GRAY - The transformation of a key piece of downtown real estate from a shuttered gas station to an ethnic restaurant is a welcome sight, say business and government officials in Gray.

Manee Thai Restaurant, slated to open in early June after extensive remodeling, will jazz up Grays ethnic cuisine landscape and fill a long-vacant building right in the heart of downtown Gray, at the six-way intersection of what is known as the Crossroads of Maine.

The restaurant is owned by Kwone Sanasy, a woman born in Laos but who traveled to America in 1981 as part of the post-Vietnam exodus. She has since opened several Thai restaurants in Maine and New Hampshire, and according to family members, has chosen Gray due to its location.

Shes been doing this since 1991, so shes pretty good at what she does, said Sanasys son, Sourasay Senesombath, who lives in South Portland and came to America with his mother when he was 2.

Speaking on behalf of his mother, whom Senesombath says does not speak English well, he said she opened Thai 9 Restaurant, located next to Cabellas in Scarborough, in 2008. Sanasy also owns Siam Orchid Restaurant, which she opened in Bar Harbor in 2006. And she is soon to open Bodhi Thai Bistro in Portsmouth, N.H.

In Gray, Sanasy will receive help running the operation from her sister, Kaysone Nakummun. Nakummuns husband, Tee Nakummun, will act as head chef.

What led Sanasy to Gray and the location at 11 Main St., next to the monument in downtown, was the high traffic count and lack of similar Thai offerings.

Look at all the traffic. This is a great location. We dont see any other Thai restaurant in this area, said Senesombaths girlfriend, Nonglack Thanephonesy. I know there are a lot of Thai restaurants in Maine, but the nearest restaurant is Freeport and Westbrook. So we want to bring some diversity to this little town. I noticed theres Chinese (restaurants) in town and they are pretty busy. And there are other towns around here, so why not open a Thai restaurant here rather than them having to drive 20 minutes, 30 minutes to have Pad Thai.

Thanephonesy, who works at Sanasys Scarborough restaurant, said customer demand also drove the family to open a restaurant in Gray.

We do have customers that do live in Gray that come to Thai 9 and they are always like, Why dont you open one in Gray because theres no Thai restaurant there, Thanephonesy said.

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A new lease on life

by Martha Maurer/KTAR (May 30th, 2012 @ 4:30pm)

The Gumball Rally passed through northern Arizona today.

High-dollar sports cars, like Lamborghinis and Porches, were flying along Interstate 40 on their way to Las Vegas.

Carrick Cook with the Arizona Department of Public Safety said 10 drivers were pulled over and one was arrested.

"A driver who is from Holland and lives in Switzerland was traveling at over 120 mph on I-40," he said. "It's a dangerous event. I think these people don't keep in mind that there are innocent people driving along the road and this puts them in danger as well."

The I-40 has a speed limit of 75 mph.

"Reckless would be a good word to use with the driving behavior for them," said Cook. "We haven't seen any crashes or anything like that. Hopefully we don't, but the way these people are driving could seriously, seriously hurt somebody or themselves with the speeds that they're driving at."

The rally was traveling from New Mexico to Las Vegas as part of a 3,000-mile international race.

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Gumball Rally zips through northern Arizona, DPS issues tickets, arrest

Thousands banged pots and pans as they marched in more than 70 cities all across Canada Wednesday night. The spreading "casserole" protests have erupted in Quebec as thousands of non-students have joined with the students to demand an end to austerity measures and Bill 78, which bans unauthorized public assemblies and curtails the right to protest.

Casserole Night in Halifax, Nova Scotia -- 150 enthusiastic people from all walks of life took to the streets last night in a show of solidarity with the ongoing protests in Quebec. (Photo/Miles Howe) People cheer from their porches as processions of marchers pass through the streets.

Casserole rallies or cacerolazos originated in Latin American countries as a form of popular protest where people bang pots and pans.

Meanwhile, Quebec's emergency anti-protest legislation - Bill 78 - has now drawn the attention of the United Nations.

Two UN experts on freedom of expression have raised concerns about Quebec demonstrations which took place on May 24 that involved serious acts of violence and the detention of up to 700 protesters.

They urged the provincial government to respect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, expression and association of students.

The recently adopted legislation unduly restricts students rights to freedom of association and of peaceful assembly in Quebec, warned Maina Kiai, the UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

Kiai said fines ranging up to $125,000 that are included in the law are disproportionate and warned that a municipal regulation requiring protesters to provide their itinerary in advance should not be misused to restrict the legitimate right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

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Thousands March in Canada's Casseroles Night

Home A&E Music-Theater-Dance Loading

Published: 5/31/2012

BY SALLY VALLONGO SPECIAL TO THE BLADE

This weekend's Old West End Festival will include lots of outdoor music along with home tours, garage sales, art shows, and the Wamba Parade. The Toledo Symphony's 5K Stampede will have live classical accompaniment from porches of houses along the run route. A variety of acts will keep the Main Stage at Parkwood and Woodruff avenues lively.

And, to cap off Saturday events, the Cathedral Concert Series will feature local jazz artists Mark Lemle and Eric Dickey in a free concert at 7:30 p.m. in Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, 2535 Collingwood Blvd.

The performance will be a debut for the duo's new CD, "Wind, Stone and Ivory," with an eclectic mix of jazz standards, works by Keith Jarrett and Jay Ungar, and original pieces.

A free performance at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Recital Hall of the University of Toledo Center for Performing Arts will represent Barbara Rondelli Perry's swan song as a professor of music. Now professor emerita from the department where she shaped dozens of up and coming singers, Rondelli Perry will be serenaded by 13 of those fledged students.

Singers will be Kevin Foos, Janet Brehm Ziegler, Jodi Jobuck, Scott Knueven, Michelle Perrine, Jo-Anne Chrysochoos, Ebone Waweru, Michele Marszalkowski, Sasha Noori, Joyce Rush, Sam Mason, Dusty Selman, and Anthony Ferrer.

On the program will be works from opera and oratorios as well as art songs by Mozart, Handel, Gounod, Puccini, Wagner, Rorem, Gershwin, Brahms, and more. Robert Ballinger and Phillip Clark will accompany the singers.

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Jazz concert tops off weekend fest

Michael Waterson Napa Valley Register | Posted: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 3:28 pm |

AMERICAN CANYON After years of holding services in a gymnasium, American Canyons Holy Family Parish may finally get a dedicated home at the expense of a tourist-based business.

City officials recently announced ongoing discussions with church leaders to move into the building now occupied by Napa Sonoma Visitor Center. City staff and church officials were scheduled to continue discussions this week.

A representative of the diocese said Wednesday the move was still in the talking stage.

I know they are contemplating a move, but theres nothing definite at this time, said Deacon Mike Urick, finance officer for the Santa Rosa Diocese.

Victor Leach, executive assistant for the parish, confirmed that church members had discussed the move with the buildings landlord, Constantine Shishkin of Sonoma.

Longtime church member Victor Rivera said the location is ideal, since the church owns undeveloped land directly behind the visitor center. Rivera said the church needed a more permanent home since the present situation holding Sunday services in the Community Center gymnasium was depleting church membership.

We could only hold one Sunday Mass. For some people 9 oclock (Mass time) wasnt convenient and some people dont feel comfortable worshiping in a gym, Rivera said. There was also competition from other groups to use the space, he said.

Rivera estimated there are about 350 to 400 members of Holy Family Parish in American Canyon. According to Rivera, long-range plans, including construction of a rectory on church land behind the building, were discussed at length during Sundays service.

The head of the diocese, Bishop Robert F. Vasa, is in favor of the move, Leach said. We do have the bishops support.

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American Canyon's visitor center may become church

News

Nailbenders lend hand to Scranton church

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 9:39 AM CDT

In 11 days, First Baptist Church of Scranton saved an estimated $50,000 to $200,000 on the cost of its family life center, which is now under construction and will open in August.

How'd they do that?

With a little help from their friends.

The help came from Nailbenders for Jesus, a Baptist Church volunteer organization that helps put up buildings. For 11 days this month, between 15 and 25 members of the organization have been doing interior work on the family life center. They came from all across Arkansas, and parts of Missouri and Tennessee.

Charles Morris of Clarksville has been a part of Nailbenders for 15 years. The Scranton job is the 180th he's been a part of since joining the group.

"We're mostly all retired people but we do have a few who take vacation a week at a time to help us," he said last week.

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Nailbenders lend hand to Scranton church

2m church hall plan gets approval at last

7:00am Thursday 31st May 2012 in News By Reg Little

A NORTH Oxford church hopes to make it a year to remember after its 2m scheme for a new church hall was approved by Oxford City Council.

St Andrews Church, in Linton Road, plans to replace temporary buildings with a two-storey extension and is now busy fundraising for what has been christened the Jubilee Project.

It is hoped that construction will begin before the end of the year.

The extension will include a new hall, large meeting space, meeting and youth rooms, creche, kitchen, cafe area and offices.

It will be connected to the existing church through a lightweight glazed link, which will double as a concourse space.

While churches across the country have been facing dwindling congregations, St Andrews says the churchs membership and the popularity of its youth centre have placed severe pressure on space.

The vicar of St Andrews, the Rev Andrew Wingfield Digby, said the extra space would allow the church to expand its youth and childrens work.

In the winter church members were asked whether they wanted to go ahead with the project in a vote.

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£2m church hall plan gets approval at last

MONSON, Mass. The town's oldest church had lost its steeple twice before.

It happened first in a windstorm in the 1880s, then again in the hurricane of 1938.

So when a tornado tore off The First Church of Monson Congregational's steeple on June 1, 2011, the pastor knew rebuilding already was a tradition.

"We can look back and say, 'The church has been through a lot in its history and we're going to get through this,'" the Rev. Bob Marrone said Wednesday.

Across Massachusetts, three people died in the storm that also left $200 million in damage to insured property in its wake. In Monson, First Church became a disaster relief center in a town where 40 families lost their homes.

The kitchen of First Church, a member of the United Church of Christ, turned into a hub where volunteers served 30,000 meals to tornado victims in the weeks after the storm. Sunday school classrooms became space where people could donate or collect free clothing and household supplies.

Without electricity after the tornado, the church also became a place for residents to swap news. People shared tidbits about which house to head to for cold milk or where to go for showers that also were sometimes cold, church music director Michael-Thomas Gilman said recently.

"We went to bed at dark and got up at dawn. It really brought the town together. It really was a Norman Rockwell moment," he said.

A year later, First Church's steeple still is missing. The organ still needs a $30,000 cleaning to purge dust and plaster deposits.

But some physical damage to the structure already is fixed. And Marrone says the congregation of about 360 people also is rebounding when it comes to their spiritual side. Ranks of the faithful even grew by about 15 members after the tornado. This year, the congregation also will mark 250 years since the church's founding.

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Year after deadly tornado, Mass. church that offered relief is rebounding, replacing steeple

SWAINSBORO, GA (WTOC) -

Sunny skies mirrored the moods of Calvary Methodist Church members who awaited their congregation's groundbreaking for a new building. The oldest member, Sarah Johns, 99, is ready to see construction begin.

"I'm absolutely glad. I can't remember anything in my life that I'm more pleased with. Cause I have prayed when it was bad that it would somehow get fixed," said Johns, known to the congregation as Momma Sallie."

She and others watched in horrorthe morning of Sept. 29, the day after her birthday,as Calvary burned to the ground. Police later arrested two men, Steven Davis and Anthony Williams,for starting the fire as, investigators say, theystole copper and other metal from inside.

"All I could think to do was cry and that's what I did. I just asked the Lord to help us get what we had back," she recalled.

She saidprayer has helped her forgive them for what they did to her church. Members are excited for construction so they can see progress when they ride by every day.

"In the past, everything was behind the scenes, trying to get the plans ready, trying to get the contracts and that sort of stuff," explained member Randall Kersey.

"It is good to get the rubble out of the way. When the rubble was here, it looked like devastation, like trouble. Now, it looks like hope. It looks like something good can happen," added Pastor Nick Hazleton.

Insurance will pay for a large portion of the new sanctuary and classroom building. However, they have also seen donations filter in from across the community and beyond. The mailing address to make donations is:

Calvary United Methodist Church P.O. Box 683 Swainsboro, Ga. 30401

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Church begins construction after arson claims building

QUINCY -- Quincy Village plans to build a 36-unit apartment building for low income people age 55 years and older.

Construction on the apartment building is expected to begin this summer and be substantially complete in spring of 2013. All common areas will be handicap and mobility accessible. Some apartments will be designed for people with vision and hearing impairments.

"We are excited to be able to offer this new level of service to the residents of our area," stated Lou Varella, Executive Director of Quincy Village. "These well-designed, comfortable apartments will complement the continuum of care currently offered at Quincy Village and enable us to reach out to serve people with limited resources."

Presbyterian Senior Living of Dillsburg operates the 360-acre continuing care retirement community in Quincy Township near Waynesboro. Quincy Village provides skilled nursing and rehabilitation services, personal care, and independent living apartments and cottages. About half developed, the site has 173 cottages, 10 apartments, a 32-unit personal care center and 134-bed medical center.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency recently awarded federal low-income housing tax credits to the project.The tax credit program previously allowed development of low-income housing developments elsewhere in the county, including Hamilton Park Apartments east of Chambersburg and Sunset Court north of Chambersburg.

Enterprise Community Investment Inc. of Columbia, Md., is the for-profit partner financing the project and using the tax credits. Presbyterian Senior Living has worked with Enterprise on eight other projects, according to Varella.

Founded 30 years ago, Enterprise has raised and invested more than $11 billion in financing more than 300,000 affordable homes in communities across the nation.

Quincy Village acquired township approvals before seeking the housing credits, according to Quincy Township Supervisor Kerry Bumbaugh.

"They are set to go," he said.

Presbyterian Senior Living, founded in 1927, provides healthcare, housing and other services to more than 5,400 older adults in the mid-Atlantic region of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and southeastern Ohio. Their website is at http://www.presbyterianseniorliving.org.

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Quincy Village to build apartments for low income seniors