Michael Sneed

OBAMARAMA . . .

Sneed hears former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley isdefinitely on board the Barack Obama presidential bandwagon as asenior adviser . . . but is denying rumors that he will run thepotential campaign.

It should come as no surprise that Daley is in Sen. Obama'scorner rather than that of likely candidate Sen. Hillary RodhamClinton (D-N.Y.), even though Clinton was raised in Park Ridge.

- Background: It's no secret Bill Daley was hoping to be namedsecretary of transportation by President Bill Clinton in 1992. Then-Veep Al Gore even pushed him for the job. When he didn't get thepost, his brother Mayor Daley was furious. Although Bill Daley …

Court: No Nudes in Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Erotic dancers in adult bars in most parts of this Spring Break city are going to have to wear as much clothing as most people on the beach.

A federal appeals court upheld municipal zoning and nudity ordinances on Thursday after the city and Lollipops Gentlemen's Club made their cases before the court on March 23.

"The bottom line is the 11th Circuit Court (of Appeals) upheld the city's authority to enforce its zoning regulations and public nudity ordinance with regard to the adult entertainment establishments," City Attorney Bob Brown said.

In other words, dancers at adult clubs that serve liquor are required to wear conservative bikinis. …

Scoreless Crosby being frustrated again by Wings

A frustrated Sidney Crosby took a whack at Kirk Maltby's skate as Game 1 ended, tired of what he called the nonstop chirping by the Red Wings forward. So far, it might be Crosby's best shot of the Stanley Cup finals.

Blanketed by Henrik Zetterberg whenever he steps on the ice, Crosby has gone from being the best player in the playoffs to being a concern to the Pittsburgh Penguins because of his lack of offense.

He's not playing badly, but he's not playing like Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins' 3-1 loss on Sunday night put them down 2-0 to Detroit for the second successive finals, and Crosby's inability to duplicate his previously dominating play _ 14 …

Butterfly Hens for Easy Elegance

For a change of pace, serve butterflied roasted Cornish hensinstead of the more popular chicken or turkey. Much easier to eat,butterflied Cornish hens cook in half the time it takes to roast awhole hen.

I serve Cornish hens more often now that I've learned how easythey are to "butterfly." Simply remove the backbone by cutting downeach side of the hen with kitchen shears. Save the backbones formaking soup. Spread the hens, like a butterfly with skin side up, ona work surface. Flatten by pressing down on the breast bone. Thehens are now ready to season and marinate.

At home, I roast them in a hot oven, but they are also goodbroiled or grilled. If grilling, secure …

Bristol-Myers posts 33 percent profit jump in 1Q

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Thursday its first-quarter profit jumped 33 percent, due to higher sales, a payment from a lawsuit and a charge a year earlier.

Bristol-Myers, which sells blockbuster blood thinner Plavix and bipolar disorder treatment Abilify, said its net income was $986 million, or 57 cents per share. That's up from $743 million, or 43 cents per share, in 2010's first quarter.

Excluding several small accounting charges and gains, net income was $1 billion, or 58 cents per share.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $5.01 billion, from $4.81 billion a year ago, on higher sales of blockbuster blood thinner Plavix and several other …

Republican presidential candidate John McCain chats it up with TV host Letterman

Republican presidential nominee-to-be John McCain sparred with TV talk show host David Letterman during a taping of his "Late Show."

Letterman joked during his monologue that the senator from Arizona reminded him of "the guy at the hardware store who makes the keys" and of "the guy who can't stop talking about how well his tomatoes are doing."

After he added that McCain looked like "the guy who points out the spots they missed at the car wash," the senator appeared on stage.

"You think that stuff's pretty funny, don't you?" McCain asked.

He tossed at Letterman: "Well, you look like …

Late bloomers will brighten fall garden

Every summer, right around the middle of August, I begin to hatemy garden.

It's overgrown. The weeds have taken over. Everything needs to bedeadheaded, and even the trees look shaggy and in need of a trim. Ifind that as the blooms disappear, so does my enthusiasm formaintaining the garden.

As I'm forced to walk around and prune, weed and yank, it slowlydawns on me that it's not as bad as I make it out to be. True, it'snot as pretty as it was in the glorious months of May and June, butmany of the perennials are just about to burst into bloom and put ona fall show I can enjoy until the first frost.

There are lots of these fall-blooming perennials available now …