Director Taylor watches show from the sidelines (El Paso Times)

Greg Taylor was vacationing in London after UTEP Dinner Theatre's recent successful run of "The Wizard of Oz" when something troubling happened.

Altered planz: 'Altar Boyz' goes on with a change in command (El Paso Times)

EL PASO -- With director and executive producer Greg Taylor sidelined by surgeries (see related story), musical director Patricia Ann Provencio hoped for a little divine inspiration as she stepped in to run UTEP Dinner Theatre's summer production of "Altar Boyz."

Phoenix boy's surgery a risk worth taking (The Arizona Republic)

Twelve-year-old Alex Lopez is ready to die on the operating table, opting for a risky surgery to repair his heart so that he can be a normal boy.

Science Briefing (Los Angeles Times)

Myanmar fossils may mean human roots in Asia / Crucial sea grass meadows found to be declining / Multiple genetic variations linked to schizophrenia / Deep-brain stimulators help some cerebral palsy p Ancestry in Asia?

Carson predicts Stars success (Irish Examiner)

IF Sea The Stars wins the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown today, he will have emulated the great Nashwan 20 years ago.

Conduit a very strong each-way alternative to Sea The Stars (Irish Examiner)

Whether or not the fast pace and resulting stamina test of last weekend’s Irish Derby at The Curragh would have suited Sea The Stars will remain pure conjecture, but there are no such concerns regarding the pace in today’s ten-furlong Group 1 Coral Eclipse at Sandown.

Chris McGrath: Winkle value to eclipse The Stars (Independent)

Horses that harness the breed's most exotic virtues to the more mundane ones of consistency and reliability come along about as often as a solar eclipse. But even that discouraging ratio makes them rather more common than the equine Eclipse, whose memory is preserved by the big race at Sandown today.

Hogs Out And About This Weekend (OurSports Central)

Rockford, Ill- Hammy and Hammer Hog will be busy this weekend with Fourth of July parades and festivities around the region. The action kicks off Friday at the Pacemaker Countryside Market in Poplar Grove.

Sea The Stars can outclass older rivals in Eclipse (Times Online)

Sea The Stars has shown himself to be an exceptional colt in winning two classics and is strongly fancied to emerge victorious in his first clash against older opposition in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes (3.15) at Sandown Park today.

Enemy with two heads for Cadel (The Australian)

IT has taken more than 100 years for the race to offer its neighbours in Monaco the Grand Depart and finally, having recognised the effort made by the principality's sports-mad head of state, Prince Albert II, to realise a personal dream, the 180 riders will roll off today on their annual three-week journey to Paris to the cheers of both the rich and bemused.

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