Last week, the rumour mill cranked up a gear with the names of likely candidates such as Otto Thoresen, chief executive of Edinburgh neighbour Aegon UK – better known for Scottish Equitable – thrown into the melting pot. The latest gossip was inevitable following the will-he-won't-he departure of highly regarded Trevor Matthews as Standard's head of UK life and pensions, a key lieutenant who played a vital role in the company's transition from basket case to membership of the FTSE-100.Matthews was also the heir apparent, the plain-speaking Australian who had arrived at the firm's Lothian Road headquarters at a time when the company was – by some accounts – a busted flush. He'd taken a gamble, leaving a secure and senior job in Japan with Manulife to join a struggling Scottish company not only in need of modernisation but some firm foundations to ensure it stayed in business.Matthews was a breath of fresh air, popular with the staff and a huge asset when the company began its roadshows to sell the share issue.

Keammar confident, but thankful

Jamaica's Keammar Daley focuses as he attempts a bicycle kick during the Pan American Games semi-final against Mexico in Rio de Janeiro during July last year.

Seeing this young man on the football field, one would never imagine that he is just 19 years old.

Poised, prolific and ready to strike, Meadhaven United's star player, Keammar Daley, exuberates class and style way beyond his years.

"I have a God-given talent. Football is natural to me," Daley said.

His hard work has already started to pay off, as on Tuesday night he was rewarded at the 47th RJR Sports Foundation 2007 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards ceremony for scoring four vital goals that helped to steer the Under-21 Reggae Boyz to a silver medal finish at the Pan American Games in Brazil last year.

Want to park on double yellows but don't want to get towed?

Clearly frustrated, all the council workers could do was ticket Mr Love - for at least the 75th time this year.

The authority, moreover, has a cunning plan. Parking officials will soon take receipt of two monster trucks of their own, each strong enough to tow any rogue parker, however big.

2007 Saturn Vue Greenline FWD Hybrid SUV Review

"Go green for little green" is the thought behind Saturn's first hybrid, the Vue Greenline. It's a light gasoline-electric hybrid - meaning that it never operates in electric-only mode - but it does have all of the other fuel-saving benefits of a hybrid vehicle. Once the engine is warmed up, it usually shuts off at a stop, depending on load and conditions. An electric motor/generator provides extra power when needed for acceleration, and recharges the battery pack when slowing. It also improves braking performance with the magnetic drag from that regenerative braking.

This adds up to, according to Saturn, an approximate 20 percent increase in fuel economy for a price premium of only $2,000. Expect more Greenline models in the Saturn lineup, and elsewhere in the GM family, in the future.

Steve Batie: Find ways to reuse the refuse

My grandfather probably wondered the same thing when the coffee cans vanished from the market that you peeled open with those tiny keys soldered to their bottoms. The reusable plastic lids that replaced them simply don’t hold up the way the steel ones did.(I know this because I still have a couple of those old steel-lidded Folger’s cans. Surely as old as I am but still going strong.)Happily, I’ve discovered that empty stew cans work nearly as well — sometimes even better, because they’re shallower, and it’s easier to dip a brush into them.My kitchen trash can and workshop are intimately connected.I’m also gradually replacing my old nail-and-screw storage jars with peanut butter jars. Being plastic (there’s a theme here, I now realize), they’re not going to shatter when they roll off the bench.

Public provides input on planning future

They expect to see more traffic with an improved Highway 191 and fear their taxes will rise as development comes. Most want to see commercial development held to the Highway 191 corridor.Harvey Allen, Sue Makin and Sandy Dietering discussed the impact the new port would have and the possible impact of mining if it resumes in Courtland. They see housing demands and water as big issues. They also want to keep agriculture alive and flourishing in the Mid-Sulphur Springs Valley. They do not want noise and light pollution, overpopulation, nor do they want to see Elfrida incorporate and become its own city providing services that would increase taxes.At another table, James Guzz and Robyn Gibbons were talking in their group about encouraging economic development of environmentally-friendly industries to bring jobs to the area and even county support of work-at-home computer jobs.