McALLEN — The Saturday afternoon garage sale is no longer as easy and emptying your closets and hammering a sign onto your front lawn. A new city ordinance in McAllen restricts residents to selling only "used merchandise or personal property" — not new items, as is allowed under the former code. The regulation is set to go into effect this week. The more stringent regulations follow city officials’ discovery that residents were selling gift baskets and tourist merchandise out of their homes under the auspices of a garage sale, said McAllen Planning Director Juli Rankin. "Frankly, before this came to light I didn’t think it was that active," she said. "Around holiday times we do get people who make things, like figurines and gift baskets. "This last Valentine’s Day we had people make up Valentine’s baskets with candy and flowers and then sell them from their residence." Such activity disrupts the quality of life in the city’s neighborhoods, officials say.

Restaurant tenant sought for Fava site

One of Baltimore's most distinctive buildings is hunting for a tenant.

The four-story Fava Building in Jonestown, featuring a cast-iron facade salvaged from an 1869 warehouse, has been largely vacant since Gardel's Restaurant and Supper Club went out of business last fall. It formerly housed the Baltimore City Life Museums.

A private entity, the 1840s Corp., owns the building at 33 Front St. and last year opened the 1840s Carrollton Inn, a 13-room, $2 million bed-and-breakfast inside three other former City Life buildings on the block. The inn is next to the historic Carroll Mansion, an estate owned by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Complaint Keeps Police Movin', Movin', Movin'

You just gotta know that whenever PETA, a mayor and a city attorney and stunned animals are involved, you've got a Three Stooges episode waiting to happen.Lipscomb said the incident on which the allegations are based happened two and a half years ago, beyond the statute of limitations for misdemeanors. Lipscomb added that although he has not seen it, he's "pretty much sure there is a video."Womack said he has not seen the video, but he expects a full investigation into the matter to be conducted. "The allegations brought by PETA have merit, based on information provided me by more than one person," he said.Bell said no one at PETA had seen the video, but the group believes the person who made the complaint is a reliable source. Bell declined to name the informant.So, at the time the story ran in the newspaper, neither PETA, Womack nor Lipscomb had seen the video, but they're all sure it exists.That, my friends, is how Santa Claus got started - and now he costs us each thousands of dollars a year in presents that have to be exchanged later.In the officer's defense, though, maybe the cow was non-compliant.

Litchfield Park: $14.9 million

The pad: This 12,000-square-foot home is the priciest in the West Valley, carrying a $14.9 million price tag, with key pieces of furniture and chandeliers thrown in.

Looking to chart a new course

Although relatively young (charter schools have been around since 1996 in Illinois) they have developed a favorable track record for working with at-risk Latino and black students in "innovative and accountable ways," said Adam Smith, director of education and life-long learning for the city of Rockford. Rockford high schools graduate 75 percent of students according to the state, 11 points behind Illinois average. Just 70 percent of black students and 65 percent of Hispanic students graduate. Nearly half of black students and more than a third of Hispanic students perform math below grade level in Rockford; nearly 60 percent of black and nearly 43 percent of Hispanic students read below grade level. "A true mark of insanity is doing the same thing every day and expecting a different result," Smith said.

US Army Brigadier General John R. McQuigg of Wooster, Ohio

Wooster Daily Record, October 27, 1928 Famous Soldier Dies (his photo) John R. McQuigg ================= JOHN R. M'QUIGG NATIVE SON OF WOOSTER, DIES ________________ World War Hero; Long Prominent in Cleveland, Had Colorful Career. ________________________ Relatives and friends in Wooster learned this morning of the death, at Cleveland last night, of Brigadier General John R. McQuigg, a native son of Wayne county who had attained a place of much prominence in the military of the country, and who was national commander of the American Legion during 1925. Gen. McQuigg passed away at 11 p.m. at his home, 1901 Idlewood Ave., East Cleveland, following a year's illness. His death had been expected momentarily for three days. Gen. McQuigg lived in this community from the time of his birth Dec. 5, 1866 until 1891, at which time he went to Cleveland.

Republicans trade harsher charges as top Democrats wrangle over ...

I have always admired your family and the things they stood for. I was in college when that fatal day came and we no longer had our inspiration, your brother. I am disappointed in who you are endorsing. To think about all the times that the Clintons were here for you, and now you just put them aside. I think about it, and I thougt you were above the good old boys. Not so sure about that now. Hillary, a women. Maybe that just does not sit well with you Kennedys. I just don't understand. She is a great lady that certainly helped your party out by staying with Bill. The party owes her more than a senate seat. She should have all of you out there shouting her attributes. It was alright for Bill to be used to get votes for our new governor. He also has a short memory. I will have a hard time voting for either one of you because of this.