It is effectively a giant sink hole, drawing in water from one-sixth of the continent, an area equivalent to the combined size of Germany, France and the United Kingdom. A rare phenomenon underway in Australia s biggest and driest lake is part of a change in weather systems that scientists say could end the country s worst drought in 100 years. Despite being bordered by deserts it only takes a few weeks of water before thousands of birds and fish start calling Lake Eyre home - within...

The restaurant serves bread made in-house, and menu items include blueberry amaretto pancakes, streusel encrusted French toast and London broil and eggs. It specializes in cut outs of town names for nearly every Colorado location, as well as other states, countries and sports. Two other rooms entice visitors to grab a souvenir of the mountains, in the form of sun catchers, magnets, bookmarks and candles make with real flowers. The straight-shot highway prevents even the directionally...

But the tribe hopes it becomes the centerpiece of a budding tourism industry that includes helicopter tours, river rafting, a cowboy town and a museum of Indian replica homes. It will allow up to 120 people at a time to look down to the canyon floor from a vantage point more than twice as high as the world's tallest buildings. Indian leaders, former astronauts and other visitors stepped gingerly beyond the Grand Canyon's rim last week, staring through a glass floor and into the 4,000-foot...

As vice president of marketing, Smith will direct brand development, print and broadcast advertising campaigns, promotions planning and local store marketing strategy. During her tenure at EyeAmerica, she led growth for the company s vision centers, created the company s first marketing plan and brand strategy, launched its ad campaign and created an online training program to enhance customer service. At Captain D s from 1995 to 1999, Smith had overall responsibility for a $12 million...

robertson(at)baytownsun.com When Baytown resident Mike Nguyen bought his home along Cedar Bayou six years ago, he thought it would be ideal for three of his favorite hobbies fishing, boating and swimming. What he didn t know was that the bayou would soon become the battleground for a mounting struggle between commerce and recreation as unfettered barge traffic from nearby industry inches closer and closer to its residential east bank. A 76-year-old man walking his dog on Friday near the...

Are you saying that the lobbyists representing boat owners and big corporations are just like marauding Visigoths? Aren't they honor bound to represent their client's interests? What's unethical about that?" And the disputes are decided by mighty lobbyists in the Thunderdome: the floor of the Council's chambers, The veterans of the ring are hard to beat: the mighty Mister T, the fiery Red Queen, the scrappy Bobby T and the scariest Master of all, the Incredible Uncle Ted, who rides the...