| Somerset Power gets OK to begin coal gasification
The Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday gave the green light to Somerset Power LLC's plan to begin coal gasification at its Riverside Avenue plant. Outraged environmentalists and community activists called the decision unacceptable and said it significantly undermined the state's global warming policy. Earlier this month, the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs declined to order a Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review of the plant. The Conservation Law Foundation, which lobbies on environmental issues in New England, asked for the review. "In a final permit issued by DEP, the commonwealth said it would allow the power plant to adopt experimental coal plasma gasification technology and continue releasing carbon dioxide at current levels," said the foundation's spokesman Colin Durrant.
Saints stars go out on loan
SAINTS' financial problems came back to haunt them yesterday as they off-loaded star striker Grzegorz Rasiak and midfielder Rudi Skacel. Czech Skacel has gone to Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin on loan for the rest of the season with a view to a permanent move. Prolific Polish hitman Rasiak has joined Bolton on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move. Rasiak and Skacel were two of the club's top earners. Raziak was believed to be on around £12,000 a week and Skacel is also on top wages. That saving in wages, combined with the potential fees for the two most expensive purchases in the Saints squad, proved too much for the cash-strapped club to turn down. Saints tried to put a brave face on the deal by saying it was also a way of easing the log-jam of strikers' but in reality it was another massive dent to their promotion hopes.
3-point man: Gostkowski unfazed by Vinatieri's legend
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Memo to Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski: all three of the Patriots' Super Bowl victories have been by a margin of three points. Which is to say, a field goal. "So I've been told," he said yesterday morning at the team hotel. "I don't keep tabs on that stuff." As far as NFL kickers are concerned, ignorance isn't merely bliss — it's a necessity. They have trained themselves to think only about the process, not the result. To think strictly about their technique, not the situation. And never, ever, to think about missing. "I don't think about negative situations," Gostkowski said. "I work on being mentally prepared for every kick. I can't be thinking: 'Oh, man, we need this kick.' I just play dumb, and do what I do." .
Self-service spruce-up
Sometimes, dreams of a lifetime take almost a lifetime to fulfill.Fifty years ago, Don Bentz, co-owner of Bentz's Town Pump in Casper, heard a story about a car wash in Canada built inside a giant oil field tank.The idea of an indoor car wash fascinated Bentz. Now, after 50 years of thinking about it and 10 years of actually working on it, Bentz's Self Serve Auto Center, including an indoor car wash, is tentatively scheduled to open on Feb. 18 next to Bentz's Town Pump, 701 W. Collins Dr."This is something I've always wanted to do," Bentz said. "Who wants to wash their car in the hot sun? Who wants to wash their car in the wind and cold?"Of course, this car wash isn't inside an oil storage tank. It's a hot water operation from presoaks to final rinse, heated in winter and cooled in summer, complete with sophisticated air exchange and oil recycling systems.The auto center actually is comprised of two service areas.
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