| It’s official: Rockford lands Ireland flights
Twice-weekly flights between Rockford and Shannon, Ireland, will start June 26, according to Kenny Tours. The Maryland-based company signed a deal Thursday with North American Airlines to fly the route through Aug. 31, said Bob Nay, Kenny Tours' director of sales and marketing. The flights will be Thursdays and Sundays. Round-trip airfares start at $888, including taxes and airport fees. Six-night motor coach tours, including airfare and hotels, start at $1,489. Six-night bed-and-breakfast stays, including airfare and car rental, start at $1,489. The seasonal model is similar to Chicago Rockford International Airport's other international route, Apple Vacations' weekly flights to Cancun, Mexico, in the winter. But the Ireland flights will be on Boeing 757s with almost 200 seats, which would be the largest plane used on a regularly scheduled passenger route from Rockford.
Rogue debt collectors -- how to fight them
But some collectors go over the line, threatening to have the person arrested, making improper bank withdrawals, intimidating people and making harassing phone calls. In one case a collector threatened to call a woman's place of work "until she lost her job," according to the National Consumer Law Center. In another case, a collector threatened to send the police to the person's workplace to arrest them, said Joe Ridout of Consumer Action. The Better Business Bureau received a complaint about a debt collector contacting someone's grandmother four-to-five times a day, using threats like, "if she dies, then her life insurance can pay this debt off." John Fugate, a Texas consumer attorney relates a story about a rogue debt collector.
Feature: ‘Protecting the earth should be part of our soul’
Environmental activism is often thought of as the domain of the hippie, a project undertaken by someone with enough time and resources to swim with the dolphins or live in a tree. Jarid Manos, founder and CEO of the Great Plains Restoration Council and author of the memoir "Ghetto Plainsman," paints a much different picture of a man trying to save the earth. A gay son of an Italian immigrant father (who likely has North African ancestry), with a history of drug dealing and hustling, Manos is poised to change the popular idea of what it means to take care of our planet. Though he’s already responsible for the salvation of thousands of acres of Texas prairie, Manos finds that people have trouble overlooking his background. "They think I’m a thug, or just off the street," Manos says.
Vehicle stop for traffic offense results in meth-related arrest
The Lee County Narcotics Task Force reported the arrest of a Keokuk man on a felony drug charge.Chris-topher A. Matous, 23, 3000 S. Seventh St., was charged with conspiracy to manufacture less than five grams of methamphetamine, a Class C felony. If convicted, Matous could face up to 10 years in a state correctional facility.The arrest stems from an investigation by the task force into allegations Matous was involved in the manufacture of methamphetamine in the Keokuk area.He was arrested Thursday following a traffic stop for a driving offense by Keokuk police. Investigators later searched the vehicle and found items that indicated the manufacture of and/or use of methamphetamine.Task force Commander Dave Hinton said Matous had a knife in his possession. Matous was taken to the Lee County Jail pending an initial court appearance.
Jeffry Gardner: End of The Trib is part of the demise of serious ...
He is, in essence, a dinosaur, as dated as a rotary phone, as out of fashion as a powder-blue leisure suit. At one point in the movie, Bell is seated in a coffee shop reading a newspaper. No cell phone, no flat screen TVs, no laptops. Nothing but a cup of coffee and the previous day's events afforded in cold black-and-white. Just 28 years ago. The Stone Age. For the past 28 years, and longer, The Tribune has been running up stairwells as journalists began taking elevators. Sure, it's an afternoon paper, and the changes came sooner and harder to that element of the business. But by and large, the bell tolling for The Tribune — and all of print journalism — sounds a lot like theme music to Fox News Network. Or the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. In fact, it's easy to make a case that those nightly news themes, combined with the silent but deadly sounds coming from news sources on the Internet, have killed what was once considered not "fair and balanced" but rather objective and unbiased.
Bill takes aim at gaps in airport security
The proposed switch comes after federal immigration officials last week arrested more than 30 O'Hare workers who used fraudulent airport identification cards. Many of those arrested were working in the country illegally. The phony IDs were used to gain access to airplanes and other secure areas.
"This is not the way security should be run at one of the busiest airports in the United States," Kirk said.
Currently, local airport officials assign access badges to workers whose jobs include entering secure areas, including the airfield, aircraft and baggage-handling areas. Airport security guards, local police departments and the Transportation Security Administration all share responsibility for law enforcement at the airport.
But a host of problems at the TSA -- screeners failing to catch decoy bombs in undercover tests, low screener morale and high absenteeism -- raise questions about whether the federal security agency would do a better job protecting airports and passengers from terrorists and criminals than the existing security regimen.
Sugarloaf / USA
Come to stay, but come prepared.
MOUNTAIN INFO
Base elevation: 1,417 feet
Summit elevation: 4,237 feet
Vertical drop: 2,820 feet
Skiable Acres: 1,400
Lifts: 16 (2 super-quads, 2 high-speed quads, 8 double chairs, 1 triple chair, 2 surface lifts, 1 magic carpet)
Trails: 134
Trail breakdown: 26 percent beginner's/easy, 31 percent intermediate, 27 percent black diamond, 16 percent double black
Must-ski trails: Narrow Gauge, The Snowfields
Snowmaking capability: 92 of skiable acres
HOURS
Weekdays: 8:30 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Weekends/holidays: 8 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.
PRICING
2007-08 season pricing not yet available from Sugarloaf. Please check back later this month.
Pamper youself in Cairns and Port Douglas
TO spa or not to spa: that's hardly a real dilemma when it comes to a northern Queensland resort holiday. A rub, scrub, wrap or roll is as much part of the getaway menu these days as a sit on the beach (lathered in sunblock and under straw hats so wide they make sombreros look like side plates) and a swim in the sea. Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef At Mirvac's Cairns International Hotel, a spacious city property with a refurb planned, a super $2.5 million spa has opened on level two with 10 treatment rooms, including a couples' salon and a Vichy shower room, and a relaxation area with ottomans, big saucer chairs, wafting curtains and maidens bearing trays of herbal teas and sliced fruit. It's very stylish indeed and a signal that Mirvac is serious about an overall hotel upgrade here.
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