NEWS

5 issues small business owners will face in 2013

By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - In 2013, small business owners will contend with many of the same issues that made it hard to run their companies over the last 12 months.

They're also heading into the new year with a lot of uncertainty. It's unlikely that negotiations in Congress will resolve all of lawmakers' disagreements

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Shoppers disappoint retailers this holiday season

By DANIEL WAGNER
AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. holiday sales so far this year have been the weakest since 2008, when the nation was in a deep recession. That puts pressure on stores that now hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending.

This year's holiday season was marred by bad weather and uncertainty about the economy in the face of

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Oxford nonprofit gives $11K to teachers

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -

The Oxford Endowment for Public Education has given Oxford School District teachers grants totaling $11,000.

The Oxford Eagle reports that one went to Julie Cantrell, who wants two iPads for students learning English as a second language at Bramlett Elementary School. She says they'll help students check their English

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Music project aims to keep Civil War stories fresh

Infantry items appear on display at Louisiana’s Civil War Museum in New Orleans (Claude Levet/Louisiana’s Civil War Museum, AP)

By JEFF MARTIN
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) - Blood once soaked the ground of battlefields now covered by skyscrapers and train stations in Atlanta, strip malls in Nashville and farm fields and forests across the South.

Now,

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