Key West Florida Real Estate

In the very same week that new circulation numbers for most newspapers were tepid to anemic, the Tribune Co. - owner of such major newspapers as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Orlando Sentinel and Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, two dozen TV stations and, of course, the Chicago Cubs - began seeking bids for pieces of its vast holdings. Though the LA Times reports no media companies seem particularly interested in more newspapers, some interest emerged from private investing firms that seem to surface whenever there's a potential business fire sale: Bain Capital, Carlyle Group, a partnership of Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, and an alliance of Providence Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Apollo Partners. Initial bids are due by week's end.

Palm Beach patron of the arts Frank Butler is being accused of child molestation, but his defense team is striking back at the accusers, an oft-arrested son-and-mom team whose troubles include drug and prostitution arrests.

An entire career track is budding for people willing to get poked and prodded and answer personal questions, as more medical schools train students with stand-ins posing as family members or patients. Medical schools are willing to pay up to $40 an hour for the work.

In cities where demand is high, it can be a full-time job.

Fake patients are in demand as hospitals and doctors' offices look for ways to avoid using real patients as guinea pigs for aspiring doctors. Also behind the trend is health care's increasing focus on bedside manners as medicine becomes more consumer-driven.

A recent survey by the Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic found that patients are more likely to judge a physician by behavior than technical skills. Patients want doctors who are confident, respectful, straightforward, empathetic, compassionate and interested in them as individuals, according to the survey.

Julie Martin doesn�t want her parents to sell their Worthington home just yet. It�s not a sentimental thing. It�s the Michigan thing. Meg and Larry Martin are offering two primo tickets to the Ohio State-Michigan game to any real-estate agent who brings them a bona fide buyer for their home. Sans a contract, the tickets will go to their 24-year-old daughter, Julie, an OSU grad and diehard Buckeye fan. I�m betting on Julie. Offers of football tickets, a Volkswagen convertible, a golf excursion to Scotland, resort vacations and a year�s supply of pizza haven�t sold Columbus-area houses. These actual offers, which surfaced in the past few months, might attract attention in a crowded, competitive market that has 18 percent more houses and 12 percent fewer sales than a year ago. But a pair of midfield B-deck tickets isn�t going to entice a couple to buy a $449,000 house they wouldn�t have bought anyway � even in the heat of a potential national championship season that will hinge on The Game.