Area home sales plummet
The ongoing credit crunch and a softening economy led to double-digit declines in first-quarter home sales in the area and lower prices being paid for most of them, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors' latest report. Here are first-quarter 2008-to-2007 comparisons for the Elgin area of sales and median price (a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less):

Homebrew Shop
A bumper sticker on the wall at the Homebrew Shop reads, "I brew the beer I drink." Above that sign are seven -- count 'em seven -- ribbons that store owner and brewer Ed Seaman won at the recent Drunk Monk competition held annually at Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Aurora.

FBI discloses top Internet ripoffs of 2007
While Internet scams have leveled off, the amount stolen from online victims has reached its highest levels ever.

business briefs
Mediacom opening office in Elburn

Regole's Harvest Shoppe
Italian style, flat pod Romano Pole Beans! Boy, oh boy. Won't those be tasty. I'll get 'em in the ground in a couple of days. Had I not gone to Regole's I probably would never have found Romanos at the big-box stores. I would have planted the same old boring Kentucky Wonders I always plant.

business briefs
Kay Catlin joins Hotel Baker staff Kay Catlin has been appointed community relations liaison of the Hotel Baker , a historic 53-room boutique hotel in downtown St. Charles. Catlin will serve as public relations and marketing communications coordinator and as executive assistant to General Manager Ginger LoGalbo-Irps.

Chew on this: Mars to buy Wm. Wrigley for $23 billion

CHICAGO -- With financing from Warren Buffett, candy maker Mars Inc. on Monday said it is buying confectioner Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for an estimated $23 billion in cash. The deal would marry brands that sweet-toothed Americans have munched on for decades: Mars owns Snickers and M&Ms; Wrigley's gum brands include Juicy Fruit, Orbit, Extra and Big Red.

Jobless rates jump for Valley workers

The number of unemployed workers is on the rise in many Fox Valley communities, according to labor-force data released from the state Thursday.

CPR (Cell Phone Repair)
If only I had known about CPR when my iPod fell in the swimming pool, I could have saved its life.

business briefs
Geneva agent qualifies for award

Mill Race Inn
A couple of weeks ago when I visited with Mill Race Inn owners Charlie Roumeliotis and his son George, I saw a single white duck swimming on the duck pond with a flock of mallards.

St. Charles project to offer 431 parking spots
ST. CHARLES -- It may not be evident to the naked eye, but there soon will be 431 more free parking spaces downtown here.

business briefs
St. Charles man named AU dean