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BUSINESS

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Coca-Cola to buy Chinese juice maker for $2.3 billion

The acquisition will give Coca-Cola about 20 percent of China’s fruit-juice market, helping it compete with PepsiCo Inc. as U.S. soda sales slow.

GMAC cuts 5,000 jobs, 200 offices

The majority of the layoffs are slated for GMAC’s mortgage lending division.

Investors stay on sidelines, await U.S. jobs report

Commodities have fallen in price, easing inflation fears, but the uncertain economic picture leaves investors hesitant.

Natural gas customers may get rate decrease

But any savings could be wiped out by a pending gas-distribution rate increase also being sought by National Grid.

Providence’s changing skyline

Unemployment insurance claims on the increase

Rhode Island’s weak labor market drove up initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending Aug. 23 by 328 from the previous week, according to the state Department of Labor and Training.

LIFEBEAT

RATINGS

Babylon A.D. * (1:30/PG-13) Apple Valley: 1:45, 4:40, 7:40. Cinemaworld: 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:45. Island: 1:40, 3:50, 7:25, 9:40. Providence Place: 12:40, 2:55, 5:10, 7:25, 9:55. Showcase North Attleboro: noon, 2:25, 4:50, 7:15, 9:35. Showcase Seekonk 1-10: noon, 2:25, 4:50, 7:15, 9:35. Showcase Warwick: 11:45, 2:20, 4:45, 7:05, 9:35. Showcase Warwick Mall: noon, 2:25, 4:45, 7:15, 9:35. South Kingstown: 1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 9:40. Stonington: 12:05, 2:20, 4:40, 7:35, 10:10. Swansea: 1:45, 4:10, 7:45, 10.

40 local eateries add a world of flavors

Back in 1999, when the Pawtucket Arts Festival was brand new and hosting its first gala, a total of 35 guests showed up at the public library for the event. About a dozen local restaurants provided the food, including 60 pizzas. When the night was over almost everybody went home with two pizzas.

Akon fan-tossing case set for trial

Akon is headed to trial on criminal charges he tossed a fan offstage at an upstate concert last summer. The 35-year-old singer is accused of tossing a teenager off the stage during a June 2007 concert at a minor league baseball stadium near Poughkeepsie. Another concertgoer said she suffered a concussion when the boy landed on her.

Arts make a splash in Pawtucket

The Pawtucket Arts Festival is a decade old this year and has grown from small beginnings to become a multi-faceted event of music and dance, culture and cuisine that stretches over three consecutive weekends.

Comedy, Dance and Other Performances: Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 4-7

CIRCUS

Dancestravaganza is this weekend and next at Perishable Theatre

Dance and theater meet.

Dancing listings: ThursdaySunday, Sept. 4-7

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Films and Film Events: Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 4-7

www.cinemaworldonline.com.

Gamm opens season with new twist on “Don Carlos”

Tonight, Pawtucket’s Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre opens its season with an old play with a new twist. Artistic director Tony Estrella has taken German playwright-philosopher Friedrich Schiller’s 18th-century epic, Don Carlos, and completely rewritten it, trimming almost four hours, from six to two. And he has written the entire play in blank verse, like the original.

High-five for Blake Rodgers

Give Blake Rodgers a high-five. The 25-year-old Cranston man will certainly welcome one during his run at a world record. He may even welcome one afterward, although by then his hands may be a little sore.

Historic sites, house tours, exhibits: Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 4 through 7

PROVIDENCE

Jimmy Buffett is sold out in Mansfield, Mass.

Jimmy Buffett’s back. You can see him in person Thursday or Saturday night, provided you have tickets, or you can see what he’d serve you in Margaritaville.

Kids’ Events: Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 4-7

CAROUSEL

Lifebeat

Opening tomorrow, and reviewed in tomorrow’s Lifebeat Movies section of The Providence Journal:

Low Anthem: Touring is in their genes

Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, the second record from Providence-based The Low Anthem, was recorded “in the ghostly stillness of a Block Island winter” — and it sounds like it. There’s a nearly equal mix of the impulse to give in to that ghostly stillness and to rage against it.

Museum listings: Thursday through Sunday, Sept 4-7

PROVIDENCE

Nature listings: Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 4 through 7

www.asri.org. Advance registration.

Pop Music: Friday, Sept. 5

Biggest names

Pop Music: Saturday, Sept. 6

Biggest names

Pop Music: Sunday, Sept. 7

Biggest names

Pop Music: Thursday, Sept. 4

Biggest names

Rhode Island Art Galleries, exhibits and hours

Schedule of events

This is the first of three weekends of the 10th annual Pawtucket Arts Festival. Here’s this weekend’s lineup:

Seize Thursday: PawSox in post-season play

PawSox vs. Scranton Yanks

Sports and recreation listings: Thursday through Sunday, September 4 through 7

SPECIAL EVENT

The ESSENTIALS

HOME

The month of September still matters on network TV schedules

Towering over Boston’s Southeast Expressway, like a harbinger of back-to-school anxiety, is a billboard for the upcoming season of the CW’s Gossip Girl. Beside a picture of a steamy teenage kiss is a quote from a critic who declared the show “Every Parent’s Nightmare.”

Theater listings: Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 4 through 7

ALSO OPENING

Toxic materials drop-off day

www.rirrc.org.

LOCAL

3 candidates in House Dist. 63 take different campaign routes

EAST PROVIDENCE –– There has never been a Democratic primary in House District 63. Henry C. Rose, a state representative since 1993, hasn’t had to face a member of his own party as an opponent since the district was created in the statewide redistricting of 2002.

6 in field for school board

WARWICK — There’s no lack of choices for voters in Tuesday’s six-way nonpartisan primary for the two citywide two seats on the School Committee.

ALAN ROSENBERG: A trip up an elevator, a trip back in time

I drove nearly a thousand miles last week to take my older son to Chicago, where I grew up, and where he’ll be spending the fall semester of his senior year of college. I thought there would be a chance for some father-son quality time over a couple of days in the car, time that was rare this summer, and that I sense will be far more rare in the future.

African American Community News

RIYP meeting: Rhode Island Young Professionals (RIYP) will meet today at 6 p.m. at the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation, 210 West Ave., Pawtucket.

Amended teachers pact to save Warwick schools $1.4 million this year

The school board ratifies the agreement in a 3-2 vote, with dissenting members decrying the agreement not to require teachers to contribute more toward the cost of their health coverage.

Animal-rights activists target KFC officials in protest

NEWPORT

Animal-rights activists target KFC officials in protest

NEWPORT

At The Libraries

Seems like I know lots of people having babies these days, and we’re all excited about that! I mean, who doesn’t love the little nose and little toes?

Bootstrap Campaign

Holly Ann Hitchcock, 5, collects a donation from a motorcyclist on Hopkins Hill Road during a recent fundraising effort by the West Greenwich Professional Firefighters organization in support of the Lake Mishnock Fire & Rescue Company.

Campo’s loan exceeded state cap

North Kingstown Councilman Steven A. Campo, who is challenging Sen. J. Michael Lenihan in Tuesday’s Democratic primarily, ran afoul of campaign contribution limits when he accepted a $5,000 loan from a brother, according to the state Board of Elections.

Candidate’s loan exceeded cap

Steven A. Campo, who is challenging Sen. Michael J. Lenihan in a Democratic primary, said he had not known a limit on contributions applied.

Chick of the sea

Alexie Sousa, 12, of Coventry, is among mermaids on a float in Monday’s parade in West Warwick sponsored by the Holy Ghost Society. Alexie was part of the group Amigos de Rabo de Peixe (Friends of the Tail of the Fish), named for a village in Azores. Another photo, D2.

College a new chapter for dad and daughter

“I’m worried,” Dennis Hultzman says of his daughter, Tori, who’s leaving for college. “I’m not going to see her every day. I’m not going to know how she’s doing.”

College a new chapter for dad and daughter

“I’m worried,” Dennis Hultzman says of his daughter, Tori, who’s leaving for college. “I’m not going to see her every day. I’m not going to know how she’s doing.”

Council ward race heats up

CRANSTON –– City Council candidate Michael J. Farina is sharply rebutting charges of dirty campaigning as the Democratic primary for the Ward 4 seat heads into the home stretch.

Cranston Political Briefs

Fogarty, Fung spar over holding mayoral debates

Democrats predict uneventful primary Tuesday

PROVIDENCE — Next week brings primary day in a city where the Democratic primary is akin to a general election — but party officials predict few, if any, surprises, and the return of all the incumbents to their seats.

Dist. 2 Johnston Town Council primary features fresh faces

JOHNSTON — The two Democrats competing for a chance to unseat Councilman Ernest F. Pitochelli in November are newcomers to politics.

Driver charged with driving without headlights

MIDDLETOWN — The police have cited the driver of a car that sideswiped another vehicle Monday evening for driving at night without headlights on. The West Main Road accident left a 5-year-old boy seriously injured.

East Bay Briefings

Education reform key in District 52 House primary

CUMBERLAND — A school principal, a police officer and a limousine driver have squared off in a fight for the House District 52 seat in the Democratic primary election on Tuesday.

Fire Training Academy graduates 24

PROVIDENCE — Twenty-four trainees were graduated from the Fire Department’s 48th Training Academy yesterday, representing what Mayor David N. Cicilline called “the most diverse and inclusive” academy class ever.

Incumbent legislators face challengers in Tuesday primary

Two House and Senate Democrats, whose districts straddle the Providence and North Providence line, are being challenged in Tuesday’s primary by two women — in one case by a retired nurse and former state senator, and in the other by a Providence school teacher.

Johnston Digest

Community Briefs

Letters to the editor

Narragansett

Lincoln town administrator defends town’s assessment of casino

LINCOLN — The Democratic primary for town administrator won’t be until next week, but that isn’t stopping incumbent Republican Administrator T. Joseph Almond from going after Democrat John Douglas Barr II.

Mailbox bombs probed

COVENTRY — Police and fire officials suspect that youngsters are to blame for the nighttime placement of crude homemade bombs in residential mailboxes along Route 3 early last month, according to Central Coventry Fire Chief Robert Seltzer.

Man indicted on sex-assault allegations

A nursing assistant accused of attacking an Alzheimer’s patient in his care at St. Elizabeth Home, in East Greenwich, was indicted by a statewide grand jury yesterday on two counts of first-degree sexual assault.

Massachusetts Briefs

Regional

Metro Notes

Registration deadline: Steere House Nursing & Rehabilitation Center will hold its annual “5K Walk-a-Thon & Good Old Fashion Back Yard BBQ” on Sunday to raise money for its chaplaincy program.

Metro Religion

St. Pius V Church: The church on Eaton Street will host a holy hour of healing tomorrow from 7 to 8 p.m. There will be a benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, hands-on healing, prayers, meditation and reconciliation.

Municipal Almanac

Today

No arrests yet in vandalism

NARRAGANSETT — The investigation of who spray-painted graffiti on the cars of two Town Council members during a contentious meeting Tuesday night yielded no arrests and no suspects yesterday, the police said.

North Smithfield Digest

Community Briefs

Old trolley shelter coming back to life

PROVIDENCE — On Blackstone Boulevard across from Swan Point Cemetery, a strange open-air building made of piled stones sits on the bucolic median, familiar to joggers and drivers but rarely understood or used.

On the Calendar

TODAY

Panel closing in on turbine recommendation

BARRINGTON — The Town Council will get a recommendation for a wind turbine builder at its Oct. 6 meeting, the chairman of the Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington told the council Tuesday night.

Police investigate disappearance of Glocester man

Mark Harrington, 52, told his family he was going camping last weekend, but the police say there is no evidence that he actually did so.

Portsmouth Democrats to vote in school board, council primaries

PORTSMOUTH — The winners of next Tuesday’s Democratic primary for School Committee are guaranteed election, as Republicans have fielded no candidates for the three open seats on the seven-member board.

Public service a common thread in Dist. 18 Senate race

EAST PROVIDENCE — It’s a battle between the familiar, the endorsed and the underdog.

SOUTH COUNTY PRIMARY RACES AT A GLANCE

Here are South County primary-election races at a glance. The election is Tuesday.

Seekonk making plans to ride out lengthy economic downturn

SEEKONK — Town Administrator Michael J. Carroll is thinking ahead.

South County Happenings

Today

South County Tides

State OKs single librarian for high school

The School Department had sought a waiver from the requirement that the high school employ two librarians.

Taxpayers: The bill will be in the mail

EAST GREENWICH — Wonder where your property tax bill is? It’ll be in the mail by tomorrow, officials pledge.

Team effort in West Warwick

Domingo Leite leads his team of oxen along West Warwick’s Main Street in Monday’s annual parade, part of the Portuguese feast sponsored by the Holy Ghost Society.

The Cumberland mayoral primary is full of accomplishments … and accusations

CUMBERLAND — Former Mayor David S. Iwuc stood in front of the entrance to the Seabra Supermarket on Mendon Road yesterday morning, campaign brochures in hand, making a pitch for his old job the only way he knew how: one person at a time.

Tiverton group to endorse candidates willing to change “financial trajectory”

TIVERTON — In four of the five years he lived in Westchester County in New York, David Nelson saw his property taxes more than double, from $10,000 to $22,000 a year.

Tiverton school volunteer starts fundraising effort

TIVERTON — Judy Sanford’s life has been entwined with the Fort Barton Elementary School ever since she crossed the threshold as a first grader in 1946 — before there was a kindergarten.

Water cost may rise 17.6 percent

PAWTUCKET –– Water rates could rise 17.6 percent, or $63 per year, for the average residential customer, as a result of an agreement between the state agency that reviews requests for rate increases and the city department that sells water to Pawtucket, Central Falls and part of Cumberland.

Wickford man dies in Conn. highway crash

NORTH KINGSTOWN — A Wickford man died yesterday after an early-morning accident in Connecticut.

Woonsocket Digest

Community Briefs

NEWS

ACLU sues state over Carcieri’s executive order

Superior Court is asked to suspend a part of the governor’s order requiring all contractors with the state to participate in the employment-verification system.

By 2012, a higher standard to graduate

The math and English exams given to high school juniors will count toward one-third, up from just 10 percent, of a student’s graduation requirement.

Democrats focus on economy and environment

For years a Republican fiefdom, House District 39 is about to hold its first Democratic primary since it was created in 2002 as part of a redistricting.

Filtered water bottle has Providence roots

Medport, a small company, rolled out the new product this spring in several nationwide retailers.

Former nursing home worker indicted on sex-assault charge

A former nursing assistant has been indicted on sexual-assault charges after being accused of assaulting a mentally disabled patient in his care.

GOP counts on heroic aura to lift McCain

Tuesday night’s Republican National Convention session demonstrated how the beleaguered GOP still hopes to win in November with John McCain.

M. Charles Bakst: 2 former governors on McCain’s choice of Palin

This may sound strange, but when I watched on TV as Republican Sarah Palin, 44, debuted at a rally last week as John McCain’s running mate, it seemed whacky — yet familiar.

McCain claims credit for successful surge to burnish his image

ST. PAUL, Minn. — John McCain will offer himself in his acceptance speech tonight as a presidential candidate who risked his political career in order to prevent a costly U.S. defeat in a region vital to the national interest.

McCain claims credit for successful surge to burnish his image

ST. PAUL, Minn. — John McCain will offer himself in his acceptance speech tonight as a presidential candidate who risked his political career in order to prevent a costly U.S. defeat in a region vital to the national interest.

Reign of shine

Judith Plolz, of Providence, walks along Blackstone Boulevard yesterday with an umbrella to protect her from the hot sun. She’ll need the umbrella today, too, with bright sun and highs in the 80s forecast.

Station owners make settlement offer

The offer of $813,218.82 represents the balance of a liability insurance policy on the nightclub owned by Michael and Jeffrey Derderian.

The Lotteries

Yesterday’s winners

The Lotteries

Yesterday’s winners

Three arrested in raid to leave

Some of the janitors detained after the July 15 immigration raids will leave the U.S. voluntarily; others will ask for asylum.

Three arrested in raid to leave

Some of the janitors detained after the July 15 immigration raids will leave the U.S. voluntarily; others will ask for asylum.

Twin River under R.I. scrutiny

Two advisory firms are reviewing all aspects of the financial operation of the slot parlor.

OPINION

Ann McFeatters: After Palins, who owns family values?

ST. PAUL

Carl Querfurth: ‘A little bigoted’?

Myra K. Mercier’s Aug. 27, titled “English and Chinese,” suggests that Chinese should get a higher priority than Spanish in teaching a foreign language to American students. She must not realize that Spanish-speaking people of the world, if not all thinking people, might find her letter a little bigoted. Or, maybe she enjoys being that way.

Carol Pentleton: Whither whither?

John Leistritz’s Aug. 16 letter, “Oddly confusing and redundant,” about the misuse of whence in David Lewis Stokes’s Aug. 4 column, “The Western tradition in our colleges,” points to the loss of the common use of two words: whence and whither.

Editorial: A Savage slapdown

Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Judith Savage has sent an important message to Rhode Island school committees and departments: The state’s Caruolo Act, which lets school boards sue communities for more money, is not a license to spend at will.

Editorial: Another rankings scandal

Word from The Wall Street Journal that some law schools have been gaming the grotesque rankings racket of U.S. News & World Report magazine by channeling lower-scoring applicants into part-time programs that don’t count in the ratings isn’t surprising (“Law School Rankings Reviewed to Deter ‘Gaming,’ ” Aug. 26). The magazine’s rankings, of undergraduate and graduate programs across America, are wide open to corruption.

Editorial: Is this a big issue?

Are such matters as the pregnancy of an unmarried teenaged daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appropriate issues in a campaign? Well, sometimes, to a point . . .

Evolution on Westminster Mall

FLIPPING THROUGH PHOTOS of Weybosset Street in The Journal’s news library last week, I found one that showed how much sidewalk is available for outdoor cafés near the Providence Performing Arts Center. But with my deadline ticking down for “Downtown’s al fresco paradise?” (Aug. 28), I rejected that photo and took my own from the third floor of the turret of the Warwick Building.

Froma Harrop: Blue dogs have had their day

HMMM, suppose there were a liberal Democrat as president but a more conservative Democratic majority in Congress. That could happen. As Democrats scoop up seats in traditionally Republican districts, they add members quite unlike their old-time lefties with a program for every plight.

Kenneth Roberts: Why the militia?

Concerning the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment and the “right to bear arms”: Why is the word “militia” mentioned in it? Let me explain.

Peter Rizzo: U.S. set bad example by toppling Saddam

The Journal is uniquely qualified to determine what might be considered a “shameful twisting of the truth,” as your Sept. 1 editorial “Georgia and Iraq” is full of them.

Robert D. Stacey: Thuggish Russia is acting from weakness

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.

PROJO

Ask a therapist how to deal with Mom’s ‘mental illness’

Dear Carolyn,

Cool dude plays dull tunes

Dear Amy,

SPORTS

As usual, they find a way to win

BOSTON — For sheer drama and utter improbability, it fell short of the Mother’s Day Miracle victory of May 13, 2007, when the Red Sox rallied from a 5-0 deficit with two outs in the ninth inning and beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5.

Champion Skippers reassert themselves

NORTH KINGSTOWN — What better way to kick off the boys soccer season than with a clash between last year’s state finalists?

Chiefs forced to play the hand they were dealt against Patriots in season-opener

FOXBORO — Herm Edwards is going to play the hand that he’s been dealt, no matter how bad the cards may look.

GOLF

MEN’S SOCCER

High School highlights, Wednesday, Sept. 3

St. Raphael squandered a 3-1 halftime lead but regrouped and bounced back with three goals in the final 18 minutes as the Saints defeated Middletown, 6-4, in Division III girls soccer. Middletown scored twice in the first three minutes of the second half to tie it, 3-3. Margie Zahn put the Saints ahead, 4-3, with a goal in the 62nd minute and Kytresa Ivey added another score two minutes later for a 5-3 lead. Emma Lynch, Zahn and Ivey each scored two goals for the Saints. Erin Traeger led Middletown with two goals.

Jim Donaldson: For the record

FOXBORO — Here’s the latest example of why Bill Belichick may be the least-quotable Wesleyan graduate in history.

New England’s Meriweather is ready to return

FOXBORO — So far this season, whenever New England coach Bill Belichick has been asked how he thinks second-year defensive back Brandon Meriweather is progressing, he has responded with nothing but praises.

O’Neal’s new playbook is living the Pats’ life

Deltha O’Neal is glad he’s with New England, who feel the versatile cornerback will fit in better than Jason Webster and Fernando Bryant.

Rams challenging RBs to step it up

URI coach Darren Rizzi looks to Jimmy Hughes, Anthony Ferrer and Ryan Lawrence to compensate for the loss of Joe Casey.

Sox are packing them in in record fashion

BOSTON — Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the Red Sox consecutive string of sellouts at Fenway Park began only a few days before David Ortiz became a permanent fixture in the lineup. Either way, as today’s game became official, the Red Sox tied a major-league record for sellouts with 455, just one shy of the all-time mark.

Yanks dismantle tangled PawSox

PAWTUCKET — Pawtucket and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre were evenly matched this season as they fought for a division title, but if last night is any indication, the Yankees are in much better shape than the Red Sox for the playoffs.

You have to hand it to the Red Sox

Aided by some ineptitude by Baltimore, Boston scores five runs in the last three innings and steals an important victory.