Ken Kerr was trained as a cook when he joined the Army straight out of high school in the mid 1980s.

As The City prepares to kick off the 45th annual Small Business Week today, generalizations about how local small businesses are faring in the face of the national economic downturn are tough to make.

Lee Preston of Holcombe is confident his son, Steven, will win confirmation as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Gov. Bill Ritter has asked the federal Small Business Administration to declare Crowley County a disaster area after a wildfire that killed two firefighters, destroyed eight homes and charred 14 square miles.

These are challenging times for small businesses.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has named a Richmond entrepreneur the National Small Business Person of the Year.

Text of President Bush's news conference Friday in which he nominated Steve Preston as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as transcribed by the White House:

President Bush on Friday chose SBA Administrator Steve Preston to lead the government's housing agency at a time of crisis in the industry, praising him as a skilled manager. Democrats hailed Preston as a problem-solver.

Five men were sentenced to prison on Thursday for their roles in a bid-rigging scheme to win U.S. Army Medical Department contracts, officials said.