Kane Cougars hope to make Upper Deck a hit
Even though the minor league baseball season has been over for weeks, the Kane County Cougars are hoping that their new Upper Deck facilities will keep Elfstrom Stadium hopping even during the off-season.

Batavia Academy of Dance
After I stumbled through a class in line dancing at the Dallas Bull in Tampa, I watched with great admiration a young woman gracefully doing the West Coast Swing. Oh my, it was pretty. My dance partner said, "Yeah, she's great. You can tell she's had a lot of ballet. "

Business Briefs

Is recession finally over? Possibly
The economy accelerated last quarter. But is it driving off a cliff? The car comparison is apt, because economists believe the third-quarter improvement in the nation's Gross Domestic Product depended heavily on the "cash for clunkers" program. The tax credit for first-time home buyers also had a role.

Southwest Trading Co. trades spaces
Southwest Trading Co. is right at home in the historic Wright House at 217 S. Third Street in Geneva. It moved in September from Dotson Place down the street where it operated for five years.

Simply Sassys
In her first retail venture, Simply Sassys' owner Dawn Suppinger makes good use of her limited space to showcase unique gifts.

Business Briefs

St. Charles Public Library
The St. Charles Public Library is growing by leaps and bounds.

Geneva shop closing after eight years
Forget-Me-Not Creations in Geneva is closing shop after eight years at 426 S. Third St. Partners Katie Faucett of North Aurora and Debra Barrales of Homer Glen opened the gift store in 2001 and decided not to renew their lease.

Falling dollar a bogus crisis

The dollar is falling and can't get up, and President Obama is to blame. This is the chorus from economic blogs and conservative critics, but is it true?

Wal-Mart goes big on plus-sizes

Hanesbrands Inc., the maker of Hanes underwear and the Wonder Bra, is getting twice as much space in more than 3,500 Wal-Mart stores to offer more clothing choices for the plus-size women who shop there.

Dow tops 10,000 for first time this year
The Dow Jones industrial average is back above 10,000 for the first time in a year.

Baubles by Maclyn
Baubles by Maclyn, a colorful new jewelry store done in purples and whites, is filled with eye-catching bling. Billing itself as a unique jewelry boutique, Baubles by Maclyn has about 40 percent of its jewelry made by local artists, said owner Michaela Frank, formerly a preschool teacher, who opened the store in June.

Business Briefs

US Supreme Court will hear appeal of Enron's chief
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider throwing out the convictions of former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling for his role in the collapse of the one-time energy giant. The court said Tuesday it will hear Skilling's appeal of lower court rulings that upheld all 19 of his 2006 convictions of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors involving the 2001 collapse of Enron.

Data and contacts vanish from Sidekick phones
Owners of Sidekick phones may have lost all the personal information they put on the device, including contact numbers, because of a failure of servers that remotely stored the data. The incident is a reminder of the dangers of trusting a single provider to safeguard information.