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FORT STEWART - All her life, Coral Wong Pietsch hated being different.

A new type of bird soon will fly over Hunter Army Airfield.

The ladies were definitely in high cotton Friday night at the Savannah College of Art and Design's graduation concert at Forsyth Park that attracted and estimated 3,000 music fans.

Chart-topping vocalist Natasha Bedingfield shared the bill with twin Australian songwriters The Veronicas and with Cleveland-bred acoustic rocker Kate Voegele.

With their sultry, goth-pop look, twin sisters Jess and Lisa Origliasso of The Veronicas are at the top of the charts down under, while earning orchids from a wide range of stateside media.

At first glance, it appeared to be an average training day for Savannah Fire & Emergency Services at its training area off Sally Mood Drive.

(Scroll to the bottom to see the video interview with André Leon Talley, Vogue's editor-at-large.)

As editor-at-large for American Vogue, André Leon Talley attends fashion shows around the world.

He has gone to the Oscars, chatting with respected friends and actors Will Smith and Tom Cruise.

He's been on "Oprah" and has a cameo in "Sex and the City: The Movie," which opened in theaters Friday.

But Talley, 59, is putting fashion and Hollywood to the side today to participate in something close to his heart. He is scheduled to address the Savannah College of Art and Design graduates at 9 a.m. during the commencement ceremony.

Sure, he'll talk fashion (it's his life), but Talley also wants to stress humility to the graduates.

"Don't be above running to get Starbucks for someone who's ahead of you," Talley said from Magnolia Hall on Friday afternoon. "Don't be too great that you couldn't pick up a pen if you work in fashion. Or if you work in an office, don't be so fabulous that you couldn't Xerox with someone who asks you.

Jerry Sage Sammons, who finished last among six candidates last year in the Savannah mayor's race, says he's running for governor in 2010.

Sammons, a Republican, stated in a press release that he wants to fight the "traders" he says have caused high gas prices and the decline of the dollar.

He also called for a drive to recall "liberal congressmen" he says also are responsible for high gas prices.

"America's soul is being sold to the world company store," Sammons said. "... The lives of our children are being sacrificed on this global altar of oneness."

Sammons received 121 votes last year, less than 1 percent of those cast.

Tara Kirkland was eight minutes late for work Friday morning because of breaking news on the Internet.

BLOOMINGDALE - Effingham County sheriff's deputies arrested six area residents Thursday in two unrelated drug cases.

BEAUFORT, S.C. - Parris Island's commanding general is heading to Iraq, and his replacement will create new Marines to follow.

A form of silent meditation with roots in Buddhism has come to southeast Georgia.

SPRINGFIELD - An e-mail message circulated by the office manager for Effingham Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie to sheriff's department employees has caused a flurry of messages among online chat rooms in what quickly is turning into the most watched political race in the county.

The e-mails sent from Nancy Gillenwater invite employees to meet at McDuffie's home to post campaign signs and solicit money for the sale of re-election T-shirts.

Copies of the e-mails were obtained by Effingham Now and the Savannah Morning News.

McDuffie said questions over how appropriate they are amount to pure politics.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - At one Mexican restaurant in Bluffton, families used to come in four times a week, spending sometimes $100 on a meal.

AUGUSTA - At least three people were killed Friday morning in a fiery, three-vehicle crash on Mike Padgett Highway.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Two federal Custom and Border Protection surveillance planes based in Jacksonville have helped authorities seize two different shipments of cocaine totaling about $80 million.

ATLANTA - Airlines are cutting U.S. flights, shedding employees, putting off plane orders and even talking about combinations.

Gulfstream Aerospace on Wednesday handed out 10 scholarships worth a total of $80,000 to children of its employees.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint warned Friday that South Carolina's economic future depends on expanding state ports that have faded in the competition with their counterparts elsewhere on the East Coast.

MILWAUKEE - Love it, hate it or laugh at it - at least it's inexpensive.

PARIS - World food prices are set to fall from current peaks in the coming years but will remain "substantially above" average levels from the past decade, a report said Thursday.

The world's poorest nations are most vulnerable - particularly the urban poor in food-importing countries - and will require increased humanitarian aid to stave off hunger and undernourishment, according to a joint agricultural report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

"Rising prices now translate, unfortunately, as an increase in hunger and civil strife. Uncertainty rules and our people are worried," FAO chief Jacques Diouf told a Paris news conference.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, at his side, added, "The end of cheap food in a world where half the population lives with less than $2 a day is a source of grave concern."

WASHINGTON - The first round of economic stimulus checks gave a boost to personal incomes in April, but a huge question remains: Will people spend the checks quickly enough to keep the economy afloat?

Hotel management company expands to Tybee Island

NEW YORK - Retail gas prices jumped a cent Friday to a new national average of more than $3.96 a gallon, putting them on a course to hit $4 by early next week. Oil futures, meanwhile, traded in a narrow range as investors tried to determine whether recent price declines were temporary.

PARIS - Americans are shell-shocked at $4-a-gallon gas. But consider France, where a gallon of petrol runs nearly $10. Or Turkey, where it's more than $11.

Drivers around the world are being pummeled by the effects of record gas prices. And now some are hitting back, staging strikes and protests from Europe to Indonesia to demand governments do more to ease the pain.

It's a growing problem in a world that's increasingly mobile and more vulnerable than ever to the cost of crude oil, which is racing higher by the day and showing no signs of stopping.

"I don't know why it is, but ... it hurts," said Marie Penucci, a violinist who was filling up her Volkswagen to the tune of $9.66 a gallon at an Esso station on the bypass that rings Paris.

As she pumped, she looked wistfully at a commuter climbing onto one of the city's cheap rental bicycles, an option not open to her because she travels long distances to perform.

Not too long ago, Tim Wallace was a lone-wolf triathlete in Savannah, but these days he's running with a rapidly growing pack.

ATHENS - Three weeks ago, Georgia was on an emotional high after being crowned the Southeastern Conference regular-season champions.

FRIDAY'S SCORE: Savannah Sand Gnats 3, Augusta GreenJackets 2 (11 innings).

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Boston got past an old nemesis to set up a matchup with another rival.

DESTIN, Fla. - Back-to-back BCS football national champions. Men's basketball champions two of the last three years. Two straight women's basketball national titles.

COMMENTARY

ATHENS - Georgia Tech put aside some grim news and got off to a good start in the NCAA baseball tournament.

DOVER, Del. - Greg Biffle put everything he had Friday into one qualifying lap for the Best Buy 400.

ATLANTA - A medical examiner's report shows a heroin overdose caused the death of Georgia Tech pitcher Michael Hutts.

DESTIN, Fla. - Southeastern Conference football coaches who had designs on adding an early signing day will have to wait at least another year.

It was a special night of racing Friday night at Oglethorpe Speedway Park, as the Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Mini Stocks and 440s divisions competed in double features.

ATHENS - Stephen Dodson's postseason career at Georgia has not given him a lot of good scrapbook material.

CINCINNATI - How is Jay Bruce going to top this?

LOCAL

I will receive the ultimate 40th birthday present in December.

Since I began commuting from Richmond Hill several years ago, I've become an avid audio-book fan, and luckily I've been able to make sure the library has plenty of choices for listeners like me, who spend at least an hour a day on the road. When I began listening, cassettes were my only option, but since then the library has branched out into books on CD, MP3 CDs, and most recently, digital downloads. This latest development, initiated in May, allows anyone who can utilize WMA (Windows Media Audio) files to download entire books to their home computers from the Georgia Download Destination, a digital audio library accessible from the Live Oak Web site: www.liveoakp.org. Here are some of the many great new titles available in various audio formats at Live Oak Public Libraries.

Photographer Scott Wheeler found inspiration for his latest body of work, quite unexpectedly, while driving down Interstate 95 at night, glancing at illuminated billboards on either side of the interstate.

Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home Reading and Lecture

"Destiny Manifested," featuring new work by Alexandro Santana, Daniel E. Smith and Veronika Varner

LIVE OAK PUBLIC LIBRARIES

How to get your event in the calendar:

Community Health Mission

THURSDAY

This weekend marks the Savannah opening for the long-awaited film version of "Sex and the City."

Anyone who knows Summer Burgstiner certainly would describe her as shy and reserved. When her sister forwarded her an e-mail about a pretty baby contest, the young mom was hesitant about sending in a photo of her bouncing baby boy.

Contribute to Vox Populi by calling 652-0370 or e-mailing us at vox@savannahnow.com. Be sure to write Vox Populi in the subject field. Not all responses are used.

Contribute to Vox Populi by calling 652-0370 or e-mailing us at vox@savannahnow.com. Be sure to write Vox Populi in the subject field. Not all responses are used.