World’s only ski-up Starbucks open for business at Squaw Valley

by Laurel Miller on

Two days ago, while visiting my brother and his family in Lake Tahoe, my nephew uttered the words I’d hoped never to hear. “Starbucks just opened a ski-up window at Squaw’s Gold Coast mid-mountain complex!” he snorted, before pondering aloud how it was possible to ski with a triple venti Cinnamon Dolce Latte while wearing gloves and holding poles.

Truly, I think the world has enough Starbucks in it, and if you can’t get through a day of skiing without a fix, you just might have a problem. Not everyone feels that way, however, as reported on Eater.com today. Says Squaw Valley president and CEO Andy Wirth, “Nowhere else in the world can skiers and riders enjoy a delicious Starbucks coffee without missing a beat on the slopes.” My nephew might disagree with the logistics of that statement, but never underestimate the power of a Frappuccino habit.

Indian government relocates villagers away from tiger reserve

by Sean McLachlan on


The village of Umri in Rajasthan, India, is no more.

The entire population of 82 families, some 350 people, has been relocated because the village stands inside the Sariska tiger reserve, the BBC reports. The move aims to protect the local tiger population, which is rebounding after being wiped out by poachers several years ago. This reflects a gain in tiger population nationwide after stronger efforts against poaching and mitigation efforts with local human populations.

Tigers are feared by the villagers, who not only worry for themselves but their livestock. Often villagers will hunt or try to poison tigers that come into their neighborhood. Humans also compete with tigers for land and wildlife.

Umri is the second village to be moved and all eleven villages in the reserve will eventually be relocated. The Indian government says the villagers are being compensated with free land, livestock, up to one million rupees ($20,241), and are being relocated as close as possible to their old homes.

The case highlights the problems facing conservationists worldwide. Human needs have to be balanced with those of the endangered animals, and doing that can be a tricky business. Relocating villages is a difficult and expensive task, and what will be done with the two national highways that pass through the park remains to be seen.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

An airline is born: PEOPLExpress to begin service out of Virginia

by Grant Martin on

It hasn’t been a great few years for the airline industry with oil prices on the rise and competition fierce. That’s why it was a surprise to many this afternoon to learn that a new startup dubbed PEOPLExpress plans to begin service out of Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport in Virginia this summer.

A rehash of the original PEOPLExpress that was bought out by Continental in the late eighties, the airline plans to provide budget service to passengers along the eastern seaboard and into the Midwest. With a model similar to that of Southwest Airlines, it also plans to avoid the numerous a la carte fees that so many carriers have currently adopted, offering passengers a more transparent, low cost product.

Hopefully the model proves to be profitable. Southwest benefits from having a large network of routes, a well populated hub in Dallas, broad community reach and a cult-like following of passengers and employees. Whether PEOPLExpress can replicate that buzz will make or break the airline.

According the USA Today, the airline is still in the process of filing paperwork with the FAA but plans to start flying as soon as this summer. We’ll keep you updated on their progress.

Rio de Janeiro police strike threatens Carnival festivities, then fizzles

by Jessica Marati on

A police strike in Rio de Janeiro just a week before Carnival threatened to wreak mass chaos upon Brazil‘s largest festival celebration. But just one day in, Rio’s state government announced that the strike had “failed”, with just a small percentage of officers taking part.

“It is very difficult to talk of a protest movement without participants,” said Chao Francisco, union president for the civilian police in Rio, reported the AFP.

The strike, which involved military police, civilian police, and firefighters, was intended to bring attention to low wages and came on the heels of a deadly 11-day police strike in Bahia. Residents feared that a Rio police strike would lead to similar violence, during a time when millions flood the streets in celebration.

After the strike was announced on Friday, the Rio city government quickly clamped down on organizers, arresting 17 police officers and threatening disciplinary action against hundreds of others associated with the walk-off. In Brazil, it is against the law for police officers and firefighters to unionize and strike.

With Rio hosting the upcoming 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, all eyes are on the city to ensure that city officials can handle major events like Carnival, which officially kicks off on February 17th. The city has 14,000 soldiers on stand-by.

[via AFP and CBS News, Flickr image via JorgeBrazil]