Amtrak travel time between Southern Illinois and Chicago could increase or cease all together if the Surface Transportation Board approves one railway's planned merger.CN railway company wants to acquire the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway as a means of bypassing severe train congestion in Chicago, congestion that causes their trains to idle for hours, wasting fuel and time as they attempt to cross the city.If the merger is approved, CN would reroute its trains over EJ&E lines and eliminate all its operations on an 11-mile stretch of track north of Interstate 90, the same stretch of rails used by Amtrak to reach Chicago's Union Station.CN would also "formally abandon" the track, opening it up for development.If that is allowed to happen unconditionally, Amtrak officials warn, the 400,000-plus Amtrak passengers who use the service annually could face lengthy delays or see service to downstate grind to a halt."Amtrak has studied other potential alternate routes, but they are all more circuitous; already crowded with commuter and or freight trains; and would require Amtrak trains to operate over a gauntlet of rail lines dispatched by multiple railroads, ensuring frequent delays," an Amtrak talking points memo said.

Are Canada's athletes receiving enough funding?

Who are you to deny these amateur athletes whose talents are in being able to cross country ski incredibly well, or ride a sled down a bobsleigh run faster than everyone else in the world, an income. What makes your dead-end job worth an annual salary while these people who pour 100 times the effort into their chosen sport get nothing? If you're posting on here you obviously have an interest in sport and want to see Canada do well on the international stage. Please leave out comments on how we shouldn't be spending money on athletes when Africa is going hungry, because that is not the issue here. Support our amateur athletes because they aren't the Toronto Maple Leafs, who get paid in the millions and can't perform. Support our athletes like Devon Kershaw who has been supported by his parents as well as having a job and receiving limited government carding to cross country ski as the best male in the country.

Luring clients and employees to shore

(FSB Magazine) Glendale, Wis. -- ShoreTrips' business is booming, so you'd think owners Julie and Barry Karp could relax a bit. The couple developed a niche - arranging land tours for Caribbean cruise ship travelers. While cruise vessels have been disgorging hordes of passengers into ports and onto buses and walking tours for decades, their operators faced increased competition from landlubbers when the Karps founded their firm in 2001.

Since then, the Karps have located tour operators in scores of port cities and used them to deliver less costly and more intimate and original port experiences than the big ships offer. Clients come mostly through travel agents, who get commissions on any ShoreTrips tours they sell. The Karps put 75,000 travelers on their tours in 2006, and 100,000 last year.

Underground Atlanta announces exciting New Year's Eve schedule for ...

Having exploded onto the country music scene, Miranda Lambert will help Atlanta ring in 2008 as she performs on Peach Drop's main stage. The crowd can also prepare to rock out with one of the Southeast's leading live rock bands, 7 Sharp 9, and get their pop music fix with Gary Pfaff & Obsession Day. Then things will switch back into country gear with Mark Scott & County Line. Rounding out the main stage line up will be the fresh and unique sounds of Lady Antebellum. Peach Drop's three stages will offer the crowd great entertainment to bring in 2008!

Underground Atlanta is proud to announce new partnerships with The New York Times, Cooper Atlanta Transportation Services, KICKS 101.5 and Party City of Atlanta. Peach Drop is proud to be presented by AirTran Airways for the fifth year and sponsored by Georgia Department of Economic Development, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, MARTA, EAGLE 106.7, 11 Alive (WXIA), MyAtlTV (WATL), The Sunday Paper and the Sheraton Hotel Atlanta.