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National news briefs

National news briefs

Rocket fuel test backfires

HITCHCOCK, Texas -- A retired NASA engineer looking to develop an inexpensive way for people to travel to space might have to go back to the drawing board after one of his experiments exploded.

Jim Akkerman was working on a spacecraft his firm is developing when his rocket fuel exploded Saturday. No one was injured and no property was damaged at the accident in Hitchcock, southeast of Houston.

"It's just an experiment that went bad," police Chief Glenn Manis told the Galveston County Daily News. Too much methane-oxygen fuel mixture accumulated in the rocket engine when the engine wouldn't fire, causing the explosion.

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Mr. Akkerman, who is president of Houston-based Advent Launch Services, could not immediately be reached for comment.

JetBlue on eBay

NEW YORK -- JetBlue Airways Corp. is auctioning off more than 300 roundtrip flights and six vacation packages this week on eBay, with opening bids set between 5 cents and 10 cents.

The flights are to more than 20 destinations, including four "mystery" JetBlue Getaways Vacation packages to undisclosed locations.

Olympian rematch

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington state's last governor's race ended in controversy with three counts, a court challenge and an astonishingly close margin of victory for the current governor.

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Four years later, after a detailed process of election reform, the secretary of state is assuring voters that "voter rolls are the cleanest they have ever been" for the long-anticipated rematch between Republican Dino Rossi and Gov. Chris Gregoire.

In the 2004 face-off between Mr. Rossi and Mr. Gregoire, Mr. Gregoire was pronounced the winner by 129 votes out of 2.9 million cast.

Coney Island park closes

NEW YORK -- The owner of Coney Island's historic Astroland amusement park, Carol Hill Albert, planned to close the park last night in lieu of an agreement with the city or with private developer Thor Equities, which have competing plans for the 3-acre Brooklyn site.

The Cyclone, the famous Coney Island roller coaster, and the 150-foot-tall Wonder Wheel, a Ferris wheel, are separately owned and landmarked by the city so they are unaffected by the closing.

Hitchhicking turtle

CUSICK, Wash. -- Sadie the desert tortoise needs a ride to an adoptive home in the Mojave Desert.

The 10-inch reptile, found at a U.S. 95 rest stop in Idaho, has thrived at the Kiwani Wambli wildlife rehabilitation center north of Spokane since July but is unlikely to do so well with the onset of cold weather.

A couple in Blythe, Calif., would like to adopt Sadie, but are reluctant to drive to Washington. They hope a southbound traveler can give Sadie a ride.

First Published: September 8, 2008, 1:00 p.m.

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