| Got Junk CEO wins entrepreneur honors
The International Franchise Association announced its 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year at its conference last week in Orlando. Brian Scudamore, chief executive officer of 1-800-Got Junk?, took the honor. Scudamore, who dropped out of high school, said he got the idea while at a McDonald's drive-through, and started the junk-removal company with a $700 pick-up truck.
The business generated enough money for him to enroll in college, but its success was the reason he dropped out of school a second time. The company now has 310 franchise locations, including one in Orlando, and a total of 805 trucks, according to the company's Web site.
Scudamore shared the following advice for franchisors: Never compromise on the quality of people you bring into your company and choose as your franchise partners.
Tax collection in Cóbano slows to a trickle over new assessments
The soaring values are a product of the soaring values of real estate along the Pacific.
The maritime zone is the first 200 meters inland from the mean high tide line. The first 50 meters always remains public land, but municipalities in conjunction with the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo can award lengthy concessions or leases to individuals or corporations to develop tracts within the next 150 meters. The land may be used for hotels, homes or other tourism projects.
A property holder who actually tried to pay the taxes on a concession in Cóbano reported that municipal officials seem to be confused by the situation and did not want to accept payment. .
The use of trade marks in meta tags
The case concerned the use of the mark Reed Business Information in a meta tag on totaljobs.com, a site which made no visible use of the word Reed apart from in a small copyright notice at the foot of the homepage. The mark Reed was a registered trade mark of Reed Employment Limited. Given that the mark Reed Business Information was deemed only similar to the mark Reed, confusion had to be established to prove trade mark infringement. It was found that no such confusion occurred simply because of the existence of the word Reed in a meta tag on the totaljobs.com website. The totaljobs.com website never appeared above the Reed Employment site, owned by Reed Executive plc, when the search term "Reed Employment" was used in search engines. The reasoning in the case places great emphasis on the "clutter" of irrelevant sites, which often appear in search engine results.
Suicidal pets steal the show
The notion of the Western World's pets being depressed is a hard one to fathom. These are the same animals that wear tailor-made clothes, eat gourmet biscuits, enjoy spa bath mini-breaks and have their every needs met by obliging owners who should know better. But depressed they are. A leading British veterinarian says that pets at risk of self-harm are increasingly being prescribed anti-depressants because they cannot discuss problems in their lives with others. I found this phenomenon – perhaps inexcusably – a touch ridiculous and perhaps NEWS.com.au readers did too because the article was easily our most read story of the week. So, the humble pet might have taken the ultimate glory away from Hollywood's night of nights but our extensive coverage of the 80th Annual Academy Awards certainly got readers clicking.
Rare Helen Keller Photograph Discovered
Captured in 1888 on Cape Cod, the image shows an eight-year-old Helen sitting outside in a chair holding Sullivan's hand and a doll. Experts say it could be the earliest photo of the two together, and the only one showing the child with a doll. "Doll" is the first word Sullivan ever spelled for Keller. The image was discovered in an album belonging to a man whose mother was a childhood friend of Helen Keller's on Cape Cod. .
Brentford Vs Notts County Preview
The Bees have been in impressive form since Andy Scott took over from Terry Butcher around a month ago, and with four straight wins behind them the Bees have quickly buzzed into mid-table after a dramatic slide towards the foot of the table. But Notts are also getting back on track with a win and a draw from their last two games, and there have been plenty of positives to build on for Ian McParland who has made some shrewd signings in the January transfer window and also has Mike Edwards back from injury. .
'Wiki bill' relies on Coloradans to fix I-70 congestion
Colorado Sen. Chris Romer on Friday launched a citizen effort to craft legislation addressing the congestion on Interstate 70. I-70 is the major east-west artery through Colorado, and on weekends carries thousands of people from the Denver area into the state's ski resort areas. Romer, D-Denver, calls his effort at involving citizens in the legislative process a "wiki bill," and says it's a first for the country. The name comes from the online encyclopedia called Wikipedia, which is written and edited by users. A "wiki" is a generic term for a website where users can contribute their ideas. "My fervent hope is that the collective brain of all of Colorado is at least as powerful as the people in the Capitol," said Romer. "I believe that Colorado's pioneering spirit can solve this problem and fix I-70 now." Romer's soliciting ideas for his wiki bill online at groups.google.com/group/fixI70now.
Shemorry collection of Williston history to be on display
"What we have is a lifetime of the history of the Williston, both in written documents and in pictures. I doubt there is any community in the country that has anything like it," said Dr. Dean Strinden. He is referring to the Bill Shemorry Photo Collection. Strinden is a life-long friend of the multi-faceted journalist who is a story in of himself.About 2,150 of Shemorry's estimated 35,000-picture collection goes up for display Monday at the Williston State College Library, thanks to multiple entities pooling their resources and funding. The collection spans some seven decades of history through his eyes and camera lens of this journalist, and before. In the late journalist's honor, the Williston Area Chamber of Commerce, along with Williston State College Foundation, will be hosting the Bill Shemorry Family 10 a.m.
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