owners or mortgage holders of problem buildings to register annually, …

Overton drops back, but spirits still high

EDMOND, Okla. Jay Overton fell at least temporarily out ofcontention for the PGA Championship Saturday, but the Florida clubprofessional wasn't down.

Overton, who had the best 36-hole start by a club pro sinceHinsdale's Dick Hart led in 1963, slipped to a 76 in the third roundand will begin today's final 18 six shots back in a tie for 13thplace.

"I really enjoyed myself," Overton said of the third round. "Ifelt a lot more comfortable. The putts just weren't as fluid as thefirst two days."

Overton's run at the title made him a celebrity. "I heard fromjust about everybody I know," he said. "Maybe I was trying to hang ontoo much today. Tomorrow won't have …

Agassi Advances to 3rd Round of Open

NEW YORK - How about that? Andre Agassi, 36 years old and burdened by a bad back, held up better than the kid across the net in a thriller that will be talked about for years.

Buoyed by a cortisone injection, along with a raucous, sellout crowd that boosted his spirits when things suddenly looked bleak as could be, Agassi extended his career for at least one more match by beating eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 at the U.S. Open.

They traded stinging strokes for nearly four hours as Thursday night became Friday, and it was the 21-year-old Baghdatis who broke down physically, his body contorted by cramps in both thighs during an eight-deuce, …

Obama to hold another health care town hall

President Barack Obama will hold another town hall-style session on health care Wednesday.

The online event will be held at Northern Virginia Community College in the Washington suburb of Annandale, Va.

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