| Jury awards $9.5M to Magnuson family
CLAYTON, Mo. - A St. Louis County jury on Friday awarded US$9.5 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit involving former NHL player Rob Ramage, whose drunk-driving accident in Ontario in 2003 resulted in the death of former Chicago Blackhawks star Keith Magnuson. Magnuson's wife and two children filed the suit against Ramage and National Car Rentals of Canada. The jury deliberated about two hours. Magnuson, 56, was a passenger in the rental car driven by Ramage on Dec. 15, 2003. The car was involved in a head-on collision in suburban Toronto as the men were returning from a funeral. Magnuson died at the scene. Ramage, 48, has been convicted in an Ontario court on five charges, including impaired driving causing death. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan.
Enterprise teams with VeraSun for E85 rental car branch
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Enterprise Rent-A-Car and VeraSun Energy Corp. have announced that a Sioux Falls rental car branch will rent vehicles that run on a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. St. Louis-based Enterprise has launched similar branches in Washington, Cincinnati and other parts of the country. The Taylor family of companies, which includes Enterprise, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, rents some 73,000 flexible fuel cars and trucks which can run on E85 or standard unleaded gasoline. Brookings-based VeraSun is one of the nation's top ethanol producers. The companies are holding an inaugural fueling of the new fleet on Monday. .
VeraSun, Enterprise team up on ethanol
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Enterprise Rent-A-Car and VeraSun Energy Corp. have announced that a Sioux Falls rental car branch will rent vehicles that run on a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. St. Louis-based Enterprise has launched similar branches in Washington, Cincinnati and other parts of the country. The Taylor family of companies, which includes Enterprise, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, rents some 73,000 flexible fuel cars and trucks which can run on E85 or standard unleaded gasoline. Brookings-based VeraSun is one of the nation's top ethanol producers. The companies are holding an inaugural fueling of the new fleet on Monday. .
The industry's most reliable source
1car1, the UK's leading independent car rental company continues to grow and grow and grow. This year the UK specialist car rental company has seen 10 new branches open nationwide giving an even greater level of service to the Australian Traveller. With its ever present Free home delivery Lee Burrows, 1car1's National Sales manager says, We aim to position ourselves in the marketplace as the leaders in UK Car Rental and whilst we are still new to many agents there is a large following out there who know that 1car1 are the only stop when it comes to full on expertise in the UK. Some of the new branches such as Kendall in the Lake District highlights just how specialised we are." Whilst available in all the major centres some of the 1car1 branches service the obscure requests that are sometimes received.
Fast rail offering hip personalised travel
E-TICKETS, on-board DVD rentals, events, and even new encounters French rail's new iDTGV trains are testing a new way of travel. Music blares from a speaker in a bustling bar and conversations get louder as customers just out of Paris meetings trickle in, settle down and order drinks. The barman hands over a beer, spilling a little as the brightly-coloured buffet car on the top deck of a customised high-speed TGV train rolls into its three-hour journey to the Mediterranean port city of Marseille. Joined to a regular TGV train, this iDTGV, playing on the French word "idee" or "idea", is operated privately, but owned by the national SNCF rail company and designed as a laboratory for future rail travel. Planned party train on the way The iDTGV was launched in December 2004 and offers cheaper tickets, internet reservations, and services aimed at pleasing passengers, including a soon-to-be launched party train, to help the SNCF better compete with low cost airlines.
OIA receives go-ahead to charge new rental-car tax
It's about to get more expensive to rent a car at Orlando International Airport.
Board members of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, the agency that runs OIA, voted Wednesday to adopt a $2.50-a-day tax on car rentals. The "customer facility charge," which would be capped at five days, could add as much as $12.50 to a customer's bill.
Backers said the tax will raise money for $102.6 million worth of rental-car upgrades planned at the airport during the next few years, including additional parking spaces, fueling stations and car-wash bays.
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A beginner's guide to Universal Orlando
Rental cars: $178-$306 including taxes for a week in mid-May, depending on which company you rent from.
Airport shuttles will deliver you to hotels along International Drive for $15/person one-way or $25/person round-trip. Taxis from the airport to International Drive range $33-$39 one-way. The I-Ride Trolley can take you from any of the International Drive hotels to Universal: $1 for single-ride tickets; $9 for a seven-day pass. Kids 12 and younger ride free when accompanied by an adult. Or, you can stay at one of the hotels on Universal property and ride the free boat to the parks.
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Dallas area new-vehicle sales rise 4.5% in 2007
Contrary to national trends, new car and truck sales in the Dallas-Fort Worth area rose 4.5 percent last year. The data from the Freeman Metroplex Recap includes retail sales as well as sales to car rental agencies and fleets. And the increase "portends well for business this year," said Drew Campbell, president of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas. "I think it's very exciting," he said Wednesday. "We are in the center of the United States. Because of that, we're not having the ups and downs of the West Coast and East Coast." If new vehicle sales here continue to grow, they'll be bucking some considerable economic headwinds. New car and truck sales in the U.S. dropped 2.5 percent last year and are expected to fall by at least that much this year. Dealers in the four-county Dallas-Fort Worth area sold 383,939 new vehicles last year, compared with 367,381 in 2006, according to the Metroplex Recap.
Local Gas Station Charging Over $4 Per Gallon Near OIA
ORLANDO, Fla. -- There was a break for the holidays, but gas prices are ready to rise again. One local gas station, though, is already charging customers much more than others. RAW INTERVIEW: Manager Defends $4.49 Per Gallon Customers at the independent gas station near the Orlando International Airport are paying $4.49 a gallon. Some of the customers don't know the price they're paying until it's too late. There are no large signs showing the prices at the station. Most customers are tourists returning rental cars before catching flights at Orlando International Airport. Not all believe it's an honorable way to conduct business. "It's not fair. It's definitely price gouging during the holiday season," said tourist Les Lazarus. Even at $4.49 a gallon for regular, most of the pumps were busy at Suncoast Energys on Friday morning.
Yeager runway to close to make room for hangars
Officials at Yeager Airport plan to close a runway to make more room for general aviation hangars and potential new aviation-related businesses. The airport's governing board voted Wednesday to shut down the 4,750-foot crosswind runway, used mainly by smaller private aircraft. The closure would also help the 130th Airlift Wing proceed with development plans that include building two new hangars and adding ramp space to allow four additional C-130s to be based at Air National Guard facility. The idea of closing Runway 15-33 to create additional development space for the mountaintop airport is a key component in Yeager's master plan update, now in its draft stage. "We are now parking as many commercial airplanes as we can at the terminal area, although the new rental car facility, when complete, will give us one more space," Yeager Airport Director Rick Atkinson said.
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