Some of 15 Chinese hostages leave bus as Philippine police enter vehicle

Police move in, some hostages leave Philippine bus

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine police stormed a bus Monday evening after shots were heard from the hostage-taker of 15 Chinese tourists, and at least four of the hostages crawled out of the back door.
The hostage-taker was killed, said Senior Superintendent Nelson Yabut.
There was no immediate confirmation of any … Original source on Gaea Times at : Some of 15 Chinese hostages leave bus as Philippine police enter vehicle.

Ex-policeman in Philippine capital holds tourist bus hostage with 26 aboard

Ex-policeman in Philippines holds tourists hostage

MANILA, Philippines – A dismissed policeman armed with an automatic rifle seized a bus in the Philippine capital Monday with 24 passengers, most of them Hong Kong tourists, in a bid to demand his reinstatement, police said.
Six hostages, including three children, were subsequently released, and appeared to be unhurt.
Police sharpshooters … Original article on : Ex-policeman in Philippine capital holds tourist bus hostage with 26 aboard.

Judge rejects Fisk deal for Ark. museum to take joint ownership of O’Keeffe art collection

Judge rejects Fisk deal to sell O’Keeffe share

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Nashville judge has rejected Fisk University’s proposal to sell a joint share in a 101-piece collection donated by late artist Georgia O’Keeffe to an Arkansas museum.
Fisk argued that its precarious financial state prevents the historically black university from maintaining and displaying the collection.
Judge Ellen …. Original article  : Judge rejects Fisk deal for Ark. museum to take joint ownership of O’Keeffe art collection.

Mud delays efforts to pull rare World War II dive bomber from Southern Calif. reservoir

Mud delays efforts to extract WWII plane from lake

SAN DIEGO – Divers worked through the day Thursday to extract a rare World War II dive bomber from the bottom of a reservoir but were unable to finish removing thick silt and mud from the plane to enable it to be lifted out of the water.
Former …. Read the original article  : Mud delays efforts to pull rare World War II dive bomber from Southern Calif. reservoir.

AP sources: Phone call was about hijacking an American Airlines plane bound for NY

AP sources: Phone was about hijacking threat

WASHINGTON – A source close to the investigation says a New York-bound jetliner was stopped from taking off from San Francisco after someone threatened to hijack it.
American Airlines Flight 24 was halted just before its scheduled takeoff Thursday morning at San Francisco International Airport after someone called in the … Read : AP sources: Phone call was about hijacking an American Airlines plane bound for NY.

Correction: American Airlines seat fee story

Correction: American Airlines seat fee story

NEW YORK – In a story Aug. 19 about American Airlines new seat fees, The Associated Press reported erroneously that elite frequent fliers can reserve the first few rows of coach for no charge. Elite fliers have access to other preferred seats without a fee but must pay $19 to … Read more : Correction: American Airlines seat fee story.

Veterans’ families watch salvagers working to pull rare WWII plane from California reservoir

Divers work to lift WWII plane from Calif. lake

SAN DIEGO – Salvage divers gently cleared away silt and mud covering a WWII dive bomber buried in the bottom of the San Diego reservoir, carefully working Thursday to lift the rare plane from the water 65 years after it was ditched during a training run.
Bob Metz, … Original source on Gaea Times at : Veterans’ families watch salvagers working to pull rare WWII plane from California reservoir.

NTSB says metal fatigue led to hole in roof of Southwest Airlines jet last year

Hole in Southwest jet blamed on metal fatigue

DALLAS – Federal investigators say metal fatigue caused a hole to rip open in the roof of a Southwest Airlines jet as it cruised at 35,000 feet last year.
The National Transportation Safety Board says the 14-inch crack developed in a spot where two sheets of aluminum skin were … Read more >>.

American Airlines to start charging $19-$39 for seats in the first few rows of coach cabin

American Airlines to charge for front-row seats

NEW YORK – American Airlines has found another fee.
The Fort Worth, Texas, airline said Wednesday it’s now charging between $19 and $39 for “Express Seats” – those spots in the first few rows of coach that include bulkhead seats.
American said the price of the seats includes getting on the … Original source on Gaea Times at : American Airlines to start charging $19-$39 for seats in the first few rows of coach cabin.

Website hopes to serve travelers in their own backyards

Website aimed at hometown tourists
BOISE, Idaho – My family will travel halfway around the world to see a koala bear sitting in a eucalyptus tree, but for some reason it took us four years in Boise to see the city’s spooky old 19th century penitentiary, a local favorite just a few miles from our house.

The …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

Brazil’s Rio works with local citizens to promote tourism in city’s slums

Brazil’s Rio wants tourists visiting its slums

RIO DE JANEIRO – Tourists usually try to run from Rio’s notorious slums. Now officials are inviting them to come visit instead.
The Santa Marta shantytown on Monday became the first community in a program meant to promote tourism in the poor neighborhoods that are home to some unique music … Read more »».

EHi Car Rental gets $70 million investment from Goldman Sachs-led consortium

EHi Car Rental gets $70M investment
SHANGHAI, China – The Chinese company eHi Car Rental said Monday that a consortium led by Goldman Sachs has agreed to make a $70 million investment.

Existing shareholders of eHi Car Rental are also part of the group, including Qiming Venture Partners, CDH Ventures, Ignition Capital, JAFCO Asia and New Access …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

Fundraising tour for Corvette museum will include caravan around state to see top sites

Corvette tour will lap Kentucky
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A “One Lap of Kentucky” tour sponsored by the National Corvette Museum will take riders on a five-day tour of some of the state’s top attractions.

The tour planned for next month is also being sponsored by the Kentucky State Police for the event, which will benefit the … Read more : Fundraising tour for Corvette museum will include caravan around state to see top sites.

LA coroner says teen who collapsed at Electric Daisy Carnival died of ecstasy overdose

Coroner says teen died of ecstasy overdose

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County coroner’s office says a 15-year-old girl who collapsed during the Electric Daisy Carnival rave in June died as the result of an ecstasy overdose.
Coroner spokesman Ed Winter said Tuesday that Sasha Rodriguez died of complications of the drug and that her death …. Source  : LA coroner says teen who collapsed at Electric Daisy Carnival died of ecstasy overdose.

Lifelong friendships with au pairs renewed on family trip to Europe

Au pair reunion is good excuse for family trip

COLOGNE, Germany – There’s nothing like having someone live with you for a year to forge a lifelong friendship. But you can’t just drop by for coffee when that person lives across the Atlantic Ocean.
My husband and I hosted German au pairs for seven years to care … Read more : Lifelong friendships with au pairs renewed on family trip to Europe.

Philippines counts cost of China’s fury in aftermath of HK tourist deaths in hostage-taking

Philippines counts cost of China’s fury at deaths

MANILA, Philippines – China is angry after a violent hostage drama in the Philippines killed eight tourists from Hong Kong, and the Southeast Asian nation can do little to soothe the powerhouse, as a raft of visitor cancellations has hit the country’s tourism industry.
Tens of thousands of people … Read more : Philippines counts cost of China’s fury in aftermath of HK tourist deaths in hostage-taking.

Brazil’s Rio works with local citizens to promote tourism in city’s slums

Brazil’s Rio wants tourists visiting its slums

RIO DE JANEIRO – Tourists usually try to run from Rio’s notorious slums. Now officials are inviting them to come visit instead.
The Santa Marta shantytown on Monday became the first community in a program meant to promote tourism in the poor neighborhoods that are home to some unique music …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

EHi Car Rental gets $70 million investment from Goldman Sachs-led consortium

EHi Car Rental gets $70M investment
SHANGHAI, China – The Chinese company eHi Car Rental said Monday that a consortium led by Goldman Sachs has agreed to make a $70 million investment.

Existing shareholders of eHi Car Rental are also part of the group, including Qiming Venture Partners, CDH Ventures, Ignition Capital, JAFCO Asia and New Access … Read this article on Gaea Times at : EHi Car Rental gets $70 million investment from Goldman Sachs-led consortium.

Fundraising tour for Corvette museum will include caravan around state to see top sites

Corvette tour will lap Kentucky
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A “One Lap of Kentucky” tour sponsored by the National Corvette Museum will take riders on a five-day tour of some of the state’s top attractions.

The tour planned for next month is also being sponsored by the Kentucky State Police for the event, which will benefit the …. Read the original article  : Fundraising tour for Corvette museum will include caravan around state to see top sites.

Bosnia, Serbia restart steam train line in bid to attract tourists, boost ties

Steam train connects Bosnia, Serbia
VISEGRAD, Bosnia-Herzegovina – Bosnia and Serbia restarted an old steam-powered train Saturday in an effort to increase tourism in a region that was devastated by war in the 1990s.

Thousands of people gathered in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad to greet the train on century-old, narrow-gauge rails as it ended its …. Original article on Gaea Times at  : Bosnia, Serbia restart steam train line in bid to attract tourists, boost ties.

Obama, rest of first family, travel to private beach as Martha’s Vineyard vacation nears end

First family hits beach as vacation nears end
EDGARTOWN, Mass. – The first family is spending time at the beach.
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, on Saturday spent part of their final full day on Martha’s Vineyard at a private beach.
The family motorcaded from their rented farm … Read more >>>.

Delta’s Comair plans layoffs; will cut its fleet in half over next 2 years

Comair to lay off workers and halve fleet by 2012

CINCINNATI – Comair, a regional airline owned by Delta Air Lines Inc., said on Wednesday that it will shrink its fleet by more than half and reduce staff over the next two years to cut costs.
Comair President John Bendoraitis told employees in a memo Wednesday that … Read more >>.

Actor Patrick Wayne to receive Harvey Awards for self, dad from Pa. Jimmy Stewart museum

Patrick Wayne gets Pa. Jimmy Stewart museum honor

INDIANA, Pa. – Actor Patrick Wayne is being honored later this year by a western Pennsylvania museum dedicated to actor Jimmy Stewart.
At an Oct. 23 ceremony Wayne will receive one of the museum’s Harvey Awards for himself and another for his late father, western movie star John Wayne.
The …. Source article  : Actor Patrick Wayne to receive Harvey Awards for self, dad from Pa. Jimmy Stewart museum.

55th anniversary celebration of ‘Gunsmoke’ opening Friday in Dodge City

2-day event to celebrate all things ‘Gunsmoke’

DODGE CITY, Kan. – Fans of “Gunsmoke” can travel back to the glory days of the classic TV western during a 55th anniversary celebration opening Friday in Dodge City.
The two-day event will feature speakers associated with the long-running CBS show. There will also be a Western-dress banquet and showings …. Source  : 55th anniversary celebration of ‘Gunsmoke’ opening Friday in Dodge City.

Bob Dylan’s acrylic ‘Brazil Series’ on display in Denmark National Gallery

Bob Dylan’s ‘Brazil Series’ on display in Denmark

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Denmark’s National Gallery is displaying 40 acrylic paintings by Bob Dylan that have never before been shown to the public.
Curator Kasper Monrad said the paintings in Dylan’s “Brazil Series” were specifically made for the Danish exhibition, which opens Friday.
The collection includes figurative scenes from Brazilian … Read more »»».

Continental Airlines recalling last of furloughed pilots from 2008

Continental recalling furloughed pilots
HOUSTON – Continental Airlines Inc. is recalling 132 pilots who were furloughed in 2008, saying it needs them to offset retirements and handle an increase in international flying.

Continental spokeswoman Julie King said the additional pilots would cover the company’s needs over the next 18 months.
So far this year, Continental’s traffic is running … Original article on : Continental Airlines recalling last of furloughed pilots from 2008.

Happy trails for Buckskin Joe: Colorado’s Old West replica will be dismantled and moved

Happy trails for Colorado’s Buckskin Joe
CANON CITY, Colo. – It’s happy trails for Buckskin Joe, the replica Old West town that served as a setting for Westerns that include “True Grit” and “White Buffalo.”

Owner Greg Tabuteau said Friday he sold the tourist attraction near Canon City, along with neighboring Royal Gorge Scenic Railroad. The new … Read more : Happy trails for Buckskin Joe: Colorado’s Old West replica will be dismantled and moved.

Weakening Hurricane Earl still disrupting air, rail travel as long holiday weekend begins

Waning Earl still causing havoc for holiday travel

NEWARK, N.J. – Hurricane Earl is causing problems for Labor Day weekend travelers up and down the East Coast as it heads toward New England.
Amtrak has suspended train service between New York and Boston until Saturday morning. The rail carrier had planned to stop service by 4:30 p.m. …. Original source  : Weakening Hurricane Earl still disrupting air, rail travel as long holiday weekend begins.

Delta Air Lines flight attendants to vote on union starting Sept. 29

Union vote date set for Delta flight attendants

MINNEAPOLIS – Flight attendants at Delta Air Lines will begin voting later this month on whether to join a union.
The vote will be the first under new rules that are widely seen as making it easier for transportation unions to win.
The Association of Flight Attendants says the voting …. Original article  : Delta Air Lines flight attendants to vote on union starting Sept. 29.