Hospitality_Recreation

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Six months after the Aug. 23 earthquake and the Washington Monument is still closed, awaiting repair. What's up with that? "I don't think it will affect tourism. D.C. has a lot of other stuff like museums, and the White House. [A year's worth of repairs] I think is pretty long." Christy Chen, 28, Miami, hotel industry

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Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern moderates a panel discussion called "Girls Gone Wild" about women in the celebrity cooking world at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival in Miami on Saturday. He said his plans include running for public office in Minnesota. (Associated Press)

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Paula Deen is ready to show a lighter side to her famously fatty Southern-style cooking. (Associated Press)

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Supporters of the Free Syrian Army ride a motorcycle with a rocket-propelled grenade in Kafar Taharim, Syria, Friday, Feb. 24., 2012. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Pro-Syrian demonstrators protest Feb. 24, 2012, outside the Cartago Hotel where the Conference on Syria is held in Tunis, Tunisia. (Associated Press)

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Police hold back crowds near the Florida Mall in Orlando, Fla., late Feb. 23, 2012, after more than 100 sheriff's deputies in riot gear broke up an out-of-control crowd waiting to buy a new Nike basketball shoe at one of the stores. (Associated Press)

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Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, autographs a baseball as he greets the crowd after a Tea Party town hall event in Milford, Mich., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Cooking with champagne gives this risotto with sliced shiitake mushrooms and salmon a celebratory attitude. (Associated Press)

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Gabe Watson stands during a break in his capital murder trial at the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center in Birmingham, Ala. An Alabama judge acquitted Mr. Watson, accused of drowning his newlywed wife during a honeymoon diving trip to Australia. (Associated Press)

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A spiced plum crisp dish is good place to start when looking for more healthy desserts. Fruit not only packs plenty of its own no-added-sugar sweetness, it also has fiber and nutrients. (Associated Press)

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Photographer Lucky Cole stands on the front porch of his home in the Florida Everglades. Many tourists, who've read about the place in guidebooks, come specifically to see his collection of photos showing women in various stages of undress. (Associated Press)

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The breakfast area adjacent to the kitchen shares the same flooring. It has a triple window facing the courtyard as well as a side window.

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Photo courtesy of Sandra Meyers Design Studio Sandra Meyers, owner of Sandra Meyers Design Studio, says to take scale and proportion into account when choosing furnishings. Taller nightstands can balance out the bed.

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The Maywood model at the Court at Lyon Village is an end-unit home with a dramatic turret providing circular space for a lower-level recreation room, main-level dining room and upper-level master suite. The Maywood is priced from $1,070,900. (W.C. Ralston Architects)

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Glyn Davies (center), U.S. envoy on North Korean affairs, speaks to U.S. Embassy staff at a hotel in Beijing before heading to nuclear talks with North Korean officials on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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ANDREW HARNIK/THE WASHINGTON TIMES Mr. Uhl's repairs to a finial base require a steady hand. Stone carvers are just beginning to assess which pieces of the central tower's damaged pinnacles can be repaired and which need to be redone out of new pieces of Indiana limestone.

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President Obama welcomes guests during a salute to blues music Tuesday in the East Room of the White House. The star-studded event featured Mick Jagger and B.B. King, among others, and was taped for broadcast Monday night on PBS. (Associated Press)

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U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Affairs Glyn Davies speaks Feb. 22, 2012, to journalists upon arrival at a hotel in Beijing. (Associated Press)

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Vice President Joseph R. Biden is on the "road" again, this time to Rhode Island, after a misspelling on his itinerary was corrected. (Associated Press)

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Israeli officials cite intelligence reports that Tel Aviv would be a main target of any Iranian attack. A rocket-defense system is being set up in the Mediterranean coastal city, where Israel's sprawling military headquarters sits amid office towers and tourist hotels. (Associated Press)