AUCTION, AWARDS SLATED.(CAPITAL REGION)

CLIFTON PARK -- The Southern Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce will hold an auction and awards reception Thursday at Chaucer's Banquet House, Route 9, Halfmoon.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with cocktails and silent auction. Music and dancing will have an Irish flair. Cash bar and food stations will be in the ballroom. At 8 p.m. the business person of the year, entrepreneur of the year and Southern Star awards will be presented. Tickets are $50 per person.

Reservations must be received at the chamber office, PO Box 399, Clifton Park, by today with names and payment. Call 371-7748 for details. A wee bit o' the greenBALLSTON SPA -- The letter G, the …

Stow hires company to track students: Firm outs kids who shouldn't be on rolls.

Byline: Katie Byard and Stephanie Warsmith

Sep. 19--Michael Uhrin is a bounty hunter. Instead of chasing fugitives, though, he bags improperly registered students. Uhrin signed up Stow-Munroe Falls schools, whichwill pay him $400 for each kid he finds whom the district is paying to educate but shouldn't be. Uhrin will attempt to sniff out students who are on Stow's rolls as charter-school students but do not actually live in the district. Big bucks are at stake. The state deducts money from a district's annual aid for each resident charter-school student.In Stow's case, the district loses at least $5,548 per student. The deal was a no-brainer, said Ryan …

Australia jails Indonesian for people smuggling

An Indonesian fisherman was sentenced Friday to at least three years in prison for attempting to smuggle 14 Afghans into Australia.

Amos Ndolo, 58, pleaded guilty in Perth District Court to illegally transporting the 14 people into Australian waters.

Ndolo was the captain of a sinking vessel intercepted by the Australian navy at an offshore storage rig in the Timor Sea on Oct. 6, 2008. The three Indonesian crewmen and 14 passengers were taken into Australian custody for questioning.

The court was told that the Afghans had paid a smuggling ring to travel to Australia and that Ndolo accepted a payment from the smugglers to transport them to …

Study seeks ways to cut corrosion costs

One million dollars, a small portion of the massive $203 billion Transportation Equity Act of 1998, will be spent to study the costs and benefits of corrosion control and prevention. Results of this study, which is sponsored by Reps. Bud Shuster (R-PA) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), are to be reported to Congress no later than September 30, 2001.

A 1978 study, "Economic Effects of Metallic Corrosion in the United States" carried out by Battelle and the National …

Del Labs makes Forbes' listing of country's top 200 small firms.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Del Laboratories Inc. has been named one of the 200 best small companies in the United States by Forbes magazine.

"We are very happy to have been recognized by Forbes for the results we have achieved as we continue to grow our business and create value for our shareholders," chairman, president and chief executive officer Dan Wassong says about the No. 111 ranking. "Our employees should be particularly proud of this honor because it is a direct result of their hard work, energy enthusiasm."

The company manufactures cosmetics, beauty products and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. Its brands include Sally Hansen nail care items, Corn Silk …

BRIEF: Rape conviction upheld.

Aug. 22--The conviction of man found guilty of raping a 12 year-old girl was upheld Wednesday by an Ohio appeals court.

Lonnie D. Blue, 31, had sought to have his June 2006 conviction in Summit County Common Pleas court overturned claiming in part that the prosecutors failed to prove he raped the girl and that he had ineffective counsel.

In denying the claim, the state's 9th District Court of Appeals pointed out that during the trial Blue testified that he attempted to have anal sex with the victim but was unsuccessful in completing the act. The court ruled the the "jury could reasonably have inferred" from his testimony that he had intercourse with the …

STUDY: GAYS NOT PRONE TO SEX ABUSE.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: Associated Press

CHICAGO Openly gay and lesbian adults are no more likely than heterosexual adults to sexually abuse children, a new study suggests.

The study was done in Colorado, after a group lobbying to limit gay rights claimed that people living openly as homosexuals are responsible for 50 percent of all child molestations.

``No evidence is available from this data that children are at greater risk to be molested by identifiable homosexuals than by other adults,'' wrote the authors of the study, published in the July issue of Pediatrics.

The authors reviewed one year of child abuse cases at one hospital and found 269 cases …