| Dublin police to ride three-wheeled scooter
DUBLIN Police will soon be patrolling the city's busiest shopping center on a three-wheeled, clean-energy scooter. The T3 scooter, which has a top speed of 25 mph, looks like a beefier version of a Segway. It runs on batteries that need recharging every 30 miles. The police department now uses patrol cars and bicycles to navigate the shopping center on Hacienda Drive and Dublin Boulevard. The scooter, which was donated by center businesses, will give officers a good option, said Dublin police Lt. Glenn Moon. Patrol cars have more visibility, a good deterrent to bad behavior, but they are harder to use in crowded areas, Moon said, while bikes can be used when officers don't necessarily want to be seen. The motorized scooter is the best of both worlds, he said. "It has the (visible) deterrent of a patrol car, but somewhat of the stealth" of a bike, Moon said.
Time to look back on some horrible predictions
Your faithful servants at ESPN.com offered no fewer than 16 dueling complete NFL forecasts for division winners, wild-card teams, Coach of the Year, MVPs and the like. The Super Bowl predictions: New England over Chicago (predicted three times), New England over Seattle (predicted twice), New England over New Orleans (predicted twice), New England over Dallas (predicted twice), San Diego over New Orleans (predicted twice), Baltimore over New Orleans, Baltimore over Chicago, New England over Philadelphia, New Orleans over San Diego, Baltimore over Philadelphia. All wrong! Of 32 ESPN.com predicted Super Bowl entrants, 15 did not make the playoffs. Four ESPN.com predicted Super Bowl winners did not make the playoffs. One ESPN.com prediction had Brian Billick as Coach of the Year; Billick was fired.
Forest users divided over federal protection
Intent on tracking the six-point buck he had wounded, Tony Lakey carried his lever-action Winchester into dense woods on a sparkling Saturday morning. Lakey walked through drifts of leaves down a hollow, one of dozens forming a corrugated blanket of wooded ridges and ravines leading to Swan Creek, some five miles to the west. .
Chris Matthews: Defeat Means Troops Still in Iraq--What About WWII?
Did you know that the US is still at war with Korea, Germany, Japan, Bosnia and Kosovo? Based on “Hardball" host Chris Matthews' recent claims, we are still at war with those countries and will be until our troops leave their soil. (h/t Weasel Zippers) On his November 28 show (transcript here), MSNBC's Matthews discussed Iraq with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, wondering when “will we be able to come home." In the process, the former Carter speechwriter said, “If we can't ever come home, we can't ever say we won." Silly me, I thought WWII, the Korean War, the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War were over. I guess the US troops still stationed in those countries prove otherwise (bold mine throughout): .
Al Gore, Sienna Miller, Happy Feet Green with Honors
Al Gore may be the most esteemed also-ran of all time. The newly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner and upcoming 30 Rock guest star had to make room on the mantelpiece Wednesday for yet another honor for his work on climate-change awareness, this time an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Environmental Media Association, which he shared with Live Earth producer Kevin Wall. All proceeds from Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, the 24-hour, seven-continent spinfest that played host to some of music's heaviest hitters in July, went to Gore's nonprofit Alliance for Climate Protection and like-minded U.S. and international organizations. Happy Feet, in which cuddly dancing-and-singing penguins mixed it up with greedy corporate fisheries and marine-life theme parks, was named Best Feature Film for its ecologically uplifting and informative message, while the episode "Wear," part of Sundance Channel's Big Ideas for a Small Planet series, took Best Documentary honors.
Getting There: Car limits remain in place on Third
The increased car traffic causes a lot of bus delays and blocked intersections. "How come the law's not being enforced as much?" Answer: Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said there indeed are restrictions on vehicles other than buses on Third Avenue during rush hour. Metro paid for extra traffic officers for Third Avenue when the restrictions went into place and the bus tunnel closed for light rail construction in 2005, Witt said. But when the bus tunnel reopened in September, allowing many buses back underground, Metro stopped paying for extra officers. However, the city kept the restrictions in place to allow buses to move more smoothly on streets. Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond said the money for extra officers had come from a fund specifically for the tunnel closure.
Italy's president dissolves parliament
President Giorgio Napolitano made the decision after Premier Romano Prodi's center-left government fell late last month and subsequent efforts to form an interim government to change voting rules failed. Prodi will continue as caretaker premier until the election, which must be held within 70 days of the dissolution of parliament. Italy was plunged into political crisis after Prodi's government collapsed January 24 after only 20 months in power. Watch as Berlusconi bounces back » The legislature was the second-shortest one in Italy's postwar history, according to Italian media. Early elections represent a victory for Silvio Berlusconi, the conservative leader who has repeatedly demanded a return to the polls since the fall of Prodi's government.
Along Cuba's highway, word of new president met with calm, hope
Like the traffic, life moves slowly along this Cuban highway. But on Sunday, word that the country had its first new president in nearly 50 years traveled fast, and encountered a range of opinions. For some residents in the towns and cities along the Carretera Central - the "Central Highway" - Raul Castro's elevation offers hope for change after decades of rule by his brother Fidel. But others favored calm and stability over any startling new approaches. The pothole-ridden highway runs east from Havana all the way to Cuba's second city, Santiago, on the extreme opposite end of the island, a journey of roughly 500 miles. Modern vehicles often have to slow down and wait for the chance to pass 1950s coupes, men on horseback, bicycles and rickshaws. In Santiago, 67-year-old retiree Alicia Menero was among a group of people lined up to buy ground pork at a government-run street stall.
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