plus 4, Machinery likely used to steal statue - Deseret News

Machinery likely used to steal statue - Deseret News
Sports digest: - San Jose Mercury News
Jack of all trades - Seneca County Advertiser-Tribune
WEEK AHEAD: Sprint Center will host variety of events - Kansas City Star
Garland says Dakar about to get 'tough' - ninemsn

Machinery likely used to steal statue - Deseret News

Posted: 03 Jan 2010 10:34 PM PST

LINDON (AP) — Police say thieves must've used heavy equipment to make off with a four-ton statue mounted outside a Utah motorcycle shop.

The $100,000 sculpture — which depicts an old-time speed racing motorcycle — went up two years ago outside the Timpanogos Harley-Davidson store.

When employees showed up for work Saturday morning, it was gone.

Kandi Zamora, a store manager, says the statue was mounted on a granite block, which is also missing.

Lindon Police Chief Cody Cullimore says the theft likely would have required a backhoe or a crane.

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Sports digest: - San Jose Mercury News

Posted: 03 Jan 2010 09:08 PM PST

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Miscellany Motorcycle racing Hall of Famer Kenny Eggers, 80, a longtime San Jose resident, died Tuesday after a brief illness. Eggers raced Harley Davidsons in the early 1950s for the Tom Sifton team and later became a member of the BSA "wrecking ...

Jack of all trades - Seneca County Advertiser-Tribune

Posted: 03 Jan 2010 09:08 PM PST

Jack of all trades

Perkins Racing and Auto Repair highlights its well-kept secrets

By Vicki Johnson, vjohnson@advertiser-tribune.com

Glenn Perkins at Perkins Racing and Auto Repair said the "auto repair" part of the business seems to be a well-kept secret.

"I've heard a lot of remarks, 'We didn't know you guys did all this,'" he said. "For what we do, the name of the company is misleading a little bit. I really want everybody to know we do all the diagnostics for everyday stuff."

Although his racing hobby originally "dragged" him into working on cars, Perkins said he makes his living as a mechanic - and more recently in body work and restoration.

"We do anything from the newest cars out there today to anything back in the 1900s," he said. "One side's a mechanic shop and one side's a body shop."

He and his two employees can work on anything from motor rebuilds and transmissions to diagnostics from the mid-1980s to today, as well as routine oil changes and brake jobs.

"Anything you want done on your car we can handle it," he said. "No matter what it's age."

Perkins said he grew up in the atmosphere of being a mechanic and worked on lawn mowers in the fourth grade. He has 20 years of experience.

"I've been doing stuff ever since I was a kid," he said. "I've been a mechanic all my life other than driving truck on and off."

When he was 16, Perkins said he started drag racing, which increased his skills out of necessity.

"I started out because of the drag racing to put money in my pocket without taking money out my paycheck," he said. "When you're on a budget, you figure out how to do things yourself. Drag racing, there are things you can't afford to buy without sponsorships that you want. You learn to make the things you need to compete and be as good as everybody else."

Running his own business grew from necessity.

"Every place I've worked has either gone out of business or I've been laid off," he said.

He was working for someone else until 2001 when the first Iraq war broke out and his company downsized.

"I was low man on the totem pole so I was out," he said.

He and his wife decided he should start doing some mechanic work in their garage. So he started rebuilding transmissions. Two years later, he started renting a building on North Washington Street.

"We were there for a couple years and then we moved in down here on Washington Street and bought the building," he said. "And this is where I'm at now."

He said he's glad of that turn of events now because he likes being self-employed.

"Because now I have my own destination," he said. "I can control my own destiny, my own paycheck."

Buying his own building - a former body shop - led him down another path.

It wasn't until five years ago he tried his hand at restoration work.

"The body shop thing kind of came in after we bought this place," he said. "It's turned into the biggest part of my business."

One of his current projects is restoring a 1914 Locomobile, which is a large touring car.

"It was a high-end car at the turn of the century," he said. "I've been working on that project for a man for quite some time, piece by piece."

He also has restored a 1965 Ford Galaxy, a 1985 Monte Carlo, a 1953 MG, a 1932 Chevy Coupe and a Cushman motorcycle.

In addition, the shop handles small jobs.

"Fix a fender , pull a dent. That's no big deal," Perkins said.

"The way the economy is going, the more versatile you are the more money you're going to make," he said. "It's turned into a pretty good business all by itself, the body shop end of it."

Perkins said his customers come from throughout Seneca County, as well as Toledo, Fremont and Findlay.

"I'm not here trying to get rich," he said. "I'm just trying to make an honest living and make a decent wage.

"We want to be professional and perfectionists at what we do."

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WEEK AHEAD: Sprint Center will host variety of events - Kansas City Star

Posted: 03 Jan 2010 09:08 PM PST

While the new year began (again) without a professional sports franchise calling the Sprint Center its home, that doesn't mean you won't be able to get your sports fix at the downtown arena in the upcoming months.

The Harlem Globetrotters played two games there Saturday, and there is a variety of events still to come.

Here are a few things to put on your calendar:

•Monster trucks will be doing their thing in "Monster Jam" during Feb. 12-14. What says Valentine's Day more than watching 12-foot-tall, 10,000-pound machines?

•The Professional Bull Riders will be at the arena March 5-7. This will be the best 40 bull-riding athletes in the world holding on for dear life.

•Missouri will try defending its Big 12 men's basketball tournament title March 10-13.

•The women's NCAA Tournament will play regional games March 28 and 30. That means a Final Four team will be emerging from Kansas City.

TUESDAY

KC TIGER CLUB LUNCHEON: Broadcaster Dave Armstrong will be the guest speaker; 11:30 a.m.; Westport Flea Market, 817 Westport Road; www.kctigerclub.com.

SATURDAY

FROSTY 5K: The aptly named Frosty 5K Run/Walk is at 9 a.m. at HealthRidge Fitness Center at K-10 and Ridgeview Road in Olathe; registration is $25 per person or $40 for a two-snowman team through Friday, and $30 and $50 on race day; online registration is at www.sportkc.org; Troy Fitzgerald, 816-204-1780. WATCH PARTY

ALABAMA: Thursday's BCS national-championship game against Texas; 7 p.m.; Fox and Hound, 10428 Metcalf, Overland Park; www.kcbama.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS

CHALLENGE YOUR FASHION: Former Royal Mark Teahen will join local sports celebrities for an evening of fashion and fun, benefiting the YMCA of Greater Kansas City's Challenger Program for kids with special needs; Jan. 16 at Union Station; www.challengeyourfashion.com.

BORDER WAR ON ICE: The Missouri and Kansas club hockey teams will play Jan. 20 at the Independence Events Center; tickets are $10 and available by calling 866-443-8849.

AMA ARENACROSS: Motorcycles will be racing Jan. 30 inside Kemper Arena; kemperarenakc.com.

GROUNDHOG RUN:The 28th annual Children's TLC Groundhog Run at the Hunt Midwest SubTropolis, Jan. 31; www.sportkc.org.

| pgrathoff@kcstar.com

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Garland says Dakar about to get 'tough' - ninemsn

Posted: 03 Jan 2010 09:08 PM PST

Australian Bruce Garland says the Dakar Rally will start to get "tough" after Sunday's second stage.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah seized the lead of the 9,000km endurance event with victory in the 355km timed run from Cordoba to La Rioja in Argentina as the fallout continued following a horror crash which claimed the life of a 28-year-old spectator on Saturday.

But Sydneysider Garland, who is currently 23rd overall with partner Harry Suzuki after Sunday's stage, says the major racing is yet to come.

"We got everything today," Garland said in a statement.

"Fog, mud, rain. Then it dried out a bit. The car just cruised through. No problems for us.

"We're both taking it easy because it's still early stages.

"There's a long way to go and tomorrow is when it starts to get really tough."

Al-Attiyah's stage win was an early 2010 boost for the Qatari driver whose 2009 race ended in controversy when he was disqualified while leading the race.

France's Guerlin Chicherit, in a BMW, was second on the stage followed by three more Volkswagen drivers - Carlos Neves, Sainz and Mark Miller.

Six-time motorcycle winner and three-time auto champion Stephane Peterhansel of France, in a BMW, was sixth on the day and is third overall.

Spain's Nani Roma, in a BMW, who won Saturday's opening stage, lost 15 minutes on Sunday after suffering a double-roll and finished in 18th spot to be in eighth place overall.

"We caught up with Stephane after 150km. We kept a modest pace for a while then it became very technical. That's where we attacked before ending up in Carlos' dust," said Al-Attiyah.

"From then on we kept up a good rhythm. Everything is going great."

France's David Fretigne on a Yamaha won the motorcycling stage while compatriot David Casteu of Sherco retained the overall lead after coming in second, 43 seconds adrift.

Spain's Marc Coma, the 2006 and 2009 winner, finished third but was then penalised 22 minutes for speeding, a sanction which relegated him to 14th overall.

"It was a really tough special stage, very technical," said Casteau.

"The trail was very slippery and there are animals everywhere. I even crossed path with two cars going in the opposite direction."

Meanwhile, Germany's Mirco Schultis and Swiss teammate Ulrich Leardi, whose car accidentally ploughed into a group of spectators, killing a female fan, didn't start Sunday's second stage.

The duo's 4x4 vehicle came off the track and smashed into the spectators who are believed to have strayed from a designated safe-viewing area near the town of Rio Cuarto, around 800km from Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Sonia Natalia Gallardo, 28, who suffered serious head, pelvic and stomach injuries in the incident, died in a Cordoba hospital while four others were hurt.

After the three deaths in 2009, which involved French motorcyclist Pascal Terry and two lorry staff, extra security measures were introduced for 2010.

Five 'public zones' were set-up along the route of the first stage which were planned to provide a safe viewing area for spectators. In all, there are 57 such areas set aside on the event's 14 stages.

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