LANDOVER, Md. -- New York Giants president and CEO John Mara didn't take long to decide the fate of Tom Coughlin. In fact, not long after the Giants were eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight year, a defiant Mara announced that his head coach was coming back for another season. "I'm obviously disappointed we didn't make the playoffs but that doesn't mean you blow the whole thing up," Mara said after the Giants beat the Redskins 17-14 in the regular-season finale that proved meaningless after the Packers clinched a playoff berth with a 10-3 win over the Bears. "I think we have a good solid organization and there are some things we can improve on but he's still the guy that we want as our head coach." Mara met with Coughlin during the middle of last week to express that ownership supported the head coach. Mara said he did not need to see what happened on Sunday to bring the 64-year-old head coach back.

That redundancy paid off for Mr. Kiernan on Saturday when his primary alarm, the one built into his Apple iPhone, failed to go off because of a programming error in the phone's calendar software. "Before I went to bed I set two iPhone alarms, and both completely failed to go off," said Mr. Kiernan, adding that he uses the iPhone as his alarm clock when he travels. "Luckily I had an Android phone with me as a third backup alarm, and it woke me up in time for my news segment." Many people weren't as lucky as Mr. Kiernan, voicing frustration online after they overslept on the first morning of the new year.

Two fires broke out in the borough on New Year's Eve - one in a two-family house at 165 Main St. and another at Liberty Village in Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce's office suite.

After three years of economic pain, a growing number of economists think 2011 will finally bring what everyone's been hoping for: More jobs and a self-sustaining recovery. "We're looking at some leading indicators on employment, and they're all flashing green lights," said Bernard Baumohl of the Economic Outlook Group, a Princeton, N.J. research firm.

The death toll from severe flooding in northeastern Australia rose to at least nine on Monday as authorities airlifted supplies to communities facing raging waters that were expected to swell further over the next two days.

International:Security Forces Open Fire on Protesters in Ivory Coast(www.nytimes.com/...17ivory.html)
National:Rambling gunman dead after opening fire at Florida school meeting(www.cnn.com/...index.html)
Local:Rutgers students present solar energy report on Milford (www.nj.com/...rs_students_present_solar.html)
Technology/Health: Apple to Open Its Mac App Store in January(bits.blogs.nytimes.com/...store-opening-in-early-january)
Sports/Entertainment: Cliff Lee, Phillies get their wish(sports.espn.go.com/...story)

PHILADELPHIA -- In early November, as Major League Baseball's free-agent filing period was getting under way, agent Darek Braunecker gave his most accomplished client the freedom to dream. Braunecker invited pitcher Cliff Lee and his wife, Kristen, to his office in Little Rock, Ark., with a specific set of instructions: Take a piece of paper, and list the five teams you want to play for the most. Rank them in order from 1 to 5. No. 1 on the Lees' wish list: a return engagement with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Apple on Thursday announced that its Mac App Store will open for business on Jan. 6. In a company press release, Apple said the new store would "be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities." Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, said he hoped to have the same impact with the distribution and creation of applications designed for a personal computer as Apple has had with mobile apps for the iPhone. The new Mac App Store is expected to cause some strife for larger software companies, including Adobe and Microsoft, that will have to battle a new wave of app developers that can sell software through the new store, bypassing expensive traditional software distribution.

MILFORD - Solar panels on borough property could generate more energy than is used here in a year, resulting in income for the borough, according to a study by Rutgers University students.

DAKAR, Senegal - Security forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast opened fire on demonstrators in the economic capital, Abidjan, on Thursday, beating and killing marchers who had planned to disrupt state television, one of the principal underpinnings of the government's hold on power, according to observers and news reports.

CNN) -- Clay Duke sat quietly through the first portion of the Bay District Schools, Florida, school board meeting Tuesday afternoon as local children were honored for their achievements.

he Richard Nixon Presidential Library will open a trove of records at the facility and online Thursday, including 265 hours of White House tapes, officials said. The library, in Yorba Linda, California, will also open more than 140,000 pages of presidential records and 75 hours of video oral histories, officials said. The library is part of the National Archives.

It was September 2008 and a band of Somali pirates made a startling discovery. The Ukrainian freighter they had just commandeered in the Gulf of Aden was packed with weapons, including 32 Soviet-era battle tanks, and the entire arsenal was headed for the regional government in southern Sudan. The Ukrainian and Kenyan governments vigorously denied that, insisting that the tanks were intended for the Kenyan military.

On Wednesday, anonymous hackers took aim at companies perceived to have harmed WikiLeaks after its release of a flood of confidential diplomatic documents. MasterCard, Visa and PayPal, which had cut off people's ability to donate money to WikiLeaks, were hit by attacks that tried to block access to the companies' Web sites and services.

n an effort to put Monday's 45-3 loss to New England behind them, Jets coach Rex Ryan buried the game ball from Monday night's 45-3 debacle as a symbolic gesture to his team.

A 52-year-old woman hiking the Columbia Trail alone here was hit in the chest with a rock thrown from a bridge over the trail, police said Wednesday.

=Solar power will light High Bridge town Christmas Tree(Technology):This year's Christmas Tree in High Bridge will be green, both literally and figuratively. The High Bridge Business Association announced that the lights on this year's tree will be solar-powered. The Christmas Tree lighting ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on Saturday, on Main Street.
=Sports/Entertainment:(Predictability plaguing the Colts): Four seasons ago, these Colts won the Super Bowl. Just nine months ago, they held the lead in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. For the past eight seasons, the Colts have won at least 12 games, one of the top achievements in NFL annals. Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday are first-ballot Hall of Famers, and others on this team, including at least Dwight Freeney and Dallas Clark, will be considered to don the garish yellow jacket in Canton. Yet the home crowd was booing, and loudly.
=International:(U.S. and South Korea Balk at Talks With North):The United States, South Korea and Japan are all balking at China's request for emergency talks with North Korea over the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, as high-profile military exercises between South Korea and the United States in the Yellow Sea continued on Monday in a show of force.
=National:(U.S. School Graduation Rate Is Rising)-The nation's high school graduation rate, which declined in the latter part of the 20th century, may have hit bottom and begun to rise, according to a report to be issued Tuesday by a nonprofit group founded by former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
=Local/Regional:(Flemington Holiday Parade will have 3,500 people, 55 floats): On Sunday night, Dec. 5, an estimated 3,500 people and 55 floats will pass by 12,000 to 15,000 spectators, according to Chris Gacos, chairman of the annual Flemington Holiday Parade. The parade, sponsored by the Flemington Raritan Business Association, starts at 7 and is over by 8:30.

This year's Christmas Tree in High Bridge will be green, both literally and figuratively. The High Bridge Business Association announced that the lights on this year's tree will be solar-powered. The Christmas Tree lighting ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on Saturday, on Main Street.

The United States, South Korea and Japan are all balking at China's request for emergency talks with North Korea over the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, as high-profile military exercises between South Korea and the United States in the Yellow Sea continued on Monday in a show of force.