Free Republic

<p>REDDING - There are holes in the heart of the main library. The shelves appear flush, but so many books are missing. The works of Updike and Oates skip over the '80s. Volumes of the Best American Short Stories run from 1942 to present, but 1988-90 is a gap-tooth break in the stacks. And the 60-year O. Henry Prize Stories collection stops abruptly in 1989.</p>

Hundreds die from the coldWed, Jan. 08, 2003 9:18 AM ETBy the Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) Nearly 400 people have died of cold in Bangladesh and northern India in the past 10 days as temperatures plummeted and cold winds swept in from the Himalayas, officials and news reports said Wednesday. The cold sweeping across northern Bangladesh caused 60 deaths this week, raising the toll to 260, media reports said. Temperatures dipped into the 30s and 40s Fahrenheit - dangerous levels in impoverished India and Bangladesh, where millions of people live without heat, electricity and warm clothing. At least...

<p>Gov. Gray Davis called the spending cuts an "important step."</p> <p>Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday ordered state agencies and departments to freeze spending on nonessential equipment, travel and consultants, saying it was a necessary step in tackling a $21 billion budget deficit.</p>