var lngCharacterTimeout = 20;
	var strStoryTimeout     = 5000;
	var strCharOne          = "_";
	var strCharTwo          = "";
	var strCharNone         = "";
	var strPrefix           = "";

	var arrImage = new Array();
	var arrHeadline = new Array();
	var arrTeaser = new Array();
	var arrLink = new Array();

	// Ticker startup
	function startTicker()
	{
		// Define run time values
		theCurrentStory     = -1;
		theCurrentLength    = 0;
		theBuf = "";
		// Locate base objects
		if (document.getElementById) {	
			theAnchorObject = document.getElementById("anchor");
			runTheTicker();}
		else {
	    document.write("<style>.ticki{display:none;}.ticko{border:0px; padding:0px;}</style>");
	    return true;
		}
	}
	// Ticker main run loop
	function runTheTicker()
	{
		var myTimeout;  
		// Go for the next story data block
		if(theCurrentLength == 0)
		{
			theCurrentStory++;
			theCurrentStory      = theCurrentStory % theItemCount;
			theStorySummary      = arrTeaser[theCurrentStory].replace(/&quot;/g,'"');		
			theTargetLink        = arrLink[theCurrentStory];
			theAnchorObject.href = theTargetLink;
			thePrefix 	         = "<span class=\"tickls\">" + strPrefix + "</span>";
			
			document.getElementById("image-anchor").href = theTargetLink;
			document.getElementById("image").alt = arrHeadline[theCurrentStory];
			document.getElementById("image").src = arrImage[theCurrentStory];

			document.getElementById("headline").href = theTargetLink;
			document.getElementById("headline").innerHTML = arrHeadline[theCurrentStory];

		}
		
		//fill our buffer with the next four chars
		theBuf = theStorySummary.substring(theCurrentLength,theCurrentLength + 6)

		//if the contents of theBuf = '<b>x' or </b> or <br /> then we want to write 3 or 4 or 6 chars at once
		if (theBuf.substring(0,3) == "<b>") {
			theCurrentLength = theCurrentLength + 3;}
		else if (theBuf.substring(0,4) == "</b>") {	
			theCurrentLength = theCurrentLength + 4;}
		else if (theBuf.substring(0,6) == "<br />") {	
			theCurrentLength = theCurrentLength + 6;}
		else {
			// Stuff the current ticker text into the anchor
			theAnchorObject.innerHTML = thePrefix + 
			theStorySummary.substring(0,theCurrentLength) + whatChar();
			// Modify the length for the substring and define the timer
			if(theCurrentLength != theStorySummary.length)
			{
				theCurrentLength++;
				myTimeout = lngCharacterTimeout;
			}
			else
			{
				theCurrentLength = 0;
				myTimeout = strStoryTimeout;
			}
		}	
		
		// Call up the next cycle of the ticker
		setTimeout("runTheTicker()", myTimeout);
	}

	function whatChar()
	{
		if(theCurrentLength == theStorySummary.length)
		{
			return strCharNone;
		}

		if((theCurrentLength % 2) == 1)
		{
			return strCharOne;
		}
		else
		{
			return strCharTwo;
		}
	}