The Kilpatrick administration has done a lot of work to improve downtown with getting new businesses to move in.

Piecing together the details of the bunker almost seemed like archaeological work at times. It was like collecting fragments of a mosaic. I was able to speak to some of his servants, and people who were close to the imperial court, but I can't give any names because some of them prefer to remain in the shadows.

We have to work out how we are going to do this first. Diplomats need to agree first, then we'll get a corresponding order, and we are ready to act, and we are interested.

We'd still be a host county. But I think what's happening now with the magnitude of the storms we're looking at is we're going to see a lot deeper intrusion by these storms when they get over Polk County or get over Central Florida.

In addition to the economic impact dollar figure, of particular interest to us was that the All-Star Game and related events generated nearly 20,000 hotel room nights, with an average lodging expense of $403 per group.

I was simply amazed; in my 20-plus years as a funeral home director, I have never seen workers come out in force in a display of respect as I had here today. There were state highway department workers at every intersection on the way to the cemetery and about 40 to 50 state trucks on hand. The Illinois Department of Transportation takes care of its own. It was very impressive.