Today's number: 50

Restaurants to be closed by Luby's Inc. as part of a plan to return the company to profitability and leaving the San Antonio-based company mostly with eateries in Texas.

The Associated Press

Today's money tip

Read carefully the offers for debt consolidation loans that come in the mail - even if they look like free money in the form of a cashable check. Such offers are typically home equity loans. They come with the great promise of consolidating your bills, paying off high interest and having just one low monthly payment. But read the sometimes-small print: you might see an annual percentage rate in the high 20-percent range.

Amy Higgins

Today's career talk

Worried about an upcoming speech. Don't fret, say Cincinnati writers Dorothy Lynn and Jessica Selasky, authors of Your Public Speaking Workout: Exercise Your Body Parts, but do allow yourself to be natural: "One of the mistakes we see novice speakers make is to try to emulate a speaker they think is really good . . . audiences can spot a phony, and they don't like it."

John Eckberg

Today's mover

Lisa Baker has joined the office of Dr. Debra McIntosh as a dental hygienist. Baker has over 16 years of professional experience in the industry, with 10 of those years as a registered dental hygienist. She is a 1993 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Raymond Walters College with an associate degree in applied science. Her responsibilities will include patient care and education.

Shirley Dees

Today's Company: National Flag Co.

From Letters To Images: Spencer and Craig Printing Works, established in 1869 in the West End, evolved by 1894 into the National Flag Co. Originally located on the now-defunct Flint Street, it moved to Freeman Ave. in 1970.

Proudly Waving: The company produces paper and cloth flags in a range of sizes. Although the largest cloth flags it stocks are 20 feet by 38 feet, National Flag Co. can special order banners as large as 30 feet by 60 feet. In the quarter following Sept. 11, it sold between 5,000 and 7,000 American flags. It estimates that it will sell between 1,500 and 2,000 copies of Old Glory this quarter.

Custom Orders: In addition to American flags, the company produces other national and state flags, as well as pennants, banners and flags for organizations, teams and special events. Its products hang in UC's Shoemaker Center and at Sawyer Point.

Bigger Than A Checkered Flag: The largest order ever was for a 30-foot by 70-foot NASCAR Winston Cup event several years ago.

Jenny Callison