| Borough go-slow on cards
LEWISHAM borough could be the first in the capital to get 20mph speed limits across the whole area. Lewisham Council's sustainable development committee, which scrutinises the council's work on environmental issues, wants to make Lewisham the first London borough to be completely 20mph. Showers in workplaces for cycling employees, tax-free loans for workers to buy bikes, more cycle racks and more free cycle training for children and adults are also among the proposals raised. .
Clos Pepe, Chumash Casino win Green Awards
Old English Babydoll Southdown Sheep keep weeds down at Clos Pepe Vineyards and Estate Wines. Owls and hawks are encouraged to make their home at the vineyard by strategically placed nesting boxes and perches, so they can keep the rodent population in check. Beneficial insects also are released to reduce pests in the vineyard, located between Lompoc and Buellton. //Contributed .
Staving Off Transit Doomsday
Chicago last week staved off yet another looming transit doomsday, and for a mere half billion dollars in new taxes. So guess what big Illinois city needs more money for transit already? As far as El-pocalypses go, this would have been a doozy. Saying they were out of money, transit authorities in Chicago were prepared to cut 160 bus routes and idle about a third of their buses. They'd have raised some cash fares to more than $3, and they were guessing they'd lose 250,000 or so daily riders. Now, never mind. Governor Blagojevich imposed a deal and lawmakers took it. The sales tax set aside for transit in Chicago and surrounding counties is going up. There's a new tax on home sales. Downstate Illinois will send more money to prop up a system "which is of no value to them," as state Rep.
BTAC Issues Grants to Communities
NEWMARKET, Ontario (BRAIN)The Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC) has announced the six recipients of the $25,000 in grants. Awarded twice a year and available to cycling focused community groups, BTACs Grant Program will support projects that put more people on bikes. This spring the funding goes to organizations that are conducting projects which fall into the following categories: education, advocacy and facility enhancement. An important selection criterion is whether the project will make measurable improvements to the overall cycling landscape in Canada. Education: Vancouvers After School Bikes program receives $5000. Developed by PEDAL Energy Development Alternatives (PEDAL) and partially funded by Translink, the three-year program will seek to improve access to bicycles and cycling in Vancouver elementary schools.
Health briefs for Jan. 14
The Does Drove 33, the ladies of the Rapid City Elks Club, recently presented a $2,210 check to representatives of the Rapid City Regional Hospital Foundation for the Rapid City Regional Hospital Hospice House.The women’s group raised the money for the Hospice House during a December craft sale at the hospital. The homemade crafts sold were all made by club members. The Hospice House opened in September and has 12 private rooms for terminally ill patients. So far, 93 percent of the fundraising goal for the house has been met. Another $329,481 is needed to reach its goal. For more information about donations to the Hospice House, call the Rapid City Regional Hospital Foundation at 719-5844.Group topic is mental health improvementDepression and Bipolar Support Group will meet from 7 p.m.
Kernville Elementary celebrates Laps for Learning
Select classrooms were rewarded Friday, Jan. 18, with pizza and root beer float parties for gaining top earnings for Laps for Learning, as well as selling bamboo plants and creating the best 'Just Say No' poster. The student who raised the most money for Laps for Learning received a new bicycle. In a repeat of last year's performance, fifth grader Jared Moffatt raised the most money for Laps for Learning, earning $252, and another brand new bicycle. Bill Best's third grade class earned $1,340.33 in Laps for Learning money, which earned them a root beer float party. The hard working students also sold the most (53) bamboo plants for a total of $530. This accomplishment earned the class an ice cream sundae party. However, because one than one party was scheduled for the same day, Principal Aileen DeLapp and Best opted for a combined pizza and root beer float party.
10 years for driver who bragged of taking out 'treehugger cyclist'
A drunk-driver who killed a cyclist has been sentenced to ten years in prison in the US, after the judge heard a recorded jail conversation in which she laughed about "taking out a tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot." Melissa Arrington, 27, a barmaid and exotic dancer from Tucson, Arizona, could have received as few as four years behind bars after she killed cyclist Paul L'Ecuyer while driving under the influence on the night of December 1, 2006. Instead, she was sentenced to 10 years - one year shy of the maximum prison term for negligent homicide - after the judge heard a telephone conversation between her and a male friend one week after L'Ecuyer was killed. During the conversation, the man told Arrington that an acquaintance believed she should get a medal and a parade because she had "taken out a tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot." .
Weight of swastika heavier outside the bubble
I was about to leap into this debate with an array of dubious facts and self-serving rhetoric, but you've forced me to step back and reconsider the situation. If we restore this debate to its proper historical perspective, it seems clear that racism actually disappeared altogether in the mid 1980s. Yet over the next two decades, White Christians have suffered years of senseless oppression at the hands of people like Alexandra Schwartz, who insinuate that some white people have been complicit in acts of discrimination. These lies have had an incredibly damaging effect on the psyches of young white middle-class males: Given the number of false claims that have been made to the effect that some whites are racist, it is no wonder that so many whites strike back by being racist. I realize now that for the tragedy of racism, it is the so-called "victims," who are truly to blame.
Rice Testifies Before the House Judiciary Committee on Mideast Policy
I will say that these are smuggling routes that have been there for many, many years. And we know that it is not easy to cut them off. But I was very clear with the Egyptians that what ever the challenges and the difficulties of cutting off smuggling routes, they had to do more and they had to do more urgently. LANTOS: Madam Secretary, let me turn to the upcoming Annapolis conference. I am very supportive of the idea of the conference. And I certainly want the conference to succeed to the maximum possible extent. But there are very thoughtful and serious people who are raising questions about the timing of this conference. Both sides are weak in some ways, not even in control of the area they presumably are speaking for. Abu Mazen has tenuous control of the West Bank, no control of Gaza.
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