When an architect appeared before the Allentown Planning Commission on Tuesday to seek approval for the hoped-for hotel and office building in the downtown hockey arena complex, she spoke of luxury.

Guests could rent a hotel room whose balcony opens onto the action of a hockey game or concert after enjoying dinner at a high-end restaurant above the arena's main entrance. They could cap off the evening with a drink from a bar or caf downstairs without ever going outside.

Who's going to make this happen?

The commission on Tuesday endorsed new plans for the 8,500-seat hockey arena that now include a 180-room hotel, a seven-story office building and 125-space underground parking garage.

Two members abstained from voting because of stated conflicts of interest. Four others approved the plan, as well as several waivers requested by the arena authority's attorney.

The approval allows Allentown and the arena authority to continue "confidential" discussions with private developers, a city spokesman said.

"The Planning Commission's approval was an important initial step in the public side of the process that enables the private developers to move forward with the assurance that they have approved project use," Mayor Ed Pawlowski said in a statement.

Tim Siegfried, an attorney with Tallman Hudders & Sorrentino, told the commission that the additions weren't initially included in the plans because the arena authority did not know if they were feasible or if a developer would sign on.

There's still no developer, Siegfried said, but architects say the additions are viable.

The Morning Call reported last week that four sources have said the 200,000-square-foot office building will be owned by downtown investor City Center Investment Corp. and occupied by Lehigh Valley Health Network.

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Planning Commission approves hotel, office for hockey arena

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Firefighter's home goes up in flames

19 Darley Road, Randwick, is a fine example of the suburbs federation homes.

Properties to look out for in Randwick.

About $2.7 million Built 1910 Land 670 sq m Auction March 20 Inspect Sat and Thu, 11.45am-12.30pm Agent Di Jones, 0407 601 857 Last traded for $1.65 million in 2001

Thankfully, all the grandeur originally bestowed on this Federation house has been retained. On an at-times busy road along Centennial Park, it has a high front privacy wall with a north-facing front courtyard that has space for two cars and a facade that - for once - doesn't hog all the charm to itself.

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The verandah has two entries: the main to a tiled vestibule with plaster ceilings and space for an umbrella stand or two, the second with leadlight windows to a study nook with arched doorway to the formal lounge room. The formal lounge and dining rooms have marble fireplaces, plaster ceilings and timber floors - the latter area also with french doors to a side courtyard with a water feature. The bedrooms and both bathrooms, all with ornate details and built-ins, line the western side of the house.

The kitchen and family room at the back are more recent additions and come with glass doors to a deep back terrace with a glass roof - a worthy improvement on the often clear-perspex variety. The terrace has space for entertaining and overlooks a level back lawn and a good-sized swimming pool at the back.

It's an elegantly proportioned house that nicely balances not only the number of bedrooms with the living areas but also the house size with that of the garden.

Room for improvement

It would be worth sacrificing the guest toilet and back laundry to open up the kitchen to an extended, full-length back terrace.

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Three of the best in Randwick

For the first time since the 1970s, the development of a hangar park is under way at Midland International Airport.

Three leases for executive hangars near the Commemorative Air Force already have been signed with the city of Midland, and a fourth will be finalized later this month. Director of Airports Marv Esterly said other contracts are in the works and calls continue coming in to claim the remaining hangars planned for the first phase of development. If interest remains at a steady level, Esterly said there could be two phases of new hangar developments complete within the next two years.

When the airport first set out to spur growth, he had estimated it could take 10 years to complete both phases.

"We have a lot of interest," Esterly said, walking toward a diagram of the first phase that will include the construction of nine hangars. "We're pretty sure we're going to fill this up by the end of the year."

With airlines continuing to cut capacity, Esterly said businesses and individuals are turning increasingly to private planes.

The number of general aviation flights leaving Midland -- which include non-commercial and non-military aircraft -- has risen more than 24 percent in January when compared with January 2011, according to data provided by Midland International Airport. For the fiscal year so far, fuel sales for general aviation activity are up 22.3 percent at the airport when compared with the same time period last year.

As that traffic has increased, so has the demand for a place to store corporate and private aircraft.

"It just seems right that we're having another boom, and we're expanding," Esterly said.

Path to growth

Esterly said that during the last boom, a company expressed interest in building a condominium hangar association to meet the needs of private aircraft owners. When the entity realized there were no utilities or roadways in the area, it deemed the project too expensive because of infrastructure costs.

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Oil boom leads to quick hangar expansion, airport director says

STUYVESANT The Stuyvesant Town Board has chosen Wainschaf Associates to construct the highway garage additions and renovations at a base bid of $276,940.

The board made the choice Thursday by way of a passed resolution at its regular meeting.

A salt shed project was the first phase of a larger capital project that includes the garage work.

Town Supervisor Ron Knott announced that the roof is going up on the new salt facility on Sharptown Road.

Construction costs were estimated at $759,000, but the latest bid choice by the board brings the capital project's total construction cost to more than $630,000.

A referendum vote on the capital project passed last year with 253 voters in favor and 170 against it. Since the summer results, the Town Board has taken steps toward completion of the project.

Bids opened March 6 and were reviewed by town Highway Superintendent Bernie Kowalski. Nine bids were received.

Also on the agenda, a presentation by Stuyvesant Trails Committee Chairman Sean Cummings outlined future goals for local trails and the towns section of the Kinderhook Stuyvesant Stockport Intermunicipal Trail plan.

Cummings explained that the Stuyvesant leg of the trail system would start at the intersection of the National Grid right-of-way and Smith Road. From there, the ROW bisects two large operational farms and briefly crosses Route 9 before meeting up with Sunnyside Road while paralleling the Kinderhook Creek on its way to the Stuyvesant Falls.

The cost to develop the trail from Smith Road to Stuyvesant Falls is roughly $400,000, Cummings said. He added that money to build bridges and develop the trail could come from matching grants and donations. He said that a license agreement with National Grid and the three municipalities involved, as well as negotiating easements with residents along the proposed trail, are also required.

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Wainschaf Associates chosen for Stuyvesant HW garage job

FRANKENLUST TOWNSHIP Robert Hardt grew sick and tired of picking up the remains of his mailbox after snowplows and snow knocked it loose.

So this winter he did something about it.

Before the snow started to fly, Hardt built wooden protectors for four of the mailboxes along southbound M-84 in Frankenlust Township.

"When you have snow being thrown, we used to have to replace two or three (mailboxes) a year," the 44-year-old Hardt said. "It's happened several times. I don't even keep track. We started putting (the protectors) together this year. We drill some holes and cement them down."

Hardt lives in one of the houses along M-84 with his family and rents out the other three houses next to his to tenants. With the new additions in front of the mailboxes, Hardt hasn't had to pick up his mailbox this year.

The line of four mailboxes along M-84 isn't the only place where the wooden protectors are being seen. They have dotted the area, whether done by professionals or at home in their own garage.

"It's getting to be more in popular demand," Hardt said. "I think some people just do it themselves. I see more and more of them put out, especially on highways such like this. If you travel along M-20 towards Mount Pleasant, I bet 50 percent of the people out there have them."

Hardt, who is the owner and works at Asphalt Bituminous Concrete, said that the wooden protectors for the mailboxes took him about 45 minutes to 1 hour to build and that all he needed was a few 2x6 wood boards, screws and some cement for the ground.

Hardt said that building it with gaps in the protector allows some of the snow to get through, but not enough to damage the mailbox.

"We've had a wet snow this year," Hardt said. "That's why there is a gap there. It let's some of it come through, but not all of it."

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Mail savers: Wooden mailbox protectors becoming new fad in Saginaw, Bay City region

The iPad wasn't the only thing to come out of Apple's March 7 event. Several new apps were announced that are worthy of note.

This was a big week for Apple with the announcement of the new iPad, and though I got to play with it a little bit at the event Wednesday, I really can't wait to put it through its paces when it's finally released March 16.

With that said, the new iPad wasn't the only thing released on Wednesday; Apple also announced the availability of several updates to iOS apps, including the new iPhoto for iOS.

This week's collection of iOS apps is a little different than usual. Instead of a themed collection, I'm going to list the Apple apps released this week so you can have them all in one place. Click the name of the link to head to our download page, or click the link at the end of each one to read our Hands On articles about each of the apps.

The effects fan out so you can pick which style you want before choosing an effect.

iPhoto ($4.99) for iOS was probably the biggest iOS app news because it's brand-new to the operating system and sports elegant ways to manage and edit photos. I got the full demo from Apple after the event, and can definitely say I was impressed with the tools offered, the effects you can use, and some of the specialized features offered in the app.

Journals in iPhoto, for example, lets you easily create a collage of your photos, and you can move them around with a touch of your finger, while the app automatically makes all the other images fit. You can have location data from where the shot was taken added automatically, and you can add date and time for shots, making for a great package to send as a URL to your friends and family of vacation pics. From there your family member can click a link and see the same collage, and click on a photo to see it full-screen. Read our Hands On for iPhoto.

Choose from four different overall tones for your string section.

GarageBand ($4.99) for iOS got several tweaks as well, with a whole new Smart Instrument category that lets you add stringed instruments to your music. I really like how Apple designed the layout here, requiring you to "bow" the instrument (swipe back and forth) for a continuous tone, and the ability to toggle instruments in the strings section on and off. There were other additions as well, with four new instruments you can use in both the Piano and Bass categories of Smart Instrument that can only add to the fun of making music on the touch screen.

The ability to have a live "jam session" with up to three other friends is a pretty neat addition as well, but I wonder how often people will actually get together and use it. Read my Hands On for Garage Band.

Original post:
New Apple app roundup for iOS

Talk about pressure. Apple launches have always had an element of Willy Wonka-esque hype about them, but Wednesday's launch of the new iPad had more of an element of suspense than many before it. How successful would Apple be in presenting its iconic tablet to the world, for the first time not overseen by Steve Jobs? And would the new device be impressive enough to stand up to the smorgasbord of new tablet devices expected to be launched on Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system? Some were even willing to stake money on what could be unveiled: a betting firm removed the wagers it was offering on the tablet after an immediate run of money.

Although most of us had predicted that Apple's new tablet would be called the iPad 3, the company has decided to shy away from its usual numbering system and just call it the new iPad'. Not surprising, considering that apart from becoming slightly thicker and heavier, there aren't any major changes to the look and feel of the tablet. Those who were after a new look iPad will be disappointed: it's the same 9.7-inch tablet as its predecessor. There are neither new slots, nor the revamped magnetic cover that many had hoped for. But inside, there was a different story.

Apple does seem to have addressed some of the gripes that users had with the iPad 2. Topping that list was the camera, something Apple has clearly spent a lot of time on. The iPad 2 was endowed with a measly 0.7-megapixel, fixed focus camera at the rear, but the new iSight camera has a 5-megapixel sensor, auto focus, auto face detection and auto exposure lock, and lets you record video in 1080 p Full HD. There's also helpful backlighting to assist you in dimly lit surroundings. There are also small details I appreciated, such as when you hold the iPad up to take a picture a little camera icon appears on the right hand side of the screen, which allows you to click more easily on the screen than having to fumble for the bottom button. A feature I didn't try was the image stabilisation when you film a movie, but which Apple demonstrated during the presentation.

The new 3.1-million pixel Retina Display does make photos look fantastic: I contrasted it with an iPad 2 and sure enough those once clear-looking iPad 2 photos had a distinctly fuzzy feel to them in comparison. Compare it to the old 1,024x768 resolution on the iPad 2, the 2,046x1,536 pixel density is miles ahead of the competition. With nearly 50 per cent more colour saturation, the pinks and reds of images I saw were particularly vivid on the new tablet. Opening up the iBook app I zoomed further and further into a page but each letter looked just as distinct no matter how far you zoomed in or out.

They've also introduce iPhoto to the tablet for the first time, with lots of nifty editing features, which you can bring up in the form of a palette at the touch of a corner of the screen. There's something called edge detecting which allows you to brighten the colour of for example a red bridge by roughly moving your finger over it, without adjusting the colour of things surrounding it. Its also got the ability to help you select similar pictures and pick the best one, and has little tweaks that allow you to adjust it to suit a right or left-handed person.

The new iPad includes an upgrade to its processing unit. The dual-core A5 chip has been replaced with an A5X processor and a quad-core graphics processor and will run on an updated operating system, iOS 5.1. Existing iOS 5 users can upgrade to version 5.1 as of now.

Some of Apple's games partners have produced games to show off the new HD screen technology, and I had a go at a new one called Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy, a simulated dogfight. So clear were the images that as my aircraft lurched and swerved as I moved it around, I almost feel a bit giddy.

There were other welcome tweaks to existing software: for example Garage Brand, which impressed me a lot on the iPad2 (I must admit I have never used it since!) has a new Jam session feature which allows up to four tablets on the same network to play and record together as a band. iMovies also has a new feature that helps you create trailers using standardized format options.

There were additions I found less impressive the voice dictation for starters. You can use it when you want to send an email or write in the Notes section, or even Tweet. It seemed to suffer the same weakness as Siri, the personal assistant, on the iPhone 4s, struggling to recognise some accents or function in a noisy room. It had issues recognising and typing even my simple question: What time is it? though I must admit it was somewhat better when I used the speaker on the headphones to command it.

Other aspects I was more neutral about. The new A5-Z processor, introduced to let the device keep up with its new graphics capabilities, didn't speed things up. I timed how long it took me to open up the Photos and iBooks apps on the new iPad and the iPad 2 and it took just as long. There's also no improvement on battery life you get the same 10 hours.

Originally posted here:
Hands on with the new iPad

March 08, 2012 12:00 AM

SAN ANDREAS - Calaveras County officials are considering code changes that would make it easier to build a cozy cottage for grandma behind the main house.

Right now, county rules in some cases ban construction of additions or accessory dwellings that could provide a relatively low-cost way to house an aging relative, a college student who needs a studio, or a young couple.

"In the areas where we have sewer and water and you can walk to the store and walk to the school, we don't allow it," said Rebecca Willis, the county's planning director.

Calaveras County code bans accessory dwellings on lots of one acre or less. Willis said second units are built only in rural areas, typically those with 5-, 10-, 20- and 40-acre lots, or exactly where officials have sought to prevent housing sprawl.

A state law enacted in 2003 requires local jurisdictions to make it easier for property owners to build so-called "mother-in-law" units. Calaveras County officials in 2005 adopted a housing element "implementation program" that made it the county's goal to lift the ban on accessory dwellings on lots of less than an acre. That same plan also called on the county to revise its code on accessory dwellings to make that code consistent with state law.

Seven years later, neither goal has been met. Willis said county planners are at work on the task. One first step happened Feb. 23 when the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the county's accessory dwelling rules.

Calaveras County's code conflicts with state law in several ways. For example, Calaveras code provides for a public hearing and notification of adjoining property owners before permits are issued for an accessory dwelling. But state law bans any such requirements if they are more restrictive than the local rules for getting the permit to build the first home on a lot.

The goal of the state law is to make getting permits for a second unit just as easy as getting them for the first home.

Willis said county officials issue about 10 permits a year for accessory dwellings. She expects that to grow once the rules are revised.

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Calaveras County Restrictions on so-called mother-in-law quarters may be loosened

What We Learnt From Barcelona

Never in the field of F1 testing can so little be drawn from so much (data). Winter testing came to an end in Barcelona on Sunday with everyone's favourites, Red Bull Racing, limping out of the garage in the last fifteen minutes to complete just 22 laps in the day and ending up slowest - further muddying the water.

The general consensus has been that Red Bull and McLaren are probably (but not definitely) the fastest, trailed by Mercedes and Lotus with Ferrari maybe as far back as fifth. At the back HRT and Marussia haven't run and Caterham look to have joined the midfield - but after that it's crystal ball gazing.

The BBC's technical expert, former Jordan technical director Gary Anderson, has been speaking to his former colleagues up and down the pitlane and they all agree that so many of the top cars are evenly matched that this is going to be the closest season for years - one small mistake in qualifying could cost 10 places on the grid.

This means it could be a bumper season for the F1 neutrals and a difficult time for the F1 bookmakers who need to set odds based on more than the usual smoke and mirrors and headline grabbing glory runs.

So what concrete facts did we learn from the final four days of Barcelona:

Red Bull's desire to have a quiet time on Monday with just themselves, Ferrari, HRT and Lotus at the track were dashed by the FIA earlier in the week when they ruled that all running must cease on Sunday. It became apparent on Saturday why they had this sudden shyness when they revealed 'the real RB8' a different car to the one they'd been testing on Thursday and Friday. And proceeded to throw bodies in front of it, put umbrellas round it and screen off the garage whenever it had to be wheeled into or out of the garage.

The 'line' from the team was that there were so many add-ons to the new version that rather than bolt them on at the track, they'd ship out a new chassis with them all pre-installed. Christian Horner and Mark Webber both tried to persuade the press that these were just a few minor additions and it was pretty much the same as before. To which the press went 'yeah, right'.

The latest Red Bull front wing looks like it was designed as an exercise in fabrication complexity with "more planes than the Farnborough Air Show".

The new McLaren aero package has Red Bull-style air deflectors hanging down from the underside of the chassis. "Immediately when we put them on the car felt much better," Jenson said on Saturday. His race simulation was hampered by a hydraulic problem on Saturday afternoon andhe tweeted that he was going to have to do quite a bit of work on Friday in Melbourne.

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What We Learnt From Barcelona