Abandoned horses have nowhere to go

It's been a hard year for Steve Kreft.

The Cary welder lost his job in April, then worked another job for three or four months before he lost that one, too. At his current job, Kreft is making half as much as he did last year, and his hours will be cut next month.

He's worried how that will affect his family and Mack, his American quarter horse.

"I consider him a friend," Kreft said. "We've had him since he was 14 months old, and he's 9 years old. We can't afford to keep our horses." Horse owners are struggling with the cost of care for their animals. The recession has forced many people to cut back on "luxury items" like horses, and grain and hay costs are up, …

Household Gods: The British and Their Possessions

Household Gods: The British and Their Possessions. By Deborah Cohen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. xvii + 294 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, notes, index. Cloth, $40.00. ISBN: 0-300-11213-0.

Reviewed by Lara Kriegel

Strikingly original, impressively researched, and beautifully illustrated, Household Gods offers a nuanced appraisal of the changing material world of the British middle-class home between 1830 and 1930. Deborah Cohen has plumbed unpublished diaries, photo albums, and the periodical press, as well as the archives of manufacturers, designers, and provincial retailers, to delineate a rich account of "the British loveaffair with the domestic interior" …

Red Bull's Mark Weber sets pace at Turkish GP practice

Red Bull's Mark Webber had the fastest time Saturday at the final practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Weber rebounded from a crash that destroyed the front wing of his car on Friday to time a lap of 1 minute, 27.030 seconds _ the fastest across the Formula One race's three practice sessions.

Renault's Fernando Alonso trailed the Australian pilot by 0.142 seconds in second while Weber's Red Bull teammate David Coulthard was third in 1:27.193.

Nico Rosberg of Williams was fourth and Ferrari's Felipe Massa, the two-time defending champion in Turkey …

Some think average investors will get shot at Google stock

So, bunkie, you missed the boat on the Netscape, Amazon, eBay andYahoo! IPOs, and this time you figure you're going to strike it richon the pending initial public offering for Google, the wildly popularsearch engine that built a better computer mousetrap.

Well, some theorize that this time it just might be possible foryou to actually get in on the gravy train, and turn a quick profit bybuying Google shares at the opening price.

But some party poopers suggest that a Google IPO will only resultin the rich getting richer.

At this point, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google is mum. Ithasn't filed the papers necessary to go public, though the WallStreet Journal has …

When subletting reapirs, the buck stops... where?

Subletting repairs can be an efficient way of getting the job done without investing in equipment and staff. But what happens when things go wrong?.

Reprinted with permission from the California Autobody Association (CAA) Leaders' Letter.

Note: While the following was written specifically for California collision repairers, the general premise applies to repairers across the country. For specific regulations in a particular state, consult the state's motor vehicle agency.

Repair shops often get business by their reputations, but a shop may have to sublet some specialized repairs. By subletting, you are relying on the expertise of another shop. If you've done your …

Black Hawks boost Ct.'s Sikorsky in post-9/11 wars

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — America's wars since the Sept. 11 attacks have been a boon for Connecticut's Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., the maker of Black Hawk helicopters.

The U.S. military has relied heavily on the workhorse helicopters to strike targets and ferry troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sikorsky's global sales more than doubled in five years — to $6.7 billion in 2010 — largely because of military business that includes the …

Baker leads Iditarod at halfway point

Satellite tracking shows three mushers have left Cripple, the halfway point in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

John Baker of Kotzebue has the early lead Thursday, followed by four-time champion Martin Buser of Big Lake and Bruce Linton of Kasilof.

The next checkpoint is at Ruby, and the next 150 miles will be on the Yukon River.

Six of the 71 teams that left Willow on Sunday have …