What's the Hubbub, Bub?

St. Louis has a new Transportation Center. Why is that important to you? It may not be, but in the grand scheme of city planning, it may be coming to a hometown near you sooner, rather than later. It employs something you really don't see much of in government planning these days. Common sense. St. Louis just opened its new $28 million dollar transportation "hub", Gateway Transportation Center, which consists of a place where you can catch Amtrak trains, local commuter light rail, city bus service and Greyhound. This project had been in the works for 20 years (now THAT sounds like government in action....or should I say inaction). Basically, it's a one-stop-shop for getting around on publicly available transport, for St. Louis and beyond. The new hub is one block south of Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis, and features 24-hour services, security, and even a food court area. In the past, I've had customers from the Charlotte area want to take a cruise, but they couldn't afford to fly to Florida so they investigated Amtrak. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte's a nice city but when it comes to certain forms of transportation you hit the "you can't get there from here" syndrome. To get to Miami, you'd have to take a train to Washington DC, overnight, pick up another heading to Miami, and once you arrive you're still a long and expensive taxi ride to and from the ship. That's an example of how badly our interconnecting transportation services can be. But folks in St. Louis are waking up to a new day, and if it goes as well as intended, this could be a blueprint for your community down the road.

Winter has started blowing its icy breath around the country, which gives way to meanings other than "we're deep into the NFL season". A couple weeks ago I mentioned skiing in the powder out West. Particularly Utah and Colorado. But some folks think that's just too boring...they want more nightlife and entertainment options than are offered in smaller ski resorts (not too many show-biz personalities hanging out in Salt Lake City, to entertain you nightly). Well ladies and germs, I have the answer. Nevada. I mean California. I mean Nevadafornia. Don't be confused - such a place actually exists. It's one of the prettiest areas in the USA, right on the California/Nevada border, the cities of Reno and Lake Tahoe. People think of Lake Tahoe for fabulous clear water and Summer sports, but Winter is equally as active with buses running right up to the slopes from downtown. Ski awhile, then hit one of the many casinos, then catch a rising comedy star at Catch A Rising Star, or The Improv. As for Headliners, it may not quite be Vegas but it's still top shelf. Joan Rivers, Frank Caliendo, Wanda Sykes, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles and more lead the traditional comedy-style shows. Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The Four Tops, and Little Anthony and the Imperials will take you back to 60's Motown. If you're more rock 'n roll like this here sailor, look for Foghat, Kiss, Styx, The Pretenders, Motley Crue and The Tubes. And that's just some of the acts set to appear between now and January! So there's plenty of action, plenty of great skiing and sightseeing options, and it might be the cure for those Wintertime blues. Call us today for pricing and availability.

Another thing winter brings is deer hunting season, but in Missouri you'd better bring your gun, some grenades and maybe a bazooka or two. On Nov. 19th, Randy Goodman, age 49, came across a large buck in the woods, and fired two well-placed shots with his .270-caliber rifle. The deer fell to the ground, and thinking the deer looked dead he approached him. Seconds later, the nine-point, 240-pound animal jumped up, knocked Goodman down and attacked him with his antlers in what the veteran hunter called "15 seconds of chaos." The deer then ran a short distance, fell down and died. Soon, Goodman started feeling dizzy and noticed his vest was bloody, so he drove to a hospital, where he received seven staples in his scalp and was treated for a slight concussion and bruises. Aretha Franklin sang R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Maybe Mr. Goodman needed a bit more of that, before the deer got his sweet R-E-V-E-N-G-E.

A Wisconsin radio station had to make an offer that couldn't be refused, in order to get 2 contestants to quit a game to win a new car. Tommy Kempfer, 26, of Sun Prairie, and Lisa Thompson, 40, of Westfield, had been living in a truck, hoping to outlast the other in an effort to win a new $30,000 vehicle from WMAD-FM in Madison. Some contestants dropped out after a few hours of confinement. However, after 55 days, the station became concerned that neither Mr. Kempfer or Ms. Thompson were going to budge. "We sensed these two were not going to back down," said John Flint, a co-host on the station's morning show. "There was no way we expected this to go on like it has. If it was not for the deal, it's possible they could have gone on until New Year's or longer." Last Tuesday, the station offered them a compromise: End the contest and receive $10,000 toward the purchase of a car, and receive a handful of small prizes, or continue indefinitely with the runner-up receiving nothing. Within 15 minutes, both agreed to the deal. Ms. Thompson called the contest a very good experience, but said she wouldn't do it again. There is no way to substantiate a rumored, newly-found romantic involvement between the two, though a scratch pad was found inside the vehicle afterward, with scribbled wedding vows that read:
"With this tire iron, I thee wed...."