Gray Wolf Hunts Planned After De-Listing

Good news for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains: They no longer need federal protection. The bad news for the animals? Plans are already in the works to hunt them.

Federal Endangered Species Act protection of the wolves was lifted Friday in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, giving those states management of the estimated 1,500 gray wolves in the region.

Even though environmentalists plan to sue the federal government next month to restore wolf protections, hunts are already being scheduled by state wildlife agencies to reduce the wolf population to between 900 and 1,250.

Idaho hunters will be allowed to kill between 100-300 of the animals this …

Newport moan in FA video

A busy week for the club started with last Wednesday night's gameat Newport which was certainly not one for the faint-hearted. Thecrowd trouble unfortunately detracted from what must have been a veryexciting spectacle for all spectators.

The game ebbed and flowed throughout and included a fantasticstrike from Scott Rogers for our first goal and a tremendousindividual effort by Richard Evans for Newport in the second half, inwhat was a great advert for Conference South football.

It appears, however, that Newport haven't seen the game in quitethe same light and have forwarded a video of it to the FA,complaining about the referee and the diving of Bath players, …

Mass. boxing chief spars with fellow commissioner, resigns

Mass. boxing chief spars with fellow commissioner, resigns

Wilbert "Skeeter" McClure has resigned as the chair of the Massachusetts Boxing Commission, citing differences with another commissioner that could not be resolved.

The resignation marks the departure from the fight game, at least for the time being, of one of the Commonwealth's most prominent boxing figures.

Since his appointment to the Commission in 1994 by then Governor William Weld, McClure used his perch at the head of the sport's governing body to aggressively promote the growth of boxing in the Commonwealth. By last year, Massachusetts was staging more fights than any state other than Mew Jersey and …

Pope begins Bible-reading marathon on Italian TV

Pope Benedict XVI's "In the beginning" started off a weeklong Bible-reading marathon on Italian television Sunday.

RAI state TV began its program called "The Bible Day and Night," with Benedict reciting the first chapter of the book of Genesis _ the holy text's opening verses about the creation of the world.

The marathon will feature more than 1,200 people reading the Old and New Testament in over seven days and six nights.

While the pope recited his segment from the Vatican, most of the reading will be done live in Rome's Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, a basilica built in the fourth century.

Besides Roman Catholics, …

One foggy, fantastic Christmas Eve

'Twas the morning before Christmas, and all through the "decrapitated" Harkin family house both the heavily hung over and the visibly depressed were just beginning to stir. Santa certainly will not be stopping at this dreary dwelling in a Dublin suburb, where a pair of middle-aged bachelor brothers live in squalor and uneasy symbiosis. But it's a good bet Satan might drop by for a life-and-death game of poker.

And there you have it -- the essence of "The Seafarer," a quintessentially black Irish Christmas Eve bash courtesy of Conor McPherson. In a twist on the old Faustian bargain, his play is concocted of equal parts heavy alcoholic vapors mixed with the sludge of several …

BEDTIME STORIES // An alarming trend: Kids, teens losing out on sleep

On a good night, Etan Harmelech gets only five hours of sleep.

And on a good day, he makes it up in chemistry class.

"It's impossible not to fall asleep," says Harmelech, 16, aHighland Park High School sophomore. "You're not involved in thediscussion, and you're tired already."Harmelech shrugs and glances around the table at several of hisclassmates, who are nodding knowingly at his tales of nodding off.Sara Feinstein, 16, once fell asleep at her teacher's desk whilewaiting in line to talk to him.Tricia Maharaj, 17, chronically fights heavy eyelids afterlunch."At least once a day, I'll fall asleep in class," she says. "Ifell asleep on the floor (at home) for …

Heavy rains yield big dinosaur fossil find in US

LAUREL, Maryland (AP) — Scientists say they have excavated Maryland's largest dinosaur fossil find in five years, a football-sized bone weighing between two and three pounds.

Steve Jabo, a Smithsonian fossil expert, excavated the bone Wednesday, but it's too early to say what kind of dinosaur it belonged to.

The Baltimore Sun reports (http://bsun.md/ovX8Hg) the fossil was poking from the clay Sept. 10 at …