Ferrol Sams, Doctor Turned Novelist, Dies at 90

Ferrol Sams, a country doctor who started writing fiction in his late 50s and went on to win critical praise and a devoted readership for his humorous and perceptive novels and stories that drew on his medical practice and his rural Southern roots, died on Tuesday at his home in Fayetteville, Ga. He was 90. The cause, said his son Ferrol Sams III, also a doctor, was that he was “slap...

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Chicago beer firm Crown Imports is caught in antitrust fight

An antitrust brouhaha in Washington has thrown the future of Crown Imports, a Chicago-based beer importer, into question.The...

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Reward increased to $30,000 in Hadiya Pendleton slaying

As community members marched in memory of Hadiya Pendleton today, officials announced the reward for information in the slaying...

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This Week’s Social Media Power Rankings: The Return of Swatch

The social media sphere is an increasingly noisy place, especially for brands. But hiding somewhere in the static are strong signals from companies reaching their customers in innovative ways. The Social Business Index from the Dachis Group provides a (free) real-time ranking of more than 30,000 global brands based on their social performance. Every week we’re taking a tally...

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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis score unlikely hit

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The rapper Macklemore thinks there’s a simple reason the hit “Thrift Shop” appears to be going viral: It dares to be different.“There’s a certain sound that has kind of flooded the mainstream airwaves as far as hip-hop music,” he said a few hours after taping a performance on “Late Show with David Letterman” on Thursday night with producing partner Ryan Lewis. “The beat doesn’t...

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Well: Gluten-Free Muffin Recipes

For people who need to eliminate gluten from their diet, baking becomes a challenge. Beginners often find gluten-free baked goods too dense. Even the Recipes for Health columnist Martha Rose Shulman didn’t like the flavor of a commercial gluten-free flour mix, which left her gluten-free cookies and tart-shells with a strong taste of bean flour. As a result, she created her own gluten-free mix for...

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Apple phones outsell Samsung in the U.S. in the fourth quarter

Bolstered by sales of its iPhone 5, Apple sold more mobile phones in the U.S. in the fourth quarter than any other maker, including...

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Huge fire out at Wis. plant: 'There are 300 workers without a job'

A raging fire at a Wisconsin egg processing plant was brought under control shortly before noon today, but Burlington Mayor...

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Apple loses a U.S. appeals bid in Samsung patent fight

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Thursday rejected Apple Inc‘s request to revive its bid for a sales ban on Samsung‘s Galaxy Nexus smartphone, dashing the iPhone maker’s attempt to recover crucial leverage in the global patent wars.Apple had asked the full Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to revisit a decision in October by a three-judge panel of the same court....

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Glut of R-rated movies putting Box Office on overload

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Bullet to the Head,” the guns-blazing, axe-swinging action film from Sylvester Stallone, arrives Friday and is the latest violent, R-rated movie to open in January. The month itself could be rated “R” – for Repetitious.Nine of the 11 movies released widely since the start of the year and Friday are rated “R.” Of last weekend’s top 10 films, eight carried the restricted...

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