In the booking hall at Ilkley station, young mother Ruth Kitcher, with lively three-year-old Evangeline and nine-month-old Phoenix in tow, supported Mr Johnson's view of the station's positive contribution to Ilkley life.

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Michael (Mad Dog) Harris, a 60-year-old general contractor from Phoenix, flies to matches with his wife, Suzanne (Ramblin' Rose), in their Piper Aztec.

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There are rumors that Silvio Berlusconi, like the phoenix of old, is rising from the ashes and closing the gap, perhaps forcing the necessity of an alliance with his rivals and Prime Minister Mario Monti.

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