April 2010 Archives

In years past it could be difficult for some Minnesota hunters to obtain a turkey license, but not anymore.

Bill Penning of the Department of Natural Resources has said that the state has enough permits that everyone should be able to obtain one. "It's almost unlimited" Penning said.

In the past Turkey hunting was sort of a novelty, making it high-quality for the 50,000 to 60,000 hunters that had a license. With the turkey populations re surging, the DNR has relaxed on the limit of turkey license that could be obtained.

Along with the more permits being obtained, the DNR is also looking into making more areas hunting zones, which would give hunters more options on where to hunt.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/91113574.html?page=3&c=y

Another natural disaster has brought agony to people, but not even close to that of the recent earthquakes. The volcano in Iceland last week that erupted has interfered with air travel, and millions have been waiting for the ashes to clear before they can make it to their destination.

Now, air traffic believes some flights can start taking off come Monday as forecasts have shown some clearing of the ashes in the air. The entire continent will not be cleared, however, and the sense of complete air travel once again is still unknown.

The ashes in the air can be very dangerous to a flying plane as the ashes can get caught up in the engines, shutting them down causing the plane to fall out of the sky.

The airlines have been hurting mightily because of the flying restrictions, basically losing over $200 million every day that flights were canceled.

It is unbelievable the string of natural catastrophes that has occured the last couple weeks; from the earthquakes in Haiti, Chili, Baja California-Mexico, Indonesia, Spain and China, and now the earthquake in Iceland has just added to that list.

Associated Press
http://www.startribune.com/business/91366359.html?page=3&c=y

Domestic abuse is pretty prevalant in our society, and for many who are victims of it tend to be afraid to report it for a variety of reasons. But then their is Ellen Pence who has spent the last 30 years helping people deal with domestic abuse.

The "Duluth Model", which Pence came up with 30 years ago which helps coordinate responses from police, courts, prosecutors and others. It is currently being used in all 50 states and even 17 countries.

she has now come out with a new plan to cut domestic abuse even more, which she calls the "Duluth Model on steroids."

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington believes this new model could cut homicide rates by nearly a third.

Pence will be featured in a movie by director Peter Cohn where he wants to try and compare Pence's efforts of calming abuse to that of civil rights movements.

Pence is an extremely hard worker, and doesn't slow down even though she is dying to breast cancer.

While Pence is a fierce fighter against domestic abuse, she luckily was never involved in such a conflict. Her love to help people has lead her to do this for 30 years.

Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/family/91279944.html?page=2&c=y

"Shutting down a library ... that would be like shutting down the arts." That is how Margaret O'Brian feels as many small libraries are about to close as the funding to keep them open just isn't currently available, including the Arden Hills library that O'Brian loves to go to.

But the libraries will not go down without a fight. They argue that the demand for library use has increased. It is hard to justify, however, as libraries nationwide are having the same problem and many are already closed.

Funding for libraries has always been provided by the state, but with the recession nearly 75 percent of libraries have seen their budgets drop.

According to some, the funding hasn't been able to keep up with the demand for nearly 30 years, and now with the demand going up, the funding keeps going down.

For some of those libraries that are extremely struggling, they may not close but hours may be cut from employees or the libraries could be moved into bigger buildings. While in some cases combining the small libraries with other ones has shown improvement, it is still a possibility that many libraries in the state, and country, will be closing in the near future.

Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/ci_14901593?nclick_check=1

With all this talk about airlines charging more for carry-on luggage, a few airlines are about to give people a sigh of relief. While this is great news for riders, those 5 airlines have been hurting recently as they have reported losses in revenue for the first quarter.

According to the report by Harry Weber for the Associated Press, as many as 26 of U.S. airlines have been adding fees to everything from carry-ons, food, and even pillows to make up for the high gas prices. But these airlines are afraid of losing their customers with the charges and have decided not to add the fees.

According to New York Sen. Charles Schumer, the five airlines that have made this decision are American, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways and JetBlue Airways. The senator, along with other officials, are planning on meeting with Spirit Airlines representatives to talk to them about their carry-on fees.

The plan by the senators, including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, are in talks of taxing airlines for charging the carry-on bags.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/91382899.html?page=2&c=y

Two local favorite restaurants; Heidi's and Blackbird were recently burned down by a fire. While each restaurant owner wants the business to come to them, they all usually watch for each other as well.

So after both restaurants burned down, Anoush Ansari of Hemishpere Restaurant Partners, along with other restaurants in the communtiy, came together and did Fork the Fire benefit to raise money for each restaurant.

The fundraiser was held at Mission restaurant, which is a part of the Hemishpere Restaurant Partners, and over 80 businesses made donations to help the cause.

It is pretty cool seeing all these restaurants and businesses come together to hep each other out like that.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/88479437.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUoaK7D_V_eDc87DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr

The real estate agent who is trying to sell a 12-room house on Marlborough Road isn't about to show the house to just anyone as she is very protective of her neighborhood. The 90-year-old real estate agent can tell the difference between those who are serious about buying and those who just like to stop an look.

The agent, who has been so since 1922, has patrolled and been selling homes in Prospect Parks, a 2.5 square mile section in Brooklyn. Many other agents call it a monopoly she has on the area. Because of this, many of her competitors don't get along with Gallagher, but some of her competition respect her and see her as an icon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/nyregion/11marykay.html?src=mv

A unique story in Italy where Nicoletta De Thomasis, along with his family, took in the writer, Matt Gross, and they dined on tons of sphaghetti and sausage, with a glass of wine.

Gross stoppe to have the inner with the family to get a sense of real Italian foo made by real Italians, rather than what is deemed "Italian food" at the restaurants, even in Italy.

Italian food is held at such a high level that there is even a group called "Home Food" that is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the Italian dishes.

People that sign up to be members of "Home Food" gets a catalage of different Italian dishes and they can actually pick out something that looks good to them to them and can order it for a price.

Goats and sheep, among so many others, are just the beginning of a long list of local meats used to make the entrees.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/travel/11Frugal.html?pagewanted=3&ref=travel

This piece was found in the travel section of the Pioneer Press.

Now this is a cool museum I would like to go to. Lousiville, Kentucky is home to the Louisvile Slugger Museum where bats once swung by greats like Pete Rose and Johnny Bench are kept for show and can even be touched by those in attendance.

Not only is this a museum of some of the greatest bats swung, but it also shows how these bats were crafted as well. Hillerich & Bradsby Co. is the name of the company that has been making bats since 1884 and distributes around 1.8 million wooden Louisiville bats a year.

One of the cooliest attractions to the Louisville Museum is the nearly 120 foot bat standing straight up on the outside of the museum.

The museum and factory are right next to each other which makes it possible to few the past bats and witness the future ones being made.

One of the most prized possessions owned by the museum is a bat used in 1927 by one of the greatest players of all-time: Babe Ruth.

And one of the greatest things that the museum offers is a place where you can hold a number of the bats once used by greats in the past.

http://www.twincities.com/travel/ci_14838823?nclick_check=1

Bill Ward of the Star Tribune did a piece on Gleason's Gym, which features senior citizens doing acrobatic moves such as back flips on trampolines and cartwheels on beams.

Every week for lessons or open gym, the middle-aged people of the community come out to have fun and work out with younger trainers, some who are even their offspring.

While it is a workout and challenge for many of these older people, what attracts them is the fun aspect such as jumping on trampolines where the trainers showed them how to o different flips and aerials.

One of the things Gleason's preaches is to set your mind to something, your body will allow for it to happen. Think positive, if you think you can't, you won't. If you don;t worry about it and just do it, you can accomplish it.

I think it would be funny, but cool to see a 63-year-old man doing back flips on a trampoline.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/89783272.html?page=2&c=y

Fox Sports News wrote a report on the new contract extension given to Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant. The new contract gives Bryant $90 million and keeps him in L.A. until the 2013-2014 season.

Bryant wasn't hurting for money before this contract as he was expected to make $23 million this year and $24.8 million next year. After next year Bryant will be expected to make $27.4 million, $30.2 million, and $32 million the following three seasons, all before he turns 35.

Bryant isn't the only Laker to sign an extension this year as teammate Pau Gasol signed a three-year extension as well. Gasol is making $16.5 this year and $17.8 next year. The following three years after that will give hime nearly $20 million a year.

The most recognizable player currently in the NBA is playing like he was still 25, as his numbers remain MVP material. The 31-year-old is averaging 27.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game this season.

This new contract will almost make sure that Bryant is a Laker for life.

This article I found on the BBC news website didn't have a byline, so I am unsure of who wrote it. The German carmaker "Daimler" has plead guilty in the U.S. and now has to pay $185 million.

The owner of the company has paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to nearly 22 countires. The story says that between 1998 and 2008 the company gave money and many gifts to countries that agreed to contracts with the car company. The companies chairperson, Dieter Zetsche, was unaware of the bribes and has fired 45 employees for the bribes.

Daimler is expected to pay $93.6 million towards the U.S. Justice Department for the investigation, and $91.4 million to settle the civil case against Daimler from the Securities and Exchange Commision.

Back in 2008, another German group called Siemens was forced to pay $800 million after an investigation that found them to be making bribes in other countries.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8600241.stm

Judith Schwarts of Time Magazine did a piece on how much money the ice caps melting will cost us now and down the road. According to a study done by Eban Goodstein, over the next 40 years it will cost $2.4 trillion to $24 trillion if the Arctic keeps melting at the pace it is.

Not only does the melting ice caps effect our economy, but also effects our atmosphere as an annual rate of 3 billion tons of CO2 has been added to the skies, equaling about 500 coal-powered plants, or even 40 percent of all U.S. fossil fuel emissions.

According to another study, "Cost of a Warming Arctic," the U.S. has been losing $61 billion to $371 billion annually due to heat changes and flooding. These studies obviously call for change as some ask for people to give part of their income to fight the global warming. Studies suggest 3 percent of per capita income could fight the warming.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1977563,00.html

Kevin G. Hall wrote about how the U.S. economy it starting to make a turnaround for the good as 162,000 jobs were added in March. More good news coming out of Washington included that the unemployment rate stayed steady at 9.7 percent for the third consecutive month.

Some other news of improvement included that instead of 26,000 jobs lost in January and 36,000 in February, they were determined to a gain of 14,000 jobs those months.

Other encouraging news showed that construction sectors added 15,000 jobs in March after 72,000 construction jobs were lost over the past 12 months.

It has been determined, however, that in order for the economy to completely rebound more than 11 million jobs still need to be created.

http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_14811567?nclick_check=1

The star tribune ran an article by David Germain of the associated press about how "Clash of the Titans" clearly took over the box office this weekend. So far the movie has made $64.1 million in ticket sales since its release Thursday night, early Friday morning. The thing that makes many want to see this movie is the same thing that drew people to see Avatar; The 3D effects.

Coming in at No. 2 this weekend was Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married Too?" which came in with $30.2 million. Coming in third for the weekend was "How to Train Your Dragon" drawing $29.2 million.

The rest of the weekend looked like this in this order was Miley Cyrus's "The Last Song" taking in $16.2 million and "Alice in Wonderland", which rounded out the top five, took in a mere $8.3 million, though raising its total since release to $309.8 million in the U.S. and $722 million worldwide.

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/89870232.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU