Olympia

Stocks post narrow gainsThe stock market showed a narrow gain in early trading today as investors waited out the latest news on jobs.The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 1.62 points to 3,291.93 in the first half hour of trading.The Labor Department is due to report tomorrow morning on the employment situation in August.Analysts expect the data to show a strong gain in nonfarm payroll employment, which has been a focal point of worries for months now about the progress of economic recovery.

On Friday, September 12, 2003, WALLACE HERMAN GROVES age 81 of Baltimore, MD, formerly of Glenville, W. Va, departed this life at 2:35 A.M., at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital, Weston, W. Va, following an extended illness. Born February 12, 1922 in Gilmer Co., son of the late Odie and Hollie Belnap Groves. Mr. Groves was united in marriage to Mary Jean Summers Groves on May 9, 1948 who survives. Surviving two daughters Leza Jean Kohl of Baltimore, MD, Melissa Wallace Reece of Olympia, WA. Funeral Services will be conducted at 1 P.M. Monday, September 15, 2003, at the Ellyson Mortuary, Inc., Glenville, W. Va with the Rev. Robert Nicholas officiating.

Hotel rates as low as $49 a night will be available in California's Monterey County in January and February as the region promotes its natural attractions in winter. The "Wild for Nature" package, sponsored by the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau, is available through Feb. 28 and draws attention to the area's migrating gray whales, birds and monarch butterflies. Among the deals are discounted rates at more than 20 hotels. Rates (based on availability) include Carmel River Inn and Monterey Hotel, $49 a night; Pacific Grove's Olympia Lodge, $59; Carmel Mission Inn, $69. Hotel rates are lowest at midweek.

FACE/OFF Special Collector's Edition DVD AWAY FROM HER Lionsgate -- $27.98 It is rare to see the luminous Julie Christie on the screen. She has never been enamored with the movie business and turns down far more roles than she accepts. But young director Sarah Polley was persistent, and Christie gave in. In this deeply moving tale, she plays a woman married for 50 years to a man (Gordon Pinsent), upon whom it dawns that his wife is slowly losing her mind to Alzheimer's disease. Co-starring Michael Murphy and Olympia Dukakis.

On October 18, 2003 GEORGE W. APOSTOL, beloved husband of Debbie Apostol (nee Lunt) loving father of William G. Apostol and his wife Colleen, dear brother of Olympia "Be Be" Paul, devoted grandfather of George William Apostol and Grace Katherine Apostol. Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home Inc., 1050 York Rd., (Beltway Exit 26A) on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Trisaghion Service will be held at 3 P.M. Interment private. Memorial contributions in his name to The Hunt Valley Golf Club, for the benefit of the George W. Apostol Memorial Golf Tournament, P.O. Box 424, Hunt Valley, MD., 21031, or to a charity of your choice, would be appreciated.

I signed just below Nelson Mandela. The International Olympic Truce Centre is asking visitors to the Summer Games to put their names on an M-tOlympic Truce,M-v a modern extension of the peace proclamation of 776 B.C. that allowed the Games to be played in Olympia. M-tWe donM-Ft expect to change the world,M-v said volunteer Areti Parnassa, at the display. M-tItM-Fs a window of opportunity. If we can just open the window a little, itM-Fs a start.M-v Organizers started gathering signatures in 2002 and hope to add thousands, maybe millions, to the panels that will be erected at the next three Olympics.

On November 20, 2003, ETHEL CLARE POWELL (nee Held), beloved wife of the late Roger Powell; loving mother of Henry Powell of San Diego CA, David Powell of El Dorado KS and Julia Smith of Hunt Valley MD; devoted mother-in-law of Irene Powell, Lois Powell and Jim Smith; beloved sister of Herman Held and Helene Saffin, both of W. Palm Beach FL; loving grandmother of Heather, Charles, Justina, James, Karen, Debbie and Lisa; loving great-grandmother of Logan,...

On July 17, 2003, TANAS A.; beloved husband of Eleni Heper (nee Mavrommati); devoted father of Tony Heper and Denise Heper, Smaro Cook and her husband Tom and Olympia Argyros; uncle of Evie Frangopoulos and her husband George and their son Terry; grandfather of Tom Cook Jr. and Elena Cook. A Trisagion Service will be held at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26A), on Friday at 7:30 P.M. Mr. Heper will lie in state at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, on Saturday from 10:30 to 11 A.M., the funeral hour.

As long as it keeps everyone suspended in intoxicating and inchoate yearning, writer-director Jonathan Kasdan's In the Land of Women gives off the wistful zing of a ruined-romance tune from the '60s songbook. Carter Webb (Adam Brody), the hero, is a sensitive 26-year-old soft-porn writer in Los Angeles. He can supply double entendres and outlandish rationales for volcanic ids while on creative cruise control. Real amour throws him for a loop. In the Land of Women (Warner Bros.) Starring Adam Brody, Meg Ryan, Kristen Stewart, Olympia Dukakis.

For those of us who know how to save a buck and more efficiently use technology, caller identification boxes seem like a mighty waste of money. After all, an answering machine allows you to screen calls without having to squint at a little box with a telephone number on it to figure out whether you want to pick up or not. Nevertheless, the Olympia OL3000 InfoGlobe ($50) was such a neat gadget that I went ahead and sprang for Caller ID on my home telephone just to see it in action. With a brilliant floating LED display that shows telephone numbers, time and date of calls, current date and day, the Globe made Caller ID worthwhile for my middle-aged eyes.