| Storied 'Gimli Glider' on final approach
The emergency landing in 1983 is etched in pilot Robert Pearson's mind, the moment he pushed firmly on the brake pedals with both feet to slow Air Canada's new Boeing 767 jet after it touched down on an airstrip in Gimli, Man. The plane with 61 passengers and eight crew had run out of fuel around the Ontario-Manitoba border, and for the next 200 kilometres, the airline captain and his first officer, Maurice Quintal, glided the plane without any power. .
Wine Festival 2008: Show time
Celebrity chefs and big-name vintners took a detour Thursday on their way to the Naples Winter Wine Festival. A heavy fog forced their private jets to land in Fort Myers, instead of Naples. “It was a pretty good thick layer there for a while," said AnneElena Foster, Naples Municipal Airport spokeswoman. But the parties will go on. The three-day festival officially kicks off today with a tour of the charities it benefits and 17 extravagant wine dinners at some of Naples' poshest homes. Hosts for tonight's dinners fretted about the change in flight plans as preparations kicked into high gear. Bravo's “Top Chef" head judge Tom Colicchio and vintner Clarke Swanson, a host for one of the dinners, were among those redirected to Fort Myers. Nearly all planes scheduled to arrive at the Naples airport Thursday morning or afternoon were rerouted, including one carrying Barbara Bush and another carrying the body of Richard Burress, a Naples soldier killed last weekend in Iraq.
Cover Story
He looked back at the finale as well as the producers' decision to end Lost for good after 48 more episodes, and even offered us a peek into the future before the series returns on Jan. 31 (now on Thursdays at 9 p.m. set those DVRs!). ''I think the show's going to be better in its last three seasons than it was in the first three,'' he notes, adding, ''There's going to be some huge mind-blowing s---.'' You heard the man: Helmets on. (And for more clues about how Lost will play out from here, don't miss EW.com's video interview with Matthew Fox, including behind-the-scenes footage from his on-the-beach photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly.) ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your first reaction to the big twist in the season finale? MATTHEW FOX: Something like ''Holy s---!'' It really caught me off guard.
Industry Wrapups
Real estate: Reilly spices up his little slice of downtown S.F. On the money: BofA's Countrywide buy might look like a steal Health care: Pacific Partners taps No. 2 after CEO's mystery exit Enterprise Gateway to growth Small business: Survey: Public supports employer health mandate Small biz how to: Companies punch up profits with fitness programs Entrepreneur profile: Mike Kerwin In Depth: Health, Insurance and Benefits Quietly efficient Employers get blamed for billions in comp fraud Health-care 'report cards' generate confusion PAMF hopes its online info system bucks trend Opinion Our view: Health mandate eats at restaurants and pocketbooks Editor's notebook: Don't try this diet at home Guest opinion: Energy independence trumps fly-fishing Guest opinion: What America needs is a good recession Letter to the editor: S.F.
Mazda's Speed Demon
The Mazdaspeed3 is a hot little skateboard of a car that's rapidly becoming a cult model among young driving enthusiasts. Nearly 80% of buyers are male and their average age is only 35, youngest in the segment, according to J.D. Power's (MHP) Power Information Network (PIN). There's a reason for that: Dollar for dollar, this may be the hottest low-priced compact on the road. If you're looking for a tamer vehicle, stick with the regular Mazda3, the popular model the Speed3 is based on. The Speed3, however, only comes with a six-speed manual transmission and there's only one choice of engine: a turbocharged version of the 2.3-liter 4-cylinder engine that comes standard in the Mazda3. The turbocharger raises the engine's output to 263 hp and 280 pound-feet of torque, up from 156 hp and 150 lb.-ft.
Biggest backers of Unit 5 referendums are district employees
The teachers' union, the first to give, donated $10,000 — the largest to date. Superintendent Gary Niehaus personally donated $2,000.As of Monday, donations totaled about $23,065, according to the committee treasurer David Rutledge of Bloomington. In all 22 individuals, six businesses, four parent-teachers organizations, and the Unit 5 Education Association have given to the cause, said committee co-chairman Carl Teichman.Expenses to date total almost $20,000 and include radio and newspaper advertisements, yards signs, mailings and campaign buttons, he said, adding he expects final donations to total more than $30,000.On Feb. 5, district voters will be asked to approve a $96.7 million building project to build two new elementary schools, add onto another, construct a new middle school, renovate eight existing schools and upgrade security and technology at all schools.
Audi TT, act II: Shockingly delightful
There ought to be a yellow cautionary decal next to the window sticker on the new turbocharged Audi TT Coupe. It should read: "Do not peruse the adjacent sticker for the first time during an electrical storm. The combined jolt from lightning and sticker shock could prove fatal." The base price of this TT model is $34,800. If you tack on all the bells, whistles and woodwinds found on the test car, the check for this automotive answer to dinner at Le Bec-Fin comes to $46,325. That sounds like a lot for a small coupe with a small engine, even if the latter is teamed up with a turbocharger, direct injection, and a slick, six-speed automatic gearbox. By now, you may be wondering why folks are willing to trade a relatively large pile of gold for a relatively small pile of steel.
Political Insider
Shouldn't members of the Georgia Assembly be more concerned with the rights of Georgia taxpayers and voters rather than fans of Georgia universities who live in adjoining states? The Atlanta Gator Club just finished jumping through state-required hoops for its plates. Graduates of Auburn University already have theirs. In a separate e-mail to us, Raulin added this: "Members of the General Assembly are supposed to be adults and voices of mature reason; their job descriptions do not include launching rhetorical broadsides against their fellow Georgia citizens, residents, taxpayers and voters who happened to attend out-of-state universities, nor do their job descriptions include attempting to deny their fellow Georgia taxpayers and voters due process and the equal protection of the laws of Georgia.
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A site that usually hosts annual Christmas tree sales will soon be home to four-story office buildings and upscale apartments. An effort to add high-density living to the retail-heavy Fiesta District got a boost Thursday with the approval of plans to build upscale apartments and offices in west Mesa. The project is called Southern Plaza and California developer Ed Frankel is promising it will be "top-of-the-line stuff." GRAPHIC: See plans for Southern Plaza Southern Plaza is adding to the buzz building on the corner of Southern Avenue and Alma School Road in Mesa, which also will house a boutique hotel and more than 300 condos in the next two years. Although the area is showing signs of revitalization, the path may not be entirely smooth.
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