| An Upscale Vision for Downtown
Imagine downtown Riverside teeming with high-income professionals, upscale neighborhoods, trendy restaurants, boutique businesses, artistic attractions, and an expanded federal court complex. If Riverside leaders get their way, the gritty city center will be transformed in five years into a vibrant urban village and government business district, where residents can stroll into eateries, entertainment and art venues around the clock. The vision for downtown is the cornerstone of the much-heralded Riverside Renaissance Initiative, a strategy that aims to complete 30 years of citywide improvements in just five years. .
Nonprofit group set for money
WEST PALM BEACH — A nonprofit organization created to manage a $5'million donation promised by local businessmen during last year's Scripps site selection debate is ready to receive the first batch of the money. The Paragon Foundation of Palm Beach County, formed after county commissioners voted on Valentine's Day 2006 to move The Scripps Research Institute to a split campus in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens, is up and running and can accept its first-year contribution of $1 million, said Keith James, chairman of the foundation's board of directors. .
Scrapbook of Sioux City Art Center's early days is headed to the ...
The Sioux City Art Center has had an extra-special place in the heart of LaVern Frank Rush since planning for it began in 1936.Still in high school and yearning to become an artist, Rush began keeping a scrapbook about her school interests and of anything to do with art.She started a second scrapbook in 1938, right before the new Sioux City Works Progress Administration Art Center opened. She kept it until Jan. 1, 1943, when WPA funding ceased.Rush's 1938-1942 scrapbook stands as a testament to the miracle she believes the Art Center performed in Sioux City. The scrapbook is now considered one of the best among the few remaining records of any of the WPA art centers. It is on its way to Washington at the request of the Smithsonian Institution's Archive of American Art.Those who read it will no doubt have a new appreciation for the Art Center's survival and modern day vibrancy, neither one assured in its early days.A violent timeWhile a dedicated cadre of volunteers worked and dreamed of an art center for Sioux City back then, their real world was a nightmare.
Sweet Tooth satisfies a niche
After being a pastry chef at hotels like the Marriott, Hyatt Capitol and Hilton International for six years, Steve Thomas saw an opportunity to go into business for himself. "A lot of places were reducing staff and just buying products instead of labor," Thomas said. "I saw a need for fresh, good pastries and desserts."
So Thomas, 44, found some property on Ritchie Road in Capitol Heights, Md., completed a business plan, and opened Sweet Tooth Cakes and Pastries. Since it opened in June 1996, Sweet Tooth has added a location in Upper Marlboro, Md.
But that was the easy part. Thomas said that getting organized and finding staff that was qualified enough to supply the quality that he wanted in his pastries were the two main problems that he encountered.
"I didn't just want people who were just looking for a job to make money.
Action 9: Man Says Charlotte School Won't Send Refund
Brian is training to be a hair stylist at an area beauty school. He had planned to enroll in another beauty school, Superior Academy on West Trade Street. Last October he paid a $375 deposit. But then Brian says he got a night job and called the school's director to say he'd have to change from night classes to a day schedule. "She began questioning me on my desire of the industry, was it something that I really wanted to do, which really put a bad taste in my mouth," he said. Brian says that conversation made him decide not to enroll at Superior and he asked for his deposit back. "She offered me a refund back and said it would be in the mail the end of that week. I waited and waited, about two weeks passed, I didn't get anything," he said.
Sorry, but democracy costs money
WE WILL soon be voting in local elections for district councils that are set to disappear in two years if the county's Cumbria-wide unitary authority proposal is successful. Belatedly, the districts have come up with alternative proposals for either four or six smaller authorities. Clearly, the political leadership of the district councils – most notably Carlisle, which should have been spearheading the alternative strategy – has been culpable in letting the county's submission appear the only valid option. Sadly, however, many people seem obsessed with the idea that the only criteria for deciding the way forward should be “saving taxpayers' money". Unfortunately, democracy costs. I don't suppose many people are ready to argue the case for abolishing local government altogether, which would save a packet.
Science Center reinventing itself
The Carnegie Science Center is working on a master plan to "reinvent" the center, which is expected to include a major expansion project centered on ecology and the center's North Shore riverfront location. Director Joanna Haas said the master plan is the outgrowth of an 18-month review of the services and programs offered through the center, which opened in 1991. Programming in four of the six areas on which the center will focus can be accommodated in its existing building. The proposed "eco experience" likely will require construction of major indoor and outdoor facilities, and SportsWorks will have to be relocated because of the extension of the light-rail system to the North Shore. The Heinz Endowments, which has taken a special interest in Pittsburgh's riverfronts and ecology, has given the center a $250,000 planning grant.
Domestic violence victims find no room left at shelters
Last week, Rebecca Griego's stalker walked into her office -- unchecked by any security measures -- and killed her. Neglecting safety in the workplace isn't the only way that communities can fail to protect their citizens. "Yes, we have a shelter, but it's full." That's what nine out of 10 domestic violence victims hear when they call a Seattle crisis line. In the jargon of domestic violence workers, Seattle's turn-away rate is 90 percent. Domestic violence shelters differ from other kinds of shelters, such as homeless shelters. First, the domestic violence shelters have higher security. Only staff and clients know their locations. Indeed, most police officers do not know their locations. Security also might involve closed-circuit TV cameras at entrances and exits, identity codes and passwords required to enter.
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