[ TECH BRIEFS ]

Motorola gives parents a call

Motorola Inc., the world's third-largest mobile phonemanufacturer, plans to make phones that would let parents monitortheir children's whereabouts and censor obscene content, Chairman andCEO Edward Zander said. "Mobile phones today are more like televisionwhen I was a kid," Zander said late Tuesday after visiting hiscompany's software development center in Bangalore, India. But "thereis a way to keep it secure." While parents need to adapt to theemerging youth culture surrounding mobile phones, adults are right tobe concerned about what their kids are listening to, watching andreading, he said. To meet those concerns, the …

Emotional testimony in Tolliver trial

Emotional testimony in Tolliver trial

Chicago Police Department's Joe Ferenzi wiped his eyes after a picture of his slain partner Michael Ceriale was displayed during his testimony Wednesday afternoon.

Ferenzi was with Ceriale the day he was shot by his alleged offender, Jonathon Tolliver, 19, who currently stands trial for his death.

This is Tolliver's second trial after the first ended in a hung jury after a lone African American juror would not deliver a guilty verdict.

Ferenzi testified that on August 15, 1998, in the early morning hours during a stakeout for a gang-related drug sting at the Robert Taylor Homes on 44th and Federal, he and his partner were …

EU faces recession threat

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Saturday that Europe's biggest threat is recession and countries should be allowed leeway in running up deficits.

"We are living in exceptional conditions: the menace today is not inflation, the threat today is deflation, the risk today is a recession," he said in a press conference after a summit of global leaders hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush.

The EU commission forecasts that the economy in the 15 countries that use the euro may already be in a recession and will barely grow next year, expanding just 0.1 percent as the financial crisis hits hard.

Germany plans to boost …

Stock mart steady, dollar falls generally

The stock market held steady in moderately active tradingyesterday, simmering a day after a strong rally that pushed marketindicators to record or near-record levels.

Although stock prices failed to sustain the upward momentum ofTuesday's 32-point increase, they did not give up any of their largegains, either, analysts said. Oil stocks dominated the day again.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks edged up 0.28 to1,904.53. That left the index less than 5 points short of itsrecord. Gainers outpaced losers by 6-to-5 among New York StockExchange-listed issues.

Yesterday's session started out strongly, with the Dow risingmore than 7 points in the …

Briefly

BASEBALL

* Delmon Young, a power-hitting high school outfielder fromCalifornia, was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with the No. 1 pickin the baseball draft. Young, the brother of Detroit Tigeroutfielder Dmitri Young, hit .544 with seven home runs and 28 RBIthis season for Camarillo High School.

With the second pick, Milwaukee selected Southern Universitysecond baseman Rickie Weeks.

HOCKEY

* Mike Milbury dismissed yet another New York Islander coach,firing Peter Laviolette after playoff trips in each of his twoseasons with the team.

Milbury has fired seven coaches, including himself twice, in the71/2 years he has been Islanders general manager. …

Sports in 2010: Anything but trivial

PARIS (AP) — In the greater scheme of things, sports shouldn't really matter. Not like famine, war, natural disasters or the multitude of other agonies of our human condition that will and should always be more important than the mere trivialities of which team won and by how much.

In the same vein, no athlete, no matter how lionized, will or should ever be as important as a caring parent, an aid worker, a maternity nurse, a firefighter or the countless billions of unsung others who sustain life amid the chaos of life itself. No athlete can claim that their sporting achievements do that, which is why there will and should always be questions about whether it is right and proper that …

Avon stock sinks on SEC probe, pulled 2011 outlook

NEW YORK (AP) — Avon Products Inc. said Thursday the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its contact with financial analysts in 2010 and 2011, the latest roadblock for the cosmetics direct seller that is struggling to turn around its results.

Avon also reported its third-quarter net income slipped a worse-than-expected 1 percent, hurt by complications implementing a business system in Brazil and the uncertain global economy. The New York company said it is reviewing all aspects of its business and withdrew its full year revenue guidance.

Shares — which were already down 21 percent since the beginning of the year — dropped another 18 percent by Thursday …