News In Brief

SO WHO NEEDS A BROKER? Heard about the newest curiosity in Sweden? It is a potted plant that trades on Stockholm's stock exchange. No, this is not a hoax. Electrodes attached to the leaves relay the plant's growth spasms to a computer program that tracks the 16 most active issues, causing automatic buy or sell orders to be issued. When the plant performs better than the exchange's index, it's rewarded with water and light. When it doesn't it is kept dry and in the dark. The plant, a yucca, is part of an art exhibit.

BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP Then there's Flory's Campground in Ronks, a small town in the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch country. Amid Amish homesteads that have neither telephones nor electricity, one-quarter of its sites are wired for Internet access so travelers who pull in off busy US Route 30 can maneuver quickly onto that other conduit, the information superhighway.

Fifteen stars nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ballots have been mailed to more than 800 artists, producers, broadcasters, writers, and music-industry executives who will select the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2000. Generally, inductees are announced in the fall prior to a January ceremony, which in recent years has been held in New York rather than at the museum's home in Cleveland. To make the following list of nominated performers, the stars' debut albums had to be released at least 25 years ago:

Aerosmith

Black Sabbath

Solomon Burke

Eric Clapton

Earth, Wind & Fire

The Flamingos

Lovin' Spoonful

The Moonglows

The O'Jays

Queen

Bonnie Raitt

Lou Reed

Steely Dan

James Taylor

Ritchie Valens

- Associated Press

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