| Reporter: Susan Ramsett
For the individual who died and for all friends and family of anyone who has died involving snowmobiles, they have my sincerest sympathies. But, we can't make laws limiting the entertainment and livelihood of millions to save the lives of a few poeple making bad choices. In addition, think of the costs to enforce all these laws to make sure no on ever dies on a snowmobile (or other recreational activity - down hill skiing!!!!!). Where do we station police and at what sacrifie (less police elsewhere or more taxes) to prevent these isolated incidents? This is a basic principle for all activities where there are some risks. If we had a law prohibiting two passengers on a single passenger sled, would that solve our problem? Would handcuffing the snwomobile manufacturers with "slower" sleds help? What is the politically correct, gov't limited, top speed of a new snowmobile to ride double while drunk? At what blood alchohol level? Why not limit speed so even the inexperienced sledder won't get hurt? Better yet, we should require the machines performance to be throttled back as the machine gets older because something may wear out.
The Strange Case of ParkerVision
PROMISING THE BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH in wire-less since Marconi, Jeffrey L. Parker's company ParkerVision has enjoyed the backing of sharp investors like Leucadia National and a member of the Barron's Roundtable. It has also lost $160 million over 17 years without delivering a successful product. So the tiny Jacksonville, Fla.-based firm has attracted generations of short-sellers. The shares (ticker: PRKR) have bounced plenty, between 3 and 56, and were recently going for 10 bucks each. The company's fruitless persistence has fed a strange online debate. A bear with the ominous screen name "cassandra-oracle" runs a Website called PV Notes that meticulously pulls the wings off ParkerVision's claims of a revolutionary radio amplifier technology. PV Notes even pays to show its link (www.pvnotes.com) when you Google the word "ParkerVision." Defending ParkerVision in hundreds of postings, meanwhile, is a bull named "urspond" who seems to know a lot about the involvement of Leucadia (LUK), a financial firm known more for value investing than tech speculation.
Hotelier's 'Fawlty' stag hell memory
AN ANGRY hotelier claims he and his family suffered "a weekend of hell" when a stag party from the Amman Valley descended upon a plush south Devon resort. Grim-faced Stuart Lewton maintains 14 young men from the Brynaman area caused around £3,000 of damage to the Downs Hotel during a wild weekend in Torquay. But organisers of the stag-do insist events at the Babbacombe Hotel - situated a few hundred yards from the establishment that inspired the legendary BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers - have been blown up out of all proportion. .
How Pitman gave rescue package wings
As a result, Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia and adviser James Lupton of Greenhill "came to my home one Sunday afternoon with all their papers". He took one look at the plans and declared "it won't fly". "I believed it was too optimistic. I said you don't have enough capital." But they refused to give in and began revising the plans under his tutelage. "Effectively, I was acting as an unpaid adviser." By the time Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank demanded the consortium name its chairman as a condition of providing funding, he was ready to sign on. They later backed out, but Sir Brian has only become more hands-on - beefing up his role to executive chairman and effectively running proceedings. .
FPD warns of burglaries
Fortuna Police are reminding residents to double check the locks on their homes and cars after a number of burglaries were reported last week, according to a statement released yesterday. Suspects gained access through unlocked residences, or used garage door openers from unlocked cars to get into homes. One unlocked car was stolen from the area. The department is asking residents to close and lock windows, doors and cars, and keep garage door openers out of view from outside the car. To report suspicious activity in a neighborhood, call the Fortuna Police Department at 725-7550. .
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