There is a saying among old-timers in this gritty river town: What recession? Weve been stuck in one for 30 years. Yet even stubborn Warren, a town with a dwindling population of about 43,000 in northeast Ohio, is being tested like never before. And folks talk of a hopelessness, a weariness of spirit that is pervading every aspect of life.
“Its like lives are being stripped away whole,” says Pam Bennett, 55, a retired high school secretary who volunteers at the Warren Family Mission, where hundreds of people flock every week for food and clothes and shelter. Many are families with - - - - >

The symptoms of students at St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, a borough of New York City, are similar to those of seasonal flu, the city health commissioner, Thomas Frieden, said yesterday. What has officials concerned is that some of the 47 people at the school confirmed to be infected with swine flu are likely to have spread the virus to hundreds of friends and family members.
The World Health Organization is working with the city and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track - - - - >

Harvard, the worlds richest school, planned to spend $1 billion yearly for three to four years to upgrade its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and expand across the Charles River in Boston, according to a Moodys Investors Service report. The school now may trim as much as $500 million a year from its plans to help it weather the recession, the report said.
John Longbrake, a university spokesman, confirmed the information in the Moodys report in an e-mail. He said Harvard President Drew Faust earlier suggested capital projects - - - - >

Harvard also is reviewing its ambitious expansion program, including plans announced early last year to expand across the Charles River from its Cambridge campus into Allston, she said.
The university is considering the steps because the economic slowdown may reduce federal grants and the schools substantial endowment, Faust said.
“We need to be prepared to absorb unprecedented endowment losses and plan for a period of greater financial restraint,” she said.
Harvards efforts to address the economic downturn mirror what is happening elsewhere in the country, including other Ivy League schools. While wealthy schools can fare better in a downturn, they are also seen - - - - >

Financial strains prompt one mother to pay with a postdated check. Another chooses to work in the middle of the night - after putting her kids to bed - because of the extra dollar per hour that shift brings. And the stress shows on the faces of the children who cant understand why their friends, without explanation, stop coming.
“They act out more, cry a lot more,” said Diane Kesterton, director of New Horizons, where a 38-child enrollment has been halved to 19 in just three months. “They dont know whats happening, theyre confused.”
Parents nationwide are telling day care providers they - - - - >