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A list of students graduating from Savannah Country Day School and St. Paul's Academy constitues the third fo four installments in a salute to the Coastal Empire Class of 2008 by the Savannah Morning News.

Pooler businessman Lansford "Lance" Hensley on Tuesday was sentenced to more than 7½ years in federal prison for possessing child pornography on his home computer.

Some restaurant owners and City Manager Michael Brown got a little testy Tuesday while discussing a proposed ordinance that would allow restaurants to morph into bars.

The biggest issue raised during a meeting at the Savannah Civic Center came from owners of high-end restaurants.

"You are taking me from the traditional way that I serve my customers," said Pino Venetico, owner of Il Pasticcio and Bull Street Chop House restaurants.

The owners were trying to figure out if they would be required to purchase new alcohol licenses if, for example, families with underage members ate a meal and lingered after the kitchen closed, whether they were drinking or not.

Stephanie Chiang and her boyfriend planned to have a great day.

In his line of work, paramedic Bob Trenkamp has encountered one tragic scenario far too often: A heart attack victim's chances of survival are doomed, simply because no one around knew CPR.

She's a little underweight and has cuts on the pads of her back feet, but at least she's safe.

Greg Foster must wait at least another day to begin receiving the military retirement pay he was supposed to have started collecting March 1.

In a decision that could affect development throughout the Southeast, a federal judge has ruled that a one-time removal of trees does not constitute tree farming.

That means cutting the trees doesn't qualify for an automatic exemption from federal Clean Water Act regulations, Senior U.S. District Judge B. Avant Edenfield held in a ruling last week.

At issue was a 60-acre patch of cypress swamp near Statesboro.

The owners of Cypress Lake, a picturesque mill pond rimmed with houses on Lotts Creek, wanted to log the decades-old cypress, black gum and tupelo trees to create open water on that portion of the pond. They planned to shred the trees into garden mulch.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave them the go-ahead for the logging without a permit, saying their operation qualified as tree farming, or silviculture. The Clean Water Act allows exemptions to the permit program for discharge that results from "normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities."

Sexual predator Stephen Alexander Bell on Tuesday was sent to the Chatham County grand jury on a charge of theft by taking.

Tybee Island Judge Steven Scheer ruled prosecutors had shown probable cause that Bell stole a Hunter sailboat in April from Walsh's Dock on Tybee Island.

He rejected arguments by Bell's court-appointed lawyer that the state failed to show a value for the boat.

Theft of more than $500 is a felony.

The grand jury is scheduled to consider charges against Bell on June 18, Chatham County Assistant District Attorney Greg McConnell said.

Bell remains in custody at the Chatham County jail.

Tuesday's court action comes a day after Chatham County Superior Court Judge Louisa Abbot ordered Bell returned to prison for violating his probation.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The General Assembly honored 17-year-old Josh George on Tuesday by dedicating the day's legislative work to him.

A 71-year-old man killed Sunday night in a two-car collision in Liberty County has been identified as William Holmes of Midway.

Who doesn't love a wedding?

DirectBuy expands to Pooler

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled Tuesday that further interest rate cuts are unlikely because of concerns about inflation. High oil prices are a double-edged sword that can both put a damper on already weak growth and spread inflation, he said.

Bernanke, in remarks delivered via satellite to an international monetary conference in Spain, said the Fed's powerful doses of rate reductions that started last September, along with the government's $168 billion stimulus package, including rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses, should bring about "somewhat better economic conditions" in the second half of this year.

To help brace the economy, the Fed in late April dropped its key rate to 2 percent, a nearly four-year low, but hinted that could be the last reduction for a while. Bernanke drove that point home again Tuesday.

DETROIT - Cars outsold the top-selling Ford F-series truck in May for the first time since 1992, a sign of the rapid shift in customers' preferences from trucks and SUVs to small cars that is forcing painful production cuts and plant closures at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

GM said Tuesday that its U.S. sales fell 28 percent in May compared with a year earlier, while Ford's sales fell 16 percent, Chrysler LLC's sales were down 25 percent, and Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales slipped 4 percent.

Honda Motor Co., riding the wave of customers seeking better fuel efficiency, said its sales jumped 18 percent, led by a 36 percent increase in car sales. Nissan Motor Co. said its sales rose 8 percent, with a 19 percent increase in car sales.

The Toyota Corolla and Camry and Honda Civic and Accord sedans all outsold the F-series truck, which saw sales plummet 31 percent in May to 42,973. F-series trucks have been the best-selling trucks in the U.S. for 31 years and the best-selling vehicles overall for nearly as long. They also have been the best-selling vehicles each month since June 2005, when the Chevrolet Silverado pickup took a brief lead.

NEW YORK - A Delta Air Lines executive said Tuesday that he understands why other carriers are hesitant to combine in the current economic and high fuel price environment, but he insists his company has no plans to walk away from its proposed acquisition of Northwest Airlines.

WASHINGTON - Orders for manufactured goods posted a surprisingly strong increase in April as demand rose in a number of areas, including heavy machinery, iron and steel.

NEW YORK - Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday, dropping below $124 a barrel as demand concerns grew and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that more interest rate cuts are unlikely. Bernanke's comments sent the dollar higher and raised questions about oil's ability to reach new highs in the short term.

Will it be a mini mega site or the next Crossroads Business Center?

Either way, businesses looking to open industrial centers in Savannah will have another option in about 10 years.

Locally owned Rockingham Development Group is in the planning stages for a new business and light industrial park, Rockingham Business and Industrial Park, to be located on Savannah's southside.

When the 10.5-million-square-foot project is built out in 2018, its estimated value will be in excess of $400 million, according to a development of regional impact filing with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

"It's going to be a first-class business park," said Jack Wardlaw, one of the property developers.

The facility will be located on 1,050 acres north of Hunter Army Airfield near the intersection of Buckhalter Road and Veterans Parkway.

The fastest-growing port in the country has teamed up with the fastest-growing port in the world to develop an innovative container tag that will allow them to track and monitor cargo as it is shipped overseas.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Keith Brumbaugh doesn't want to hear the odds.

He doesn't want to hear the irrefutable numbers, that there are far more players on the court at the NBA predraft camp than there are available spots in the June 26 draft.

Doesn't want to hear that the overwhelming majority of players at the Disney complex near Orlando last week won't be in the league next year, either.

It's not a harsh assessment. It's simple math. The demand for jobs in the NBA just exceeds the supply, plain and simple.

But to someone like Brumbaugh, these days, it's easier to shun reality.

He's never been closer to his dream. He's got to get there. Right?

"I'm trying to make my own reality right now," Brumbaugh said. "I don't have a magic ball. This is my first time officially really playing in a game where scouts are seeing me. So I'm optimistic."

Spectators in the metal bleachers on the first-base side at Savannah Sand Gnats games have been warned to be alert for flying baseballs.

On "Thirsty Thursdays," however, one particular section has been truly foul territory. A group lets taunts fly, from challenging beer-toting passers-by to "chug, chug, chug," to light-hearted jibes about clothing, to mean-spirited (intentional or not) assessments of women as "overrated."

At one point last Thursday, spectators were scattered by flying beer cups as a beer fight broke out. Off-duty policemen, hired by the Gnats as security, stepped in and removed several rows of patrons, escorting them out a side gate of Grayson Stadium for the remainder of the game.

Was this just an isolated incident or an inevitability? The potent mix of discounted alcohol and testosterone, packaged in a protective pack mentality, makes one lean toward the latter.

Savannah State baseball head coach Carlton Hardy has been reinstated after being suspended from April 18 until May 23 while he was the focus of an internal investigation, SSU communications director Loretta Heyward said.

ATLANTA - Braves pitcher Mike Hampton took a small step in his long-delayed comeback, throwing off the mound in the Atlanta bullpen Tuesday before a game against the Florida Marlins.

TUESDAY'S SCORE: Savannah Sand Gnats 7, Columbus Catfish 4

PARIS - They've been on a collision course since Day 1 of the French Open, and there could only have been the faintest of doubts at the onset of this tournament that their paths would intersect in the semifinals.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Kaitlin Cochran hit a three-run home run, Katie Burkhart pitched a four-hitter and Arizona State routed Texas A&M, 11-0, Tuesday night to win its first college softball title.

LONG POND, Pa. - In the weeks leading up to Sunday's Pocono 500, track owner Dr. Joseph Mattioli has been learning to walk again. A difficult bout of pneumonia relegated the 83-year-old dentist to a motorized scooter, but he intends to be on his feet when NASCAR returns for its 35th year of racing.

WALTHAM, MASS. - Those familiar "Beat L.A.!" chants, once the sweetest sound of springtime in Boston, were replaced by a most unrecognizable chorus in the dead of winter last year.

PITTSBURGH - The Stanley Cup finals haven't seen anything like this in 72 years, a team staving off elimination by scoring in the last minute of regulation and then winning in overtime.

ATLANTA - Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer, his 399th, and Greg Norton came through with a two-run double in the eighth inning that gave the Atlanta Braves another come-from-behind victory, 5-4 over the slumping Florida Marlins on Tuesday night.

Is there anything in all of human gastronomy that can quite equal the luscious, soul-satisfying richness of ice cream?

If there is, I'm not sure I want to know about it.

Once a rare and expensive treat available only to the wealthy, sweetened ices of one sort or another have been around at least since the glory days of ancient Greece. However, it has only been since ice manufacturing and refrigeration were perfected in the mid-19th century that they've become commonplace.

Almost too commonplace. Today frozen sweets are so taken for granted that we've lost that sense of wonder in them.

Fortunately, familiarity, in this case, has not bred contempt. Even with hundreds of premium brands dominating the frozen food section, there is still something magical about homemade ice cream that lifts spirits, cools overheated brows, and makes an ordinary occasion into a celebration as no store-bought brand ever can.

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.

Mention saké to your friends and one of two things usually happens. Some people laugh, dismissing saké as a serious beverage; others stare at you, slack-jawed and unwitting.

At least, these are my friends. Maybe I need to broaden my circle.

Saké is a brewed beverage, like beer. Its process is complex and varies from style to style, brewer to brewer. You can do that research on your own - it's not critical to know the process to enjoy the drink.

The finest saké starts with premium ingredients - the purest water, high quality saké rice, special yeast and koji, an enzyme that helps get the party going.

For our purposes, there are a handful of words you can use to help you identify grades and types of saké.

Junmai is a pure rice, regular grade of saké. Add the word "ginjo" and you step up a grade. Junmai daiginjo is the best - an ultra premium grade filtered saké.

Gallery Espresso

First Friday for Folk Music

TODAY

Mark Streeter

Savannah remains a place where people are seldom in a big hurry, unless there's a happy hour involved.

Hospital should restore WWII monument