News In Brief

VERTICALLY CHALLENGED Surveyors in Austin, Texas, have given new meaning to the term tall tale. For years, it was an article of faith there that the dome of the Capitol, the home of state government, topped out higher than the building that houses Congress in Washington. But Texans had no data to back up the claim - until now. Using high-tech equipment, the surveyors measured the granite structure at a hair over 302 feet, almost 15 feet higher than the US Capitol. Sadly for Lone Star Staters, however, Louisiana's Capitol is a tower and - at 450 feet - it's the tallest in the land.

READ IT AT YOUR LEISURE

If you had "The Rockwells' Complete Book of Roses" on reserve at Northland Public Library in McCandless, Pa., be advised that it's in. That's no small matter, considering it had been out since March 1972. Someone returned it anonymously. Library records dating back that far have been lost, but if charged the fine in effect then, the borrower would have owed just under $300.

Study cites 10 US cities as the best for making money

If you're looking for the place where you might have the best chance to prosper, you may want to check out Ann Arbor, Mich. According to a study of 125 metropolitan areas by ReliaStar Financial Corp., Ann Arbor is the best in which to make and save money. For its rankings, Minneapolis-based ReliaStar uses 15 measures - among them average household income, job creation, unemployment, and crime. The top 10 cities to emerge from its study:

1. Ann Arbor, Mich.

2. Fort Wayne, Ind.

3. New Haven-Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury-Waterbury, Conn.

4. Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Mich.

5. Des Moines, Iowa

6. Atlanta

7. Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, Pa.

8. Minneapolis-St. Paul

9. Salt Lake City-Ogden

10. Dallas

- Reuters