| The Clock is Ticking on Some Now-Or-Never Tax Breaks
Sure, you're busy drawing up holiday gift lists for family and friends. But don't forget to give yourself a present: a lower tax bill next spring. Now's the time to make last-minute moves to trim your 2007 taxes. Beyond heeding the standard year-end advice of maxing out tax-deductible retirement savings, donating to your favorite charity and selling losing investments to offset taxable gains, you may benefit from taking advantage of several other tax breaks scheduled to expire at the end of 2007. For instance, retirees 70½ and older get one last chance to avoid paying taxes on up to $100,000 in IRA distributions donated directly to a charity. Homeowners who install energy-efficient improvements by December 31 can claim a tax credit of up to $500. And consumers who deduct state sales tax on their federal return have until New Year's Eve to purchase big-ticket items, such as a car or boat, to add to their sales-tax tally.
Posh are put in their place by a class act from Greening
They had scored eight goals in their last match, against Accrington Stanley, and in Craig Mackail-Smith, who has scored seven goals in the Cup this season, fielded the competition's leading scorer. In the event, they were defeated by an Albion side who were both bigger and better than them. Peterborough were last in the fifth round 22 years ago. It took a quarter of an hour for their fans to know they would have to wait another year. The visitors, meanwhile, were as impressive as they needed to be and, with luck in tomorrow's draw, could add a long Cup run to their promotion push for the Premier League. .
Houston offers bargains as dollars are spent
Such price restructurings are becoming common around the NBA as teams look for creative ways to maximize profit while maintaining an air of affordability, said Jon Greenberg, editor of the Team Marketing Report. "It is such a luxury-driven league that these adjustments are necessary," Greenberg said. Most likely, Greenberg said, the Rockets took their most expensive general-seating tickets and grouped them with the premium category, thus lowering the average price of the general- and premium-seat categories. Ticket prices are a touchy subject around the NBA. Teams are wary of providing data needed to compute weighted averages, or averages that take into account the number of seats available at each price. The league declined to release data regarding average ticket prices because, according to spokesman Chris Wallace, it doesn't accurately represent the number of affordable options available throughout the NBA.
Pompey dream of Wembley as Redknapp adds Baros to squad
Portsmouth completed the loan signing of Milan Baros from the French champions, Lyon, last night and, while the Czech has been absent from the Premier League for only a year, he will quickly discover that Pompey have pedigree these days. This was a club punching above its weight 12 months ago. Now encouraging league form has been allied to a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in four years. .
Local/area briefs
Dr. Abigail Tebbe, doctor of chiropractic and certified maximized living life management program mentor, will lead a six-session "Health from Within -- An Extreme Makeover" series from 7 to 8 p.m. on Mondays, Jan. 28 through March 3, at Shalom Retreat Center, 1001 Davis St., Dubuque. All sessions have been moved back one week due to recent snowstorms. Based on the book "Body by God," this series is tailored to individual needs and is designed to transform your body, mind and spirit to create a healthy, physically fit and balanced you. Weekly topics will be: Jan. 28 -- Introductions and overview of series; Feb. 4 -- Nutrition; Feb. 11 -- Nutritional supplements; Feb. 18 -- Exercise; Feb. 25 -- Peace and time management; March 3 -- Celebrating and Looking Ahead! The offering to attend is $7.50 per session or $40 for the six-session series of classes plus $15 for an Extreme Makeover workbook.
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