News In Brief

HOME NOT-SO-SWEET HOME

According to the 2000 US Census, the state of Vermont has a community of 937 people that no one realized existed before. Unfortunately for all concerned, it's not an especially hospitable place, either - lacking such basic amenities as dwellings in which to escape the elements and the exhaust fumes of passing vehicles. In fact, if you were to go there, all you'd see is a median strip on US Route 2 as it crosses from South Burlington to Burlington, home of the University of Vermont. City officials say they'll ask that the census be corrected to show that all those folks are students living in UVM dormitories.

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KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

Across the state in Barre, Joy Edson accepted her diploma Saturday in graduation ceremonies at Spaulding High School, along with almost 200 classmates - one of whom was her own grandmother. Indeed, Sylvia Comolli was finishing what she'd started 44 years ago, only to drop out after her freshman year to marry and rear a family. Her plan now: to look for a paying job.

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America's favorite movies to curl up on the couch with

"Traffic," the Academy Award- winning film about ongoing drug problems in the US and Mexico, was the No. 1 home video rental in the week ending June 10, according to statistics compiled by the Video Software Dealers Association. The second most popular: another recent box-office hit, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," newly released on video. The top 10 VHS titles rented for the week ending June 10, with the previous week's ranking in parenthesis.

1. "Traffic" (1)

2. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (new)

3. "What Women Want" (2)

4. "Vertical Limit" (3)

5. "Miss Congeniality" (4)

6. "Pay It Forward" (5)

7. "Finding Forrester" (6)

8. "Men of Honor" (7)

9. "Little Nicky" (12)

10. "Meet the Parents" (11)

- Entertainment Wire

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor