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Where mines ruled, wines now reign
FAIR PLAY, Calif. -- California has always been something of a mythical destination. As historian Kevin Starr observed, it is a place "at the edge of the American dream" where a person can get a second chance at life in the sun and with the help of nature's abundance. This was never more true than during the Gold Rush. Beginning in 1848, when gold was first discovered in Coloma , in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, thousands of adventurers poured into the state hoping to find their El Dorado, or at least some lucrative ore. Gold mining turned out to be difficult, dangerous work and most miners moved on to other pursuits in less than five years. But their effect on the collective psyche and the landscape of California was profound. Many of the mining communities were little more than tent towns where rude shacks were thrown up overnight and torn down a few years later.
Doomsday drill tests Medical Center
LAKEWOOD RANCH - It was a mock madhouse outside the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center emergency room as the hospital participated in a hazardous materials disaster exercise. Shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, a group of teenagers ran toward a decontamination area near the ER entrance, some of them screaming as if they were scared. A few had red marks painted on them to indicate injuries, and others held limbs close to their bodies. Hospital personnel instructed the teens to walk through water streaming from a fire hydrant. From there, they stripped down to their swimsuits and put their clothes into clear garbage bags before showering in a blue decontamination tent. The hospital was ready to receive patients by 8:30 a.m. after being notified of an unidentified situation at 8:15 a.m., said hospital spokesman Vernon DeSear.
Teamwork is the key to success at Cape Epic
The first stage of the 2007 Absa Cape Epic produced an unpredicted twist when defending champion, Switzerland's Christoph Sauser, fell out of contention for the overall on the 101km journey from Knysna to Uniondale. The two-time World Cup champ and his partner, Italian Johan Palhuber, crossed the line nearly 10 minutes down on the Bulls team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, and the Cannondale-Vredestein squad of Roel Paulissen and Jakob Fugelsang. .
As Sharpton slips, he isn't grabbing onto Obama
His recent attacks on presidential candidate Barack Obama and his threat to withhold his support have exposed the trick behind Sharpton's magic act. His audience is leaving the tent, and Sharpton is scrambling for relevancy. Sharpton has been challenging Obama's credentials in the black community and saying Obama is the darling of white leadership, according to Democratic sources. Sharpton told CBS News he's withholding his endorsement until after his National Action Network summit in April. Meanwhile, he's playing hard to get between the Obama and Hillary Clinton camps, even declining to return calls from Obama's campaign. Now, it's fair to ask, what is Sharpton really up to? What is his real objection to Obama? That Obama has white supporters? That Obama has become the first serious black presidential candidate in U.S.
Gotta get the gear to the gig
By Michael CorcoranAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, March 14, 2007 The big trucks, 44 of them in a fleet fattened over last year's, started lining up outside the Music Lab's equipment warehouse on St. Elmo Road in the pouring rain Tuesday night. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, nearly half of them were loaded and dispatched to South by Southwest venues and tent-covered parking lots for the music festival's first day. Much of the increase in business is due to the rising number of international acts. This year, 414 acts are arriving from other countries, with more than 150 coming from the United Kingdom alone. .
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