QUEENSBURY Smokers at SUNY Adirondack will be snuffed out this fall.

The colleges Board of Trustees voted Thursday to move forward with a plan to become a tobacco-free campus in September 2014. The plan would prohibit using cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and even electronic cigarettes from campus.

The administration will begin implementing the policy in March and stress voluntary compliance and education rather than punishments, according to SUNY Adirondack President Kristine Duffy.

We all stand ready to take the time and compassion to make this work the best we can, she said.

Chairman Mark Bulmer said it is not up to the board to dictate how the policy is implemented.

We expect the administration to use great discretion as we go forward and make good decisions. We expect them to develop the appropriate procedures to enact this policy, he said. I think we all recognize that this a cultural shift and we have to be cognizant of that.

College officials are planning smoking cessation activities in conjunction with the Student Senate and the College Activities Office.

Student Trustee Dan Roberts said two anti-smoking speakers are already booked and seminars planned. Students are organizing other incentives such as offering discount cards for the campus coffee shop for people who quit smoking and promoting use of the fitness center.

Not everyone is happy about the policy. Student Christopher Schmidt of Queensbury spoke before the board and presented a petition with at least 150 signatures.

He said people he has talked to in opposition to the policy have stated that it infringes on the rights of smokers, especially veterans who have served their country. Some opponents said they would leave the school.

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SUNY Adirondack will ban smoking in September

A Range of Magnificent Wooden Garden Gazebos - Style to Suit Your Home
Our range of high quality wooden garden gazebos are sure to impress. Constructed from pressure treated softwood to ensure maximum protection against the elem...

By: Gazebo Direct - A Range of Garden Structures

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A Range of Magnificent Wooden Garden Gazebos - Style to Suit Your Home - Video

Topics: angling, christmas, fishing

ANYONE who fishes much will tell you it's important to have the right gear and, for non-fishing people, choosing useful angling gifts can be tough.

It's important to get the right advice when faced with such a bewildering selection.

That's where your local tackle store really shines.

The staff sell nothing but fishing gear all year and they know what works and doesn't, what is junk, what colour, type and size of lures catch local fish and a whole lot more.

Many locals are parts of buying groups and their products are often as cheap as, or cheaper than, the big stores.

So head down to your local for gifts and be confident you're buying the right thing.

Christ Doust at Suffolks Sports in Keen St, Lismore, says Megabass lures have been very popular since the prices dropped about 25%.

The Griffon 6CC deep diver has done well on local bass and is retailing now for $29.95.

Suffolks also have the popular Gulp soft lures at three packs for $25, plenty of crab dillies and some great rod and reel combos from Shimano for estuary, beach or offshore.

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How to always hook a winner

Shelters and Gazebos 3
for website http://www.TentsandTools.coom.

By: Ann Peek

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Shelters and Gazebos 3 - Video

MORIAH The bells that once summoned students to Mineville and Moriah schools are ringing again, thanks to Moriah Middle School student Brooke Mildon.

Brooke, 12, discovered the historic bells had been in storage since their removal from the old school buildings decades ago.

A Cadette Girl Scout, she decided that restoration and display of the cast-iron bells would make a great Silver Award project, the highest honor available to Cadettes.

The bells were recently rededicated during a ceremony outside the school.

PROMOTED TEAMWORK

The Mineville, Port Henry and Moriah school districts merged in 1968, the last time the Mineville and Moriah bells were used until now.

I pursued the project because I had a passion for the historic bells, the seventh-grader said. I learned a lot about being a team leader and what teamwork really means.

She had to hold fundraisers to finance restoration of the bells and construction of two gazebos outside Moriah Central School in which to display them.

People assisted by baking for bake sales, donating bottles and cans, purchasing food from bake sales or the spaghetti dinner, she said.

She thanked the Mineville Veterans of Foreign Wars Post for letting her use their facility for the spaghetti dinner.

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Bells ring again for old Mineville, Moriah schools

Gazebos.

They can be found in many towns throughout the region, in places that want to offer more than just the concrete and steel of progress.

At a time when communities are squeezing every dollar in their budgets, one would expect that some curmudgeon would complain about the building of a gazebo or the upkeep of one. After all, isn't a gazebo -- like the one in Avon, Olmsted Falls or Chardon -- a little more than a romantic fashion accessory?

Wouldnt the money be put to better use by building a garage or buying a new police car?

Gary Starr, the mayor of Middleburg Heights, said if anyone feels that way, then no one has voiced that opinion in the past 32 years he has lead the city.

In fact, the reverse usually is true.

Gazebos are the center for the community, something charming to look at, a taste of New England and the turn-of-the-century, Starr said. It helps define your community as something other than buildings and shopping centers. That's the look of the city I try to project warm, traditional, family-friendly. You can't buy that.

Middleburg Heights, like Chester Township, Avon, Olmsted Falls, Chardon and other cities cherish their gazebos and put them in places of honor.

The open-aired, roundish structures differ slightly in size and design, but are always recognizable. Few venture far from gazebos that existed thousands of years in a score of lands, including China, Italy and Great Britain.

Beyond their inherent tranquil beauty, gazebos are useful.

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Gazebos found throughout communities, lend touch of romance and beauty (photo gallery)

The family of former president Nelson Mandela will accompany his remains on the flight to the Eastern Cape on Saturday morning.

The town of Qunu is busy preparing for the funeral of Nelson Mandela on Sunday. (Delwyn Verasamy)

"Tomorrow [Saturday morning], the body of Mr Nelson Mandela will leave Waterkloof [Air Force Base] at 10.45am," family spokesperson General Temba Matanzima told reporters in Johannesburg on Friday. "He will leave Waterkloof with members of the family, who will accompany him." Matanzima said members of the military would also accompany Mandela's remains.

"When they land in Mthatha, at about 12.45pm, the body and the delegation ... will be met by members of the family, members of the Thembu nation and others who are prepared to meet and accompany the family."

From there, the convoy would proceed through the streets of Mthatha. "There will be two stops. There will be a stop on York Road, next to the old stadium, and there will be another stop at Ultra City for 10 or 15 minutes for people to see," Matanzima said.

From there, the convoy would proceed to Qunu, where the remains would be handed over to the Mandela family by the military. "The members of the family will [then] do their part, taking the body into the house of Madiba, and there they will wait until the next morning, when the official funeral will take place."

Matanzima said the government would provide further details of the funeral programme. In Qunu the police, the military, government officials and the media were preparing on Friday for the funeral Mandela.

He died at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, last Thursday at the age of 95.

White tape On a hill at the Nelson MandelaMuseum, a few kilometres away from the Mandela homestead, international and local television cameras were being set up. Journalists used white tape and plastic markers to designate their spots on a hill overlooking the village. Some have been there since last week and have set up gazebos where presenters can stand for live crossings.

The Mandela homestead, where the funeral will be held on Sunday, can be seen from the hill. A large structure, a few metres high and wide, with a round roof and a wide bottom, can be seen in the distance. Work on the structure began last Friday. It has been finished off with panels, and a large white marquee has been erected nearby. Outside broadcast vans, more gazebos, satellite dishes and generators have been set up close to the media centre, which is in a marquee set up at the museum. Journalists covering the funeral will not be allowed any closer than this. The South African Broadcasting Corporation will furnish them with images and sound.

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Mandela family to accompany remains to Qunu

One day this week, with a snowstorm heading our way, it occurred to me to take a walk on the beach.

Outside, a thick cloud cover blocked out the sun and turned the sky into a featureless, grey void. The temperature hovered around freezing, and raw, misty gusts made it feel colder. It could have been colder, wetter, or windier, but all in all, nature had ordered up a pretty bleak afternoon. Perfect.

I pulled on my boots and my parka, and grabbed my car keys. My wife turned down the invitation to come along, helpfully pointing out that I could skip the sunscreen.

With enough motivation, I will visit natural places during "off-peak" seasons.

The beach, for example, doesn't disappear after Labor Day. Long Island Sound comes ashore year-round, and the life it brings is year-round as well. Many creatures either fly or swim away for the winter, but the others have no choice but to hunker down and tough it out. I wanted to see for myself what was going on down there, knowing, of course, that I had the luxury of going home when I'd had enough.

Not surprisingly, the parking lot at Penfield Beach was deserted. I walked up the ramp alongside Penfield Pavilion, transformed by Superstorm Sandy from a sparkling town facility to a moribund eyesore shrouded in plywood, with chain-link fencing and signs warning me not to trespass.

At the top of the ramp I looked out over the dusky beach to the small but persistent waves breaking on the shore, and beyond to the horizon, where the water and the sky met in a monochromatic, battleship-grey haze.

Not a soul was in sight, and not a single vessel was on the water. My little adventure was off to a dreary start.

But over my right shoulder, a flash of pink and turquoise caught me by surprise. It was my first glimpse of the playground erected in memory of Jessica Rekos, one of the children killed in Newtown a year ago Dec. 14.

In front of the playground -- a construction of ramps, gazebos, and slides -- is a sign with a large photograph of Jessica. Her smiling face and posture exudes intelligence and a relaxed, confident presence. Her hair spills over her shoulders onto her shirt, simply decorated with three daisies along the neckline. There can be no more fetching an image of girlhood. The drab, empty beach was no match for Jessica.

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Moving Forward, Looking Back: On a bleak Penfield afternoon, tears for Sandy Hook's Jessica

NEWPORT NEWS The Virginia Marine Resources Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday morning on Xanterra's plan to build a new boardwalk and pier in the James River.

The plan is heavily opposed by some members of the community, according to the commission's agenda.

Xanterra has applied to build a 650-foot elevated boardwalk parallel to the James River shoreline, plus a 90-foot with a 60-foot T section, submitted plans show. The project will also include three 695-square-foot gazebos.

Xanterra plans to augment stormwater collection with a dry swale system, and will also replant almost two acres with more than 700 native plants, replacing invasive Johnson grass growing in the area.

The boardwalk will connect with a 1,900-foot concrete multiuse path in the resource protection area, according to county documents. James City's Wetlands and Chesapeake Bay boards approved the project locally last month.

Now the plan must pass through the state's Marine Resources Commission, which has jurisdiction over state marine and aquatic resources.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which advises the state, has expressed concern the proposal creates "excessive" impervious surface.

While passive recreation areas are permitted under Chesapeake Bay protection regulations, accommodating motorized golf carts is not considered a passive use by state guidelines, notes an October VIMS report. It concludes that the boardwalk is neither justified nor necessary, and that its shading will reduce photosynthesis in the river. VIMS had fewer issues with the pier.

An environmental review coordinator with VMRC also noted that the state Department of Conservation & Recreation advised that the site is a habitat for the endangered Atlantic sturgeon.

Xanterra responded to concerns in a Dec. 5 letter from contracted engineering firm Timmons Group, which argued that the width of the boardwalk is necessary to allow two-way traffic for passive users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. Motorized cart use will be limited.

See more here:
Marine Commission review next for Kingsmill boardwalk

Savannah, Georgia (PRWEB) December 12, 2013

Destination weddings that are hosted in Savannah, Georgia, the Souths favorite hostess city, give couples and their guests the perfect opportunity to relax and soak up all the Southern comforts the historic city has to offer. From sipping iced tea on charming verandas to saying those I dos under an ancient oak tree dripping with Spanish moss wedding parties truly have the chance to be on vacation time. Forsyth Park Inn, a circa 1893 Queen Anne Victorian bed and breakfast, is now revealing all the best kept secrets Savannah, Georgia has to offer when it comes to weddings.

1.Downtown Savannah is home to 24 beautiful historic squares which gives couples tons of options for wedding portraits. Most of Savannah's squares are named in honor or in memory of a historical event or person and many contain monuments, markers, statues, gazebos, and fountains which are the perfect backdrops for memorable wedding photos.

2.Forsyth Park, set just across the street from Forsyth Park Inn, is one of Savannahs most stunning landscaped areas. It features an infamous white fountain flanked with hundred-year-old oak trees and serves as a perfect ceremony setting.

3.Trolley tours are a great way to transport wedding parties throughout the historic city from ceremony venue to reception dinner. End the night with a haunted trolley tour for an exciting ride back to the inn; something wedding guests will never forget.

4.Horse-drawn carriages also serve as the perfect transportation for newlyweds. Couples are whisked away after their vows in a fairy-tale manner and delivered to their reception dinners in true southern belle fashion.

5.Savannahs Low Country cuisine is soulful, yet upscale. The dining options are endless in the historic downtown area, and the meals are served with down-home love and traditional southern elegance. Reception dinners can include anything from a low country seafood boil to contemporary farm-to-table feasts.

6.Quaint Tybee Island is just minutes away from downtown Savannah, and offers wedding guests beach-side dining options, as well as, fun in the sun and sand. Start the destination wedding weekend out right with a coastal cocktail and a stroll along the Atlantic seashore.

7.Forsyth Park Inns private courtyard garden is one of Savannahs most intimate ceremony locations. There are many secret gardens to uncover in the historic district, and each one acts as a romantic spot for exchanging vows.

8.Savannah is home to three historic operating live theaters. Planning an evening show for wedding guests during their vacation weekend is the perfect way to entertain in a creative way. The Historic Savannah Theatre, built in 1818, arguably the oldest operating theater in the country what better way to enjoy the company of loved ones than in the seats of this theater.

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Forsyth Park Inn, a Bed & Breakfast, Reveals Top 10 Reasons to Host Your Wedding in Savannah, Georgia