It took 17 rounds, but when the FCC's $4.638 billion reserve was met late last week, it meant that the FCC's mandated open access rules would necessarily come into play. Under the proposed rules, 22MHz of the spectrum to be auctioned would be subject to open-access regulations, meaning that the company winning the auction would not be able to control what kind of devices are attached to the network or how the bandwidth is used.

"Everybody throws the word 'open' around and says open is wonderful," Cleland said.

BOE debates Japanese delegation funding, procedure for filling vacant ...

The Sumter County Board of Education wrangled with two issues at its regular monthly meeting Thursday night. BOE debates Japanese delegation funding, procedure for filling vacant seat Genie Collins AMERICUS — The Sumter County Board of Education wrangled with two issues at its regular monthly meeting Thursday night.

Brian Roberts could put Cubs over the top

One of them is one of the all-time great liars.

Baseball spring training camps open this month and some big-name free agents are jobless and might have to swallow some pride to prolong their careers and sign for much less than they're accustomed to. They include Barry Bonds, Armando Benitez, Mike Piazza, Kenny Lofton, Shannon Stewart, Livan Hernandez, Sammy Sosa, Bartolo Colon, Shawn Green, Corey Patterson and Tony Clark.

If they can't find jobs, Bonds, Sosa, perhaps Clemens and Piazza all would be on the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot. It would be a very impressive group if they all were "clean."

But Piazza is the only one who hasn't been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Billionaire Rochester sportsman Tom Golisano over the weekend reiterated that he's prepared to do what he can to keep the Buffalo Bills in western New York.

Rosacea: No laughing matter

Rosacea can manifest as anything from a blushy red face to pimples or bumps, a red nose like W.C. Fields, or eye inflammation. The bulbous red nose of the late entertainer W.C. Fields, seen above in a "David Copperfield" movie poster, has been attributed to a form of rosacea, called rhinophyma, not to his heavy-drinking lifestyle. Today, the condition can be treated with surgery. .

Kenya Trip Expands Outlook on Africa

Cloudless blue skies, 75-degree weather with no humidity and summer breezes, and hundreds of varieties of flowering bushes and trees are the backdrop for Kenya, a nation in crisis.

Kenya is a long way from the United States, far enough away to be out of sight and out of mind despite post-election violence. That is the impression one gets from the news media and its rapidly waning coverage.

Nothing could be further from reality. Experience teaches. It is simple as that.

When my older son, Joel, said his fiancée, Dawn Kuguru, wanted to be married in her native Kenya, it was overwhelming to me. All I could think was, "You've got to be kidding!"

That was almost a year ago, and now my family and I have returned from what we consider a life-enriching experience.