kimblr.com

Vintage planes will take off from Blaine for flyover
More than 25 World War II and other vintage aircraft will take part in a flyover of the State Capitol on Saturday as part of Blaine Aviation Weekend. The warbirds are set to take off at noon from the Anoka County Airport.
Many types of aircraft will be on display during the event at the airport, which runs 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Airplane and helicopter rides will be available for a charge. The Golden Wings Museum and American Wings Museum will be open for tours.
On Saturday night, a big band hangar dance will be held at the Golden Wings Museum; period dress from the ’30s and ’40s is encouraged. Tickets are $10 for adults, $6 for students ages 13-17 and free for kids under 12. Doors open at 7; the dance runs from 8 p.m. to midnight. For more information on the events, go to www.eaachapter237.org.
Officers who rescued girl honored for heroism
The actions of three Brooklyn Center police officers may have saved the life of a 2-year-old girl who was kidnapped last May by her father. This April, the officers were awarded the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association’s State Medal of Honor.
Sgt. Frank Roth, Officer Patrick Toohey and Officer Keith Carlson assisted the day that Jermaine Dickerson allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend, kidnapped their daughter and threatened to throw himself and the 2-year-old off the Interstate 694 bridge into the Mississippi River. They were given the award at the association’s annual conference in Duluth.
City will use herbicides to keep parks looking tidy
City officials are hoping residents will notice fewer dandelions and weeds at parks this summer. Herbicide will be applied on city parks, street medians and other public properties through May 25. If you have questions about the process, call 763-493-8350.

startribune.com

Gwinnett residents oppose high-end Stone Mountain hotel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Residents of Gwinnett County’s Park Place community in Stone Mountain aren’t interested in seeing a developer put a high-end hotel on vacant land near aging subdivisions.
About 50 people packed a small hotel meeting room Wednesday night to to oppose a plan to build a three-story Ramada brand hotel and a retail center topped by condos at Rockbridge Road and West Park Place Boulevard.
Resident Will Weston said one of the chief complaints is traffic. The area is often clogged with mile-long backups at rush hour as it is, he said.
“People just don’t want it,” he said.
Other complaints include ruined sight lines, decreased property values, adding more vacant commercial space to the area and the threat of sending an area already teetering on the edge of decline into a full death spiral.
Residents worry that adding more commercial space in the neighborhood could worsen conditions at existing shopping centers that already have vacancies, or make it difficult for the new project to succeed.
The 57,000-square-foot project is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission on May 13.

ajc.com

SOUTH Walton in the Florida Panhandle region has the best quality sand in the world. That’s the claim from boffins at a Maryland university, who’ve clambered down from their ivory towers to evaluate beaches around the globe. After years of in-depth research they’ve told the locals what they already knew: that the 26 miles of white sand on this Gulf of Mexico coast are hard to beat. Education’s never wasted.
HOLIDAY INFO: Stay at the Courtyard Sandestin at Grand Boulevard where a room in May for two costs about £32.25pp per night – go to www.marriott.com. BA Holidays have a seven- night fly/drive to Orlando from Gatwick from £379 next month. Call 0844 493 0758.
OPRAH has a house here. John Travolta acts as an unpaid tour guide for visiting friends and you’re likely to spot Brad and Angelina sharing a wheatgrass sundae in a beach bar. Forget Hollywood – the real A-listers are crowded into this beachside town of just 100,000 chilled Californians. Stay at the Spanish-style Harbour View Inn, just across the road from Stearns Wharf and the beach and near dozens of restaurants (organic, calorie-controlled menus, of course).
HOLIDAY INFO: A week at the Harbour View Inn from £1,275pp and £595 kids including car hire and Virgin flights to San Francisco early July. Go to www.virginholidays.com
TAKE advantage of the cheap dollar rate this year to travel further afield to South Carolina. This is where you’ll find some of the finest beaches in the United States, less developed than much of Florida or California. Take the kids to family-friendly Myrtle Beach, part of a 60-mile stretch of white sand near championship golf courses and theme parks such as the Grand Strand and Hard Rock Park.
HOLIDAY INFO: A week in June at the Colonial Green Condominiums – five minutes from Myrtle Beach – costs £699 per adult (twin share) and £549 per child (two-11), rising to £849 per adult (£674 per child) in July and August. Prices include flights from Manchester or Gatwick, car hire and two-bed self-catering accommodation. Go to www.bon-voyage.co.uk

sundaymirror.co.uk

“Dr. Beach” – Stephen Leatherman, the beachs scientist who releases an annual list of top U.S. beaches every May – today released his 2008 roster, which includes two beaches in the Carolinas.
Leatherman, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research., ranks Hatteras Island, in the Outer Banks, as No. 8 , and Beachwalker Park, at Kiawah Island, S.C., as No. 10.
Top honors this year went to the strand at Caladesi State Park, near Clearwater, Fla. The No. 1 beach in 2007 was Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, on the Outer Banks. Caladesi Island State Park was ranked No. 2.
This is the 18th year Leatherman, a Charlotte native, has compiled his list. It is based in 50 criteria, including water and sand quality, facilities and environmental management.
The full 2008 list:
1. Caladesi Island State Park, Fla.
3. Siesta Beach , Fla.
9. Cape Florida State Park, Fla.

charlotte.com

By STEPHEN J. NOVAK
NEWTON — A tree doesn’t need to fall in the forest to make a sound. Not if it is a tree made up of second-graders.
Four of the Merriam Avenue School students stood with their backs to each other, representing the trunk of a tree, essentially its heart, yelling “Boom!” loud enough to echo across the playground.
More students sat or laid on the grass around them, kicking their feet in and out and making slurping noises to represent the tree’s roots gathering water.
And around them, the rest of the group stood holding each other’s hands and waving them up and down while making swishing sounds to represent the xylem and phloem, the parts of the tree that transfer nutrients and water.
The idea behind the game was to help the young students to understand how trees work, which is needed if they are to understand the trees’ role in creating clean, healthy water, said members of the Newton Rotary Club.
Sylvester Fletcher, Newton Rotary Club’s Water, Health and Hunger chairman, said the children’s enthusiasm for learning is what the group’s humanitarian efforts need.
“At this age, if you can get their attention, their minds are wide open,” he said.
The Merriam Avenue School activity Thursday is only a small part of Rotary International’s campaign to raise awareness of a worldwide water crisis. About 6,000 people die every day because they lack clean water or a system to get to it, according the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group.
Later in the month, Rotary members will return to the school with evergreen seedlings for each second-grade student. Students will care for the young trees, and possibly exhibit them at the New Jersey State Fair/Sussex County Farm and Horse Show in August.
It is a pilot program for the area, said Newton Rotary member Sherman “Buzz” Tomasino, but one the group hopes to continue next year.

njherald.com

“ANNIE GET YOUR GUN” — The Wild West lives again with Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill. 7:30 p.m. Starts Monday and runs Mon.-Sat. through May 31. Some 12:30 and 4 p.m. shows. Hale Centre Theatre, 3333 S. Decker Lake Dr., West Valley. $15-$25. (801) 984-9000. www.halecentretheatre.org.
“THE MIRACLE WORKER” — Drama derived from Helen Keller’s autobiography who was deaf and blind in 1880s. 7:30 p.m. Starts Friday and runs Mon.-Sat. through May 24. Dark: April 15-16, 22-23, 26. Matinees: 3:30 p.m. May 10, 17, 24. Hale Center Theater, 225 W. 400 North, Orem. $11.50-$15.50. 226-8600. www.haletheater.com.
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN THEATRE — Student written, directed and acted 10-minute and short plays. 7 p.m. Opens today and runs through Sat., Monday and April 16-19. Black Box Theatre. UVSC. $6-$10. 863-8797.
“THE CLEAN HOUSE” — Warmhearted comedy that celebrates love, forgiveness and a joke good enough to die for. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Thurs; 8 p.m. Fri., Sat. 2 and 7 p.m. Sun. through April 27. Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North,Salt Lake City. (801) 363-7522.
“THE EYES OF BABYLON” — Solo performance piece developed from Iraq War Journals. Today through April 19 (various times). Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City. $25-$30. www.arttix.org. Contains strong language and adult subject matter.
“PIRATES OF PENZANCE” — GilbertSullivan’s comic opera concerning a child apprenticed to a band of tenderhearted, orphaned pirates. 7:30 p.m. through May 3. (Fri., Sat., Mon.) Center Street Musical Theatre, 177 W. Center St., Provo. $8-$10. Dinner, 6:30 p.m./$10 addl. 373-4485. www.csmtc.com.
“THE RIVALS” — Romantic comedy. 7:30 p.m. through May 5 on Fri., Sat. and Mon. Valley Center Playhouse, 780 N. 200 East, Lindon. $5-$6. 785-1186.
“STONES” — Two one-act plays, Altars, about Abraham and Isaac; Tombs, about Christ and his mother, Mary. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Fri., Sat. through April 26. Covey Center, 425 W. Center St., Provo. $10. 852-7007. www.coveycenter.org.

heraldextra.com

The boys are worried when Kenny starts experimenting with the newest way to get high in an all-new episode of “South Park,” entitled, “Major Boobage,” premiering on Wednesday, March 26 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on COMEDY CENTRAL.
Kenny is skipping school and the other boys are sure it’s because he’s hooked on the latest drug craze that’s popular with the junior high and under crowd. Meanwhile, Kyle’s parents become concerned that their son is getting high when they find contraband in his room. To illustrate just how high you can go, “South Park” pays homage to the 1981 movie, “Heavy Metal.”
Launched in 1997, “South Park,” now in its 12th season, remains the highest-rated series on COMEDY CENTRAL. “South Park” repeats Wednesdays at 12:00 a.m., Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. and Sundays at 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.
Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are executive producers, along with Anne Garefino, of the Emmy(R) and Peabody(R) Award-winning “South Park.” Frank C. Agnone II is the supervising producer. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Kyle McCulloch are producers. “South Park’s” web site is www.southparkstudios.com.
COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 91 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL’s Internet address is www.comedycentral.com. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL’s press Web site at www.comedycentral.com/press.
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

sunherald.com

Go ahead and put “saving the planet” on your list of New Year’s resolutions. Sound tough? Then consider this advice from the late renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” So whether you’re interested in everyday, earth-friendly actions or starting a global movement, check out the list below for helpful resources and inspiring ideas.
Eat organically. Protect your health and the planet by eating organic foods free from pesticides and genetically modified ingredients. The average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles, so buy locally grown products at a farmer’s market or food cooperative whenever you can. Search for nearby farmer’s markets at www.ams.usda.gov/farmers markets, or look for local and organic food sources at www.localharvest.org. Better yet, start your own garden and experience a taste of self-reliance.
Cut the chemicals. More than 70,000 synthetic cleaning products are produced today, many of which contain harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Opt for environmentally safe cleaning products instead — many are even easy to make at home. Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond (available on MOTHER’S bookshelf at http://www.motherearthnews.com includes tons of recipes for homemade, nontoxic cleaning and personal care products.
In health food stores, look for Seventh Generation, Son 8r Earth, Orange Mate, Earth Friendly and Ecover brands.
Lower emissions. Cut your contributions to air pollution and global warming: Ride your bike or carpool, or find car sharing networks and information to start your own at www.carsharing.net.
Reduce your utility bills by finding products with an Energy Star rating at www.energystar.gov. Also install compact fluorescent light bulbs to further cut your energy use.
Educate yourself on the issues. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site is full of current information about local pollution and environmental health risks — just search by your zip code. Also explore the “Where you Live” section at www.epa.gov. To connect with environmental activists near you, try www.sierraclub.org, and go to “My Backyard” for links to local newsletters.

motherearthnews.com