| An illustrator's Jersey-fueled imagination pays off again | | Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2007 3:15:29 PM by Blog57 Team | | Artist David Wiesner spent his childhood vacations scouring the shoreline of Long Beach Island in search of the strange and wonderful, such as the spiky puffer fish, which "looked like something from outer space." Those memories were the inspiration for his latest picture book, "Flotsam," which has been awarded the Caldecott Medal -- the equivalent of a National Book Award for children's illustrated literature. "It was a very compelling thing to be by the water, and the ocean in particular. It's so vast and unknowable. Weird stuff would wash up on the beach," Wiesner, 50, said yesterday after learning he had won the award for the third time. "That coincided with the idea that finding something on the beach is magical." "Flotsam" features a trademark of Wiesn er's work: no text.... | |
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| | | Drivers, travelers cheer drop in oil price: Lower airfares ... | | Posted Tuesday, January 09, 2007 1:30:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | Marcella Houlihan had stopped taking annual trips to her native Ireland. The fuel surcharges on airline tickets had become just too much.But now that oil prices have declined, Houlihan 41, of Quincy, is hoping that airlines will remove the surcharges so she can resume her annual travel to the homeland she left 19 years ago.Ticket prices had gone up and made it more difficult to go home as much as I would like,'' she said.And, according to John Napolitano of Norwell, a financial planner with U.S. Wealth management in Braintree, Houlihan may get her wish.Falling prices of crude oil have led to lower gasoline, heating oil and diesel prices, and could lead to airlines dropping fuel surcharges, Napolitano said.Crude oil prices fell on Thursday to as low as $55.59 a barrel - the lowest since June 15, 2005 - and closed on Friday at $55.80.... | |
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| | | Alaska Airlines Vacations Uncorks New Walla Walla Wine Country Travel Packages | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 3:34:10 AM by Blog57 Team | | Alaska Airlines Vacations, in partnership with Tourism Walla Walla, Wash., today announced the availability of complete vacation packages to the Walla Walla wine country. Located at the base of the scenic Blue Mountains in eastern Washington, the Walla Walla Valley is an emerging producer of world-class wine and culinary offerings, and has attracted a growing number of visitors. The Alaska Airlines Vacations Walla Walla travel packages start at $299 per person. Packages include roundtrip airfare from anywhere Alaska Airlines and sister carrier Horizon Air fly and two nights' accommodation at Walla Walla's historic Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference Center. The package also provides the option of selecting, at an additional cost, a half- or full-day wine tour of the local, award-winning Walla Walla Valley wineries from Blue Stocking Tours and car rental from Budget Rent A Car.... | |
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| | | Open your home, heart to an NYC child | | Posted Friday, November 10, 2006 7:33:37 PM by Blog57 Team | | SOMERVILLE -- Many families in the area are thankful for a special gift this season: sharing summer with a New York City child. Through the "Friendly Town" program of the Fresh Air Fund, local families open their hearts and homes to inner-city children and volunteer as hosts for two weeks during the summer. By volunteering as a host family in 2007 your family can continue the spirit of Thanksgiving throughout the year. The Fresh Air Fund, an independent not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million low-income children from New York City since 1877. Nearly 10,000 city children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs every year. Close to 5,000 visited host families from Virginia to Canada this summer. An additional 3,000 attended five Fresh Air Fund camps on a 2,300-acre site in upstate New York.... | |
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| | | No home away from home | | Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006 1:24:58 PM by Blog57 Team | | NEW YORK - Israeli families living in the United States often decide whether to return to Israel when their child is about to start first grade or enter his teens. "When you're raising children, they don't always know if they're Israeli or American," says Ayelet Ben Ziv. This is just one of the problems facing these families. Ben Ziv wrote a book about Israelis living in America, of whom there are about 650,000, herself included. "Many Israelis who realize the American dream find that even if they have succeeded financially, their success has not provided them with the goods," she says. "Making money and building a career exacts a cost, the absence of a sense of belonging; many Israelis feel like foreigners here throughout their lives." The book, "Jetlag," was published by Gvanim Press.... | |
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| | | City to hire 8 new firefighters | | Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 3:25:15 PM by Blog57 Team | | STAMFORD - Stamford Fire & Rescue and Turn of River fire departments were recently granted approval to hire eight firefighters to help ease overburdened staff and cut down on rising overtime costs. Last month, the city's Personnel Commission approved the hiring of four firefighters to each department. .... | |
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| | | Buyers back out of home deals in record numbers | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:47:26 AM by Blog57 Team | | With real-estate prices falling around the country and even pro-industry trade groups predicting further declines over the next year, buyers are backing away from deals in droves. At a semiannual housing forecast conference last week in Washington, D.C., economists reported that contract-cancellation rates for big builders were running around 40 percent - about twice as high as last year's levels. Anecdotally, real-estate professionals say they are seeing a similar dynamic in existing-home sales. Some of the cancellations are by people who signed new-home contracts at one price months ago, haven't yet closed, and are now stunned to see the builder drastically cutting prices on identical properties. Some are by speculators caught short by other investments they can't unload. And some are by people trapped in a chain reaction: They can't sell their old home - or the buyer has canceled the contract - so they are being forced to cancel the deal on a new house they are buying somewhere else.... | |
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| | | A summer home now, a permanent place tomorrow | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 7:29:45 AM by Blog57 Team | | Many people dream of buying a vacation home in Tuscany or Provence, where they can escape to on weekends or on hot summer days, to wander between the vineyards during the day, buy fresh bread and cheese from the local farmers and sit in front of a fire in the evening, with a glass of fine brandy. The problem is that this is quite an expensive dream. Still, quite a few upper middle-class families from the center of the country have found a no less enchanting solution much closer to home - a home in the Galilee. Realtors in the north are reporting what appears to be the beginning of a new fashion among established residents from Israel's central region. A few deals transacted recently illustrate this developing trend: a resident of Herzliya bought a few lots in the Nof Kinneret neighborhood of Safed and built a luxury villa on them; a couple from Savyon purchased a house in the Bneh Beitcha private development neighborhood of Hatzor Haglilit, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars refurbishing it and turned it into their second home; a resident of Jerusalem bought a house with adjoining land on Moshav Sde Eliezer, beside Hatzor Haglilit; and a few residents from the center of the country have purchased lots on Moshav Hosen, near Ma'alot.... | |
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| | | The Press Republican - Plattsburgh, NY | | Posted Saturday, October 28, 2006 7:31:24 PM by Blog57 Team | | Clare Corron has been named Teacher of the Year for the Diocese of Ogdensburg. A certified elementary teacher, Corron has taught at St. John's Academy for 23 years. Corron is dedicated to every student in her class, and takes care to address each student's individual needs. Corron has taught kindergarten at St. John's Academy for the last 23 years. Her dedication to the students in her classroom is unparalleled. Often, she is found in the school on weekends, during vacations and in the summer, busily preparing for the students. Kevin Shaw, an instructor at CV-TEC in Mineville, was selected to join 40 other educators from around the United States for a three-day, intensive continuing education workshop in Chicago for building trades instructors. A May 2006 survey by the Builders' Economic Council found that 40 percent of builders continue to report a shortage of skilled carpenters.... | |
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| | | First Choice Sales Growth Slows on Terror, World Cup (Update2) | | Posted Wednesday, October 25, 2006 3:25:04 PM by Blog57 Team | | Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- First Choice Holidays Plc, a U.K. travel company, said sales growth slowed in the second half of its fiscal year as heightened airport security and soccer's World Cup tournament discouraged some Britons from taking trips. Sales of traditional summer package vacations rose 2 percent in the period ended Oct. 22, and revenue from activity holidays increased 3 percent, the Crawley, England-based company said today in a Regulatory News Service statement. Those compare with respective first-half growth rates of 4 percent and 6 percent. British police said Aug. 10 they had foiled a plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners using explosives smuggled in hand luggage. The U.K. and U.S. are still restricting most liquids in carry-on bags. Terrorist attacks in Turkey and Jordan also fanned security concerns.... | |
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