Holmgren misses 2nd day of practice

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren missed a second consecutive day of minicamp Wednesday with what a team spokesman continued to emphasize was a minor but undisclosed medical condition.

Holmgren, who turns 60 Sunday and is entering his 10th and final season as Seattle's coach, is expected on the field Wednesday. He had been expected back Tuesday.

Instead, longtime offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Gil Haskell has been running practices during the Seahawks' final minicamp before training camp begins late next month. Assistant head coach Jim Mora, whom the Seahawks have already signed to a five-year contract to be Holmgren's successor beginning in …

Ramirez's agent, Hendry to huddle in Vegas

MESA, Ariz. -- Adam Katz, the agent for Aramis Ramirez, will betrying to hit the jackpot this weekend in Las Vegas, where the Cubswill play their final exhibition games tonight and Saturday againstthe Seattle Mariners. Katz will meet with general managerJim Hendry at the 11th hour to continue contract talks for the thirdbaseman.

"We're not going to talk during the season," Ramirez reiteratedThursday. "They know that."

With the season opening Monday, there is still optimism on bothsides that a deal can be brokered. Ramirez had said during the winterin the Dominican Republic that he wanted $10 million to $13 million ayear for at least four years. If an …

How to land an agent

You've self-published your book, sold thousands of copies and now you're ready to take your project to a mainstream publisher. What do you do now? How do you get in front of an agent? Which agent should you go to? More importantly, how can you make your manuscript stand out among the thousands that cross agent's desks every year? These questions could stump any author. But there are simple steps you can take to get the answers. It all begins with research.

*Find out what kind of books a particular agent handles before you submit your work. Agnets specialize. An excellent resource is The Guide to Literary Agents (Writers Digest Books.) This guide, annually published, provides a …

Schapiro picked as SEC chair

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen veteran securities industry regulator Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Schapiro will take the helm at one of the most difficult times in the commission's history. It's been criticized for lax oversight and enforcement, and for failing to spot signs that major Wall Street banks were in trouble. The …

Protesters fight to save hospital

Campaigners have vowed to continue their fight against thedowngrading of Frenchay Hospital despite a vote by health chiefs.

More than 250 campaigners, mostly from South Gloucestershire,protested outside a meeting of health trust representativesyesterday.

They decided that Southmead will definitely be the acute hospitalfor the north of Bristol and Frenchay will be downgraded following arubber-stamping of recommendations made under a GBP500 million healthplan.

Four of the six trusts in Bristol and South Gloucestershire votedin favour of the plan to build the GBP280 million hospital at theSouthmead site while one abstained from comment and the other …

2nd GOP senator wants Gonzales to quit

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales struggledThursday to convince skeptical senators he did nothing improper infiring eight federal prosecutors, losing ground as a second senatorfrom his own party joined the calls for his resignation.

Republican as well as Democratic lawmakers challenged theembattled attorney general during an often-bitter five-hour hearingbefore the Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers confronted Gonzales withdocuments and sworn …

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ENGLISH ROUNDUP: Liverpool needs late goals to beat Fulham 2-0

LONDON _ Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard scored two goals in the last nine minutes and Liverpool beat Fulham 2-0 to climb to fourth place in the Premier League. BC-EU-SPT-SOC--ENGLISH ROUNDUP. Has moved. By Rob Millward.

SPANISH ROUNDUP: Getafe takes 3rd straight with 2-0 win over Barcelona

MADRID, Spain _ Manu del Moral and Juan Angel Albin scored to give Getafe a 2-0 win over FC Barcelona in the Spanish league. Barcelona's second road defeat saw it miss a chance to overtake idle leader Real Madrid and top the league for at least a night. Instead, the Catalan …