EXTRA...

Rape kits, DNA and the ACLU; Red Sox beat Rays; Wind farm rumble

Dice-K, bullpen answer opening bell
Right-hander flirts with no-no, trio of relievers close door

ST. PETERSBURG -- It turns out that those same escape hatches that Daisuke Matsuzaka found so routinely from April through September still work during the ultra-pressurized month of October. Put Matsuzaka in the midst of what should be a daunting jam and the man buckles down and goes to work. In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, Matsuzaka's gift for navigating through trouble helped lift the Red Sox to a tense 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Friday night.

Then again, it isn't just Matsuzaka who is resourceful when things get sticky. For the Red Sox, who are trying to become the first team to repeat as World Series champions since the 2000 Yankees, pressure is what they thrive on.

Just like in the AL Division Series against the Angels, the Red Sox opened by silencing their opponent, and as a result in this case, the clanging cowbells and the Tropicana Field crowd... Red Sox.

And justice for some: Rape kits and vice-presidents
Biden is wrong, Palin is right about the expensive and needless tests

QUINCY - (Wendy Murphy in the Patriot Ledger) I have no plans to vote for Sarah Palin, but the frenzied criticism of her decision to make sexual assault victims pay for their own rape kits is off the mark.

It is ridiculous to make citizens pay for rape kits - but it is more ridiculous to make them pay for expensive tests that have no evidentiary value, mess up the prosecution's case and too often cause gratuitous harm to victims' constitutionally-protected privacy rights....

The ACLU recently filed a lawsuit to force the return of DNA samples taken from more than 100 men in connection with the murder of Cape Cod socialite Christa Worthington. They said it was an unconstitutional invasion of privacy for the government to maintain custody of the innocent men's DNA. How come the ACLU doesn't care about the privacy rights of innocent rape victims....Patriot-Ledger.

New York is Northeast's wind capital
Giant wind farms generate energy, debate

NEW YORK -America's wind energy boom has largely bypassed the densely populated Northeast. But the region's trying to catch up. Recently, Maine issued more wind project permits than the rest of New England combined. Rhode Island's getting in the game with a vow to generate 15 percent of its electricity from wind power.

But today, New York is the Northeast's wind capital. There, giant wind farms are producing renewable energy and reviving rural economies. But the turbines are also dividing neighbors and sparking an angry debate. As part of a collaboration with Northeast stations, David Sommerstein of North Country Public Radio reports from the region's largest wind farm...WNYC.

Experts accelerate plan to rescue manatee on Cape Co
Animal may be suffering from cold shock

DENNIS - Wildlife officials are speeding up a plan to rescue a lost manatee from chilly Cape Cod waters and move it to Florida because its health appears be deteriorating.

Chris Cutter of the International Fund for Animal Welfare says experts plan to capture the manatee at daybreak Saturday after a Friday inspection showed the animal was lethargic and possibly suffering from early stages of cold shock.

Manatees are normally found off Georgia and Florida and aren't used to the Cape's increasingly cold waters...Boston Herald,