Virginia's old slogan is in new hands

Virginia's old sloganis in new hands
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- Virginia's still for lovers. A Virginia Tourism Corp. decision retains the famous state marketing slogan "Virginia is for lovers," but delegates the job of spreading it to a new advertising firm.
Herndon-based White and Baldacci are the new keepers of the phrase under a deal worth about $300,000 annually. Richmond-based Work Advertising had held the previous contract, worth about $550,000 annually plus expenses, for more than two years.
"Emotions sell brands," White and Baldacci Senior Vice President Mike Smith said. "We want to tap into not just the love of Virginia as a place to spend your honeymoon, but love as the thrill of founding a new country, of new ideas and the passion of the American Revolution."
Beijing opens upin English Web site
BEIJING (AP) -- The Chinese capital is revealing itself to the world -- online and in English.
Beijing's municipal government has launched an English Web site aimed at foreigners. The subjects: investment, tourism, work, study and life in the city.
Beijing is embracing the outside world increasingly as China opens up -- and as the 2008 Olympics approach.
Visit www.ebeijing.gov.cn for more information.
Swamp visitors center
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- A new visitors center is opening at Phinizy Swamp Nature Park in Augusta. The visitors center at the 1,100-acre park will initially only be open on weekends and staffed by volunteers, said Jackie Maryak, executive vice president of the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy, which manages the park. It will have a 10-minute video, "Look Outside at Phinizy Swamp," which includes scenes of plants, wildlife and a hawk feeding her young.
Big Easy gets easier
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- New Orleans would like to be the Las Vegas of the South when it comes to weddings. A new law lets non-Louisiana residents get married without the three-day wait required by state law. The city's marriage licensing office is also now open on weekends. Couples can fly in Friday night, get a license Saturday, spend the weekend celebrating in New Orleans and go home married.
$1,000 -- up in smoke
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) -- It was the most expensive cigarette he ever smoked.
Kenneth Carroll, 50, from Dunnellon, Fla., was fined nearly $1,000 at a judicial proceeding in the Cayman Islands on Oct. 30 for lighting up aboard a Cayman Airways flight.
The plane's captain smelled the smoke as he descended into the Grand Cayman airport. When he sent a flight attendant to check on the bathroom, Carroll emerged in a cloud of smoke.
What do Brits thinkof the royal family?
LONDON (AP) -- Eight out of 10 Britons between the ages of 16 and 24 believe the royal family is out of touch and overprivileged, but good for the tourist industry.
Although 81 percent thought the royal family was good for tourism, nearly three-fifths said they would not cross the road to see Queen Elizabeth II if she came to visit their town.
Only 10 percent thought the royals were important to their life, but 79 percent thought they were good for charities, and 71 percent believed they gave Britain prestige abroad.
The ICM survey for The News of the World, a Sunday newspaper, polled around 500 young people by telephone in late October.