The parent company of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport's largest commercial airlines posted a fourth-quarter profit despite rising fuel prices plaguing the industry. The news comes as further evidence of the demand for discount service that the niche market carrier provides to cities not served by majors, said Martin Whalen, a Mesa aviation lawyer and bank executive. Though Allegiant Travel Company didn't post earnings and losses for Allegiant Air's operations at the Mesa-based airport, company spokeswoman Tyri Squyres said Allegiant "is obviously happy with selecting Phoenix-Mesa as a destination base and looks forward to growing it." .

Mark 'The Ear' Oberhardt looks at sport

AFL's growing search for overseas players has filtered down to the local level. AFLQ club Broadbeach has recruited a teenage Canadian who shows plenty of promise. Scott Fleming and his whole family have moved to the Coast to see if he can make the "foreign" sport a goer.

HISTORIANS were reaching for their record books after Alistair Purser, a long-time grade cricketer with Wests, took 6-1 against Redlands at Dunlop Park last week.

Circus denies its use of animals is ‘cruel’

If their ears are pricked forward that's the sign for them being happy. I'd far rather a horse be there than some of the sorry half-starved states that the travellers leave in fields that aren't even theirs. Un-groomed, un-shod and no bridle or saddle and like I say half-starved. Stupid over-zealous people. Try looking at areas that need more attention like these foreign zoos or clubs that keep lions in the tiniest of cages. .

2008 Candidates' Positions on the Issues

Ease restrictions on family-related travel and on money Cuban-Americans want to send to their families in Cuba. Open to meeting new Cuban leader Raul Castro without preconditions.

_Education: Encourage but not require universal pre-kindergarten programs, expand teacher mentoring programs and reward teachers with higher pay not tied to standardized test scores, in $18 billion plan to be paid for in part by delaying elements of moon and Mars missions.

Most Popular

Not because he doesn't want to talk. Magedson loves talking, especially when the subject is his beloved Web site.

It's just that he's so incredibly particular. Arranging one simple meeting is an exercise that captures, perfectly, why Magedson is so good at getting results — and why he's infuriated the CEOs of several midsize companies to the point that they accuse him, flatly, of extortion. He overthinks every detail. And it would never occur to him to stop pushing before he gets what he wants, even if he's not sure what that is.

First there's where to meet. It has to be a public place. A dog park? A restaurant? Even after Magedson decides on lunch at Chompie's, he calls back with instructions about which bank of booths to pick. He's planning to park in the handicapped spot, he says, and from the right booth, he'll be able to keep an eye on his dog.

Take cover by saving urban trees

We need as many trees as possible. Not only in the streets but parks and any suitable area. Not only good for wildlife but also the street scape. Always pester the local authority about the Governments 'Pound for Pound' tree planting scheme. Very useful. Can also try the Government's Specimen Tree planting scheme which is also worthwhile. Always harangue any official not doing the right thing.richard - East London, london

I am a Councillor in Frinton, we have managed to prevent this rape of the environment by imposing a large tree conservation area. Would strongly recommend that people get tree conservation orders on all the trees they value. It really works and here regularly prevents developers destroying trees for profit!David Evans, Frinton-on-Sea

Matt in Essex - you are missing the real points here.

Adult-to-child ration matters more

Jessica Blanchard's Monday article "Does class size make a difference?" focuses exclusively on class size rather than adult-to-child ratio. I've got three examples as a parent where this ratio matters more than the class size. My kids, now 10 and 15, had the good fortune to go to great schools in Israel, Sweden and Seattle's John Stanford International School.

My daughter's Israeli K-1 class was large, 36 students, but had a lead teacher and full-time adult assistant who worked with small groups on reading, art projects and prepared tea for the class. My son's 3-4 class in Sweden had close to 50 students but, again, a lead teacher directed a full-time assistant and language, art and math specialists who were in class daily. Back here at JSIS, parents chip in to hire a full-time assistant for the immersive language teachers, including one for the 32 students in my son's fourth-grade Japanese class.

Boy Developer Ben Shaoul Wants to Live Forever

The Observer interviewer, Max Abelson, asked Shaoul to name his favorite architect. Shaoul shied away from answering, brilliantly deflecting this important question. This might be because his favorite, or at least most oft-used architect, Ramy Isaac, of Isaac and Stern, recently lost his right to participate in the DOB's Professional Certification Program (a.k.a. self-certification) having been found to have dissembled repeatedly. What is Isaac's specialization you may wonder? Like a zealot on a crusade this architect divined that the DOB was willing to issue self-certified permits as a form of blanket plausible denial in order to allow for work from basement to roof (and higher) in occupied housing. Warranty of Habitability be damned, they probably say. We must help these tenants vacate so that these apartments may be hastily renovated and leased to young investment bankers, NYU business students and others who will not be around for more than a year or two and could care less what happens when they return to the housing tract wasteland from which they emerged or the cradle to coffin social nets if they represent the international bourgeois comprador classes who have recently descended upon New York City in droves.

Cheat Sheet: SOA

It stands for service-oriented architecture. Sometimes people talk about SOAs, even pronouncing it as a word.

And why's that good? The alternative is to stay with siloed, standalone applications that can't easily talk to each other.