Mattoon native Will Leitch is back in the Midwest after a West Coast swing promoting his new book, “God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back)."

While he's got a book that selling well (unless, he says, the people at Harper Collins are lying to him and he can't read them well enough to figure that out yet) and a number of writing gigs, Leitch is happy to continue doing Deadspin, the Gawker Media sports blog that made him one of the most influential sports voices on the Web.

The hottest holiday gadgets

For those too reserved to kick out the jams, digital cameras continue to top electronics gift lists. Chris Odle teaches digital camera classes at Jack's Camera Shop.

"The classes fill up and we're offering more all the time," Odle said. "I think interest is heightened. Older adults, especially, feel pressure from kids and grandkids to share pictures online. But they're apprehensive to begin the search. Once I get a camera in their hands, they see how easy it is to successfully capture their vision."

Has Odle seen a particularly hot camera this year?

"Panasonic cameras," he said. "I can't keep them in stock. We have the mainstays like Canon and Nikon, but right now Panasonic is a great brand."

The demand for consumer electronics is increasing and is only likely to grow, Dubravac said.

Commission adopts compromise on archery permits

Information, that Mark Henckel, confirmed in his November 22, 2007 article, which blamed the outfitter for leasing Block Management properties. This is just not true, you will be amazed to find out that the outfitters are leasing much less, in Region 7, then they did in 2005. I would recommend that you get your facts correct. No one will accept the fact that the Montana resident hunters are leasing up property for their own personal hunting. Even though there is no way of knowing exactly how many acres the residents are leasing, but I wouldn't be surprised that it is approaching what the outfitters are leasing, in the state. The MBA certainly can't claim they are: improving landowner - bowhunter relationships. The landowners are very upset with the adoption of these tentatives and feel the MBA is partly to blame.

Bill, like Hillary, has his share of fans

CORPUS CHRISTI — A woman from Pennsylvania visiting her daughter was the first Saturday to have her photo snapped cheek to cheek with former President Bill Clinton.

Nikon's Coolpix S51c: Not Cool Enough

Over the past couple of years, Nikon has been amping up the style of its Coolpix point-and-shoot cameras to compete with the likes of Canon and Sony for consumers who buy just as much for looks as for performance. The 5-ounce Nikon Coolpix S51c fits squarely in that category, with a sleek silver-and-chrome faceplate that immediately catches the eye.

The front of this $280 camera is slightly thicker on the right side, where a built-in Wi-Fi radio is housed. The back is devoted almost entirely to the 3-inch, antireflective, liquid-crystal display screen, which makes quite a statement, though it might not be one many will like. Despite a relatively bright luminance, there's no painless way to quickly adjust the display in sun and other glaring light. Instead, you have to dig through a cumbersome menu on the screen, fighting the glare as you do.

Italian pay-TV revenues grow to E2bn

UK telco BT has pulled further ahead in the broadband market as it met forecasts with a 3 per cent increase in first-quarter core earnings and revenues. The company said its BT Retail unit accounted for 38 per cent of net DSL broadband additions during the quarter with 459,000 new broadband customers.

Satellite operator Eutelsat Communications has reported net profit quadrupled to E170m in its year to June from E40.2m previously, lifted by the non-recurrence of restructuring charges and lower financial costs.