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End of an Era: The Shuttle’s Final Night Launch

No lesser philosopher than John “Hannibal” Smith on “The A-Team” (am I dating myself?) said “I love it when a plan comes together.” And so it was with the launch of STS-128 a minute before midnight Friday. You may recall my stories about traveling down to the vicinity of Cape Canaveral twice, with a third false start, [...]

Seminole Details Coming to Light, Signed Deal Expected Monday

A gaming deal that would include more card games for the Seminole Tribe of Florida and a little more flexibility for pari-mutuels is in the works and will likely be signed by the parties on Monday. The Seminole tribal council was slated to meet Friday to sign off on a new compact with the governor’s [...]

Lincoln Makes Mark in Midsize Cars

Ford says growing Lincoln soon will outsell shrinking Mercury. No wonder. With two midsize sedans — a larger MKS and a smaller MKZ — and two crossovers — a seven-passenger MKT and five-passenger MKX — Lincoln boasts a solid lineup. It won’t be until next year that Mercury will expand its more-limited lineup with a [...]

State Fairs Are In A Fair State

ST. PAUL – Just a few blocks from the Giant Slide and still-shuttered Cheese on a Stick stand on the 320-acre Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Joe Barrett and his grandsons prepare The Big Pepper for yet another season. “We’d be here, whether there was a recession or not,” says Barrett, who has been a food vendor [...]

Nude Man Hijacked Atlanta School Bus

ATLANTA – Parents are calling for better security on school buses a day after a naked man tried to hijack an Atlanta school bus carrying 10 teenage students. On Thursday, police say 23-year-old Arris Pitmon entered the school bus after attacking the bus driver and began fighting with students, who were on their way home [...]

Marketing Guru Makes Videogame Predictions

Nintendo calls it the Wii Remote. You call it the Wiimote. Al Ries calls it a motion-detecting wand. I love Al Ries. Marketing guru, author and chairman of Ries & Ries Focusing Consultants, I’ve always thought of Ries as a sort of Nostradamus of product markets. But unlike that famous 16th-century French seer, Ries doesn’t [...]