Seven years after a virtual halt to Native subsistence hunts was thought to have put a depleted stock of Cook Inlet beluga whales on a path to recovery, marine mammal scientists counting the bright white whales from the air last summer spotted fewer than ever.

Squeezed in Star Valley

AUBURN -- It's 1 in the afternoon on a rainy Thursday, and Jody Bagley is doing something he'd rather you not know.Bagley, a regional vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, is herding lambs onto a truck.He's a cattleman, but his work as a rancher has him dabbling in all kinds of activities, including helping a friend load lambs on this day. Bagley raises some sheep and was filling the truck with some of his stock as well.Bagley is well known in Star Valley. He's on the Star Valley Land Trust and from the Bagley Ranch, which has been in the family for generations.

But all that may change for the 48-year-old father of three. Soaring land prices and increased costs in fuel, feed and drought have Bagley and other longtime western Wyoming ranchers looking to leave for different, if not greener, pastures."We're looking at trading one acre for 23 acres north of Lusk," he said.

No heavy vehicles on four days

KUALA LUMPUR: Heavy vehicles will not be allowed on roads during this festive season as authorities attempt to ease the congestion caused by the balik kampung rush.

Under the Road Traffic (Prohibition on Driving of Goods Vehicles) Rules 2006, timber lorries, lorries transporting construction materials such as cement, iron, steel, stones, sand, earth and other materials as well as cement mixers, cranes and low loaders will not be allowed on the roads on Oct 20, 21, 28 and 29.

Container/cargo lorries ferrying electric/electronic goods and those moving from ports to airports that are not in the same localities will not be allowed to use roads from midnight to 6am on Oct 20, 21, 28 and 29.

Federal police traffic chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Nooryah Md Anvar said police would be employing various means to relieve the gridlocks expected nationwide.

“We will not be collecting fines on the spot for major offences like speeding, running red lights, cutting queues, misusing emergency lanes and overtaking on double lines because we don’t want to worsen the traffic situation,” she said, adding that the same rule applied to accidents.

Trustees get earful about Beatty school problems

Even counting the school district employees and their family members who attended the bond issue meeting in Beatty Oct. 4, the turnout was disappointing. Some people commented that it was not adequately publicized, although flyers were posted and sent home with students.

Wescoatt explained that permanent modular construction, which consists of units constructed in the contractor's own plant and then installed on concrete slabs could save the district considerable time and money. Using this approach, she said they should be able to have Floyd Elementary, which will be built using the last of the previous bond issue money, ready to open in August 2007.

Teaching Position: Assistant Professor of History, Princeton ...

Area of Research: Modern and contemporary history of the Middle East and North Africa, with broader interests in the French colonial empire, the history of Islam since 1700, and colonial and nationalist historiography. Education: D.Phil., Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, 2002. Major Publications: McDougall is the author of History and the Culture of Nationalism in Algeria, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Middle East Studies 24, July 2006). He is also the editor of Nation, Society and Culture in North Africa (London and Portland, Frank Cass, History and Society in the Islamic World 6, May 2003, which was first published as Journal of North African Studies 8,1 (Spring 2003)). McDougall is currently working on a number of book projects including: Fragments of empire. Everyday forms of colonialism in France and Africa (Book-length research project in progress) with Julia A.