| Rifts rise on Mt. Baldy
MT. BALDY VILLAGE - Missy and Ron Ellingson admit their six-cabin Mt. Baldy Lodge is a cash cow when a foot of snow falls. But the hordes of visitors revolving in and out of the lodge's restaurant on stormy weekends has its down side. In a town of about 500, the Ellingsons are just one business couple out of a handful of restaurant and motel owners who stay in touch with each other but don't necessarily work side by side to attract tourists. In fact, there's a subtle tension you wouldn't notice unless you're overly curious. Whatever their differences, business owners say summertime hikers from all over Southern California are finally becoming more of a mainstay at lodges in the San Antonio Canyon. Summer business is usually sluggish. Ironically, it's winter's massive snowfalls that bring seasonal difficulties to the Ellingons' doorstep - not the Mt.
Well-connected or lucky, fans put it all on the line in Arizona
They piled into their rented Crown Victoria and drove across town, only to be told by a Phoenix police officer outside the Patriots hotel that they needed credentials to get inside and that, in fact, they were not even allowed in the parking lot. Panic ensued. Jerry Shanahan, a 53-year-old auto body shop owner, showed the officer a cloudy, faxed ticket confirmation. The officer was unimpressed. Shanahan then stated his case and even begged a little. And finally, the officer caved. He agreed to escort the Shanahans inside to the will call window. But he ordered them to stay with him. And when Derek Shanahan attempted to take a picture, the officer snapped. "No! No! No!" he said. It was cocktail hour inside the hotel. Friends and family members of the Patriots mingled over drinks.
Obama: Beware 'Reverse Bradley'
Obama's finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don't even really inspire. They elevate. They enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing passively by, and, just for an instant, contracted around you, made you aware of its presence, and your role in it. He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair. The other great leaders I've heard guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence Actually, pompous isnt really the word for this passage. There's a sort of hectoring naivete, as if Klein's too inexperienced to know that "call us back to our highest selves" is a drained cliche.
New 2008 Vehicles Named Best Resale Value Award Winners by Kelley Blue ...
IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com), the leading provider of new and used vehicle information, announces the all-new 2008 model-year vehicle winners of its annual Best Resale Value Awards, which recognizes current and upcoming vehicles for their projected retained value five years from now (the average ownership period). Since depreciation (or loss of value) is typically a car-buyer's primary expense during ownership, these awards, like all of kbb.com's new and used vehicle information, are designed to help consumers make more informed car-buying decisions. Kelley Blue Book's Best Resale Value Awards are based on projections from the Kelley Blue Book Residual Value Guide researched by an expert staff of automotive market analysts. These prestigious awards honor vehicles expected to maintain the greatest proportion of their original retail price after five years of ownership.
Sponsors help bring marathon back to Greensboro
He said Greensboro joins Charlotte, Raleigh and the Outer Banks in hosting a race. The marathon is sanctioned by U.S.A. Track and Field and will serve as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Half-marathons and a 5K race are also part of the event. Melissa Fourrier, executive director of Foster Friends, said the event will require 400 volunteers. Those interested in signing up to run or to help out can visit www.ncmarathon.org. .
A Mafia mix-up Former Sparta councilman held in Italy, suspected as ...
Richard E. Hunsicker felt helpless as he followed Sicilian police officers up four flights of stairs in the coastal city of Mazara del Vallo last month. The 81-year-old from Florida had just sat down for dinner at La Bettola Ristorante with his fiancé Mary Dwyer on Oct. 10 when they were surrounded by five men. They said something in Italian about going down to "control," according to Hunsicker, a former Sparta resident. "I said, 'No, I'm not going down," he recalled. "I've heard stories about people (in Sicily) who pretend to be police and they take you outside and rob you." Uniformed officers convinced the couple to go with them to headquarters. "They never told us why they took us in," Hunsicker said. "We had a difficult time, because of the language." La polizia told Hunsicker they had received a tip-off from Palermo, the last place he and Dwyer had visited.
A chocolate? A copter ride? C'mon, cheer up!
If you have the winter blues, a getaway can be the cure. You needn't go far or stay long. Even planning a trip can do you good. As Scott Booker of hotels.com puts it, "Having something to look forward to . . . can lift your spirits considerably." So let us examine some mood-elevating possibilities: Chocolate almost always makes people feel better. In Rockland, Maine, March 7-9 is the weekend for the Annual Inn to Inn Chocolate March. The event features two days of samplings and demonstrations throughout the Historic Inns of Rockland and the Rockland community, including a wine and chocolate pairing and, if you pay extra, hot chocolate massages. The Chocolate March Package features a two-night stay at Berry Manor Inn, LimeRock Inn, or Captain Lindsey House on March 7 and 8; an international chocolate tasting reception; breakfast for two with chocolate entrees and accompaniments; a gift bag of chocolate samples; dessert at a local restaurant; demonstrations on how to decorate, mold, and entertain with chocolate plus wine and chocolate pairings; Sunday brunch with a chocolate theme but other dishes as well; and a copy of the Historic Inns of Rockland's cookbook, "INNdulgences," with many chocolate recipes.
Hardware New Line Blu-ray Disc Support Points to LOTR Fate
HBO, BBC also on Blu-ray Disc's side Warner's announcement last week of Blu-ray Disc exclusivity had a ripple effect on more than just one home video company's releases. Warner Home Video also distributes New Line, HBO and BBC Video products, leaving some to wonder if Blu-ray Disc just gained an entire stable of studio support. According to Variety, New Line and HBO will follow Warner's lead to side only with Blu-ray Disc. BBC Video, the company behind the popular high-definition nature documentary Planet Earth, has not yet publicly expressed its intentions with format exclusivity. New Line already positions its Blu-ray Disc products with greater priority than the equivalent HD DVD. New Line's first high-definition film, Hairspray, hit Blu-ray Disc in late November 2007, while an HD DVD version was only promised sometime in early 2008.
Microsoft Researcher Jim Gray Receives Turing Award for Helping to ...
"The original question, 'Can machines think?' I believe to be too meaningless to deserve discussion. Nevertheless, I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted." Alan M. Turing, 1950 SAN FRANCISCO, May 14, 1999 — Fifty years ago, British mathematician Alan M. Turing predicted that by the turn of the century, computers would be able to "think." To measure this, he devised a simple test. Put a person and a computer in one room, and a judge in another, and have the judge ask the computer and the person questions using only a keyboard. If 30 percent of the time the judge can't tell the difference between human and computer, the machine must be somewhat intelligent.
December Slump In Vehicle Sales Augurs Ill for '08
See Corrections & Amplifications item below. The auto industry's troubles, once centered on Detroit, are spreading to other manufacturers amid a slump in U.S. vehicle sales that is likely to turn 2008 into the weakest year in at least a decade. The industry yesterday reported a 3% drop in sales of cars and light trucks in December, according to Autodata Corp., as housing woes and high fuel prices scared increasing numbers of consumers away from showrooms. .
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