| Problems plague animal shelter
Few officials disagree that the Cass County Animal Shelter fails to meet the needs of the dogs and cats brought there daily."It needs to be better. It has to be better," said Kim Kesler, director of the animal shelter. "The things I see out here are heartbreaking."Many of the animals at the shelter are strays that have either never had a home or been dumped or abandoned by their owners. Others are pets picked up by animal control."People need to know what we deal with every day," said Kesler, who is also the president of the Cass County Humane Society.The building needs to be larger to accommodate a proper layout of dog kennels and specialized rooms. Some issues present dangers to the public."We don't have a section for bite cases to be out of public view like they should be," Kesler said. "That's dangerous for the public and our staff."According to Kesler, air quality in the current facility is poor, as is sanitation.
Ballard hosts Tent City
Residents whose homes line the church parking lot say they were not given any choice. They are no strangers to vagrants and others relieving themselves by nearby trash containers, sleeping under trees and performing sex acts outside their windows. It's difficult to convince property owners that Tent Cities' participants will not trigger similar 911 calls, Parks said. But participants have worked hard to distinguish themselves, and their behavior, church officials and advocates for the homeless say. They attend community meetings, explaining their screening for sex predators, and strict rules against unruly or disruptive behavior, panhandling, drinking and drugs. "I knew very little about Tent City before they came to talk to us," said resident Karen Wilson, a member of the church who lives in View Ridge.
Editorial: Labor for LNG
All the Mailbag correspondents who lately have denounced the proposed liquid natural gas terminal at Bradwood Landing on the Columbia River might be interested in what organized labor has to say."The Oregon AFL-CIO is solidly in support of a proposed liquid natural gas terminal along the Columbia River near Astoria," the labor federation said in a press statement Wednesday, "The facility will create 450 construction jobs over three years, plus 65 permanent living-wage jobs, and generate $7.8 million a year in taxes for Clatsop County."The union already has an agreement that union contractors will build the terminal if it's allowed. Jobs for its members obviously are the group's main concern, but Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain also said of the project: "It will ... help secure a more stable energy future for Oregon."The labor federation makes two other important points to answer critics who worry about safety and the environment.On safety: "The natural gas will be held in two-foot-thick concrete double-wall storage tanks, and tankers will operate under strict regulations of the U.S.
A true taste of Welsh homelife
For fun, they answer casting calls for movie extras. Even Gelert, their aged dog, gets parts. Their home is half of a duplex in what once was "council housing," government-subsidized rentals for families who couldn't afford to buy property. Thirty years ago, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decreed that longtime tenants could buy their units at a reasonable cost, and the Joneses did. .
Shop Smart: Early cleaning nips spring problems
Winter can take its toll on a house. And when the weather turns foul, many homeowners tend to stay indoors and defer maintenance. To help protect one of people's most valuable assets, Consumer Reports recently identified some potential problems and suggested ways to fix them: • Dirty air conditioners. Disconnect electric power to the air conditioner's outdoor condenser and clear it of leaves and debris with a vent brush, power blower, garden hose or vacuum cleaner's brush attachment. Be careful not to bend any exposed cooling fins. In yards with lots of trees and plants, wrap fiberglass mesh around the condenser coil to capture pollen and leaves and replace as needed. Don't allow debris to block airflow. Check vacuum grilles and registers inside the home to ensure good airflow and change furnace filters.
Russians vote for new president
Russia has 11 time zones stretching from the Far East.
The last opinion polls to be published said Medvedev would win 70-80 percent of the vote, way ahead of his nearest rival, 63-year-old Communist Gennady Zyuganov, on 10-16 percent.
The surveys suggested turnout would be about 70 percent, though Kremlin critics said it would be inflated by factory managers and state officials who pressure employees to vote.
Most Western monitors were boycotting the election because of a dispute with election officials over the number of observers allowed and the duration of their stay.
Andreas Gross, head of the only Western observer mission, said he would travel around various Moscow polling stations while colleagues would observe in St Petersburg and Yaroslavl.
How Pitman gave rescue package wings
As a result, Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia and adviser James Lupton of Greenhill "came to my home one Sunday afternoon with all their papers". He took one look at the plans and declared "it won't fly". "I believed it was too optimistic. I said you don't have enough capital." But they refused to give in and began revising the plans under his tutelage. "Effectively, I was acting as an unpaid adviser." By the time Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank demanded the consortium name its chairman as a condition of providing funding, he was ready to sign on. They later backed out, but Sir Brian has only become more hands-on - beefing up his role to executive chairman and effectively running proceedings. .
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