| Firefighters' windfall comes with a catch
When the fire department in the tiny Berkshire hamlet of Cheshire needed a new fire truck, it asked Uncle Sam for a little help. The response last month was stunning: a $665,962 homeland security grant. The award was nearly 26 times the annual budget of the volunteer fire department in the town of 3,500. And the rub: The department is not allowed to spend it on a fire truck. Instead, the town won a grant to fortify the ranks of its volunteer brigade. Its selectmen plan to huddle later this month to hash out a spending plan. Asked how the money will be spent, Cheshire Fire Chief George Sweet cryptically replied yesterday: "Rome wasn't built in a day." Sweet said he couldn't say much more about the windfall. Indeed, Cheshire's officialdom is a nervous wreck over it and is reviewing federal grant guidelines.
Countdown to `La Traviata'
``Places for the top of the opera, please!'' Stephanie Whigham, Opera San Jose's production stage manager, is calling the troops to order: a dozen principal and supporting singers, 28 choristers, six dancers, and the various directors, designers and artistic supervisors who have gathered for this run-through of ``La Traviata'' by Giuseppe Verdi. ``Places!'' Whigham calls again, and out of the pre-rehearsal chaos, order begins to assert itself. Soprano Rochelle Bard, singing the role of Violetta, the Parisian courtesan and doomed heroine of Verdi's sad tale, takes her position, as does tenor Christopher Bengochea, who is Alfredo, Violetta's lover. The chorus forms a half moon around the perimeter of the large, bare, white-walled rehearsal space at the company's headquarters in North San Jose.
Antiques join the Internet age
Every Thursday night, between 200 and 300 people descend on Kuehnert's Auction Gallery in west Houston looking for antiques and fine furniture. For 18 years, the routine has never varied: Buyers browse, find chairs and let the bidding begin. By the end of the night, 400 to 500 items will have been sold, ranging from $50 china boxes to $5,000 English armoires. But starting this month, there's a new twist: Internet bidders will join the fray in real-time bidding during the auctions. Browsing to biddingAccording to gallery owner Patricia Kuehnert, potential buyers already can browse the gallery's Web site, but they've never been able to place a bid as an auction is under way. "We've always had a good, steady clientele, but there's only so much room to display things, and only so much room to hold an auction," Kuehnert said.
At Mighty Cup, everything is for sale
Don't get too comfortable when you sit down for a cup of joe at the newly opened Mighty Cup Coffee and Mercantile in downtown Glendale. That comfy armchair or sofa just might be sold out from under you. Lattes, teas, pastries and other basics aren't the only things for sale inside this funky little coffee shop. Nearly everything in the renovated old home carries a price tag - including lamps, chairs, tables and knickknacks decorating the shop. Co-owners Ray Kopakowski and Jed Longhurst recently opened the coffee shop with the idea to surprise customers each time they visit. .
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