| For Bellingham’s Mark Wheatley, the bicycle is way of life
Sitting behind a computer all day is Mark Wheatleys job. But his passion is outside out anywhere he can get to on two wheels. Im not the kind of guy who really likes to sit still, says Wheatley, 53, an instructor and systems engineer who bikes often from his home in Bellingham for overnight trips to his job in Bellevue at computer-training company SQLSoft. I like to do something bigger, he says, getting out and seeing a big horizon. In that spirit, Wheatley takes his bicycle everywhere: he rides it to and from work, on tours and even on vacation. He spent a week before and after a Microsoft conference in November 2006 in Barcelona to tour Europe on his bike. Its sustainable transportation, and I never feel like a road trip (in a car) is at all satisfying to me, he says of his work-and-play biking habits.
STATEHOUSE: Rep. Jones pushes Internet safety policies for public ...
BOSTON — You can lock the doors and windows, hold their hand at the mall and buy training wheels for bicycles. But a major danger facing kids today is right above the keyboard. "The Internet is one of the biggest risks we have for kids safety right now," said Lawrence Lt. Sean Burke, who is president of a national school safety group. And, a North of Boston lawmaker wants to make sure the time kids spend on school computers is safer. Rep. Bradley H. Jones Jr., R-North Reading, is pushing legislation to require every school district to have a policy for making the Internet safe for minors and make the policy known to parents and legal guardians. "It's important that any parent be able to know what (the school system's) policy is, and even if there is no policy in particular," Jones said.
City's two-wheel transformation
London is likely to become one of the most cycle-friendly places in the world, with a series of two-wheeler superhighways cutting a swath through traffic and congestion. Plans for the super-cycleways will be unveiled next week as part of an initiative to stimulate a 400% increase in the number of people pedalling round the capital by 2025. At a cost of £400m, the 12 routes are intended to be the motorways of cycling and are likely to be emulated by other cities across the UK. Londoners without bikes will be able to use one of the city's free bicycles. "We want nothing short of a cycling transformation in London," said the mayor, Ken Livingstone. "We are announcing the biggest investment in cycling in London's history, which will mean that thousands more Londoners can cycle in confidence, on routes that take them quickly and safely to where they want to go." The cycle scheme is one of several environmental announcements expected in the capital over the coming weeks, including a decision on plans for a £25-a-day congestion charge on the highest-polluting vehicles and a proposal to re-fit 900 civic buildings across the capital to make them more energy-efficient.
Gearing down with single-speed mountain bikes
A growing number of mountain-bike enthusiasts are shifting back to the basics and choosing single-speed machines. While advancements in mountain-bike technology have seemed to bring more climbing capability with each model year, some aficionados have realized there can be too much of a good thing. Fans of the new generation of one-speed mountain bikes rave about their dependability, quiet ride and sense of cycling purity. "There was a moment in the mountain bike world when it had, like, a rebirth," says Gary Fisher, who gave the mountain bike its name nearly 30 years ago. "It's purist. It's practical. The bikes are light because they don't have all that other stuff on there." While the latest machines are reminiscent of their ancestors, they have many improvements.
UMAPAGAN AMPIKAIPAKAN: Why the guy with an Afro is a winner
THERE is this Kennedy campaign advertisement from 1960. It's got this catchy jingle that I just can't seem to shake off. You know what it's like, when a song suddenly slips into your senses, playing in an infinite loop, over and over again. It plays for so long that you believe it to be more than just happenstance. There must be a reason for this trespassing tune. And so you begin to draw all kinds of connections and conclusions. This is what has happened to me.
Now if newsprint were music, I'd sing for you, but you're just going to have to use your imagination, as it goes a little something like this:
"Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Ken-ned-dy for me! Do you want a man for president who's seasoned through and through, but not so doggone seasoned that he won't try something new? A man who's old enough to know.
Towns use marketing to create, promote identity
Schultz is an industrial developer who was part of a group that helped Effingham turn 3,000 lost jobs into an additional 4,000 to 6,000 manufacturing jobs. He wrote a book, "BoomtownUSA," on his work and now, still living in Effingham, speaks around the country about building and marketing town identities. "Branding is the buzzword they use now," Schultz said. "Branson, Mo., is a good example." Thirty years ago, Schultz said, Branson was little more than a small town in southern Missouri. Town leaders came up with an idea to market Branson as a live theater showplace. Now the town boasts thousands of theater seats in about 50 live theaters. All of this in a city that, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, has only 6,050 residents. Moorseville, N.C., is another example. In 1989, the city decided to market itself as Race City U.S.A.
Borough initiative must include trust
When Gov. Ed Rendell approved a state budget that included a $1.7 million transportation revitalization plan, many wondered where the money would come from. As legislators continue to squabble over potential sources of funding, such as tolling Interstate 80 and leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is bracing to be stretched to its limit. With many structurally deficient bridges and public transit systems desperately in need of funding, smaller community projects risk finding themselves on the back burner for years, maybe even decades. Given this, it seems like the perfect plan for PennDOT to begin its "turnback" program with several roads in State College, including College and Beaver avenues. The program lets PennDOT turn over control and responsibility of certain roads to smaller municipalities.
2008 high school soccer season preview
Smunk's height is a huge advantage on corner kicks as his flying header attempts are quickly becoming legendary at Beaufort. "He just has a knack," Greenlee said. Mozzo's calm under pressure was a big key to his success last season. In Beaufort's two shootout wins in region play last year, Mozzo didn't allow a single goal. With Beaufort's defense taking a hit because of graduation, Mozzo will be asked to do a little more this season "We had a tremendous defense last year (and) lost a lot of those guys to graduation," Greenlee said. "Most importantly, Erik is there. His leadership is back." Returning starters Matt Stewart, Nash Brace and Ashby West will provide support for Smunk, Jaramillo and Mozzo. The versatile Stewart could be used on defense or play more of an offensive position.
Wind and waves, a poet laureate, and tough policing
As we enter the new year, some issues remain doggedly at the island's heels just as they were a year ago: the Champlin's affair, state budget constraints and high energy costs. But we also had some unexpected and welcomed turns: a potential solution to those energy problems, a state poet laureate selected from our ranks, and a busy summer held in check by competent police work.Some of the most exciting announcements — with the potential to change life on the island — occurred in the last few weeks of 2007.Wind and waves to the rescueAfter Governor Donald Carcieri announced his goal to provide a minimum of 15 percent of the state's electricity from renewable sources, wind energy ended being high on that list.The state commissioned a study, and Rhode Island Commissioner of Energy Resources Andrew Dzykewicz announced in a series of on-island presentations that two of the prime locations for a wind farm are off the shores of Block Island.If approved, said Dzykewicz, there could be as many as 100 wind turbines, standing 450 feet high with blades extended, complete with foghorns and lights, anywhere from a mile to three miles south of the island.
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