Muara Teweh!

State officials describe these kinds of donations as a good way to maximize taxpayer dollars.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed legislation last year authorizing the Department of General Services to dispose of surplus property to public schools in any jurisdiction in Maryland. Previously, transfers were limited to the school system in which the property originated.

State officials say more than $763,000 in surplus property has been given to Maryland schools since 2003. That includes $256,623 worth of computers, monitors and other equipment donated to Baltimore City schools. » Read more after the jump →

The United Furniture building could be used as an Internet cafe, a community meeting room or an extension for Dorsch Memorial Library, though the price could top $2 million.

That was the message from a community forum Tuesday night seeking ideas for the future of the 77-year-old building, which sits adjacent to the downtown library.

More than 50 residents and library and city officials offered their input on what the building should be used for during the two-hour session with the Monroe City Council. The city purchased the building last year through the Port Commission for $260,000 and has since launched a study to help determine the feasibility of the uses. » Read more after the jump →

Jakarta - Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said the bird flu cases which were found in Garut district, West Java, were not a cluster case.

“No, it is not. We hope we would find no longer a cluster case in bird flu in Indonesia,” the minister said on the sidelines of the inauguration of an elementary school designed for children from poor families.

The minister said that the specimen of a number of bird flu suspected patients was still examined at a national laboratory.

In the meantime, Director General for Disease Control and Sanitation I Nyoman Kandun said that the Garut cases could not be categorized as a cluster case because it happened in separate places and was not simultanous. » Read more after the jump →

As humans and animals develop immunity to the West Nile virus, the number of confirmed human cases of the mosquito-borne disease has seen a dramatic decline in California, a trend that is expected to continue, health experts said.

The state is believed to have hit its peak last year with 935 human cases, including 28 deaths. So far this year, 68 cases have been logged, with one death in Butte County announced this week.

The downward trend is already in its second year in Los Angeles County, which peaked at 309 human cases in 2004, with 14 deaths. That compares with 43 cases last year and no fatalities, and two cases so far this year. » Read more after the jump →

TORONTO — World governments were exhorted yesterday to step up to the plate and make good on funding promises and the social change needed to stop the spread of HIV-AIDS and provide lifelong treatment for all infected with the virus.

The clarion calls came during the closing session of the week-long International AIDS Conference, the 16th such gathering of scientists and activists since the early days of the AIDS pandemic.

Stephen Lewis, the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, delivered an oratorical barn burner in which he excoriated the government of South Africa, slammed the G-8 countries for not living up to AIDS funding promises and insisted the tragic spread of HIV cannot be halted until gender inequality is righted. » Read more after the jump →

THE athletics world was thrown into turmoil last night after top American sprinter Marion Jones was found to be the latest high-profile star to have failed a drugs test.

The triple Olympic champion was reported to have tested positive for the presence of the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) in a urine sample.

Athletics officials were awaiting the results of a B sample, with Jones facing a two-year ban from athletics if she is found guilty of doping.

She is the third high-profile US athlete to fail a doping test this year. Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin tested positive for testosterone at a relay meeting in April, and cyclist Floyd Landis failed a test for testosterone at the Tour de France. » Read more after the jump →

The most disturbing thing is that you’re not surprised by how poorly Josh Beckett pitched yesterday. You didn’t expect his performance against the Yankees to match his enormous talent. You didn’t expect him to be the stopper, a pitcher who can raise his team at its lowest moments, as we’ve seen over the years from Roger Clemens, Pedro Martínez, and Curt Schilling. Those are No. 1s, and even if Beckett is a No. 2, we used to see Bruce Hurst, Mike Boddicker, or Frank Viola throw a beauty when his team needed it most.

You didn’t expect it from Beckett because he hasn’t done it. Not for the Red Sox, anyway. His sterling performance in Game 6 of the 2003 World Series, a 2-0 shutout over the Yankees that clinched it for the Marlins, is a distant memory. » Read more after the jump →