Word: scheme
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Every night at 11 p.m., the village of Dörentrup in central Germany is thrown into total darkness. Strapped for cash for the past few years, the local council has taken to switching off all the streetlights. But while the scheme saves money, it left residents like Dieter Grote and his wife worrying about their children coming home in the dark. "My wife has all the good ideas," says Grote, who runs an advertising agency. "I discussed the problem with her and we thought it must be possible to have the lights available on demand." Grote got in touch...
...residents of Dörentrup can now switch on the lights on a specific street whenever they like. All they have to do is register for the scheme online and provide a phone number. Each time they need to see in the dark, they call the Dial4Light number and either recite or enter the six-digit code - which can be found online or on every lamp in each street - that corresponds to the stretch of road they want lit. Within seconds, the lights are on, and they'll stay on long enough for someone to walk from...
...campaign to abolish the disparity between penalties for powder and crack cocaine. Attorney General Holder called it "simply wrong" in a speech in Memphis last month. In April, Ricardo H. Hinojosa, the Sentencing Commission's acting chair, said there is "no justification for the current statutory penalty scheme" for cocaine, a position the commission first took in 1995. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress now agree that crack sentencing rules need to be fixed; and this may be the year that Congress finally heeds the commission. A bill creating parity between crack and powder cleared a House subcommittee last week...
...night Doc's ex-girlfriend Shasta shows up on his doorstep asking for help. It appears that her new squeeze, the powerful real estate mogul Mickey Wolfmann, may be the target of a kidnapping scheme. When Mickey disappears - and Shasta too - the lovelorn Doc, with quantities of superior weed, plunges into a many-layered plot. It involves, among other things, the LAPD, organized crime, disorganized crime, a lecherous dentist and the Golden Fang, which is sometimes a mysterious schooner, sometimes a no-nonsense drug cartel. Pynchonesque multitudes crowd into the picture. Tight-lipped federales, stoner lawyers, ex-con neo-Nazis...
...piggyback on the cash-for-clunkers scheme, car dealers are stepping up advertising and manufacturers are offering their own incentives. Chrysler, which has watched its sales dwindle this year to the point where, according to Edmunds.com, it is now in seventh place in total sales in the U.S., plans to match the federal rebate dollar for dollar. Any consumer shopping for a new vehicle will qualify for the program, which offers up to $4,500 for the purchase of an eligible 2009-model-year Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge vehicle through the Double Cash incentive. Mike DiGiovanni, GM's general director...