American Airlines to continue N.Y. flights

Representatives from the American Airlines sales team met withsome members of the Charleston Area Alliance and business leaders onTuesday to discuss the nonstop scheduled passenger service AmericanEagle offers between Charleston's Yeager Airport and New York'sLaGuardia Airport.

American Eagle is the regional affiliate of American Airlines.

Nancy Kalin, American Eagles' director of corporatecommunications, said in an email, "While the high cost of fuel is achallenge for all airlines these days, American is pleased with thecommunity's support for its CRW-LGA service launched two years agoand has no plans to discontinue the route."

She declined to say whether the route is actually making money.She also declined to say whether American is planning to increaseflight frequency or offer flights to other cities.

Kalin did say one topic American's representatives brought upduring local discussions was the Business ExtrAA travel award andincentive program that rewards businesses for travel on American andAmerican Eagle.

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If the closest you've ever been to a rocket launch is watchingthe 1999 movie October Sky, you might want to circle June 28 on yourcalendar.

Between 8:28 p.m. and 11:28 p.m. that evening, NASA plans tolaunch a U.S. Air Force Minotaur 1 rocket from the space agency'slaunch range at the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's EasternShore.

According to a press release, the Minotaur is about 70 feet talland 5 feet wide. It's a four-stage vehicle. Two stages arerefurbished Minuteman II stages that use Minuteman rocket motorsthat have been decommissioned as a result of arms reductiontreaties. Orbital Sciences Corp developed the other two stages. Thisrocket will carry a satellite.

NASA said, "The launch may be visible, depending on cloud coverand one's viewing location, in the eastern United States fromsouthern New York to North Carolina. It may be seen as far west fromthe Atlantic Coast as West Virginia and western Pennsylvania."

More information about the mission is posted on the Internet atwww.nasa.gov/centers/ wallops/missions/ORS.html.

The launch will be webcast beginning at 1:30 p.m. on launch dayat http://sites.wff .nasa.gov/webcast and the launch status can befollowed on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/NASA_Wallops

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A recent video on The Wall Street Journal's website told thestory of a former coal mining region in France where some of thelocals have planted a vineyard on a grass-covered slag pile.

It will take a few years to get the first commercial harvest andthere's a lot of speculation about what the wine will taste like.But the townsfolk are excited about what the wine will be called.

So far the leading candidate is: "Carbonnay."