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$1 saves at least $20 million 

ELKHART, Ind. — Bayer Corp. is selling a former Alka-Seltzer factory for less than you would pay for a box of the fizzing tablets — $1. 

But whoever buys the building may need to stock up on the tablets, since its $6 million to $7 million a year in maintenance costs could give anyone a case of indigestion. 

For Elkhart Mayor Dave Miller, though, the news helped ease any concerns he had about the site. 

“Bayer’s willingness to essentially give the building to a qualified operator is probably the best news for the city of Elkhart,” Miller said. 

The building has 933,000 square feet of space and includes space for manufacturing, laboratories, offices. It also includes large refrigeration units that could be used for a company working with foods, said Joe Martin, senior vice president and general manager for Bayer Diagnostics. 

Bayer would save the cost of maintaining the building, as well as the $20 million it would cost to demolish. “So it’s really a win-win situation for everybody,” Martin said. 

It’s a prison,
not a country club 

CARSON CITY, Nev. — When some Nevada prison inmates who wanted to work on their golf game started to build a driving range, the state prison director got a bit teed off. 

Now it’s a baseball field. 

Prisons Director Jackie Crawford said convicts at the prison system’s 100-inmate Tonopah Conservation Camp got the idea for their own driving range after volunteering time to build one for the city of Tonopah. 

“Our inmates made a beautiful driving range for the city,” Crawford said when asked Friday about the convicts’ activity. “Then they said, ’Why not make our own?”’ 

Crawford quickly stopped such talk. 

“I can assure you that there are no golf courses at our prisons,” Crawford added. “Not under this director.” 

Softball’s another matter, she said, adding, “That’s something all the prisons should have. It helps expend energy.” 

‘Urban Warfare’ overseas
helps soldiers feel at home 

LOS ANGELES — Some 10,000 Navy submariners are skateboarding, racing cars and playing hockey — all thanks to a donation from the video game industry. 

Each of the Navy’s 72 subs has been given a video game console and about 20 top-selling games as part of the industry’s post-Sept. 11 effort to boost morale of soldiers fighting terrorism. 

The donation comes from members of the Interactive Digital Software Association, a trade group for the video game industry. Consoles donated include Microsoft’s X-Box, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s GameCube. 

“While overseas on active duty, our troops can’t enjoy many of the things they relax with at home, so we decided to bring the games they love to them as our small way of saying ’thanks”’ said Doug Lowenstein, IDSA president. 

About 1,700 games were donated, including titles ranging from “Star Wars Rogue Leader” and “Delta Force Urban Warfare” to “Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3.”