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With the explosive growth of the Internet, Bay Area News Group readership has increased dramatically in recent years as readers have come to use and interact with the paper in a variety of exciting new ways. Here are just a few of the many increasingly popular ways that readers and advertisers are now using newspapers online:

• Live blogs with newspaper columnists and other readers
• Instant online opinion polls
• Building customer databases
• Increasing online traffic for advertisers as users link directly from Bay Area News Group's sites to their sites

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Featured Stories   

• Candlelight celebration tonight for slain Vietnamese radio talk show host   Mercury News   Sept. 23, 10:21 a.m. PDT
  

  There will be a strong showing of San Jose police blue at tonight's celebration of life for Cindy Nguyen, a 60-year-old mother, office manager and Vietnamese radio talk show host killed last Friday after she was carjacked from a shopping center.

  
  
• R.E.M., America's best rock band, breaks up after 31 years   Mercury News   Sept. 23, 10:13 a.m. PDT
  

  Mike Mills wasn't in the mood to play fortuneteller. The bassist-vocalist of R.E.M. had been asked if he thought his groundbreaking band would still be around in 10 years and his response was anything but conclusive.

  
  

Breaking News   

• Warrant dropped for co-owner of San Jose pot dispensary connected to crime spree   Sept. 23, 10:38 a.m. PDT
  

  The Treehouse Collective Inc., is back in business today, three days after San Jose police raided the medical marijuana dispensary, confiscated a gun and an ammunition box and later arrested one of its employees for helping out after a deadly crime-spree last week.

  
  
• Review: Grand slam for 'Moneyball'   Sept. 23, 10:37 a.m. PDT
  

  Right now we could use a winning season. Joblessness cripples the nation, once-venerable institutions are crumbling, and hopes for our collective future are fading like those of a minor-leaguer with a bum leg and no prospects.

  
  
• California woman pleads not guilty in penis slicing   Sept. 23, 10:36 a.m. PDT
  

  WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) -- A California woman has pleaded not guilty to cutting off her estranged husband's penis and running it through a garbage disposal.

  
  
• Candlelight celebration tonight for slain Vietnamese radio talk show host   Sept. 23, 10:21 a.m. PDT
  

  There will be a strong showing of San Jose police blue at tonight's celebration of life for Cindy Nguyen, a 60-year-old mother, office manager and Vietnamese radio talk show host killed last Friday after she was carjacked from a shopping center.

  
  
• R.E.M., America's best rock band, breaks up after 31 years   Sept. 23, 10:13 a.m. PDT
  

  Mike Mills wasn't in the mood to play fortuneteller. The bassist-vocalist of R.E.M. had been asked if he thought his groundbreaking band would still be around in 10 years and his response was anything but conclusive.

  
  
• NTSB releases early summary about Reno air crash   Sept. 23, 10:11 a.m. PDT
  

  LAS VEGAS -- Federal investigators are looking at evidence that a piece fell off a modified World War II-era racing aircraft as it climbed, rolled and spectacularly crashed nose-first into spectators, killing 11 during air races in Reno last week, according to preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report released Friday.

  
  
• Solyndra officials invoke 5th Amendment at hearing   Sept. 23, 10:00 a.m. PDT
  

  Republican and Democratic lawmakers came out swinging at Friday's hourlong hearing about bankrupt Fremont solar manufacturer <a href="http://www.siliconvalley.com/topics?Solyndra">Solyndra</a>.

  
  
• Samsung says it will be more 'aggressive' in battle with Apple   Sept. 23, 9:41 a.m. PDT
  

  SEOUL, South Korea -- A top Samsung executive says the company will take a bolder stance in its patent battle with smartphone and tablet rival <a href="http://www.siliconvalley.com/topics?Apple%2C%20Inc.">Apple</a> (<a href="http://markets.financialcontent.com/mng-ba.siliconvalley/quote?Symbol=AAPL">AAPL</a>), which Samsung claims has been "free riding" on its patented wireless technologies.

  
  

Living   

• What's it Worth? World War I flour sack thank you   Mercury News   Sept. 23, 7:18 a.m. PDT
  

  Michaan's specialists had an appraisal event recently at the Jewish Community Center in Walnut Creek. Among some charming and lovely things I saw was an embroidered flour sack.

  
  
• New Great America owner will also manage Gilroy Gardens   Mercury News   Sept. 22, 10:25 p.m. PDT
  

  The company that is buying California's Great America theme park is also poised to manage Gilroy Gardens. JMA Ventures says the deal to oversee the Gilroy horticultural theme park is pending the Santa Clara City Council's approval of its $70 million purchase of Great America from Cedar Fair Entertainment.

  
  
• Animal Friends: Lean feline still feisty at age 24   Mercury News   Sept. 22, 6:06 p.m. PDT
  

  For a 24-year-old cat, Shawnee is a pretty feisty feline. He rules the house -- including owner Paddy Wray, her 2-year-old cat, LaRue, and 5-year-old Abigal, a Tibetan terrier. Shawnee goes first at feeding time, patrols the property before lights out and bellows like the dickens if the others don't move fast enough when he wants something.

  
  
• Gary Bogue: Prey vs. predator - angry deer chases coyote   Mercury News   Sept. 22, 5:01 p.m. PDT
  

  harvest moon gently focused on the pumpkin patch

  
  
• FDA phases out inhaler due to environmental impact   Mercury News   Sept. 22, 3:19 p.m. PDT
  

  WASHINGTON - Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only alternatives as part of the federal government's latest attempt to protect the Earth's atmosphere.