New York lines offer mix of moods, shapes

((PHOTO CAPTION CONTINUED)) with a full sweep coat in gold and blackhoundstooth check wool trimmed in black velvet over her new ranchpants and skinny black sweater. Hino & Malee top a leather-likejacquard horizontally pleated skirt and black silk blouse with areversible red and black polka dot jacquard rain coat. BetseyJohnson camps it up with the past and present with ruffled whitelinen shirt belted over black velour jersey tights with fun and gamesaccessories. ((CAPTION ENDS)) NEW YORK Influential Norma Kamali thinks women want to look "politeand ladylike" for fall.

Chicago's Hino & Malee are softening their signaturearchitectural lines with ruffles and scallops.

And Betsey Johnson is skipping along the Yellow Brick Road with aripsnorting takeoff on the "Wizard of Oz" as only Johnson can takeoff.

Kamali is doing a line for Zamasport of Italy and another forBloomingdale's under special licensing arrangements in addition toclothes for her own OMO shops. She decided to meet the press herselfthis season instead of leaving the job to her lieutenants.

"We're in conservative times," she said as she brought out keystyles from her Zamasport collection.

Gone are the wild fake furs, replaced by fake Persian lamb. Goneare hemlines that bare the knees.

Skirts, very narrow or very full, hit properly below the knee, atmid-calf, below the calf or to the ankle. Pants, narrow or verywide, hit just above the ankle or below it.

"You have to be responsible and give consumers a choice. Theshort skirt is an irresponsible way to cure an ill for the industry."In other words, as a way to stir up excitement and change.

Kamali put her punch behind the Zamasport line, which this fallwill go into 15 U.S. specialty stores. Until now, it has been soldonly in Europe. She said prices will run $400 to $1,200.

There are beautiful sculptured jackets and swing toppers overslim skirts or pants. "Long and thin," she commented, "I think it'sthe newest."

Jackets and coats, the latter usually very long with fittedbodices and full swing skirts, have a lot of detail. There's a redwool jacket with black passementerie trim, which, she says, a womancould wear for 10 years. Another has buttons and collar backed inblack velvet.

She uses quilted black velvet for a very long full skirt. Theblack velvet jacket shown over a bias black velvet Jean Harlow gownis trimmed in ermine tails.

She treats these pieces as accessories to collect and keep for along time.

Some of the clothes, particularly the combination of a swingtopper or bolero over a long skinny skirt, recall the glamor of thelate 1920s or early 1930s. The full-skirted coats and long fullskirts are a lot like updated versions of Dior's famous New Look.

Kamali has trimmed down most, but not all, of her shoulders. Shepairs a sqaure-shoulder topper with wide-legged pants for newproportions.

The clothes are beautiful, and should appeal to big spenders whoreally do want to look polite and ladylike.

The main news at Hino & Malee is the softening of lines with knittops and cardigans that end in a ruffle, ruffled leather belts,scalloped fronts on clean-lined jackets, interesting collars, anddresses, coats, skirts and pants in oval shapes inspired by a rubrumlily before it opens. The rubrum shape is achieved by seamingdetail.

They also do a wide-legged pant that looks especially good. Agroup of rainwear in a red with black pindot lacquered jacquardfabric is outstanding.

Hino & Malee kept hemlines somewhere on the knee, except for anoccasional plunge and then mainly for late day.

The couple, who started their business in 1980, are scheduled toenter a new partnership April 24 - marriage.

Betsey Johnson, who refuses to grow up after a quarter of acentury in business, took on the role of Glenda the Good Witch inpetticoats and crown for her show.

Wielding her wand, she signaled groups that ranged from littleDorothy with ruffled white linen aprons to "marching meanie" stripedstretch jersey separates shown with winged helmets.

Some of the groups, with their beautiful ruffled white linenshirts and pants in cotton jersey velvet, dipped back to the 18thcentury.

And then there was 1981 with zippered canvas motorcycle jacketsand miniskirts, plus Johnson's skintight jersey tube dresses. Stripoff all the crazy accessories and fun-making and there are greatclothes, with or without layers of petticoats.

With Johnson, you just forget about hemlines and trends and gowith the flow. She dedicated the collection to the young at heart.Fortunately, her clothes are priced so the young can afford them.

SECOND FASTEST GROWING COMPANY 100 PROFILE: Milestone Engineering & Construction, Inc.

SPECIALTY: Construction managers and general contractors for the commercial. industrial, institutional. and educational markets.

Frank Lemay and William Giles built their construction company from a two-man operation in an 8- by 10-foot room in to a thriving business.

Lemay, president. started the company 12 years ago and two years later combined his expertise with that of Giles, vice president. While enjoying impressive growth in a hot economy for the construction industry, both men want to make sure the Concord-based company doesn't become so big that they lose the ability to be personally involved in its projects.

"When you hire Milestone, you hire Frank and me and our experience," Giles says "You're dealing with the two principals of the company."

Giles attributes the company's success to being frank and open with clients and providing them with quality service. Milestone has projects lined up through September 2001 but Lemay expects the company's expansion will slow down ... by choice.

"We probably won't be back here again as a fastest growing company next year. We're close to our critical mass. We don't want to be any bigger," Giles says, explaining that would mean getting away from providing personal attention, which they are not willing to do.

The company has a stable base of work, with 60 to 70 percent of clients and architects coming back to them with more projects. Lemay says.

LESSONS LEARNED: "Pay attention to the client and business," says Giles. "You have to be very in touch with your projects," Lemay adds.

Russians settle for bronze in ice dance

Bronze medals in hand, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin made no apologies for the end of Russia's dominance in ice dance.

Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the gold medal Monday night, only the third time since ice dance became an Olympic sport in 1976 that a Russian or Soviet team has failed to stand atop the podium. Considering what Domnina and Shabalin have endured the last few seasons, however, any spot on the podium was an achievement.

"We skated as well as we could," Domnina said. "Actually, we probably did more than Maxim's condition allowed us to do."

Shabalin, 28, has been skating on creaky, fragile knees the last three years. He had surgery in December 2007 to repair the meniscus in his left knee, but rushed back to the ice so the couple could be ready for the European championships. They won the title, only to have Shabalin re-injure the knee and force them out of the 2008 world championships.

In the spring of 2008, Domnina and Shabalin left Russia to train in Pennsylvania with Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov.

The 1980 Olympic champions have trained a star-studded list of dance teams, including two-time gold medalists Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov, and Domnina and Shabalin hoped the move would make them the next on that list.

They withdrew from the 2009 Europeans after Shabalin fell on his knee during compulsories, but came back to win their first world title last spring.

But the knee was bothersome again this year, and the Russians were forced to sit out the Grand Prix series.

"No medal is worth what we went through," Domnina said. "Maxim deserves a quadruple medal for his courage."

While Domnina and Shabalin refused to use Shabalin's knee as an excuse, it's clear they've lost a step _ especially when compared with the younger Canadians and Americans. The Russians weren't nearly as fast or powerful, and couldn't match their technical difficulty.

They finished with 207.64 points, almost 14 points behind Virtue and Moir and more than eight behind the Americans. Just how big a deficit is that? Think Spain vs. Faeroe Islands in World Cup qualifying.

"We are happy with the bronze medal. It was a long, difficult way for us, and we are happy we did it," Shabalin said. "We gave everything out there on the ice."

Margaret, 3, back safe and unhurt after kidnap Kidnapped three-year-old Margaret Hill has returned home, hungry and covered in mosquito bites, but unharmed, her father said.

Kidnapped three-year-old Margaret Hill has returned home, hungryand covered in mosquito bites, but unharmed, her father said.

The British youngster who lives in Nigeria with her parents Mikeand Oluchi, was snatched as she was being driven to school onThursday.

Margaret is reported to have said she was "fine" and happy to seeher mother.

The little girl was reunited with her parents last night and MrHill said no ransom had been paid to secure his daughter's release.

He said: "She was released due to the pressure put on the peopleby the security services of Nigeria."

He added that the little girl was covered head to foot in mosquitobites and that they planned for her to see a doctor today to bechecked out.

Margaret had been "in a little bit of a trance" when she was firstreturned to them but then came back to life and began talking to hermother, he said.

Asked about how she had been treated and where she was kept, hesaid: "She was in the bush ... in some sort of hut ... I don't thinkshe had much to eat because she is hungry now."

Describing the ordeal of the past few days, Mr Hill added: "Thepressure is unbelievable, it's difficult to explain. You stop eatingand can't think of anything else. You are just worrying all thetime."

The kidnappers had targeted his wife and repeatedly phoned herbecause they believed she was the "weakest link", Mr Hill added.

He said he did not believe they were real militants from the Deltaand added that his daughter's kidnap had not put him off Nigeria ingeneral.

He said: "I do not have a problem with Nigeria, I think about 99%of people are very good. It's the one per cent that spoils them all."

Mr Hill, who is originally from County Durham, has lived inNigeria for around 10 years and works in the energy industry. He alsoruns a popular nightspot in Port Harcourt.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was "delighted" andthanked those who worked to secure Margaret's release.

"I am grateful to the Nigerian authorities for all their help andI hope the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice."

Gunmen seized Margaret while the car taking her to school wasstuck in traffic on Thursday in Port Harcourt, an oil industrycentre.

It was the first abduction of a foreign child in the increasinglylawless oil region of Africa's biggest oil producer.

More than 12 foreigners are currently in captivity, including fiveseized on Wednesday from a Royal Dutch Shell oil rig.

Wild's Foster Has Surgery on Leg

Minnesota defenseman Kurtis Foster's broken left leg is the latest gruesome reminder of the dangers of touch-up icing in the fast-paced NHL.

Foster will miss the rest of the season, including the playoffs, after crashing hard into the boards Wednesday night during a race to the puck with San Jose rookie Torrey Mitchell. Foster had surgery Thursday to repair a displaced fracture in his femur, and a stabilizing rod was put into his leg.

Mitchell, who unintentionally touched and tripped Foster just enough to upset his balance, was trying to prevent an icing call against the Sharks by racing to touch the puck before Foster. Icing occurs when a defensive team shoots the puck across two red lines and puts it behind the other team's goal _ but play doesn't stop unless the offensive team touches the puck first, leading to several scrambles for the puck in most games.

Some of those scrambles are mildly exciting, but Foster's injury is just the latest in a long line of nasty injuries caused by those mad dashes and quick stops. Despite nearly annual discussions in league meetings, including last month's general managers' meetings, the NHL still hasn't adopted no-touch icing, in which referees stop play as soon as an iced puck crosses the goal line.

"It's just one of those things that tells you there should be automatic icing, which I've been talking about for years," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said after the game. "But I guess that's a play that people _ at least I've heard _ that's what fans love to see, a big car wreck like that.

"I don't know the extent of (Foster's) injury, but whatever it is, we shouldn't have those kinds of car wrecks. For all the times you might have somebody beat a guy to a puck on an icing, it doesn't ever offset a situation where two guys collide and somebody gets hurt on the play."

The Sharks have particular experience with the injury. In March 2004, forward Marco Sturm broke his leg and dislocated his ankle after running into the boards feet-first while chasing a puck with Colorado's Adam Foote.

Wilson, influential CBC commentator Don Cherry and other like-minded hockey people have lobbied for years to institute no-touch icing, the same rule used in international play and several minor leagues.

Just as the NHL refuses to require the use of visors in a sport with frozen pucks flying at players' faces, Wilson thinks a combination of tradition, perceived excitement and machismo keeps no-touch icing out of the league.

Others also say the no-touch rule slows down the game with a handful of extra stoppages in play.

"We've talked about it at (NHLPA) meetings," Toronto forward Matt Stajan told the Canadian Press on Thursday. "It comes up every year. It's up to the competition committee. I'm sure they'll look at it again in the summer.

"Personally, I like the race for the puck, but obviously people are getting hurt. Sometimes hits are being thrown, and you wonder about the respect factor. Every time there's an injury, it makes everyone aware of it again. Eventually there will probably be something done."

Mitchell clearly didn't mean to hit Foster in a dangerous manner during the second period of the Wild's 4-3 shootout loss to the Sharks, yet Foster still left the ice on a stretcher due to the severity of his injury. Foster will spend at least two days recovering at O'Connor Hospital in San Jose before returning home, team spokesman Aaron Sickman said.

"When a guy goes down, you have to battle through it," defenseman Kim Johnsson said after the game. "You have to keep winning games. Seeing Foster like that, you don't want to see anyone get hurt like that."

It's a big blow for the Wild, who have three upcoming road games in Canada. Minnesota is just three points ahead of Calgary, Colorado and Vancouver in the tight Northwest Division.

If Brent Burns and Nick Schultz are the team's top two defenseman, Foster was right there behind them. At 6-foot-5, he has plenty of size to be a physical presence at the blue line, but also has been showing a knack for getting involved on the offensive end.

"I thought he was playing great," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "He was playing his best hockey. It's a big loss."

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AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Go Comedy! Improv Theater announces inaugural cast

Go Comedy! Improv Theater announced their inaugural casts for the All Star Showdown at 8 and 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Auditions were held in early August with more than 100 people vying for a chance to perform with the new theater located at 261 E Nine Mile Road in Ferndale, and three casts were selected to perform.

The Resident Company includes Lauren Bickers, Troy Davies, Chris DiAngelo, Anne Faba, Garrett Fuller, Michael Hovitch, Pj Jacokes, Suzie Jacokes, Heather Kovacik, Louie Krause, Tim Krzyczkowski, Bryan Lark, Jaime Moyer, Scott Myers, Matt Naas, Jamen Spitzer, Cara Trautman and Mke Wilson. The Resident cast will also feature Dave Davies, Joe Davis, David Herbst and Quintin Hicks.

The House Team, serving as understudies to the Resident Company and performing on Thursday nights, includes Dyan Bailey, Billy Crawford, Tiffany Jones, Gary Lehman, Sean May, Bill Nicholson, Lesley Phillips and Billy Zakolshi.

The Launch Group, a showcase for the area's upcoming improvisers, will perform on Wednesday nights and includes Steve Forbes, Julia Garlotte, Sarah Grogan, Jen Hansen, Jeff Mansk, Nate Mitchell, Ryan Parmenter, Tommy Simon, Meghan Trudell and Ce-Anne Yates.

Upon opening, Go Comedy! will offer the finest in improv and sketch comedy, a fully realized training center and already offers road shows, classes and workshops available for private parties, corporations and schools.

For more information, call 248-327-0575 or visit www.gocomedy.net.

Iran to Meet With EU Official Over Nukes

VIENNA, Austria - The European Union's foreign policy chief and Iran's senior nuclear negotiator tentatively agreed to meet Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to bridge differences over Tehran's atomic program, U.N. and European officials said.

With the Vienna meeting seen as the last chance for Iran to avoid sanctions, U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan threw his weight behind a negotiated solution, saying Monday that confrontation with the Security Council "will not be in Iran's favor or that of the region."

The officials, who agreed to share confidential information about the meeting with The Associated Press only if their names weren't used, stressed that the date and venue of the talks could still change.

While word leaked last week that Iranian chief negotiator Ali Larijani agreed to meet with top EU envoy Javier Solana to discuss ways to solve the impasse, details of the talks were being officially kept secret in an apparent attempt not to jeopardize any chance of their success.

Asked to confirm the reports, Cristina Gallach, the spokeswoman for Solana, would only say that "the lines of communications are being kept open" between the two sides.

At issue is Tehran's defiance of the Security Council's Thursday deadline for it to freeze uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to atomic arms. The oil-rich nation insists the program is peaceful, intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that generate electricity.

Senior negotiators of the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany are expected to convene in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the results of the Solana-Larijani meeting.

Annan appealed for moderation instead of confrontation. "The best solution to the issue is talks," he was quoted as saying by the official Qatar News Agency while on a stop in Doha, Qatar, after visiting Tehran.

The U.S. and its allies are increasing pressure for punishing a defiant Iran. But they agreed last week to give the Solana-Larijani talks a chance in an attempt to mollify Russia and China, which are reluctant to endorse harsh and swift U.N. punishment for Iran, a major trade partner.

Beside his failure to nudge Iranian leaders toward an enrichment halt, Annan's Tehran visit was marred by Iran's announcement Sunday that it will host a conference to examine what it calls exaggerations about the Holocaust, during which more than 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis.

The U.N. chief met on Sunday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who told him that Iran favored talks on its nuclear program but would not halt uranium enrichment before entering negotiations as demanded by the West.

Iran's unyielding stance appears to be based on the calculation that Russia and China, both veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, will oppose sanctions.

On Monday, the Iranian government insisted a hostile U.S. attitude was to blame for the crisis.

"There is a good trend over the nuclear issue," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said. But he added: "Some countries and powers like the U.S. want to turn the logical trend into an illogical one."

Still, with Annan failing to secure any commitment to halt uranium enrichment from Iran's leaders, other nations shared U.S. doubt about the Solana-Larijani meeting.

"We must remain skeptical" that the talks will achieve results, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Germany's ambassadors. "If not, the road to the U.N. Security Council will be unavoidable."

In June, the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany offered Iran a package of economic and diplomatic incentives to limit its nuclear program. Iran didn't respond until Aug. 22.

While Tehran's response has not been made public, government officials and diplomats have said it did not address a freeze on uranium enrichment - the key condition set by the six powers.

Iran's slowness in responding to the incentives package prompted the Security Council to issue a resolution July 31 ordering Tehran to halt uranium enrichment by the end of August.

Iran also said Monday that it had tested a new air defense system to counter missiles and aircraft during large-scale military exercises throughout the country, state-run television reported.

Footage showed at least four surface-to-air missiles being fired from mobile launching pads. The report did not say if the missile was equipped with a guidance system.

Iran's military test-fired a series of missiles during large-scale war games in the Persian Gulf in March and April, including a missile it claimed was not detectable by radar that can use multiple warheads to hit several targets simultaneously.

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Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran and Stephen Graham in Berlin contributed to this report.