By SHAWN SHINNEMAN - sshinneman@shawmedia.com

Local restaurant owners are taking advantage of unseasonably warm temperatures to lure customers in, and then out.

They say, March is teasing us, said George Karas, owner of The Village Squire in Crystal Lake. I bet you in a week or two it wont be like this, so we want to sit outside.

Karas is among a number of local restaurant owners whove made hurried arrangements to open their outdoor seating earlier than planned. And he, like others, has found the option to sit outside is enough to coax more people out for an evening.

Karas said he was originally planning to open the patio at his location in Crystal Lake on April 15, but adjusted that date based on the weather and multiple requests from customers in order to open Friday.

The weather definitely has people coming out more and enjoying the outdoor [seating], he said. They say the mai tais and rum barrels taste better on the patio.

Its a welcomed bump in sales in a month that, last year, didnt see a single day reach 70 degrees. Last week, the thermometer read 80 four days in a row, according to AccuWeather.com.

We have seen a jump, especially with the local high school right there, said Christina Reyna, general manager at Trio Grille in Marengo, which is located near Marengo Community High School. A lot of teachers, when they get out, come over here so they can sit outside.

Reyna said the patio at Trio Grille had a busy week, including a party of about 20 seated outside Saturday night.

Its been similarly busy in other parts of the county. Both La Petite Creperie and Bistrot, in Woodstock, and LEiffel Bistrot, in South Barrington, have seen sales increase with the temperatures.

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Restaurants open patios to take advantage of warmth

20-03-2012 12:34 http://www.skdstudios.com Welcome to our Interior Design channel. SKD Studios is an award winning kitchen and bath interior design firm in Southern Maryland. We will be here each week to show you some great kitchen and bath design tips as well as some budget friendly interior design tips. We will feature REAL people, REAL projects and REAL budgets. We will also have some fun DIY projects and David's pick of the week (a fabulous find for under $100) We hope you join us each week and remember to subscribe to our channel so you won't ever miss an episode. We welcome you feedback and constructive criticism as we want you to feel like this is your channel. you won't find $300K remodels on this channel, just great design on sometimes steep budgets, but along the way we will have lots of fun! Thank you for watching Southern Maryland Kitchen, Bath and Interior Design on SKD TV. FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK - http://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM VISIT OUR WEBPAGE - http://WWW.SKDSTUDIOS.COM SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - http://WWW.YOUTUBE/SDKSTUDIOS

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Interior Design: Kitchen, Bathroom Interior Design Video EPISODE 3 - Video

20-03-2012 14:37 interiorsrevisited.com Interior decorator in Wilmington DE helping people use what they have to make their home look and feel better inside. Interiors Revisited 1201 North Orange Street, Suite 700 #757B Wilmington, DE 19801 302-319-4603

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Interior Decorator Wilmington Delaware 302-319-4603 - Video

20-03-2012 14:42 interiorsrevisited.com Interior designer in Wilmington DE helping people reuse, restore, or redesign what they have to make their home look and feel better inside. Interiors Revisited 1201 North Orange Street, Suite 700 #757B Wilmington, DE 19801 302-319-4603

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Interior Designer Wilmington Delaware 302-319-4603 - Video

Mandy Summers, owner of M. Gallery Interiors in Lexington, has been named the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerces 2012 Small Business Person of the Year this month.

Summers operates an art gallery and interiors store in the Old Mill property in Lexington. A single mother of two, she also volunteers in the community and is helping design a downtown memorial.

Summers recently spoke to The State about the business award and her life:

Tell us about yourself and your work.

I am a certified interior decorator and I do consulting in peoples homes and businesses, as well as run a retail gallery where I sell decorative items for your home. I represent 20 different artists and exhibitors and carry everything from rugs and original artwork to architectural salvage pieces and jewelry. My goal as a decorator is to help my clients identify their individual style, and then assist them in selecting furnishings and accessories that will help them achieve the look and feel they desire. I have lived all over our beautiful country, as my father was a linguist in the Air Force, and have been blessed to have travelled extensively all over the world. I feel that my exposure to so many different cultures has broadened my horizons and given me a unique perspective on life. I am the proud mother of two wonderful children, and a precious rescue dog, so I am also very realistic about selecting both beautiful and practical items for your space.

Have you been surprised by the recognition youve received by winning the award?

I have been thrilled by all the positive feedback about the gallery, and incredibly flattered by the wonderful reactions to my designs and community projects. I cant tell you what it means to me when people come into the gallery and say, I just loved what you did at the American Cancer Society Dream Home or I just came from my neighbors house you worked on, when can you come to mine? There is no greater compliment than to have a client tell me they cant wait to tell their friends about the way I have transformed their home or office. The publicity from receiving (the award) has afforded me some wonderful opportunities not only have I been able to get the word out about my business; but, I have been able to share my personal story and hopefully encourage others to be passionate about giving back to the community.

You started your business in the midst of the Great Recession. What important things have you learned about yourself?

I am stubborn, determined and blessed! I believed in the concept of my gallery and fought very hard to get banks to believe in it too. I was turned down initially, but persevered and convinced First Community Bank to take a chance on me as a new business startup. The next hurdle was gutting and reworking my space. I refinished floors, painted walls, gutted countertops and replaced every light. My children, my family and my friends all worked tirelessly by my side to get the job done. It took us nearly a month and a half to do it all. It was then up to me to fill this wonderful new urban industrial gallery we had created. I began begging artists and exhibitors to let me represent them and believe in my concept of housing everyone under one roof. (I now have a waiting list.) I opened up shop and two weeks later the stock market plummeted. I kept praying, handing out business cards, attending every event I could get invited to and donated to every charity that came through my door. I volunteered to speak at schools, civic events and even retirement homes I told anyone and everyone about my gallery. I have never worked so hard or enjoyed what I do so much. All I can say is no guts, no glory! Believe in your dream, believe in yourself, work hard, give back and have faith in Gods plan for you. Im so glad I did!

Roddie Burris

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Decorator, art gallery owner honored

Las Vegas - Rapidly building its line of energy efficient outdoor lighting for commercial and industrial applications, MaxLite will introduce a number of LED fixtures and Induction at Lightfair International (LFI) 2012, which will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from May 9 through May 12, 2012. MaxLite, a leading global manufacturer and marketer of MaxLED, an award-winning line of innovative LED luminaires and lamps using state-of-the-art LED technology, will exhibit the MaxLED line and as well as additional energy efficient lighting products at Booth #2914.

"During the past year, we have grown our line of LED and other lighting fixtures designed for outdoor applications," said Thomas Rhee, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product for MaxLite. "We hope that lighting industry professionals will be significantly impressed with our latest exterior lighting solutions and technologies at Lightfair in May."

New additions to the company's exterior lighting line will include: Induction Lighting; Small LED Floods; LED Parking Area Lights and Large Flood luminaires; LED Parking Garage and Fuel Pump Canopy Luminaires with new control and battery backup options; and Roadway LED Cobra Heads.

o The new Induction Lighting fixtures include surface mount and flood lights that combine high power and very long life (up to 100,000 hours) with designs that utilize self-contained generators to create this type of fluorescent lighting.

o Engineered with integral drivers, the Small LED Flood Lights offer diminutive and efficient, energy saving replacements for metal halide and high-pressure sodium fixtures.

o The recently released Parking Area Lights and Large Flood Lights are engineered to address parking lot and building illumination using MaxLite's patent pending Optic Pressure Plate Technology, which provides light where you need it, while improving thermal efficiencies.

o The new line of LED Parking Garage and Fuel Pump Canopy Luminaires is upgraded with multiple control and battery backup options, including occupancy and bi-level sensors.

o The new Cobra Head LED Fixtures are available in a variety of styles and sizes for street and roadway lighting applications.

About MaxLite (www.maxlite.com)

Inheriting global manufacturing and marketing expertise that dates back to 1955, MaxLite was one of the first movers into LED technology in the industry. Committed to energy-efficiency as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year in 2009, MaxLite established the MaxLED brand, an extensive line of indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures featuring innovative LED luminaires and lamps using the latest state-of-the-art technology, ranging from the award-winning Flat Panel collection, to the best-selling outdoor lineup, plug-and-play light bars and lamps.

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MaxLite Will Expand LED Outdoor Line with Induction and LED Luminaires at Lightfair ...

Despite concerns from a handful of residents, environmentalists and others that a proposed mega-retail center on one of the last major swaths of open land in San Jose will negatively affect traffic and quality of life, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday night easily approved rezoning the area for such a project.

In a 7-to-1 vote, the council agreed to change the designation of about 45 acres of land on the northeast corner of Highway 85 and Almaden Expressway to commercial use only.

The council also denied a recent appeal of the project's environmental impact report by an adjacent landowner concerned about a new traffic median that he thinks will affect some nearby businesses.

Only Councilman Kansen Chu was opposed each time, siding with the affected business owners.

Councilwomen Rose Herrera, Nancy Pyle and Madison Nguyen were absent.

Saying the appellant's traffic issues were not significant enough to halt the project, Mayor Chuck Reed supported the zoning change because he believes the new retail center will help boost retail sales tax revenue in the city. Reed estimates the city loses up to 20 percent of retail sales tax revenue that now goes to other cities where San Jose residents shop.

"We've asked staff to aggressively pursue that (issue). ... This is a project that will help us do that," Reed said. "When you compare this project to what is across the street, I would say it's vastly superior to most of the

Early on, the city's planning staff had successfully pushed for changes to the project, including more landscaping, fewer parking spaces, smaller tenant buildings and a family-friendly "village green" area. City Councilman Don Rocha, who represents the area, also responded to neighbors' concerns by getting preliminary funding approved for a pedestrian bridge that will provide access over the nearby Guadalupe River.

Rocha praised the doggedness of the nearby neighborhood associations for their suggestions for improvements, calling their work "impressive." But he also gave a public nod to Gerry DeYoung, president of Ruth and Going, which is designing the site, for responding to the public's concerns, as well as the engineering firm's willingness to invest in San Jose "at this economic time."

"Not a lot of folks are putting up private dollars to make an investment as significant as this," said Rocha.

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San Jose City Council approves mega-retail center in Almaden area

Regulatory News:

Today, Klpierre (Paris:LI) and its partners, SNCF and Spie batignolles, inaugurate ST.LAZARE PARIS, the Saint-Lazare train stations brand new retail space. It will open to the public at the end of March 2012.

Ideally situated in the heart of one of the largest retail and business neighborhoods of the French capital, ST.LAZARE PARIS features 3 mid-sized units and around 80 shops, services and restaurants. Located in an exceptional architectural setting, the new complex covers 10 000 sq.m. of GLA1, totally integrated over the stations 3 levels (train platform, street and subway). ST.LAZARE PARIS also offers underground parking for 250 vehicles.

Investor, developer and manager of shopping centers, Klpierre is the artisan of this new retail space in the heart of Paris. After winning the competition among retail real estate specialists launched by SNCF in 1996 as part of the metamorphosis of the oldest train station in Paris, the Group will have invested almost 160 million euros in this project. In July 2008, it signed a 40-year temporary occupation permit (AOT - Autorisation dOccupation Temporaire) with SNCF, going into effect on the retail spaces opening date. Klpierre handled the leasing of the space and is managing it via its subsidiary Sgc.

The space was fully leased up several months before the doors were ready to open, attesting to its appeal for retailers, won over not just by design and conception factors but also by its exceptional potentialthe result of the combined effect of the commuter traffic flow, the catchment area and the location.

"Commuter hubs and structural elements of urban planning, train stations shopping centers have certain things in common. Saint-Lazare train station is truly exceptional, in terms of the number of visitors it attracts daily as well as its location in the heart of Paris, commented Laurent Morel, Chairman of the Klpierre Executive Board. "Thanks to the singular nature of the site and the architectural qualities of the historic edifice, we were able to create a magnificent retail space and design a retail mix made of brands that respond to different buying preferences of the thousands of visitors the station draws each day. ST.LAZARE PARIS features a retail offer that combines utilitycomposed of food shopping and serviceswith pleasure, including a culture and leisure retailer, and a broad range of retail names in ready-to-wear and beauty, he adds, concluding that "this is also the story of a successful partnership with SNCF and Spie batignolles, which spanned more than fifteen years and ensured the success of this complex and ambitious project.

An exceptional retail space in the heart of Paris

DGLa and AREP were the architects of the full reconfiguration of the station and the creation of its retail space. Spie SCGPM, a subsidiary of the Spie batignolles group, carried out the construction work on this unusual project, without ever closing the station, which continued to operate normally throughout.

Modern, comfortable, functional and opening out to the city, the new Saint-Lazare train station is more transparent, offering greater insight into its spaces and their functions and a more fluid traffic flow thanks to new vertical liaisons: 4 vast shafts house 20 escalators (compared with the 8 that existed previously) and allow the natural light to bathe the entire space, all the way down to the subway level.

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Klépierre inaugurates ST.LAZARE PARIS, the new Saint-Lazare train stations retail space: 80 retailers sharing an ...

Former theater-turned-church space at White Oaks Mall will convert to use for retail outlets once a major remodeling project is finished this summer.

Conversion of the former White Oaks Cinema space at the south end of the mall will take a couple of months longer than the rest of the mall renovation because of the unusual configuration, general manager Maureen Bluhm said Tuesday.

Work on the mall commons area, food court and exterior are scheduled for completion in May. The former theater space should be finished in July.

The (theater) chairs had been removed, and thats about it, Bluhm said during an update tour of the mall on Tuesday. The walls were still here, all the screens. Some projectors were here and some sound systems were here.

Bluhm said the sloping floors of the former theater must be raised in some spots and lowered in others to match the level of the rest of the mall. The work, which will include new west-side entrances, also required installation of new support columns,

Taking this floor out is a big project, said Bluhm. She said the conversion would add about 42,000 square feet of retail space to the mall.

White Oaks Cinema closed in 2008. The iWorship Center of Springfield used the space from early 2010 to the fall of 2011.

Bluhm said mall officials are in discussions with potential retail tenants, but that the construction must first be completed.

The first major renovation of the mall in 18 years started last summer, and marketing director Christine Lahmann said the exterior work, mall commons and food court work is on schedule for completion in May.

She said the current lineup of food-court tenants would remain the same, but that the area would have a new layout.

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Former theater-church space at White Oaks Mall to go retail

OTTAWA - The federal cabinet is expected give approval this week to open a project office to buy new fixed-wing search and rescue planes, according to senior federal officials.

It is the first step is getting the stalled, nearly decade-old program to replace C-115 Buffalos and older model C-130-H transport aircraft.

The $3.1 billion replacement plan has been mired in controversy and bureaucratic in-fighting almost since it was announced by the Martin government obstacles that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has yet to overcome.

Potential bidders were informed a couple of weeks ago that a formal tender call is not expected until next year and there will be more industry consultation.

Part of the delay has involved accusations that the air force had rigged initial specifications to favour one aircraft the C-27-J Spartan, built by the Italian company Alenia.

The U.S. Air Force recently announced it intended to sell its fleet of Spartan transports, both existing and soon-to-be-delivered.

It's part of a cost-cutting move, but it has yet to receive Congressional approval.

Senior defence officials say they intend to ask Washington how much it wants for the planes, but took pains to emphasize that there will be an open competition.

One official, who asked for anonynmity, said the query would be part of the necessary due diligence that auditor general would expect of both National Defence and Public Works.

Other aircraft-makers are champing at the bit, including Lockheed Martin, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and Bombardier Inc., among others.

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Feds expected to start moving ahead on purchase of search and rescue planes