If you are considering renting a car on your next vacation, here are some tips to help you find the best deal:

1. Go online: Experts say that the best car rental deals are found on the Internet. Check car rental sites and compare them to third party discount sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, Hotwire, Orbitz and Kayak.
2. Book early: Rental rates tend to fluctuate. If you reserve as soon as you know your plans, you can cancel and rebook if prices drop.
3. Compare prices among lesser-known vendors: You may find that regional companies have lower rates (although their cars may be older).
4. Enroll in free loyalty programs. Companies often make discounts... Tags: Economical

NEW DELHI: Taking a serious view of child marriages in the country, the government has decided to hold a national consultation on the issue with the states.

A core group has been constituted by the women and child development ministry to organise the first national consultation this year to prevent child marriages, a ministry official said.

National consultation will be held soon. A core group has already been constituted for holding the consultations, the official said.

The official said the ministry had been contacting states individually so far on the issue, but this time all states will be brought on the same level to get a more conclusive picture.

... Tags: Marriages

Businesses interested in lowering energy costs, reducing their carbon footprint and pollution find hybrid lighting products as a viable economical option.

PONCA CITY, Okla. – In the first joint project of its kind in north central Oklahoma, Southwind Energy, an enterprise of the Kaw Nation partnered with Pioneer Technology Center, and Ponca City Energy to assemble and install a wind and solar lighting unit in Ponca City.

Career tech students and instructors received hands experience assembling and wiring the turbine and solar panels. Students were enthusiastic about the experience of participating in a green energy project.

Ponca City Energy supervisors... Tags: Economical

Jen Floyd Engel covered local sports for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram since 1997 and became a columnist in 2003. Sports opinions? Shes never short of them. And love her or hate her, shell be just another one of the boys. Follow her on Twitter or like her on Facebook.

MORE>>

The nail-biting finale to the Premier League football season delivered bumper ratings for Sky Sports and Match of the Day on Sunday, with more than 3 million viewers watching Manchester City clinch the title with their injury time win over QPR on the BSkyB pay-TV channel.

Live Super Sunday on Sky Sports 1, which was showing the City game, averaged 1.72 million viewers, a 12.3% share, between 2pm and 6pm on Sunday, peaking with 3.19 million.

Sister channel Sky Sports 2, which screened title rivals Manchester Uniteds 1-0 win over Sunderland averaged 672,000 viewers, a 5% share, between 2.55pm and 5pm, peaking with 811,000.

Sky Sports News, which updated viewers on all the Premier... Tags: Sports

For the first time this season, its Cascadia week.

Sounders FC, the reigning Cascadia Cup champion, heads to Vancouver this weekend in the first of six games against their Pacific Northwest rivals: the Whitecaps and Portland Timbers. Thats right, six.

As many of you know, the leagues shift to an unbalanced schedule this season means there are two more rivalry games compared to last year. Seattle plays on the road at each rival twice and hosts each just once in 2012. That is set to switch in 2013.

With the pair of extra games, I asked a few Sounders today if they feel it dilutes the rivalries.

No, absolutely not, said Roger Levesque, whos been a Sounder for almost... Tags: Games

1 day ago 

DALLAS (AP) — Michelle Obama remembers sitting in front of her television many years ago and watching Mary Lou Retton, Nadia Comaneci and Carl Lewis as they competed in the Summer Olympics.

“Like so many others,” she said, “I was awed and inspired by those athletes.”

Mrs. Obama admitted that she was still in awe Monday, when she took the stage with about two dozen Olympic and Paralympic athletes to announce a plan to get more than 1.7 million children involved in sports through her “Let’s Move!”... Tags: Sports

• Local
• Breaking News
• Regional
• World
• Weather
• Todays Paper
• Sunday Edition
• Home Delivery
• News Archives

Tianjin China is not planning to colonise Africa economically and industrially through its investments, Chinese officials said.

Wang Kai , the Divisional Deputy Director , TEDA Administrative Commission, Tianjin, China, and Mr Wu Xiaxong, the Divisional Chief , National Development and Reform Commission of China made the statement in Tianjin, China, on Saturday.

The officials spoke at the on-going three-week seminar on The Construction and Management of Development of Industrial Areas, organised by Tianjin Technological and Economical Development Area (TEDA) Group of Companies.

The seminar is sponsored by Chinas Ministry of Commerce for 27 delegates from English speaking... Tags: Economical

Ozarks Weighs-InAccording to the census data from 2010, interracial marriages have risen drastically in the last decade. A local expert explains why, and a local couple shares their story.