World

Sixteen years. Not long enough. Not long enough for Melody Ross to get her driver's license. Nor to maneuver the perils and promise of high school, much less college. Not long enough to figure out where life might take her. Nor actually to live it. She was gunned down on a Long Beach street, in front of her beloved Wilson High School, when the air was still suffused with the frolic of the hauntingly named homecoming game. An alleged gang member fired into a crowd of hundreds.

In "Rush to Glory" [Jan. 11], the photo of Jamie Thomas shows him not on the rail but ollieing over the rail. This ollie, known as the "leap of faith," was made famous in the 1997 Zero Skateboards video "Thrill of It All." Erik Haberstroh Westlake Village

The government admitted defeat amid the world's highest official inflation rate, saying it would allow business transactions in U.S. dollars and bank notes from neighboring countries. Zimbabwe's currency is now printed in the trillions of dollars. Many workers have gone on strike to be paid in U.S. dollars or South African rand.

Caterpillar Inc. announced plans to lay off more than 2,400 employees at five plants in Illinois, Indiana and Georgia as the heavy-equipment maker continues to cut costs amid the global economic downturn. Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment, has seen its sales wither as the sluggish world economy and credit crisis weaken demand for its products.

Re "Where the wild things disappear," Column One, June 18 It is great to see a newspaper stand up for animals in a cruel world. It is heartbreaking to think that we will one day live in a world that is empty of their beauty. I wish that everyone looked at all animals the same way. But leather, alligator-skin purses and fur coats are still in demand -- and as long as people want them, people will continue to treat every creature like property, exploiting them until they are no more.

Los Angeles resident Tammy McLeod solved an advanced puzzle in 7 minutes, 41 seconds to defeat former world and U.S. champion Thomas Snyder and win the third Philadelphia Inquirer Sudoku National Championship on Saturday. McLeod, 32, won $10,000 and a spot on the U.S. World Sudoku Team that will compete in the 5th Annual World Sudoku Championship next spring. Natan Tsyrulnik, 31, of Shelton, Conn., won the beginner division and $1,000. Davis Borucki, 15, of Columbia, S.C., claimed the intermediate division and $3,000.