Ticket to Write | Steve Stephens commentary: Expo offers chance to plan getaways (The Columbus Dispatch)

Travel lovers who also love to daydream should consider a short trip to the AAA Great Vacations Expo, to be held Jan. 16-18 in Veterans Memorial.

Boating classes get state grants; four area programs included (The News-Herald)

Four area entities have anchored their recreational boating programs with money from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Travel news in brief: A variety of objects drop at midnight (Detroit Free Press)

Everyone knows about the ball that gets dropped on New Year's Eve in Times Square. Maybe you've even heard about the 800-pound peach that gets dropped in Atlanta at midnight Dec. 31. But you may not have heard about the dropping of the sausage, or the gumbo pot, or the giant Peep, a 25-pound fiberglass replica of the famed marshmallowy candy made in Pennsylvania.

William D. Baker McDonald Presbyterian Church member (Observer-Reporter)

William D. Baker of McDonald died Thursday, December 25, 2008, in his home. He was a son of the late Daniel and Elizabeth Tindall Baker. Mr. Baker was a retired field representative for Continental Insurance.

Travel briefs: New Year's Eve countdowns, Robbie Knievel cycle jump (Pioneer Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — Everyone knows about the ball that gets dropped on New Year's Eve in Times Square. Maybe you've even heard about the 800-pound peach that gets dropped in Atlanta at midnight on Dec. 31. But you may not have heard about the dropping of the sausage or the gumbo pot or the giant Peep, a 25-pound fiberglass replica of the famed marshmallow candy made in Pennsylvania.