On Dec. 10, the US Army Will Have Its First Execution Since 1961
Woman's jaw broken in cab stoning
Cabbies march on police station
I-Team: New Details in Cabbies and the Cabaret Lawsuit
Taxi Drivers Strike in Latest China Unrest
Pay boost for cab drivers
Cab company given 'fare' warning
Airport created its own taxi problems
Cabby Says No to Plug In Cars
Electric cars drawing Houston fans
Massachusetts Rebels Over $7 Tunnel Tolls as Debt Costs Rise

Can Tran

The United States Army is set to have its first execution in a nearly fifty years. The last execution was carried out back in 1961.

December 10, 2008 will be a historical date for the United States Army. It will have its first execution since 1961. According to the United States Army, soldier Ronald A. Gray of North Carolina will be executed.

Gray was convicted back in 1988. He was charged for the rapes and murders of Army Private Laura Lee Vickery Claw in 1986 and civilian cab driver Kimberly Ann Ruggles in 1987. Their rapes and murders were at least one month apart. - Full article

Digital Journal - (Internet)

A 25-year-old German woman had her jaw broken when a stone was thrown at a taxi in south Belfast.

It happened in Glenmachan Street at about 2300 GMT on Wednesday. The driver and two other passengers were not injured in the attack.

The stone went through the car's windscreen and hit the woman. - Full article

BBC News - (U.K.)

20 November 2008
By Paul Fisher

Taxi drivers furious over force response to assault.

Disgruntled taxi drivers descended on Greyfriars police station and Bedford Town Hall on Wednesday to call for extra protection following a violent assault in Putnoe.

Around 50 cabbies gathered to protest that police officers did not respond quickly enough when an Eagle Cars driver was assaulted in Cranborne Close at around 9.30pm on Tuesday.

The man was taken to Bedford Hospital South Wing with head injuries following the assault, which police believe was an attempted robbery.

A spokesman for Eagle Cars, based in Midland Road, said: "The reason they are protesting is if we had done something to a customer in self-defence we would have been in trouble, but the drivers feel the police do not respond in time if they are in danger." - Full article

Bedford Today - (Bedford, Bedfordshire, England)

Updated: Nov 20, 2008 07:30 PM

Las Vegas taxi drivers say they have been unfairly maligned by a lawsuit filed in connection with kickbacks paid by adult nightclubs.

The lawsuit alleges that taxi drivers routinely divert passengers from their requested destinations, taking them instead to nightclubs that pay a bounty.

It turns out, the adult clubs aren't too happy about the allegations either.

Contrary to what is alleged in the lawsuit, attorneys for the strip clubs say there is nothing illegal about what they've been doing.

It's not just a lawsuit. The owner of two local strip clubs also filed a formal complaint with the state, alleging that the clubs are breaking the law by paying kickbacks, the drivers are breaking the law for taking them, and the taxi companies should be held accountable as well.

But attorneys for the clubs say there's nothing illegal about tipping drivers, and the drivers say they're being made the scapegoat.

Randy Hynes, an advocate for taxi drivers and former driver himself knows big money is being handed out by Las Vegas adult clubs. But he says cabbies get only a small piece of it. - Full article

KLAS-TV Channel 8 - (Las Vegas, Nevada)

By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, November 20, 2008; Page A14

BEIJING, Nov. 19 -- Civil unrest stemming from economic concerns flared in southwestern China on Wednesday as several hundred taxi drivers in Chongqing went on strike over a government plan to put more cabs on their district's roads. The protest took place two days after rioting erupted in the impoverished northwestern province of Gansu over declining incomes and property values.

"There is so much competition from unlicensed taxis," said Yang Zhihua, a cabdriver in Chongqing, in Sichuan province. "We call on the government to punish them severely and leave us more space for business," he added. - Full article

The Washington Post - (Washington D.C.)

By Yang Lifei | 2008-11-21

CAB companies have promised taxi drivers in Chongqing Municipality that they will pay a 50-yuan (US$7.31) bonus a day to each car, after cabbies staged a two-day strike earlier this month, according to Chongqing Morning Post.

The agreement is retroactive to November 5, two days after the strike started in the city's downtown area.

Under the new policy, two drivers who share the same taxi, can each earn an extra 25 yuan a day if neither has a serious traffic violation or passenger complaint.

Drivers will get an additional bonus from the company for good deeds. However, drivers will be dismissed if their service is deemed inferior, the report said. - Full article

Shanghai Daily - (Shanghai, China)

By JEFF LIPTON November 20, 2008

What's in a name? Apparently everything — especially if you own a neighborhood taxi company.

A new cab company in Long Beach trying to make a name for itself started off on the wrong foot with the county, resulting in thousands of dollars in fines and three of its taxis being hauled away, officials said.

And it all started with a dispute over its name. Beech Street Taxi, at 1046 West Beech St., which was operating as Long Beach Checker when the business was launched about a year ago, was forced to change its name because it was similar to the long-established Long Island Checker.

The owner of Long Island Checker, Phil Fortuna, filed a lawsuit against the president of Long Beach Checker, Thomas Cipolla, in Nassau County Supreme Court, saying the similar name would cause confusion among customers. - Full article

Nassau Herald - (Garden City, New York)

The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, November 20, 2008

I am associated with Regina Cabs and Premiere Taxi and, notwithstanding the fact that the Regina airport administration excludes these companies from picking up fares at the Regina Airport taxi stand, I find it necessary to comment on the study referred to in the Nov. 14 article, "City, airport need more taxis: study".

This consultant's study, based on my reading, contains unreliable information and assumptions that are of questionable usefulness.

The study also offers some pretty wild recommendations such as stripping taxicab companies of their right to fairly compete in the transportation marketplace and the creation of a gray market taxi service that would be outside the regulatory control of the City of Regina.

Another strange idea is that taxi riders in the city should be paying extra on their taxi fares to subsidize the wages of some employees at the airport. - Full article

The Leader-Post - (Regina, Saskatchewan)

A Scottish Taxi firm has hit out at Government attempts to convert taxis to electric branding them ‘inefficient’ and ‘expensive’

PRLog (Press Release) – Nov 20, 2008 – Chief executive at Paton’s Taxiworld, the Specialist provider of taxis for sale and hire, William Paton said, “There is a lot of emphasis on ‘going green’, however electric powered cars are just not a feasible idea for cab firms. The Government is right to be looking into fuel alternatives but maybe the future should be in gas rather than electric”.

The Government recently met with the Chinese automaker that co-owns the company that produces black London taxis, about bringing electric-powered cabs to the UK capital. Despite reducing carbon emissions, for the general population, the cabby community is worried that they will be the ones to suffer.

Mayor Boris has already made it clear that his stance is to back the electric powered motors, and as a result, it is estimated that the first rollout of the first ‘green’ black cabs is just one year away.

Mr Paton added, “If individuals want to own electric cars it is up to them but if this becomes compulsory, it is firms like ours who provide taxis for sale who will be hit the hardest. I am wondering if this goes through in London how long it will be before the whole of the UK is affected. It is worrying to think that we may all be expected to convert our vehicles to electric.” - Full article

PRLog - (Internet)

The latest models are small and not too fast, but they can pass you at the pump

By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 20, 2008, 2:39AM

Rick Ehrlich has high hopes for his new car dealership but it's not likely to strike much fear into competitors with lots full of gleaming vehicles from Detroit, Asia or Europe.

From a small warehouse near Minute Maid Park, Ehrlich has launched Houston's first electric car dealership, selling the Zenn — "zero emissions no noise."

Under state law, the cars are classified as "neighborhood electric vehicles," limited to 25 mph and banned from roads with speed limits over 35 mph. But the Canadian-built hatchbacks are hardly golf carts. The same car is sold in Europe with a diesel engine and can take to the highways.

"I don't have any illusions that we'll sell in high volumes, but it's a real car in every way," Ehrlich said. "It can carry two people nearly anyplace in the city for less than two cents per mile, while creating no air pollution." - Full article

The Houston Chronicle - (Houston, Texas)

By Michael McDonald

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Massachusetts drivers are rebelling over a planned increase in Boston highway tunnel tolls to $7, as the state becomes the latest to weigh how to meet rising costs at a time of economic decline.

State lawmakers, fueled by outraged commuters, are rallying against a proposal backed by Governor Deval Patrick to raise tolls around Boston. The increase would help pay for the $15 billion ``Big Dig,'' a highway tunnel network and the most expensive public works project in U.S. history. The state needs the money to cover an additional $100 million in maintenance and borrowing costs coming due next year, officials said.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, a state agency controlled by the governor, last week proposed doubling tolls to $7 for two tunnels in downtown Boston and increasing the fee for driving on Interstate 90 in and out of the city. More than 30 lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, this week vowed to pass legislation to block the increase and yesterday House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi joined the opposition. - Full article

Bloomberg - (New York City, New York)

Ender Wiggen

Updated Nov 21 @ 12:57 GMT

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