ROAD WORK ROUNDUP.(CAPITAL REGION)

ALBANY COUNTY

Work on the Patroon Island Bridge has been completed for this season. There will be some minor restrictions in the area for the next few weeks, while workers make finishing touches.

The bridge carrying Route 32 northbound over Route 9W in Bethlehem has been restored to two-lane traffic. Traffic will be restricted for short periods for the next few weeks as other projects are completed.

The widening of westbound Washington Avenue Extension in the city of Albany has begun. There may be lane restrictions between the Crossgates ramp to Washington Avenue Extension westbound and Rapp Road.

SARATOGA COUNTY

Construction of …

Spanish judge's trial over wartime probe ends

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish judge famous for pursuing human rights crimes across borders said his conscience is clear as his trial for probing right-wing atrocities during his own country's civil war came to a close Wednesday.

Judge Baltasar Garzon made his comments in his final statement to a seven-judge panel at the Supreme Court.

Garzon, 56, said he launched his 2008 investigation of right-wing killings and disappearances of more than 100,000 civilians in Spain's 1936-39 war because he felt victims had been neglected.

The conflict pitted leftist government, or Republican, forces against rebellious right-wing troops and militia led by Gen. Francisco Franco, who …

German business sentiment drops more than expected

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German business sentiment as measured by the closely watched Ifo index sagged more than expected in August in another signal that Europe's largest economy is slowing.

The index fell to 108.7 for August from 112.9 in July, the Munich-based Ifo institute said Wednesday. Market analysts had expected a smaller drop to 111.0.

Germany's economy barely grew in the second quarter and fears about a global downturn, Europe's debt crisis and another recession in the U.S. are all weighing on business outlooks.

The index is based on a survey of 7,000 business executives about their views of current conditions and their outlook for the future. It is an …

A Boricua Christmas

'NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS' Rating 3 out of 4

Johnny Luis Guzman

Mauricio John Leguizamo

Jesse Freddy Rodriguez

Eduardo Alfred Molina

Ozzy Jay Hernandez

Anna Elizabeth Pena

Sarah Debra Messing

Marissa Melonie Diaz

Overture Films presents a film directed by Alfredo de Villa. Written by Alison Swan and Rick Najera. Running time: 99 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for thematic elements including some sexual dialogue, and brief drug references). Opening today at local theaters.

Every once in a while, you sense you're watching actors being allowed to do what they hoped to do when they got into show biz. That would playing …

The welcome mat does more than scrape by. (tourism industry)

The Labor Day crowd had barely left, but Hulene Morgan was already counting strands of Christmas lights for Cannon Village square in Kannapolis. "In the past," she says, "a lot of areas didn't understand how important tourism was as a tool for economic development. Now we do."

Morgan is marketing director for the Williamsburg-style mall of retail outlets off Interstate 85. By fall, 50,000 visitors from 36 states and six foreign countries had signed the Cannon Village Visitor Center register.

In some ways, Cannon Village's numbers sum up state travel in 1995, says Ralph Peters, former director of the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Division. For many, it was a record 12 months. Foreign visitors and strong convention bookings offset fickle weather and, in the view of many in the hospitality business, the state's failure to adequately promote tourism.

Peters estimates that 1995 expenditures were up 6% from 1994, when travelers spent a total of $8.3 billion in the state. In total impact, that makes travel as …

VOLUSIA, THE COUNTY THAT COULDN'T COUNT.(MAIN)

Byline: DANA MILBANK Washington Post

DELAND, Fla. -- Something very strange happened on election night to Deborah Tannenbaum, a Democratic Party official in Volusia County. At 10 p.m., she called the county Elections Department and learned that Al Gore was leading George W. Bush 83,000 votes to 62,000.

But when she checked the county's Web site for an update half an hour later, she found a startling development: Gore's count had dropped by 16,000 votes, while an obscure Socialist candidate had picked up 10,000 -- all because of a single precinct with only 600 voters.

The aberration was relayed to County Judge Michael McDermott, the election overseer. …

JCB SAYS MORE MERCHANTS IN TURKEY CAN ITS ACCEPT ITS CARD.(JCB International Credit Card Company Ltd.)

JCB International Co. Ltd., Japan's largest card issuer, said today that the number of merchants who accept JCB cards in Turkey will increase to more than 100,000 now that its direct licensee has signed a sublicensing agreement with a large merchant acquirer. Anadolu Kredi Karti (AKK), JCB's direct licensee, signed a sublicensing agreement with Turkiye--Bankasi or Isbank, one of Turkey's largest banks. "We are very pleased to have this opportunity to partner with Isbank, one of the top acquiring banks in Turkey," Kunio Yoshizawa, JCBI's president and chief operating …