The 69-room Ramada Hotel Portrush Northern Ireland and the 115-room Holiday Inn Express Stockport

The immediate addition of the 69-room Ramada Hotel Portrush Northern Ireland, together with next year's opening of the 115-room Holiday Inn Express Stockport, reinforces Interstate's position as the premier hotel management company in the UK.

Robert Crook, Interstate's managing director for the UK, said: "We're delighted to sign-up these two hotels, which complement our evolving UK portfolio, and look forward to working alongside the owners to realise the full potential of their hotel assets."

The Ramada Hotel Portrush, located in the heart of the popular seaside resort, offers a welcome, relaxing retreat, with plush beds, flat-screen televisions and Wi-Fi access as well as a number of flexible meeting venues, making it the perfect place to visit for business or pleasure. Its central location is ideal for exploring local attractions, including the historic Old Bushmills Distillery and the legendary basalt formations Giant's Causeway.

The Holiday Inn Express Stockport, meanwhile, is a new build hotel of 115 bedrooms scheduled to open in Spring 2016. Located just seven miles east of Manchester city centre, Stockport is presently buzzing with activity as a result of an ambitious regeneration scheme which aims to revitalise its residential property and retail markets in a similar fashion to what has been achieved in Manchester.

"Winning the management contracts for these two hotels against stiff competition represents a significant enhancement of our portfolio of full and select service branded hotels throughout the length and breadth of the UK," added Crook. "Our dedicated UK management platform, backed by Interstate's institutional-quality scale and long and strong brand relations, delivers exceptional service to guests and superior results to owners."

"We welcome Anne Donaghy, General Manager at Ramada Hotel Portrush, together with her team, to the Interstate family with immediate effect and look forward to working with the owners in preparation for next year's opening of Holiday Inn Express Stockport. We continue to explore other opportunities for enhancing our UK portfolio and anticipate future growth in the region."

For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts in the UK and Europe, please visit http://www.interstatehotels.co.uk and worldwide, please visit http://www.interstatehotels.com.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of a 50/50 joint venture between subsidiaries of Thayer Lodging Group and Jin Jiang Hotels, is the leading U.S.-based global hotel management company, operating branded full- and select-service hotels and resorts, convention centers and independent hotels worldwide. Interstate and its affiliates manage 451 hotels with 82,800 rooms in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, with ownership interest in 35 hotels. In addition, Interstate has executed agreements to manage 32 hotels with nearly 5,400 rooms under construction or development throughout the world.

For more information regarding hotel management in Europe, please contact Senior Vice President, Development-Europe, Aaron Greenman, at +32 490 43 15 72 or visit http://www.interstatehotels.co.uk. For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts worldwide, please visit http://www.interstatehotels.com.

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Interstate Europe Adds Two Hotels to UK Portfolio

February 23, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Grand Rapids Griffins GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins and Farm Bureau Insurance are teaming up to provide a media room makeover for one deserving elementary or middle school in Kent County or the Thornapple-Kellogg district.

The inaugural Media Room Makeover contest offers eligible schools the opportunity to submit their applications online between now and April 1, 2015 at griffinshockey.com/mediaroommakeover, simply by answering the question "Why does your school need a media room makeover - and providing an optional photo of their existing media room, computer lab or library. Applications may be submitted by school principals, administrators or teachers.

Depending on the winning school's needs, its media room makeover could consist of a variety of new resources such as computer hardware, software, books, furniture, paint, carpet and light construction, with a value ranging from a minimum of $5,000 to as much as $10,000-$15,000.

Following the application deadline on April 1, all entries will be reviewed by the Griffins and Farm Bureau Insurance and narrowed to a pool of three finalist schools, each of which will receive a site visit as part of the final selection. The Griffins and Farm Bureau will choose the winning school by April 30, assist school officials in the makeover of the school's media room this summer, then host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the start of the new school year in August or September.

"Michigan is our home, so at Farm Bureau Insurance we're committed to the communities and the people that make our state a great place to live," said Vic Verchereau, Farm Bureau Insurance vice president of marketing. "Our initiative, Enriching Michigan's Children and Communities (Emc"), supports safe and clean learning environments for our youth while providing opportunities for these future leaders. We are honored to partner with the Grand Rapids Griffins to provide a Kent County school with a makeover opportunity designed to do just that."

Several partners have signed on to provide assistance with the makeover as needed, including Comprenew and Mike Case of Case Construction. In addition, the Kent Intermediate School District and the Diocese of Grand Rapids Office of Catholic Schools are supporting the contest by communicating the opportunity to every elementary and middle school principal in Kent County, as well as the Thornapple-Kellogg district in Barry County (which is served by KISD). All eligible schools with a need are encouraged to apply.

Official rules and regulations of the contest are available here .

"The Griffins are proud to work with Farm Bureau Insurance on this exciting initiative," said Tim Gortsema, the team's senior vice president of business operations. "Our organization and players have long supported local schools through hundreds of visits to read to classes, speak to assemblies and conduct our Stick With School campaign, so this contest is an outgrowth of the Griffins' commitment to children, education and West Michigan as a whole."

Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, in its first year as a Griffins corporate partner, was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why they are known as Michigan's Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services-life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate©, and more-protecting over 565,000 Michigan policyholders.

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Griffins and Farm Bureau Insurance Announce Media Room Makeover

The Pittston Memorial Library will have a new childrens wing and community room by mid-June.

Construction on the library expansion project is on schedule, library Director Anne Hogya said.

Its doing very well, she said.

Ms. Hogya said construction should wrap up by June 15. The additions walls have already gone up, and crews have started to install windows, getting closer every day to a new space for the librarys youngest patrons.

The 5,175-square-foot expansion will include a dedicated childrens wing and a community room featuring smartboards with videoconferencing capabilities.

The librarys current design lacks sufficient space for children to use, Ms. Hogya said, with only a small section dedicated on the main floor.

The new wing will encompass 2,500 square feet of the expansion and contain space for children to play, computers, a specific room for children and teen programming, and educational murals depicting Pennsylvanias wildlife.

The new childrens wing will be outfitted with all sorts of interactive play toys for the kids, Ms. Hogya said. Well be planning more childrens programs.

The rest of the expansion will house a community room that local groups can rent and use for meetings and functions, Ms. Hogya said. It will include a main room, a small kitchenette, a coat room, wireless Internet access and a smartboard Anything you would need for any type of business or community function, Ms. Hogya said.

The library will be taking reservations to rent the room within a month or so, she said.

Link:
Monday Update: Pittston library renovations underway

A boat glides along a river where construction workers build a bridge for the Don Sahong hydropower dam site in southern Laos last year. INTERNATIONAL RIVERS

Conservation groups have called on Prime Minister Hun Sen to address the elephant in the room and lobby Laos president to postpone his countrys controversial Don Sahong dam project when the leaders meet later this week.

Arriving on Thursday, Laotian Head of State Choummaly Sayasone will spend two days in Phnom Penh on an official visit at the invitation of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition to Hun Sen, Sayasone will meet National Assembly President Heng Samrin and Vice-President Say Chhum.

WWF Greater Mekong director Teak Seng said Hun Sen should seize the opportunity to press for a postponement of the Don Sahong dam, one of 12 hydropower projects currently being planned for the lower stretches of the Mekong, as more studies are conducted about its impact, particularly on fish migration.

This is the main outstanding issue, the elephant in the room, between Laos and Cambodia, Seng said.

This is a great opportunity for Cambodia to put its position forward and request more studies before construction.

Lying less than 2 kilometres north of the Lao-Cambodian border, the 260-megawatt project could have deleterious effects on shared waterways and fisheries.

Conservation groups also maintain the dam will jeopardise Cambodias Irrawaddy Dolphin population.

Following six months of consultations, the four lower Mekong countries Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos referred the issue to the Mekong River Commission Council.

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Laos dam elephant in room

$289,000 - 2423 FORREST AVE, BENSALEM, PA 19020
http://2423forrestave9.AgentMarketing.com?rs=youtube For more info and pics, Text "3908197" to 79564 1-Story,Detached, Rancher - BENSALEM, PA "STOP AND VIEW, NOT A DRIVE BY.

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$289,000 - 2423 FORREST AVE, BENSALEM, PA 19020 - Video

Dude Perfect III Room Addition #2

By: Dude Perfect III

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Dude Perfect III Room Addition #2 - Video

Arkansas State University System trustees unanimously agreed Friday to raise room and board rates at its Jonesboro campus.

Folded into that vote, the trustees also raised board rates for its Beebe campus. The vote came a week after the University of Central Arkansas increased its room and board rates, citing an increase in its food vendor contract and maintenance needs. The University of Arkansas System has not yet set 2015-16 rates for its campuses.

ASU Jonesboro's 4.2 percent increase will help with general maintenance costs at the university's residence halls and with increasing food prices, said Rick Stripling, vice chancellor for student affairs. The rates have increased every year at the Jonesboro campus because the cost of living has increased and items aren't the same price as they were a year ago, he said.

"We start this process in November," Stripling said. "We try to be as conservative as we possibly can in determining this amount. We work with our constituents on campus and with our student government to help them understand why we need this increase."

The new rates -- which vary depending on a student's choices on a number of meals and living situation -- will take effect during the first summer term this year.

The university's Student Government Association supported the measure, association President Logan Mustain said Friday. Mustain said he met with Stripling and Craig Johnson, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, during a 90-minute meeting about the new rates.

"They wanted to remain competitive with other universities and keep our facilities where they wanted it to be," said Mustain, 21, a third-year student from Benton. "We did remain competitive."

The meal plans alone will increase by 5.4 percent, Stripling said, but 1 percent of the meal-plan hike will go toward food costs while the rest will go toward a student's flex plan -- a new addition. The flex plan allows students to spend at other on-campus eateries, such as Godfather Pizza or Chick-fil-A.

Mustain said he liked that students could have more money for their flex plans.

Most students who live on the 13,144-student campus have some form of an unlimited board plan, which allows students to eat cafeteria meals either each day of the week or Monday through Friday. The cheapest seven-day unlimited access plan will go from $1,450 to $1,520 per semester. In that scenario, the student will get $50 more in his flex plan.

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ASU-Jonesboro vote to increase room, board rate

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The very best use has been made of the south-facing position of this converted barn, particularly with the addition, in 2007, of a stunning garden room.

Made with a hardwood frame and double glazed roof, the garden room also has the luxury of under-floor heating. Two pairs of double glazed French doors lead to a paved terrace and frame the view of the garden and fields beyond, while an internal set of French doors connects to the kitchen, so there's a real sense of bringing the outside in.

As well as the lovely garden at Rose Cottage, which is one of three dwellings in a period barn conversion, there is a gravelled driveway which leads to a parking area and detached garage, plus a paddock and a small copse totalling 1.25 acres.

The interior is the epitome of "country cottage", with the pale walls set against exposed stone walls and ceiling beams, some oak flooring and an impressive stone fireplace in the living room, from where French doors open to the terrace. Elsewhere on the ground floor is a hallway, cloakroom/wc and a combined kitchen and dining room.

Cream kitchen units are fitted under contrasting granite work surfaces, while integrated appliances include a dishwasher, fridge, freezer, washing machine and gas range cooker.

Above are three bedrooms, the master with built-in wardrobes and an en suite bathroom, and another with wardrobes and a dressing table/desk. There is also a shower room.

The terrace and garden is to the front of the cottage, with a lawn, well stocked borders, a magnolia tree, beech hedge and a rockery centrepiece with water feature. A pathway edged with lavender leads to the parking area.

Link:
Venue published Converted barn in Saltford with country cottage charm

Now that he has someone else to worry about, George Clooney isnt leaving anything to chance.

The Gravity star, 53, and his wife,Amal,are having a panic room installed in their Berkshire, England, mansion, reports Us Weekly.

Itll be fireproof, bomb-proof and attack-resistant, a source close to the couple told the magazine.

The addition is just one part of the renovations to the 17th-century manor, where thecoupleoptedto spend their first two weeks as husband and wifeinstead of going ona traditional honeymoon.

And no, its not his rabid fans Clooney is worried about, but rather the people whomight come after his wife, a famed human rights lawyer and activistwho hasrepresented controversial clientsincludingWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Amal has high-profile clients in controversial cases, the insider explains of the need for Mrs. Clooney, 37, to have protection. She needs to be secure.

Panic rooms are secure locations within residences meant for protectionin case of a home invasion or attack.

A fortified, residential bunker was the focal point of David Finchers 2002 movie Panic Room, which starred Jodie Foster and a young Kristen Stewart.

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George and Amal adding panic room to English mansion

Two board game connoisseurs are offering a new type of entertainment in which participants are locked in a room for an hour, working together to escape.

On Feb. 12, Ethan Rodriguez-Torrent 13 and Max Sutter 11 opened Escape New Haven on 111 Whitney Ave. The room escape challenge has teams of two to nine people who attempt to solve a series of brain teasers in order to break out of the room as Sutter and Rodriguez-Torrent monitor the team and administer clues via a computer from a separate control room. Puzzles and hints can include anything within the room: Furniture, books, coded messages and locks could all be the key to escaping or a red herring.

We take a team of people, we stick them in a scenario, we close the door behind them and say, You have 60 minutes to escape. Go, said Rodriguez-Torrent.

Room escape games have been surfacing in the past year across the country, opening in Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York City over the past few months. They derive from a sub-genre of video games, exemplified by the online escape game, Crimson Room, in which players find items in a room that provide clues on how to escape.

Non-virtual escape gaming began in Japan in 2007, and the trend began spreading to the east coast of the U.S. in early 2014. Rodriguez-Torrent first had the idea to bring the concept to New Haven after playing at a room escape venue in New York City.

I liked the concept, said Rodriguez-Torrent. I started brainstorming about how to do it better.

Sutter and Rodriguez-Torrent started a prototype of the game last summer and found that their friends enjoyed the challenge. They subsequently decided to expand it into a business. Since opening the escape room, the duo has had to add new weekend time slots to accommodate growing demand. Slots often fill up weeks in advance, said Rodriguez-Torrent.

According to one team of Yale graduates, Escape New Havens scenarios are mental challenges.

It makes you paranoid, said Alexandra Nasser 12 after semi-successfully completing the puzzle with her friends. And you learn to let go of your ideas.

Nasser said her team escaped the room but broke an object in the room in the process.

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Room escape challenge comes to New Haven