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You can have your caffeine and eat it too

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 30, 2007

Dr. Robert Bohannon, above, wants you in his world. It's fast, upbeat, jovial and driven by caffeine - lots of it. But four to six cups of coffee a day aren't enough for Bohannon. So the molecular scientist who moonlights as a cafe owner developed a way to add caffeine to baked goods, one that eliminates its naturally bitter taste. Bohannon can put 100 milligrams of caffeine - the equivalent of a 5-ounce cup of drip-brewed coffee - into the treats he plans to market under the "Buzz Donuts" and "Buzzed Bagels" names. Bohannon, who owns Sips Coffee & Tea cafe in Durham, isn't selling the amped-up baked goods yet. He recently began seeking patents and shopping the products to companies including Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks Corp. There's no word yet on whether the companies like the idea.

Air America to be sold; Franken out

Air America Radio, a liberal talk radio network, said Monday that it had reached a tentative agreement to be sold to the founder of a New York area real estate company. The network also said that Al Franken, its longtime headline personality, would depart next month. The agreement with Stephen Green, the founder and chairman of SL Green Realty Corp., appears to rescue the struggling network, which has been seeking a buyer since last fall, when it filed for bankruptcy reorganization after reaching an impasse with one of its creditors. The network didn't specify why Franken was leaving, but Franken said this month that he had contacted Minnesota lawmakers to seek advice about a possible run for the Senate.

Paper podcasts reader complaints

Readers have been angrily calling newspapers with complaints almost since the first telephones were installed. Now, the San Francisco Chronicle is turning some of those calls into podcasts and posting them on its Web site for all to hear. Dubbed "Correct Me If I'm Wrong ..." on the Chronicle's Web site, the paper last week posted a podcast of a reader's voice mail expressing irritation with a photo caption and the headline "Forest service begins testing pilotless drones" that appeared over a story buried deep within the Aug. 29 Business section. "Is there any other kind of drone?" the reader said in the voice mail.

[Last modified January 29, 2007, 22:59:22]