| Louisville eclipses million-dollar milestone in surplus sales
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Mayor Jerry Abramson today announced that the city has "unloaded" more than a million dollars worth of surplus government vehicles, equipment and other items through online auctions. Metro Government sells obsolete and other surplus items through its website, LouisvilleKy.gov, and GovDeals.com, an online service similar to eBay. The $3,760 sale of a Case International 585 tractor to a bidder in Cookeville, Tenn., recently brought the total funds generated through the online auctions to more than $1 million. "The online auctions are a creative way this government is operating efficiently and effectively for our citizens," Abramson said. "We're unloading items that have outlived their useful life for government, and in doing so creating a revenue stream and reducing warehouse space." Abramson said the online auctions often generate more money than traditional auction-house auctions because items are up for bids around the clock and the online auctions allow more people - virtually from anywhere - to participate.
Alleged Jane Austen portrait fails at auction
NEW YORK A distant relative of romance novelist Jane Austen will have to hold onto a late 18th century painting he claims is a portrait of the author as a teen-ager. New York auction house Christie's expected the painting of a young girl in white dress with a green parasol to fetch 400-to-800 thousand dollars. But the item did not make its minimum bid level. Austen scholars disagree sharply on whether the portrait could be that of the author of "Pride and Prejudice." The relative has been turned down a number of times by the National Portrait Galley in London when he tried to donate the painting. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. .
Bidding high on historic flag
By last night, bidding had reached $4800 after the flag was listed with a starting price of $1000. It looked likely to reach its reserve price, estimated to be about $5000. Hamilton man Athol Giles is selling the New Zealand Merchant Navy ensign, which he found as a teenager on a Wellington beach the day following the Wahine ferry disaster, which claimed 51 lives. Mr Giles said his father was a close friend of a former Wahine master who told him to hang on to the flag. The online auction is being billed as a piece of New Zealand history. .
KKR Drops Out of Sainsbury Bidding Group, People Familiar Say
April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. dropped out of the bidding group for J Sainsbury Plc because of its involvement in a takeover offer for U.K. retailer Alliance Boots Plc, two people with knowledge of the deal said. KKR's withdrawal won't jeopardize the planned bid for the U.K. supermarket chain, according to the people, who declined to be identified as details aren't public. CVC Capital Partners Ltd., Blackstone Group LP and Texas Pacific Group make up the rest of the group, which must decide on a bid by April 13. ``I don't think there will be a problem for them to fill KKR's slot,'' said Chris Gower, an analyst at Man Securities in London. ``There are plenty of other parties interested in getting involved in this, if the numbers work.'' New York-based KKR and Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina raised their bid for Alliance Boots to 10.1 billion pounds ($19.8 billion) last month, and the owner of the U.K.'s largest drugstore chain indicated it may discuss a transaction.
Conservative vs Socialist in French Presidential Elections 2007
They have two rounds of elections for President. There are many advantages to this system, primarily that you get a shortlist to choose from. One of the two persons at left will be the next president of France and this could mean a lot more than a change of ambassador to Port of Spain. France is one of the few European countries that still maintains colonies in the Caribbean. Of course, they are no longer called colonies but "overseas territories." However, Trinidad and Tobago exporters will know very well that going to Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyane (French Guiana) is stepping on French soil.
France has also passed ships carrying hazardous waste through the "international waters" of the Caribbean Sea. Let some of that spill and that's the end of any tourism hopes Trinidad and Tobago ever had.
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