Mar 7, 2014 2:38pm

(Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images)

Its that time of year again when an hour disappears from the clock,making for bleary eyes and missed appointments among people caught unawares.

Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, when clocks will jump instantly from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.

And if that shift seems somewhat arbitrary, a new map created by math blogger Stefano Maggiolo sheds new light on how arbitrary our conventions of time really are, showing graphically how out of sync the clock is with the real solar day.

A few years ago I went to Spain for the first time, and like many I was surprised by how late is dinner, Maggiolo writes on his blog. The first night I dined almost alone in a restaurant at 8 p.m., going away just as people were starting to come in. Of course this can be mostly explained by cultural reasons, but the clearly later-than-usual summer sunsets must also have played a role in shaping the Spanish days.

Maggiolo, an engineer at Google, color-coded a map of the world, showing locations where the clock is behind the solar day in red and places where it is ahead of the solar day in green. The more ahead or behind, the deeper the color.

More than70 countries now observe Daylight Saving Time, but the beginning and ending dates often differ from the U.S., which has itself changed the schedule a number of times over the years.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended the dates of Daylight Saving Time by about a month to its current schedule in 2007, starting on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November.

Daylight Saving Time 2014: How to Spring Forward

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Map Sheds New Light on Daylight Saving Time

7 Mar 2014 10:37

Thieves have devastated allotments in Wythenshawe and raided 38 sheds in one night

Thieves have caused devastation on allotments in Wythenshawe.

The intruders vandalised plots and plundered 38 sheds in just one night on Stancliffe Road.

Allotment owners arrived the following morning to find gardening equipment had been stolen, vegetables uprooted and soil hurled around the plots.

The raid took place between 5pm on Tuesday (March 4) and 10am the following day.

It is believed the crooks entered the allotments by Hollyhedge Park.

Pc Nicola Fox, said: Whoever is responsible has made untidy searches of the sheds and stole various items of gardening equipment.

In doing so they have left a trail of destruction behind them, even going as far as to deliberately throw soil and seeds around the allotments and unearth various vegetables that they have also thrown. This was clearly not just about stealing equipment; this was a wanton act of mindless and deliberate vandalism.

Obviously local residents and those who use the allotments are upset and angry and even worried about going back should these mindless vandals return.

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Vandals raid 38 sheds at allotments in Wythenshawe

CTV Montreal Published Friday, March 7, 2014 12:35PM EST Last Updated Friday, March 7, 2014 6:35PM EST

Premier Pauline Marois does not seem flustered by news of massive job losses in Quebec in February.

"I think it's normal," she said at a press conference while campaigning in Blainville Friday.

Marois said that the February result - which saw 26,000 jobs disappear in Quebec - does not represent a true portrait of the job situation in Quebec.

"We can't conclude based on the results of this month," said Marois.

This 26,000 lost jobs topped all provinces and led Quebec's unemployment rate to leap upwards from 7.5 percent to 7.8 percent.

Other provinces saw much more promising results, as 19,000 jobs were gained in Alberta, 6,000 in Alberta and 3,000 each for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

This employment decline follows a slight upward trend that began in September 2013, according to Statistics Canada.

Marois has promised to create 172,000 jobs over the next five years.

She rejected the notion, floated by Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard, that the job losses are a consequence of the PQs focus on the Charter of Values and language.

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Quebec sheds 26,000 jobs, 'It's normal' says Marois

LISBON - Columbiana County received notice another piece of the funding puzzle is officially in place for the Kensington sewer project, with plant construction expected to begin this year.

"Our plan is to be under construction this summer," said Troy Graft, assistant county sanitary engineer.

A news release issued this week by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown's office announced a $250,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission had been awarded to county commissioners, six months after the newspaper reported the application had received preliminary approval.

The $250,000 is part of the funding package being assembled by county Engineer Bert Dawson to fund construction of the Kensington sewage treatment plant, mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to address the problem of widespread malfunctioning septic systems in that area. It is the county's responsibility since Kensington is an unincorporated area.

The cost now is an estimated $2.5 million (previously $1.9 million) and commissioners have contributed $184,000 to the project from their annual allocation of federal Community Development Block Grant money, plus another $100,000 from the county's share of state casino tax money. Commissioners are seeking a $600,000 grant for the project through another CDBG program.

Graft said they also recently learned the Ohio Water Development Authority has a new grant program for sewer projects that serve income-eligible households and Kensington would likely qualify for between $500,000 and $750,000.

"(OWDA) told me the money's there and we qualify," he said.

Dawson is pleased with the amount of grant money obtained for the project because it reduces the amount the county will have to borrow, and the smaller the loans the less money residents and businesses served by the sewer plant will be charged in user fees to retire the construction debt.

"We try to get to at least 50 percent (grant). With the $250,000, we're close to 70 percent grant," he said.

The Kensington project will serve 77 households and three business, and there will be no tap fee, Graft said. As part of the additional CDBG grant money sought by commissioners is $100,000 to help households that qualify connect to the sewer line.

Read more here:
Kensington sewer to receive funding

David Watson, a senior biology student at Metro State, measures the water flow of Bear Creek during a water quality testing project on Feb. 28, 2014, in Sheridan,. (Anya Semenoff, Your Hub)

David Watson, a senior biology student at Metropolitan State University of Denver, measures the water temperature at Bear Creek on Feb. 28 in Sheridan. Spearheaded by Groundwork Denver, a water-quality study being conducted along the length of lower Bear Creek aims to ascertain the level and behavior of E. coli in the water. (Anya Semenoff, YourHub)

Four years after high levels of E. coli bacteria were first detected in lower Bear Creek, the public will finally get a chance to see the plan for cleaning it up.

A draft of the plan is expected to be completed this month and will receive input from the community and other stakeholders before being sent to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment this summer.

Eighteen months ago, nine people representing Lakewood, Denver and Sheridan the communities through which the creek flows formed a steering committee to review available water-quality data, devise strategies and write a watershed plan to improve water quality in the creek. The plan is the result of their efforts, said Rachel Hansgen, program manager with Groundwork Denver. The local nonprofit got a grant in 2012 from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to spearhead the effort to clean the 8.2-mile stretch of creek that runs from the east end of Bear Creek Reservoir to its confluence with the South Platte River.

"The state of Colorado has identified that any water body with E. coli contamination has a priority for cleanup," she said. "Right now we're only looking at coliform fecal bacteria, which is a marker bacteria that reflects the presence of fecal matter in water."

The levels found in the creek in 2010 exceeded the standards set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for recreational water bodies. People have since been warned to be cautious about swimming, fishing or wading in the creek.

Last summer, the steering committee worked with the EPA at 12 in-stream locations and sampled water twice a month.

The monthly average surpassed Colorado's limit of 126 colony forming units of E. coli that is the threshold for swimming water, said John Novick, an environmental scientist at Denver Department of Environmental Health.

The source of the contamination is unclear. Hansgen said it could be anything from minute leaks in sewer lines, runoff from pet and wildlife waste or septic systems that aren't properly cleaning the water.

Originally posted here:
Public to weigh in on plan to clean up E. coli in lower Bear Creek

Article updated: 3/6/2014 3:37 PM

Occupational therapist Amy Payton works with students in a hallway at Steeple Run Elementary School in Naperville Unit District 203 because there are no small-group spaces available. A $2.7 million construction project set to begin this spring will allow the school's current offices to be renovated into flexible areas for specialists such as Payton to teach.

Daniel White | Staff Photographer

The gym at Steeple Run Elementary serves as lunchroom, after-school program hub, concert hall and community event venue, but a $2.7 million addition will add a multipurpose room to alleviate much of the space crunch in the gym.

Daniel White | Staff Photographer

Designs call for a new multipurpose room, office and entrance area to be built beginning this spring at Steeple Run Elementary in Naperville Unit District 203. The 38-year-old facility also will receive parking lot improvements in the $2.7 million project.

Daniel White | Staff Photographer

Karen Currier, principal of Steeple Run Elementary in Naperville Unit District 203, says a $2.7 million addition soon to built will give the school more flexible learning spaces for small group instruction. The construction project will add a new multipurpose room, entrance area and offices.

Daniel White | Staff Photographer

Small groups of students will no longer be working in hallways once a $2.7 million construction project wraps up in September at Steeple Run Elementary School in Naperville Unit District 203.

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Addition to create space to spread out at Steeple Run in Naperville

Worcester and Auburn officers with a warrant seized a kilogram of cocaine and $3,500 in cash from an Auburn hotel room Wednesday, according to Worcester police.

The drugs and money were taken from a room at the Comfort Inn on Southbridge Street. Police said the cocaine has a street value of $25,000 to $35,000.

The Auburn hotel search was set in motion by an arrest of a Worcester man earlier in the day on Dorchester Street in Worcester.

Worcester police officers on the trail of a drug distribution suspect pulled him over about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Benjamin Diaz, 34, of 99 Main St., Worcester, was found in possession of more than 100 grams of cocaine, packaged to be sold, according to police. Mr. Diaz was charged with drug trafficking and two counts of a drug violation with 1,000 feet of a school.

The arrest led Worcester police to get a search warrant for a room at the Comfort Inn in Auburn, at which point the investigation became a joint operation with Auburn police.

In addition to the Worcester charges, Auburn police also charged Mr. Diaz with trafficking in cocaine.

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Kilo of cocaine seized from Auburn hotel room

LIBERTY TWP.

Pies & Pints, not your average pizza joint, is the first restaurant tenant to be announced for the future Liberty Center.

The pizzeria, with arguably the best craft brew program around revealed plans Friday to enter the Cincinnati market with the Butler County location. Co-owner and President Rob Lindeman said the five-restaurant and growing pizza business has signed a lease at the mega retail center.

Liberty Center, in the early stages of construction in Liberty Twp., is the name of the approximately 1.4 million-square-foot mixed-use shopping, office and residential complex planned for the intersection of Ohio 129, Interstate 75 and Liberty Way. Its scheduled to open in September 2015, according to developers.

We have an executed lease and will be going into the project when it opens, Lindeman said.

Were a small mom-and-pop company that really prides itself on high quality, great tasting pizza, he said. We try to provide the most flavorful, most unique pizza.

Liberty Center is being built by Columbus-based developer Steiner + Associates, the same developer of Easton Town Center in the Columbus-area and The Greene in Beavercreek. The projects first phase is expected to be a more than $300 million investment encompassing 65 acres.

Its being developed by one of the premier developers in the country, Steiner. Weve known those folks for a period of time. They saw the product in Worthington, liked it, and we got a great location in the center, Lindeman said.

Pies & Pints was founded in 2003 at original storefront Fayetteville, W.Va. The craft pizza and beer venture has since expanded to Charleston, W.Va.; Morgantown, W.Va.; Worthington, Ohio, and Beavercreek at The Greene. Lindeman said a sixth restaurant is opening this year in Lexington, Ky.

The Greene location opened in August 2013. The yet-to-open Liberty Center pizza place will be comparable to the nearby Dayton-area restaurant with 60 to 65 full- and part-time employees, Lindeman said. Pies & Pints at The Greene has seating for approximately 150 people, and sells 22 bottled beers with 35 rotating beer taps. A similar size restaurant and offering can be expected in Liberty Twp.

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Pizza restaurant named for Liberty Center development

National Restaurant Association Logo.(PRNewsFoto/National Restaurant Association)

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The National Restaurant Association's Chief Economist Bruce Grindy analyzes the February jobs report:

"The economy rebounded from its winter slump to post respectable employment growth in February, according to preliminary figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, the economy added a net 175,000 jobs in February on a seasonally-adjusted basis, up from gains of just 84,000 and 129,000 in December and January, respectively.

"While February's increase is an improvement from the sluggish gains of the previous two months, it still remains short of the average monthly gains of more than 200,000 jobs registered during all of 2013. Still, February's payroll gains outstripped expectations, and suggest that the downtick in growth was more related to the weather than a softening in the overall economy.

"Job growth in February was led by the professional and business services sector, where the 79,000 net jobs added represented the sector's strongest gain in 12 months. The construction sector and healthcare and social assistance sector both added 15,000 jobs in February, while manufacturers added a net 6,000 jobs.

"For its part, the restaurant industry continued to make solid contributions to the economic recovery. Eating and drinking places added a net 21,200 jobs in February, the 48th consecutive monthly gain for a total of more than 1.2 million jobs.

"Looking forward, restaurant operators' outlook for the economy remains a mixed bag. In the National Restaurant Association's February 2014 Tracking Survey, only 29 percent of restaurant operators said they expect economic conditions to improve in six months. This represented the 7th consecutive month in which fewer than 30 percent of restaurant operators expected the economy to improve in six months.

"Twenty percent of February respondents expect economic conditions to deteriorate in the next six months, while the remaining 51 percent expect economic conditions to remain generally unchanged in the months ahead."

Read more from the Economist's Notebook and get additional analysis of restaurant industry trends at http://www.restaurant.org/research.

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 990,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of more than 13.5 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry's largest trade show (NRA Show May 17-20, 2014, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids' menu options. For more information, visit http://www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.

Continue reading here:
Restaurants Continue to Support Economic Recovery, though Outlook Remains Mixed

FRANKLIN TWP. Another Mexican-themed restaurant is possibly on its way to Greene County.

With the addition of Don Patron Mexican Grill highly anticipated, the Greene County community recently received more news about another possible expansion in eating choices in the area.

Franklin Township supervisors on Feb. 24 gave conditional approval for plans of constructing a Taco Bell restaurant, which is expected to be built in front of the Greene Plaza next to the Wendys restaurant.

The plans for the construction of a Taco Bell were presented earlier and went through the review process of the township planning commission.

Charter Foods North LLC of Talbott, Tenn., will be constructing the Taco Bell, according to the supervisors.

The plans include a 2,465 square-foot restaurant on the lot that was formerly the site of the Amerilube and include a parking area with 21 spaces.

The conditional approval came with 16 conditions that needed to be met in order to pass. Requirements for approval include: agreeing to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act in regard to parking; receive a highway occupancy permit if a new sanitary sewer line is installed, which will require work on Route 21; the developer identifies the location of storm lines already existing; provide signs for traffic circulation through the driveway, propose outside lighting that would not create a glare on properties near the establishment and indicate erosion and sedimentation controls.

Access into the future restaurant will be through the Greene Plaza parking lot where Big Lots and other stores are located.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring, and the Taco Bell restaurant is slated to be open by fall.

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Taco Bell coming soon to Greene County