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EXPECT A SHOW OF 'HANDS
Broadway theater owners and striking stagehands returned to the bargaining table last night - with sources saying they expected to reach a settlement in the wee hours today. An agreement would end the stagehands' 17-day walkout that has darkened 26 theaters and cost the city some $34 million. Sources said the two sides had made big concessions and were close to a deal after a 20-hour marathon negotiating session that ended at 6:30 a.m. yesterday. After a 12-hour break, the talks resumed last night. "Progress was made," said Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for Local One, which represents the stagehands. "Each side is being very creative and imaginative." For example, the owners dropped a demand to eliminate the flyman, a stagehand who earns $160,000 a year and is in charge of things that fly in a production.
For Your Information
On Fridays, Broward's Weekend section features comprehensive listings of the coming weekend's entertainment events and a look at what's ahead. Listings are subject to change without notice. It is recommended that you call before attending an event. BROWARD HOLIDAYS Creativity-An Art Exhibition: The African World Artists Collective displays works in celebration of Kwanzaa; through Dec. 31; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; free. 954-625-2810. The Many Moods of Christmas: Annual concert features a full choir and orchestra, hand bells and a living Nativity scene; 7:30 p.m., Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, 5555 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale; $20, $25, $5 students.
Computer learns to flirt
INTERNET chatroom romantics beware: your next chat may be with a clinical computer trying to win your personal data and not your heart, an online security firm says. A Russian website called CyberLover.ru is advertising a software tool that, it says, can simulate flirtatious chatroom exchanges. It boasts that it can chat up as many as 10 women at the same time and persuade them to hand over phone numbers. An Australian anti-virus software firm, PC Tools, has warned that the software could be abused by identity fraudsters trying to harvest people's personal details online. The Russian site denied it was intended for identity fraud. The programme, so far available only in Russian, will go on sale around February 15, just after St Valentine's Day, said the CyberLover.ru website.
TV-RADIO NOTEBOOK
Well, things Thursday could have been worse for Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte or Miguel Tejada, or any number of players listed in Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report. They could have been Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World." As it turns out, none of them made the daily list on Olbermann's Countdown show on MSNBC. Then again, the Worst Person designation generally skews toward the farcical. And for many baseball fans who spent Thursday glued to their TVs, radios and computer screens following the release of the Mitchell Report, this day was more about disappointment than farce. Baseball, Olbermann said, has become "a sport not of home runs and strikeouts but rather of asterisks and question marks, a sport not of elements known as grace and power but rather of drugs called winstrol and human growth hormone." And with the presence of Pettitte, Clemens and Tejada in the report, Olbermann made the stinging observation that "the geographical center of the steroid world would either be New York City or Houston." Such was the interest in the Mitchell Report that it was a dominant topic on the airwaves even before the report was released at midday.
Smoking Cessation -- New Ways To Quit
In one survey, more than 48% of male high school students reported using some form of tobacco. We can do better. Fortunately, there are more ways to kick the habit than ever before. Back to top The Hazards of Smoking Tobacco is responsible for 1 of every 5 deaths in the United States. That adds up to over 435,000 lives lost each year. The average non-smoker lives about 14 years longer than the average smoker. And over 8.5 million Americans suffer from chronic illnesses caused by smoking. Heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, emphysema and bronchitis are high on the hit list. But smoking also causes "minor" problems ranging from cataracts, sinusitis and dental disorders to aging skin, heartburn, osteoporosis, bladder cancer and erectile dysfunction. The more you smoke, the higher your risks.
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