News In Brief

THIS SIMPLY CAN'T CONTINUE!

When a postal worker hops out of a truck to deliver a package, he or she is supposed to shut off the engine and set the parking brake. But in New England, there has been a rash of mail-truck runaways (the vehicle is left idling and drifts away unattended) and rollaways (the ignition is off, but the parking brake isn't on). Although there haven't been any injuries, senior postal officials aren't sitting idly by: Starting next month, they've decided, the drivers must put blocks under their wheels each time they get out of their vehicles. Then there's the ultimate solution: The officials are even ordering carriers to walk more of their routes.

OR YOU COULD USE THE PHONE

Speaking of mail, the Palestinian Authority is having its challenges, too. It seems most postal workers in the West Bank and Gaza don't read Hebrew. So from now on, the authority has told neighboring Israel, no letters addressed in that alphabet will be accepted. The suggested alternative: Roman characters.

Small California town rated best place to live in the US

Using a set of criteria that includes median home prices, public services, educational facilities, recreational and cultural amenities, and crime rate, a panel of realtors assembled by the luxury lifestyle magazine Robb Report has rated Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., as the best place to live in the US. The 10-square-mile community in northern San Diego County has just under 2,000 home sites, each of which averages about three acres. The top 10 communities as selected by the panel:

1. Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

2. Greenwich, Conn.

3. Palm Beach, Fla.

4. Aspen, Colo.

5. Upper West Side, Borough of Manhattan, New York

6. Pacific Heights, San Francisco

7. The Grosse Points, Mich.

8. Park City, Utah

9. Highland Park/University Park, Dallas

10. Waimea, Hawaii

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