Port Charlotte Sun from Port Charlotte, Florida • 4

Front Rage 4 ENC www.sunnewspapere.net FROM PAGE ONE The Sun Monday, February 1 6, 2009 RAYS: Baseball fans come out to view the start of training FROM PAGE 1 from work." Scott and Lisa Intihar of Rotunda agreed. The couple brought the whole brood to watch as players stretched, played catch, took fielding practice and ran through various drills on the first day of workouts. Getting to the park really was half the battle for Lisa, who was trailed closely by sonsZachary, 11, Matthew, 10, and Tyler, 7, and family friend Jaryd Clary, 11. "Between baseball games, basketball and inline hockey, we didn't get home until midnight last night," Lisa Intihar said. "And then we woke up this morning and started breathing in basebalL" Before the Rays, of course, came the Texas Rangers, who called Charlotte Sports Park spring training home from 1987-2002 before moving their base to Surprise, Ariz.

The park sat dormant without a Major League team until this season, when Tampa Bay agreed to move its spring headquarters from St. Petersburg. And not only did area residents get to revel in the thrill of their home town team training just down the road, the Rays poured $28 million worth of renovations into the facility to bring it up to speed and really wow their fans. "This is so much better than all of the fields I've been to," Peters gushed. "This is really incredible.

The Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte? If awesome. They are really close now, and this is so great for us." Despite the memory that started it all and has Peters coming back year after year, Grand and Gabnella won't be doing any pond-diving, no matter whose home run lands in it "Not a chance," he chuckled. "They're staying dry." GAS: No relief for consumers AUTOPILOT: No one in control of crashed plane cases for $10 more per barrel and that doesn't even include shipping. Brent North Sea crude, which feeds some East Coast refineries and therefore winds up at many gas pumps around America now costs about $7 more per barrel than the West Texas crude. Deutsche Bank analysts say the trend should continue.

Historically, West Texas International crude has cost more. So nobody bothered building the necessary pipelines to carry it beyond the nearby refineries in the Midwest, parts of Texas and a handful of other places. Now that the premium oil is suddenly very inexpensive, refiners elsewhere can't get their hands on it Irs so cheap," said Lynn Westphall, the senior VP of external affairs at San Antonio-based Tesoro, which owns a half dozen refineries on the West Coast and Hawaii. "But you can't just build a pipeline to everywhere. We know we can't get it." Tesoro's refineries in North Dakota and Utah use locally drilled oil and Canadian oil, which also has been running about $10 more per barrel than West Texas crude.

Why not build more pipelines? Because investing billions over several years makes no sense when the prices could flip a year from now to where they were before. Refiners have seen the headlines about job losses and consumer spending. They've slashed production just to avoid taking losses on gasoline no one will buy. Result Higher gas prices. FROM PAGE 1 premium crude to five-year lows.

But it is the overseas crude that goes into most of the gas made in the United States. So prices at the pump will probably keep going up no matter what happens to the benchmark price of crude oil "We're going definitely over $2, and I bet well hit $250 before spring," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "This is going to be an unusual year." On the last day of 2008, gas was $1.62 on average, according to the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express, a company that tracks transportation data. Foreign oil sells in some of the autopilot to better "feel" changes in the handling qualities of the airplane. Chealander also said Colgan, like most airline companies, had begun following NTSB recommendations that pilots use deicing systems as soon as they enter conditions that might lead to icing.

He said it was not yet clear exactly when the pilot on Flight 3407 turned on the plane's advanced deicing system. By Sunday, authorities had recovered the remains of 15 people from the wreckage as crews raced to finish their work before a storm arrives later in the week. FROM PAGE 1 The pilots of Continental Flight 3407 discussed "significant" ice buildup on their wings and windshield just before crashing into a home Thursday night in a suburban neighborhood near the Buffalo airport Forty-nine people aboard the plane were killed, as well as the homeowner. The flight was run by Colgan Air, which operates a fleet of 51 regional turboprops for Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. In a December safety alert issued by the NTSB, the agency said pilots in icy conditions should turn off or limit the use LOOMS: Most Southwest Florida stations will go digital Tuesday WWSB ABC 7 Sarasota has already switched over to digital as of Feb.

1. WZVN ABC 7 Fort Myers will switch at noon The station began its analog broadcast on channel 11 in 1953, and Tuesday afternoon that ALMANAC Today is Monday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2009. There are 318 days left in the year. This is Presidents' Day.

Today in history On FA 16, 1862, during the Civil War, some 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered at Fort Donelsonjenn. (Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grants victory earned him the nickname "Unconditional Surrender On this date In 1804, Lt Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to bum the US. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates.

In 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was organized in New York City In 1918, Lithuania proclaimed its independence, which lasted until World War II. (It again declared independence in 1990). In 1923, the burial chamber of KngTutankhamenfe recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter. In 1945, American troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II. In 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month and a half after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

In 1968, the nation's first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated, in Haleyville, Ala. In Luwum.the Anglican archbishop of Uganda, and two other men were killed in what Ugandan authorities said was an automobile accident In 1988, seven people were shot to death during an office rampage in Sunnyvale, by a man who was obsessed with a coworker. (The gunman, Richard Farley, is under sentence of death.) In 1998, a China Airlines Airbus A30O-60OR trying to land in fog near Taipei, Taiwan, crashed, killing all 196 people on board. Tan years apjK Enraged Kurds seized embassies and held hostages across Europe following Turkey's arrest of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. Testimony began in the Jasper, Texas, trial of John William King, charged with murder in the gruesome dragging death of James Byrd Jr.

(King was later convicted and sentenced to death.) Hw yean apjK A confident John Kerry launched a full-throttle attack on President George W. Bushfe economic policies, mostly ignoring his Democratic rivals on the eve of the Wisconsin primary The Walt Disney Co. rejected a takeover bid by Comcast Corp. One year ago: President George W. Bush, on a six-day tour of Africa, made his first stop in Benin before flying on to Tanzania.

John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, picked up a total of 50 GOP national convention delegates from Michigan and Louisiana. A car plowed into a group of street-racing fans obscured by a cloud of tire smoke on an isolated Maryland highway, killing eight people. Today's birthdays Singer Patty Andrews is 91. Nm Jong II, the president of North Korea, is 67. Actor Jeremy Butodi is 63.

Actor Pete PosDathwalta is 63. Actor Wllan Katt is 58. Actor LsUv Burton is 52. Actor-rapper lee-T is 51. Actress Usa Luring is 51.Tennis Hall of Fame player John McEnroe is 50.

Rock musician AndyTaytor is 48. Rock musician Daw lonterio (Slayer) is 44. Rock musician nwlor Hawkins (Foofighters) is 37. Singer San Saner is 34. Rapper Lupe Hatco is 27.

Actor Mesa WMnbarg is 16. From wins reports NEWS OF THE WEIRD Habitual offenders Katherine Kelly, 76, was arrested in November for stealing a wallet from a supermarket basket in New York City. It was her 73rd arrest, at least, with 16 convictions, but police say it could be more, in that they've found 36 aliases so far. Henry Earl, 58, of Lexington, gave rehab one more try in October after his arrest number 1333, almost all for public intoxication. From wire reports 3EES 1 WFTX FOX 4 will switch sometime before June 12.

WGCU PBS will switch sometime before June 12. wow, you just don't think of it until then." II Tuesday Regular Priced Item WMtlMk217H. flno iBjBilr on Feb. 17. WBBH NBC-2will switch noon on Feb.

17. WINK CBS will switch at 12:10 p.m. on Feb. 17. signal will be no more.

"That's history, more than anything else, Stetson said. "It's like, LADIES APPAREL Monday Any One I Ami i us to wait so that people can prepare, and we're going to give them this opportunity," Kenney said. However, Kenney said the station is unsure whether they will wait until the new drop-dead date of June 12 to kill their analog broadcast. Their main concern, just like WINK's, is hurricane season. "It's all about the viewers," she said.

For months, local stations, including WINK and FOX 4, have been running public service announcements to inform viewers of the digital switch. This past week, those stations making the switch by Tuesday have been scrolling FCC-mandated messages on the screen during prime-time programming to get the word out. WINK has done a few test runs recently, as well, where a message would display on the screen only for analog signal viewers during a local newscast. Each time a message has been displayed, Stetson said he would get a few phone calls, but not many. Stetson expects WINK to formally end their analog broadcast at 12:10 p.m.

Tuesday, live on camera during their noon newscast. The event is planned partially to help viewers who may be confused by the switch, but also represents the end of an era for broadcasting in Southwest Florida. FROM PAGE 1 purchase a converter box that would allow viewers with older television sets to keep watching. But recently, the voucher program ran out of money and those who have applied for a coupon have been placed on a waiting list. The government then decided a delay would be best.

The whole situation has been confusing enough that calls have come in at a regular clip to WINK, where Stetson has personally answered more than 300 inquiries. "We're trying to help out as many people as we can," he said. "And we'll keep doing this even after the analog turnoff, because we want to help as many people as we can get TV because that's what they want." After the federal government delayed the mandatory switch date until June 12, 2009, there was some confusion on the part of viewers who contacted WINK. "Once we explain to people we're doing it because of hurricane season coming and we want to make sure that everybody is ready, they're understanding more," Stetson said. But over at competing broadcast station FOX 4 WFTX, Tuesday will not be D-Day.

Judy Kenney, station vice president and general manager, said her station felt it was best to take advantage of the delay. "We feel that our government has asked lHSUr Any One Regular Priced Item Romilar ill mm ir!) Prippri II Priced Item WMimlZ17Al. Uall OFF wmmmmm UaltZS1 TAKE Mon. Fri. 10 a.m.

a Punta Fort Myers Not all TVs produce digital signals, and new TVs sold now must come with a warning that they are not capable of receiving digital. For those who purchased sets in the last five years, the easiest way to tell if your set can receive a digital signal is by reading the manual that came with your set Labels such as Integrated Digital Tuner," Digital Tuner Built-in," "Digital Receiver," "Digital Tuner," T3TV7 "ATSC," or HDTV" suggest your set should be able to survive the switch without a converter box, according to the FCC. But television sets labeled as Digital Monitor," "HDTV Monitor," Digital Ready" or HDTV Ready" are likely to require a converter. Additionally, sets labeled "analog" or "NTSC" without any indication of a digital tuner will require a converter box. Gorda (in Cross Trail Center) 941-505-2177 (at College Parkway Center) 239-275-31 1 1 www.anthoiiysfla.com 7 p.m.

Sat. 10 a.m. 6 p.m. Sun. 11 a.m.

5 p.m. ri through 21709. Cannot be combined with any other discount Selection may vary by store. No adjustments made on previously purchased merchandise. A clearance Item is one that has been reduced at least twice..