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AMSTERDAM A crowd of approximately 150 people stood with heads bowed Saturday as church bells tolled and the flags of Austria, Poland, Italy, England and Scotland blew in a gentle spring breeze while Sandy Day, Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County historian, read the names of 15 men who went into Amsterdams Y & O No. 1 mine 97 years before and never came back out again alive.

The solemn service in Amsterdam Cemetery honored those men, who were killed in a mine gas explosion on April 21, 1910. It was the worst mining disaster of its time. Of the 15 men who were killed, 12 were buried in a mass grave, which was unmarked until Saturdays ceremony.

This day has been long in coming, but I think that the miners would have been pleased that we are gathered here, said Jean Scarlott, genealogist and co-organizer. Rest in peace.

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Soaring prices for farm goods, driven in part by demand for crop-based fuels, are

pushing up the price of food world-wide and unleashing a new source of inflationary

The rise in food prices already is causing distress among consumers in some parts of

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LaGRANGE -- Even though she is one of the smallest Pioneers, junior Jessica Bellottie came through big time.

Standing at an even 5-foot, Bellottie had an RBI double in the fifth inning to help the Pioneers defeat the Division I defending state champions and top-ranked North Canton Hoover, 2-1, in a rematch of last year's state championship game.

Bellottie was not done there, either.

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A team from Sunshine Elementary Schools Odyssey of the Mind squad has made it to world competition.

The team recently placed first at their grade levels in the Large and Small of It challenge at the state-level contest in Orlando.

The squad consists of seven fourth- and fifth-graders. Team members got medallions for first place, and their school got an Odyssey of the Mind trophy.

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Last week, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg visited Washington. During the trip, he was expected to repeat his request, made in Germany two weeks ago, for a U.S. security agreement in return for hosting anti-ballistic missile radar sites (intended to counter future rocket attacks from Iran) on Czech soil. Critics claim the proposed agreement would undermine NATO and further antagonize Moscow, which has threatened to target its former satellites if they cooperate in the planned U.S. missile defense system.

    On both counts however, a renewed U.S. pledge to NATO's smallest and most exposed eastern members -- if properly framed -- has the potential to do more good than harm, regardless of what becomes of missile defense.

    First, U.S. officials need not worry about undermining NATO. As one Czech official put it, "We have full confidence in NATO guarantees under Article Five. At the same time, common sense tells us that increased cooperation with the United States in different fields could be helpful, and in those fields not covered by NATO, maybe even necessary." In contrast to recent Polish requests for a full-scale bilateral defense treaty, the Czechs appear to be looking for an enhanced ...

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