Auburn University mechanical engineering professor Sushil Bhavnani took some time away from the classroom Sunday, but not away from teaching when he presented the lecture “Sun Power: Thermal and Photovoltaic” at the Auburn Meeting Room in downtown Auburn.

As President Barack Obama visits China seeking to balance a seesawing relationship, Chinese-Americans embody the challenges facing the giants of East and West.

An 11-year-old Idaho boy fatally shot a black bear on his family’s front porch after he said it wouldn’t leave.

Lost in all the fervor concerning health care reform legislation is one fact crucial to all Americans who are, or soon will be, enrolled in Medicare: Unless Congress acts before the end of the year, payments to physicians will be reduced by 21 percent. Otherwise, come January your doctor will receive from Medicare $79 instead of the $100 he or she now receives.

Remember when you could watch TV with the rabbit ears that came with your set? First thing in the morning you’d stop by the TV, turn it on and go to the kitchen and start your morning coffee while all the tubes warmed up and brought the screen to life, both channels.

By the time you read this, the peak may have passed, although there will certainly be some trees worthy of the attention of us leaf peepers.

How did you spend your Veterans Day? I spent mine on crutches. Somehow, I did something awful to my foot. I hobbled around all day Tuesday in terrible pain. The crutches I got at my doctor’s appointment Wednesday at least provided a way of getting around that didn’t leave me seeing stars.

In her letter, Charlotte Ward points to an e-news announcement that global temperature trend is still upward, in opposition to Floy Lilley’s column recognizing that we are in a cooling trend. Both are correct; since the “little ice age” (1850 AD to now) temperatures have been going up, however, before that, the earth had undergone a “medieval warming period” (1000 AD to 1350 AD).

Thank you for the excellent arts tabloid that you published last week. We need to be reminded that folks who live in this “cow college town” have many opportunities to be entertained and stretched intellectually by means of the arts.

I’m tired of CNN Headline News. I want headlines, not opinions of them. I’m tired of Fox News. I want to know what’s happening, not a one-sided view of events in Washington.

The Auburn Chamber Music Society will open its 2009-2010 season Wednesday night with a performance by the Gryphon Trio.

Audience members will be in for a treat when Ji-Yong Kim takes the stage Thursday as part of the Arts Association of East Alabama’s Performance Series.

Iran’s embattled opposition leaders accused the government of becoming more brutal than the shah’s regime in Web statements Saturday, and authorities announced a new Internet crackdown aimed at choking off the reform movement’s last real means of keeping its campaign alive.

The European Union has battled long and hard for this moment: the imminent choice of its first president.

The Dutch government plans to bring the polluter-pays principle into the home garage.

A dozen gondolas snaked down the Grand Canal on Saturday in a mock funeral procession bemoaning Venice’s approach to the dreaded status of living museum, with a population now below 60,000.

Leslie Farrington enjoyed being able to sit back and watch two of her sons play baseball while her other son went on a hayride with other families.

LOS ANGELES — It turns out there’s lots of water on the moon — at least near the lunar south pole.

MONTGOMERY — Former Alabama Secretary of State Nancy Worley is again facing felony charges.

A visiting scholar remains in critical condition a week after being struck by an Auburn University student on West Magnolia Avenue as she crossed the street.

TOKYO — President Barack Obama declared Saturday that an era of American disengagement in the globe’s fastest-growing region is over and warned that the U.S. and its Asian partners “will not be cowed” by North Korea’s continued defiance over its nuclear weapons and other provocations.

The Alabama Supreme Court has dealt electronic bingo games a setback

Estimates of deaths caused by the swine flu have grown to nearly 4,000 since April, roughly quadrupling previous estimates. But that doesn’t mean swine flu suddenly has worsened. Instead, the federal numbers made public Thursday reflect a long-awaited better attempt to quantify the new flu’s true toll. Most cases still don’t require a doctor’s care.

Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday. The official said Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning.

Sarah Palin’s new memoir describes heart-wrenching anguish about her teen daughter’s pregnancy playing out before a national audience. But the 413-page tome doesn’t contain a single reference to the father of her granddaughter, soon-to-be Playgirl model Levi Johnston. In “Going Rogue,“ which will be released Tuesday, Palin also laments about everyone in her entourage being forced to wear fancy clothes..

Remnants of Tropical Storm Ida are pounding the East Coast, flooding coastal areas in New Jersey after slamming the Carolinas and Virginia. Strong winds and waves are causing severe beach erosion along the New Jersey shore. However, the rain has not been as heavy as first predicted and that could help ease the flooding.

MONTGOMERY — Teachers and other education employees could have to pay more for their retirement and health insurance benefits under a financial plan proposed Thursday by the Alabama Board of Education.

The sentencing for the former chancellor of Alabama’s two-year college system, who pleaded guilty to 15 federal charges last year, has been delayed again.

Auburn University band members gathered on their practice field Thursday night, leaning into each other with arms crossed against the chill of fall and loss.

A free, secure document shredding and electronics recycling day will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, 714 E. Glenn Ave.