| New Labour's latest target for modernisation: Britain's public ...
In Victorian times they were the pride of town planners: minor gems of architectural and plumbing excellence on every High Street providing a much-needed rest stop for passers-by. But years of budget cuts, developers and vandals have taken their toll on thousands of municipal lavatories. Yesterday ministers launched their first national strategy to reverse the trend and bring back to Britain the heyday of the public loo. In an appeal to pub and shop owners to open up their facilities to the public, a 56-page blueprint said a greater sense of community spirit was needed to restore the public conveniences to their former glory. Ideas put forward included a scheme – dubbed "satlav" – to give visitors unfortunate enough to be caught short directions to the nearest loo on their mobile telephone.
Space Center expansion plans threaten hot fishing spot
Worry is spreading through the regional angling community that Kennedy Space Center's plan for a new launch complex involves permanently closing the Mosquito Lagoon from Haulover Canal south. That would halt fishing on half of a sport fishing area so treasured it's known as "The Redfish Capital of the World," not to mention badly tarnishing the allure of a resource that attracts untold thousands of dollars to local economies. Tom Lelle, owner of Lelle's Bait & Tackle in Titusville, gave a hint of the potential impact new restrictions on this area might bring. "I hate it when the shuttle is out there on the pad," he said. "Every day that it's out there it costs me $500. If people can't go surf fishing at Playalinda Beach . . . why would they come use my bait shop?" Space Center officials said nothing has been decided yet but would not rule out possible closures.
Market movers
Shares of Chico's FAS Inc. tumbled to $8.50. The stock had its biggest decline since August 2004 after the women's casual-clothing retailer said same-store sales dropped 15 percent in February and first-half earnings will decline from a year earlier.
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Old grievances fuel ethnic strife
Circumcision is an important rite of passage for Kikuyus but is not widely practiced among Luos. The Luos and the Kalenjins, who have been aligned throughout the post-election period, then counterattacked, and the result was a citywide melee with hundreds wounded and as many as 50 people killed. By Friday night, the Kenyan military was deployed for the first time to intervene. Local authorities also slapped a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Nakuru, another first. Many people in Free Area, which is now almost totally Kikuyu, say it will be difficult to make peace. "We're angry and they're angry," said John Maina, a stocky butcher, whose weapon of choice Saturday was a 3-foot-long table leg with exposed screws. This is the reality across much of Kenya, and it seems to be nothing short of ethnic cleansing.
Destination: Nebraska
There's more than magical realism in the literature of this beautiful and still very dangerous country. Destination: Gypsy Europe By Colum McCann Despite their historical distrust of the written word, Europe's Gypsies have a growing -- and captivating -- literary tradition. Destination: The Netherlands By Matt Steinglass Delve into Lowlands literature and discover there's much more to this prosperous nation than wooden clogs, tulips and -- of course -- weed. Destination: Alaska By Seth Kantner Put aside stories of a freezing, exotic locale full of igloos and kooks in favor of these portraits of the hardscrabble -- and magical -- Northern state. All Literary Guide Stories Recommend a book about this destination .
Lott to resign Senate seat effective end of year
The smooth-spoken Lott found himself in hot water in December 2002 after going too far in his praise of Thurmond at the South Carolinian's 100th birthday party. Lott said Mississippi voters were proud to have supported Thurmond when he ran for president on a segregationist platform in 1948, and added: "If the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years either." A few days later, Lott issued a statement saying he had made "a poor choice of words" that "conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement." But the damage was done. President Bush distanced himself from Lott's remarks, telling an audience the comments "do not reflect the spirit of our country." Lott then made a round of public appearances, apologizing for his gaffe.
Chevron Defends Richmond Refinery Upgrade Project
Why would they go to cheaper, dirtier oil? (Because) price discounts can exceed $5 per barrel, which, for a refinery Chevron's size, could be about $400 million per year," Karras said. He added that those price discounts would not necessarily translate into cheaper prices at the pump. Communities for a Better Environment uncovered the refinery's alleged plan to switch to dirtier oil after looking at the final environmental impact report and finding that "it didn't make sense," Karras said. They then looked at documents submitted to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Regional Water Quality Control Board and found that the project was similar to one proposed in 2001 in which the refinery applied for a permit to upgrade its refining capacity to be able to refine dirtier oil, Karras alleged.
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