CELEBRATING OUR AREA'S MAGNIFICENT WATERWAYS.(MAIN)

Byline: RICHARD MATTOX

Why don't the four counties sharing the Hudson and Mohawk rivers and the Barge and Champlain canals join forces to design a four-day waterway arts and music festival around our July Fourth parades and fireworks?

Thursday, July 4 -- An Albany Symphony Pop Concert at the Corning Hudson River Preserve could open the Festival with ``Fanfare for Albany'' from Francis Thorne's new Symphony No. 7, along the Hudson, followed by fireworks at the Empire State Plaza.

Friday -- Tour boats from Albany and Troy could ply the Hudson River, through the Barge Canal locks, to the Mohawk River and Schenectady for a Broadway musical at Proctor's. …

Who's the boss? SBA reports increase in black self-employment rate.(Facts & Figures)(Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy)(Brief Article)

Self-employment among African Americans grew strongly between 1997 and 2003 while stagnating amongst whites, according to a Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy report. Although a higher percentage of whites are their own boss, disparities in the rates of self-employment decreased.

The most interesting finding about in Americans in the study, Self-Employed Business-Ownership Rates in the United States: 1979-2003, comes from ring recent trends with the trends from 1910 to 1990, says report author Robert W. Fairlie, associate professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Despite occasional fluctuations a one-to-three ratio of black to …

AP: Exams prove abuse, torture in Iraq, Gitmo

Medical examinations of former terrorism suspects held by the U.S. military at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, found evidence of torture and other abuse that resulted in serious injuries and mental disorders, according to a human rights group.

For the most extensive medical study of former U.S. detainees published so far, Physicians for Human Rights had doctors and mental health professionals examine 11 former prisoners. The group alleges finding evidence of U.S. torture and war crimes and accuses U.S. military health professionals of allowing the abuse of detainees, denying them medical care and providing confidential …

New Oak Park condos due this fall

Oak Park buyers looking for new housing have a new option.Victorian Square Condominiums, a four-story, 10-unit development forwhich ground recently was broken, is expected to deliver units thisfall.

The building's design, which includes a stucco exterior, willcomplement the nearby Victorian Square Townhomes.

Victorian Square features 2-bedroom and 2-bath condominiums, andone unit has 1 1/2 baths and a loft area.Four floor plans are offered. Plans A, B and C are on thesecond, third and fourth floors. The entry to plan D, …

Julia rises to Help for Heroes challenge.

Julia Maclean Smith, of Rotherfield Avenue, was inspired to fundraise for Help for Heroes and did so alongside Peter Swanson, of Dorset Road, who she met outside Tesco's when he was holding up a collection tin for the services' charity.<br/><br/>The pair took part in the Bridge Too Far bicycle ride which was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, when at the end of World War II, the allies threw themselves into capturing a chain of bridges along the Rhine to push Nazi forces back into Germany. They succeeded at all the bridges except Arnhem which was a German stronghold and therefore proved to be a bridge too far.<br/><br/>Julia's proud mum Mary …

Revisiting 9/11; `World Trade Center' tells the story of two cops trapped in the rubble.(Preview)

Byline: WILLIAM BOOTH Washington Post

CANNES, France - When it was announced that Oliver Stone would direct a big-budget Hollywood movie about the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York, some wondered whether the director known for political fare - with a taste for conspiracy theories - would produce controversy. Those people can relax.

At the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday night, Stone showed an audience at the Palais des Festivals the first 20 minutes of his new film, "World Trade Center," which opens nationwide in August. The movie appears to be a straightforward tale of ordinary cops lost in an extraordinary hell.

"It is the true story of two New York Port Authority policemen trapped in the rubble," their wives and children "and their incredible, improbable rescue," …

600 JOBS FORESEEN AT SITE MALTA TO GET DATA TODAY ON OFFICE PROJECT.(Local)

Byline: Winifred Yu Staff writer

Having exercised its option to purchase 191 acres off Northway Exit 12 here, State Farm Insurance is expected to present the town today its plans to build a 250,000-square-foot office building, according to Supervisor David Meager.

"This is big time," Meager said. "We're talking (600) jobs. We're really happy about it."

The new building off Route 67 will serve as the company's second regional headquarters in the Northeast and the 27th in the country. Its other Northeast regional office, located in Wayne, N.J., will remain open, according to Sharon Tallon, a company spokeswoman.

Tallon said most of State …