Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the sea lions at Audubon Zoo in New Orleans were evacuated to rather comfy digs. Two animals were sent to the Houston Zoo, with three others taking up temporary residence at Moody Gardens in Galveston. Later Moody Gardens took the two sea lions from Houston, bringing the group together again.

The sea lion pool is one of the zoo’s most beloved attractions and is located in one of the zoo’s historic areas. The sea lion staff trains with all of the animals every day. The sea lions learn all the same commands, but each animal has a different response. Each animal knows how to wave a flipper, but each one has his or her own wave.

Some Beach, Somewhere

Petersburg Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9, has a margin of error for Republicans of 5.1 percent. Both John McCain at 25 percent and Mitt Romney at 23 are within the margin of error. Giuliani's not. He's tied with Mike Huckabee at 15 — and Huckabee, running out of money, has essentially conceded Florida, showing up primarily for airport news conferences.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 42-23, with John Edwards at the drop-out level, 12 percent. Edwards registers a distant third in South Carolina, too. Obama's up there by about 15 percentage points. That race should be over early Saturday and with a third-place finish, it's hard to see Edwards going on. No great loss, though. Of the three, he's the Democrat I'd least like to see in the White House.

Chicago Spire condominium tower faces twist in economy as it begins ...

In today's troubled housing market the dreams of the Chicago Spire developer will meet reality Monday when its sales office opens.

After a four-month delay, Dublin-based Shelbourne Development Ltd. will start selling the 1,194 super-luxury units it plans to build in a twisting 2,000-foot-tall tower designed by architect Santiago Calatrava.

Zacks Buy List Highlights: Sigma Designs, Corning Incorporated ...

Zacks.com releases the latest list of Zacks Rank Buy Stocks. Every day on Zacks.com, four stock picks are made based on criteria for the each of the four main styles of investing: Aggressive Growth, Growth & Income, Momentum and Value. The four Zacks Rank Buy stocks highlighted today are Sigma Designs, Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGM), Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW), Syngenta AG (NYSE:SYT) .

The Chronicle Sports Columnist Blog

Tulowitzki has been the Rockies' heart and soul all season, a vocal, hustling leader who immediately felt comfortable in the role. He leads the league in fielding percentage. He's got 23 homers, a record by N.L. rookie shortstops. The clincher, though, was that unbelievable play he made against the Dodgers Wednesday night, going deep into the hole and making a strong, jump-pass throw for the out. Braun, whose raw power was a revelation all year, has been a defensive liability at third for Milwaukee. The vote goes to Tulowitzki.

4. Cole Hamels. Watch that fancy delivery, the finishing leg kick, all of it -- have you ever seen a right-handed pitcher look like that? It's strictly a lefty thing, and don't ask why; it just is. This guy came back just in time for the Phillies, and if they can finish the job, he'll be a treat to watch in the playoffs.

kf Feels Brad Grey's Pain!

CBS seems to be experimenting with a UPS-style voting gizmo that doesn't solve the main problem (which is subtle bias in the selection of which voters get questioned by the liberal-looking college-age interviewers). ... 12:05 P.M.

It looks like it will take another weekend's box office to determine whether Paramount's World Trade Center is a hit or a flop. Here's why I hope it's the latter. ... 12:22 A.M.