| Interbike show -
Newly crowned time trial world champion Kristen Armstrong turned many heads as she walked the floor of Interbike in her rainbow stripes and gold medal. Cyclingnews chatted to her while she signed autographs at the Trialtir booth for TEAm Lipton's clothing sponsor Biemme. "Winning was amazing," she said. "And to have Christine Thorburn on the podium with me was incredible! I had it in my mind to win the world championships. I told myself last year when I was a bronze medalist that I had three more years before I retire." Even though TEAm Lipton's stated goal is to produce an Olympic winner, Armstrong knows how important winning worlds is to her as a cyclist. "I know that the Olympics are the pinnacle of sport in general and winning the rainbow stripes is the pinnacle of sport in cycling.
SMART ALEX A MEDAL HUNTER
The newest sport at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City next week should carry a health warning. Something like: Sliding down a bosleigh run on a tea tray can be hazardous. But it may be very useful for Britain's traditionally feeble medal count. The Skeleton offers a serious golden opportunity. The name derives from the outline of the sledge on which the "sliders" hurtle down the snowy mountains of the world. Head first. The name might also describe how some of the athletes finish the race. "Yes, it does look dangerous," admits Britain's gold medal candidate, Alex Coomber, a 27-year-old RAF intelligence officer from Worthing. "But in reality you can't actually crash out of the track, so it's really a matter of ice burns and bruising when you come off.
Suit challenges Arnold's red-light camera tickets
If the owner denies it, he or she must fill out a form or otherwise identify the true driver.
The ordinance forces you to come forward and "basically declare your innocence," says Washington University law school professor Peter Joy, who reviewed the suit at the request of the Post-Dispatch.
"In essence, it sort of compels you to finger your wife or child or someone else you loaned the car to," he said.
But Joy said that red-light camera ordinances have been upheld in most parts of the country, in much the same way as prosecutors can argue that drivers who refuse a Breathalyzer test during a drunken-driving investigation can be presumed to be under the influence.
"It's a privilege to be able to drive ... it's not an absolute right," Joy said.
Business Highlights
Oil prices rose following the news, and that unwelcome inflationary trend only added to Wall Street's uneasiness. In a bright spot, the Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index advanced to 88.6 in December from a revised 87.8 in November. It was the first increase since July and Wall Street had expected a slight drop. Thursday's drop was perhaps exaggerated by the fact that many traders were on vacation, making volume light and price swings more severe. Still, given the political uncertainty overseas, many investors were likely selling because they were uneasy about holding long positions going into a holiday weekend. ------ WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. factories saw orders for costly manufactured goods rise only marginally in November -- falling short of expectations for a much bigger gain and underscoring the strains on the economy from housing and credit problems.
SWAT party line leads to jail time
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American Idol Buzz
It was nice to see some of those legends, especially James Ingram and Georgia's own Gladys Knight (Smokey Robinson didn't sound good at all), but I'm not sure this will be a must-watch week in and week out. I can also live without Lee Ann Womack or Michael Bolton. Too bad they couldn't get any rock stars or even pseudo rock stars like Bryan Adams or Rod Stewart. Of the others, Lucy Lawless has potential and looks hot as a blond. Alfonso Ribeiro is goofy and has great stage presence, even if his vocals can get sloppy. He'll be around awhile. A surprisingly stiff Cheech Marin reminds me of some random dude at a late-night karaoke bar. David Foster was much too kind to him. I can see him going home quickly. Lea Thompson has some skills and she's aging like fine wine. Hal Sparks? A white boy trying way too hard.
Soldier victim in one scam, pawn in another
I was helping her out with her tuition and I got scammed," he said. "I was on a [forward operating base] most of the time, so any contact with humans helped, so I kind of got milked out of that." Hallenbeck, who was deployed from June 2006 to June 2007 in Uruzgan province in south-central Afghanistan, declined to disclose how much money he had lost — but said it was far less than the woman who fell for a photo of him. In an ironic twist of events — and as evidence that online scam artists are thriving — Hallenbeck's name and photo were used to scam a 59-year-old British woman out of thousands of dollars. Hallenbeck, a former Marine who later joined the Army National Guard, said he found out about the scam involving the British woman only when he was contacted by an Army public affairs officer, who was informed by Army Times.
Cycling's most dangerous roads
Latest Transport Department statistics provided to The Advertiser show the highest incidence of crashes involving cyclists occurred on the major road. Between 2003 and 2007 there were 54 crashes on the thoroughfare stretching from Keswick, near the city, to Greenhill, in the Adelaide Hills. Busy South Rd was second with 51 crashes. Third was Marion Rd with 44 crashes. Henley Beach Rd was the only road on the list to record a cyclist fatality. In 2006, the worst three roads for cyclists were Marion Rd, followed by South Rd and Greenhill Rd, based on figures from 2000 to 2005. Department director road safety Martin Small said there were no cycling safety funds specifically for the top three roads this financial year. He said the statistics would be considered in the next budget.
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