CTA Crashes Buses, Hurts People:

Fire ambulances took a total of 33 people to hospitals Tuesday afternoon after a CTA bus rear-ended another bus stopped at a red light on the west side

(from nbc5.com). Instead of focusing on cutting service and demanding more cash from the state, perhaps CTA Executives could focus on making the CTA not hurt people. They can lower their own salaries to help the budget (as is often done by executives in the private sector when their companies are in crisis).

SpaceShipOne traveled to space for the second time in five days and won the XPrize:

The private rocket ship SpaceShipOne traveled into space and back this morning for the second time in five days, and was declared the winner of a $10 million prize intended to spur the development of private space flight.

The tiny ship, a sleek combination of rocket and glider designed by the engineer Burt Rutan and financed by the billionaire Paul G. Allen, soared beyond an altitude of 62 miles, the arbitrary line that is widely accepted as the beginning of space

(from The New York Times).

CTA adds Executives and Managers, cuts service:

Administrative jobs more than doubled during the first five years of Frank Kruesi's leadership of the Chicago Transit Authority - which on Monday will announce details of a contingency plan to cut service and lay off bus drivers and train crews to reel in a 2005 budget deficit.

The number of employees working desk jobs at the CTA, a traditional enclave for City Hall patronage, swelled after Mayor Richard Daley chose Kruesi, a longtime Daley political confidant, to become president of the transit agency in late 1997

(from The Chicago Tribune).

U.S. Supreme Court let do not call list ruling stand

The U.S. Supreme Court opened its new term on Monday, with two hours of arguments on federal sentencing rules and the rejection of some 1,800 appeals, including a challenge by telemarketers to the government's popular do-not-call list

(from Reuters, via Yahoo News).

Technology Companies put Government code in products to foil counterfeiters:

Uncle Sam is making sure that computers won't cooperate with would-be counterfeiters - even as it tries to accommodate consumers who legitimately want or need images of the currency

(from MSNBC).

U.S. Warns of Big Mount St. Helens Blast

Government scientists raised the alert level Saturday for Mount St. Helens after its second steam eruption in two days was followed by a powerful tremor. They said the next eruption was imminent or in progress, and could threaten life and property in the remote area near the volcano

(from Associated Press, via Yahoo news).

Mount St. Helens Awakes, Erupting Steam and Ash

Mount St. Helens spewed steam and ash high into the skies above Washington on Friday as it awoke from years of slumber, but remained far below the scale of the catastrophic 1980 eruption that killed 57 people

(from Reuters, via Yahoo News).