Entertainment in Brief

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TV STATION RELENTS ON NEW LENO SHOW

Boston's NBC affiliate has decided to air Jay Leno's new show after all. WHDH owner Ed Ansin issued a brief statement Monday saying that "upon further consideration," the station had decided to telecast Leno's talk show beginning in September. The show will air weeknights at 9 (10 in Boston). WHDH had said it would run a local newscast in that time slot instead, prompting a threat from NBC to strip the station of its network affiliation. Ansin said he enjoys Leno's humor and hopes the show is a big success. Leno is a native of Andover, Mass. NBC TV Network President John Eck said in a statement Monday the network was "very …

First Federal Bank Makes it Simple

Walk into First Federal Bank on the corner of Cook and Coldwater Roads and you will notice that it doesn't look like a traditional bank.

"A lot of our customers like the fact that we don't have a traditional teller line," says Branch Manager Kendra Lemper. "We have individual cubicles that allow for more privacy while you're banking."

That's one of the many unique features that distinguishes Fort Wayne's only branch of the Defiance, Ohio-based bank from other banks in town. First Federal Bank, which was founded during the Roaring 20s and managed to survive the much-less-roaring 30s and 40s, is a community-focused bank with 33 branches in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. The …

Mexican judge recommends alleged Tijuana cartel leader not be extradited

A Mexican judge on Thursday recommended that a reputed leader of a Tijuana-based drug cartel not be extradited to the United States, after his defense argued he should not be tried twice on the same charges.

The judge made the recommendation to Mexico's Foreign Relations Department, which has overseen an increasing number of extraditions in recent years.

While the opinion in the case of accused drug lord Benjamin Arellano Felix is not binding, the government is required to take such rulings into account. The department did not comment.

Arellano Felix was arrested in 2002 and has already been sentenced to 22 years in prison in Mexico on …

[ TECH BRIEFS ]

PC shipment pickup seen

Worldwide personal-computer shipments will rise more than expectedthis year, gaining 12.7 percent as laptop demand surges, according toresearcher Gartner Inc. PC unit shipments will rise to 206.6 millionin 2005, with revenue totaling $202.7 billion, Gartner said Monday.In May, Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner predicted 10.2 percent PCshipment growth. Lower prices and enhanced wireless Internet hookupsare driving demand for notebook computers, bolstering PC shipments,Gartner said. Dell Inc., the world's biggest PC maker, said thismonth that shipments of laptops increased 47 percent in its latestquarter. Worldwide laptop unit shipments are forecast to …

Madeleine Courtney Ptacin, Community Leader

Visitation for Madeleine Courtney Ptacin, a Northbrook communityleader, will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. today at DonnellanFuneral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. Mass will be offered at 10a.m. Wednesday in Our Lady of the Brook Catholic Church, 3700 W.Dundee Rd., Northbrook. Burial will be in All Saints Cemetery, 700N. River Rd., Des Plaines.

Mrs. Ptacin, of Northbrook, died Thursday in Bay Area MedicalCenter, Marinette, Wis.

For the last several years, she helped raise scholarship fundsfor students through the Northbrook Service Club. She was thesecretary for the organization. She also was an active member of theMisericordia …

Philippine police rescue 1,600 geckos in warehouse

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — An official says police have rescued more than 1,600 geckos in a southern Philippine warehouse they suspect would have been smuggled to Asian countries.

The Philippines has expressed alarm over the growing trade in the wall-climbing lizards. They are used as aphrodisiacs or traditional medicine for asthma, AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis and impotence in countries …

Michelle Obama donates ball gown to US museum

Michelle Obama said Tuesday that she'll always cherish the moment she slipped into her inaugural ball gown, a one-shouldered, white chiffon design she wore for her first Cinderella-like spins on the dance floor as U.S. first lady.

She will have to hold on to the memories, because the gown is not exactly hers anymore.

In keeping with tradition, Mrs. Obama donated the Jason Wu design to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History on Tuesday. It will go on public display in a new gallery for the museum's first ladies exhibit, featuring president's wives from Mamie Eisenhower to the present.

Dotted with beads and covered in …