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Ghosts, legends, defunct companies
Welcome, readers, to our first ever Halloween-flavored installment of Ask the Readers. Once again, I'm turning to you for hard-to-find answers to questions I've received. Some are pretty routine -- apple shopping, dish washing, pie baking -- but some are downright weird! We've got a ghost, a violet ray machine, a spooky house and a Monkey Man. If you, or your fellow readers, can answer these questions we'll be in for a spooky column next week, just in time for Halloween. (See the end of the column for details about sending in your answers.) Q: Does anyone know anything about the possible haunting of Valentine House, halfway between Rocky Mount and Ferrum? There was only a pile of bricks there where the house used to stand when I was a kid in the '60s.
Martin leads Devils past Hurricanes 6-1
White opened the scoring at 3:08 with a slap shot from the left point. After a stretch of 125 games without a goal, White has produced two in five games. The Devils, in a reversal of recent form, went up by two goals on Martin's power-play tally at 5:53. In each of the previous three games, New Jersey fell behind 2-0 and went 1-1-1 in that stretch. After Aucoin scored on a goal-mouth tip at 10:35, Oduya restored the Devils' two-goal advantage with a spectacular tally that capped an end-to-end rush. Picking up the puck behind his own net, Oduya went the length of the ice, eluding five defenders before beating Cam Ward between the pads at 15:47. It marked the first time the Devils scored three consecutive goals from defensemen since Dec. 31, 1991. Zubrus netted the Devils' second power-play goal of the period with 2:02 left to give New Jersey a 4-1 advantage.
BBC in private equity talks
Amazon is to bow out of DVD rentals and throw its weight behind Lovefilm, the leading European specialist,. Amazon is to transfer its subscribers and inject some cash to Lovefilm in exchange for a stake believed to be about 30 per cent of the company and valued at about £60 million (E80m) to £70 million.
Simon Calver, chief executive of Lovefilm, said the arrival of Amazon as the single biggest shareholder did not mean an end to plans for an eventual initial public offering or buy-out of the business. "This puts those options more firmly on the table than before," he said. Lovefilm, which hired Goldman Sachs in December 2006 to explore its strategic options, is backed by Arts Alliance Media, Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and DFJ Esprit. Amazon will offer LovefilmÂ’s rental service via its own websites in the UK and Germany and provide marketing support.
The Phantom Menace
Ethanol, methanol, rubbing alcohol it doesnt matter, as long as it gives their drinks the zing needed to dupe a few desperate drinkers. Distilleries and sugar refineries sell potable ethanol of varying grades. Cheaper still is industrial-grade alcohol, which is usually spiked with methanol or other toxins to prevent human consumption. Illegal operators either dont know, or dont care. In some countries, denatured alcohol is dyed green to make it instantly recognizable, but in Egypt it looks just like regular ethyl alcohol, says Maged Safwat, a downtown pharmacist. Pharmacies once had an annual quota of denatured alcohol to prevent them from selling off their 20-liter bottles to taht el-sillim spirit makers. Most now receive denatured alcohol in dispensable 100 milliliter plastic bottles, a practice that has reduced the incidence of methanol poisoning.
Reid helps Sunderland's learner drivers steer clear of relegation
Roy Keane likens his Sunderland side to an improving learner driver with cause for cautious optimism about passing their test in May. Since starting weekly lessons last August there have been moments of despair but, these days, the instructor is not looking quite so nervous and has reason to believe that clutch control could soon be perfected. "It's a bit like driving lessons. We're getting more and more right and we now need to do all the good things at the same time to pass the test," explained Keane, whose hopes of avoiding relegation were boosted by a fourth consecutive home league win which leaves Sunderland four points clear of the drop zone and three ahead of Wigan. .
Softball's best of the west
While we strive for those results, that's not the reason why this project was taken on. Instead, it was to solve an issue that has been a burr in the britches of most who follow, coach and play high school sports on the Western Slope way beyond the 13 years I've been on the scene.
I, along with those folks, have wondered - loudly at times - why it seems athletes who live on this side of the Continental Divide get overlooked when it comes to earning all-state recognition?
For those of you who've read to this point I'm sure you agree.
I, like you, anxiously wait to see who from the Western Slope earns a spot on each of the All-Colorado prep sports teams produced by Rocky Preps and the Denver Post.
Likewise, after reading the results, I've come away scratching my head.
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