| Highway closed in Florida after Victorian cyclist dies
Australian tourist Elsise Hoath was apparently looking in the wrong direction for oncoming traffic when she was hit at 12.20pm Sunday US time.She died at the scene. Mrs Hoath and her husband were cycling near the town of Marathon, near Key West in the Florida Keys when the accident happened. The 23-year-old driver of the car that hit her is unlikely to be charged. Lieutenant Pat Santangelo from the Florida Highway Patrol said the pair were attempting to walk their bicycles across the road. They successfully crossed the northbound lanes of the US 1 highway but tragedy struck on the southbound lanes. "Evidently, because the traffic comes from the opposite direction in Australia, apparently she looked at where she expected traffic to be coming from and didn't see anybody coming and walked into the roadway but there was a vehicle coming from her right,'' he said.
The changing cycle
India may be the second largest producer of bicycles in the world but precious little has been done to promote the cause of cycling in the country. Shveta Pathak reports that the cycle industry is today churning out beauties that could easily make a style statement but the road ahead is rough for the two-wheeled bikes. And, the status-conscious still refuse to adopt them as a mode of transport. DO you remember the tinkle of the bell as daakiya Rajesh Khanna delivers the post in the song Daakiya daak laya? Or, the very urbane Aamir Khan making your breath stop for a while as he competes for the famous race in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander? If you do, you mustnt have forgotten the spirit lent to these moments by the good old bicycle. India is the largest cycle manufacturer in the world after China.
Before RAGBRAI there was the Fort Madison Cycling Club
Dun Auge is a serious bicyclist. He participates in most of the organized rides anywhere within 25 or 30 miles of Fort Madison and in between he can usually be seen pedaling around town solo or with friends.Recently Don loaded his bicycle in the back of his pickup truck and traveled to central Missouri to tour a good part of the Katy Trail State Park, one of the premier bicycling spots in the country. This park is only a few dozen feet wide, but follows the abandoned right-of-way of M-K-T railroad for 225 miles across scenic Missouri.Don did not realize it, but going to Missouri to bicycle he was following a program first established here back in the late 19th century by the 100 members or so of the old Fort Madison Cycling Club.Anyone who owned a "wheel" - as bicycles were called in those days - was considered a person of distinction, for at that time even an ordinary bicycle like the Crescent cost a whopping $45.
China bans plastic shopping bags
Chinese authorities on Tuesday said they're outlawing the plastic shopping bag because of pollution and energy concerns. China's State Council said the ban will start June 1. Firms that continue to sell, make and distribute bags thicker than 0.025 mm thick will be given fines and authorities may seize goods and profits, the State Council said. "Our country consumes huge amounts of plastic bags every year. While providing convenience to consumers, they have also caused serious pollution, and waste of energy and resources, because of excessive use and inadequate recycling," the government said in a statement, according to Reuters. "We should encourage people to return to carrying cloth bags, using baskets for their vegetables." According to Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research group, plastic bags dissolve over 1,000 years.
Phill Casaus: Don't cry for us, Albuquerque; it was worth it
With a handshake and a laugh and a hug; an abrazo that is more about the good than the sad. The sad, we've already done in this office, anyway; no need to say more. In the past six months, we at The Trib cried about this day almost as hard as we worked to keep it from happening in the first place. Believe me, every tear stung, particularly as the newspaper lurched between closure and sale and closure again. I don't know who's to blame anymore, but the last several months weren't fair, weren't right. Not for a staff who worked their guts out — and made the guy in this chair look a lot smarter than he is. But enough of that. Today, let's just raise a glass — or raise a voice — to the good times. I want to think of The Trib, even in its final edition, as a force for what is righteous in the community it serves.
WHAT'S YOUR WORKOUT?
She lives and works in New York City, stands 5' 2'' and weighs 110 pounds. The Workout "I am not a natural athlete," insists Ms. Kimmel, who didn't exercise until age 32, when she met her former husband. "He was older than me but was in such good shape and had so much energy. He kind of shamed me into exercising." Ms. Kimmel said her husband had a Stairmaster in his apartment that she used sporadically, and she hired a trainer to show her how to use free weights. Still, exercise always felt like work. When Ms. Kimmel discovered skating, she found a new passion. "I would never wake up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym," she says. But she now gets up between 5 and 6 a.m., has breakfast and catches the morning news -- "I need to see what's happening in my world of PR," she says.
Serbs bury US Embassy fire victim
People watch as the casket of Zoran Vujovic is lowered into the grave during his funeral in Novi Sad, Serbia, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008. Vujovic was killed inside the U.S. Embassy during a riot following demonstrations to protest against Kosovo's independence. .
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