WASHINGTON — As gas prices continue to take a toll on Americans' pocketbooks, a growing number of people are embracing a more old-fashioned, cheaper and greener way of getting around: bicycling. And an increasing number of U.S. cities are starting bike-sharing programs for a range of environmental, health and economic reasons. Cities across the country — including Washington, Chicago, Miami Beach, Denver and Des Moines, Iowa — launched bike-sharing programs last year.
Boston and New York plan to start their own later this summer. Most programs enroll members who pay small monthly or annual fees and then are able to rent bikes for either a limited number of hours or a whole day. Nonmembers often can buy daily passes. Bicycles are healthy, they don't pollute and they're relatively cheap. Cities also find that bikes help cut down on traffic congestion and boost their economies by getting more people to patronize local businesses. tiffany accessories
The U.S. embrace of bike-sharing follows European cities such as Rome, Paris and Barcelona, Spain, which were pioneers of such programs. "People are interested in other forms of mobility, and bike-sharing makes it possible for people to take short trips without having to necessarily gear up in full bike gear and deal with trying to park the bike safely," said Susan Shaheen, a transportation scholar at the University of California at Berkeley. Surveys of some program users show that many of the most active members are ages 25 to 35 and they use the bicycles to commute to work or pedal for leisure on weekends. cheap tiffany and co
Washington launched Capital Bikeshare last September. More than 1,100 bikes and 118 stations are now part of the system, and at least 500,000 rides have been taken so far. Government funding is one reason that these programs have thrived. The federal Department of Transportation pitched in with a $4.8 million grant to help get Capital Bikeshare rolling. In an emailed statement to McClatchy, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood touted his department's work promoting bike-sharing and other alternatives to driving: "Through our programs, we have funded new bike lanes and paths and have supported the development of bike-sharing programs to improve opportunities for people to get around safely and conveniently on a bicycle." The high price of gasoline is a prime motivator for many bikers. tiffany charms
"Some of the main reasons we hear about people joining Bikeshare or biking in general is the cost of gas. That is not going to go down anytime in the future, and it will only keep getting worse," said Chris Holben, a program manager for Capital Bikeshare. Mike Schmitz, 25, who works as an international trade consultant in downtown Washington, has used Capital Bikeshare for two months. He rents a bicycle several times a week. tiffany necklace white gold
"It's an easy way to get around the city. It's a lot quicker than walking and even taking the Metro," Schmitz said, referring to Washington's subway system. At a news conference in May, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg sounded enthusiastic about his city's initiative: "Every city I've talked to mayors in around the world, it's one of the most popular things they've ever done. I would expect it to be popular here." Minneapolis started a program last June called Nice Ride, which now has 700 bikes and more than 70 stations and has logged more than 100,000 trips in its first year of operation. It recently expanded into Minneapolis' twin city of St. Paul. tiffany cufflinks
Bill Dossett, the program's executive director, said Nice Ride had been a huge success in part because "40 percent of the trips people take in a city are under 3 miles, and the bike is the best tool for that. "The basic idea of it is a great one, and the technology advances that have happened in the last five years have just made it so much easier and possible to secure the bikes and keep them more maintained." Dossett said he got at least five calls a week from officials in other cities seeking advice on how to get their own bike-sharing programs rolling. Zach Schaap, 25, an advertising graphic designer, uses Nice Ride daily to commute to work and has become an avid fan. He even sold his car last year. "Nice Ride simplifies the biking experience. It's reliable and simple, and it engages you with your community," he said. tiffany necklace silver
OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Why this Cape May County town has simultaneous Fourth of July bike parades, creating a kind of not-so-rivalrous north-south rivalry, no one is quite sure. Kids riding two- and three-wheelers festooned with flags and streamers, accompanied by the sound of baseball cards clacking against spokes, are ubiquitous this holiday weekend. But nowadays, bike brigades are only part of many celebrations. tiffany uk
A parade dedicated exclusively to the grass-roots tradition is a rarity. Two in one town - attracting hundreds of children, parents, and spectators - is rarer still. "I think it's one of those things that makes Ocean City so special. We're lucky enough to have two bike parades going on at the same time, one in the north end of town and one in the south end," said Bob French, 90, a World War II veteran who with his late wife, Marie, came up with the idea for the north-end version in the late 1950s. tiffany accessories
"We all had so much pride and patriotism when we came back from the war, it seemed logical that we would want to organize something like this," French said. In the beginning, the "parade" was mostly the Frenches' three children and a gaggle of other youngsters in the city's Gardens section, where families tended to live year-round. The longtime Realtor recalls that they traveled only a few blocks along Atlantic Boulevard, then held a small block party. Now the north-end event, scheduled for 10 a.m. tiffany pendants
Monday, is a mile long and attracts about 2,000 spectators. About 500 children are registered to ride. The route will extend from the foot of the Ocean City-Longport Bridge down Wesley Road to Atlantic and finish at Beach Road, where refreshments and prizes are to be distributed. The Gardens Civic Association, which took over running the parade 35 years ago, expanded the reach of the event by creating a T-shirt design contest in the local schools. Each year, a child's drawing is featured on the shirts, which also list the sponsors that helped pay for the shirts, refreshments, and goody bags handed out to the kids. tiffany mens necklace
The association works with Ocean City police to help spread the word about bike safety and the importance of wearing a cycling helmet, said Debbie McKenna, this year's parade chairwoman. "This parade is really the most important function of the Gardens Civic Association. It really brings the community together," said McKenna, who recently hosted a bike-decorating party in her driveway for her grandchildren and others in the neighborhood. "Kids have been decorating bikes forever. tiffany necklace silver
It's one of those old-fashioned kinds of things that everyone loves to see on the Fourth of July," she said. The bike-parade tradition began a couple of summers earlier on Ocean City's sleepy South End, about eight miles away, where there were more summer residences than year-around homes. Men from the local firehouse agreed to lead a ragtag assembly of children who trailed behind a fire engine for six blocks on Central Avenue and the parade was born, said Tom Grossi, chairman of this year's event, sponsored by the South Ocean City Improvement Association. tiffany necklace white gold
This year's parade is expected to draw from 800 to 1,000 people as it rolls down Central Avenue between 40th and 53d Streets, also starting at 10 a.m. Monday. About 100 children on bikes or in wagons pulled by their parents will, once again, be led by a fire truck, Grossi said. There will be a couple of floats, too. "It's pretty casual in the south end," Grossi said. "They really go all out in the Gardens, with the T-shirts and going into the schools. But we try to keep it very simple. A lot of the families are just here on vacation or come down to their homes on the weekends." Is there a rivalry? It's more like a draw. "The Gardens may have a bigger parade, but ours is older," noted Grossi.
tiffany cufflinks "We pride ourselves in Ocean City with doing things generation after generation, in a sort of small-town way," said Fred Miller, a local historian. "The parades really bring that all together. We have a big, spread-out town where you can have two parades going on at the same time, yet Ocean City still has that small-town feel.
Parker's new $21.8 million arts center will open Oct. 28 with a performance of "Luma," a new-generation lighting concert that makes laser-light shows of old look like the vintage videogame Pong. The PACE Center — Parker Arts, Culture and Events Department — will be home to a wide range of local arts groups and international touring productions, but will perhaps most distinguish itself by commissioning new theater works right out of the gate. tiffany necklace
Unlike the nearby Lone Tree Arts Center, which opens Sept. 9 and will host productions that will first be presented by originating theaters like the Arvada Center and Creede Repertory Theatre, PACE is taking the unusual step of hiring the Aurora Fox to mount theater works just for Parker audiences. First up: "A Christmas Story" and "Annie." PACE is also commissioning longtime Denver theater producer Rick Seeber's latest in his series of popular music revues. "Country is the Music of Mainstreet" (titled after Parker's main drag), will take a western approach following previous Seeber efforts like "Beehive" and "8-Track: Sounds of the '70s. tiffany men's necklace
" "We wanted to do something in our first year that is uniquely Parker, while also supporting original work," said executive director Jeannene Bragg. "Parker takes a great deal of pride in its equestrian history, and that history is right in line with country music." Visiting productions will include the Vienna Boys Choir, which last appeared in Denver in 2008, Ireland's "Celtic Nights: Journey of Hope," and the venerable touring comedy, "Defending the Caveman." Bragg is working closely with the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins and other area presenters to piggyback performances of touring works from around the world that might otherwise skip the Denver metro area entirely. tiffany necklace white gold
Programming for children will include the Cashore Marionettes, "Gary Krinsky: Toying with Science," "Stunt Dog Experience" — a demonstration of, yes, pet tricks — and "Sign Stage's Stuart Little," which will present the familiar story of the spirited little mouse with a cast of both hearing and deaf actors who speak and perform sign language simultaneously. "We are very much committed to ongoing programming geared toward the special-needs and therapeutic communities," Bragg said. A central part of PACE's mission is to incorporate local talent, themes and interests, Bragg said.
tiffany necklace silver To that end, PACE has named four local artistic partners for the inaugural season, each of which will present at least two performances: The Apex Contemporary Dance Theatre, Colorado Wind Ensemble, Parker Chorale and Parker Symphony Orchestra. Separate performances by Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Ballet Ariel and Colorado School of Dance are also slated. The PACE Center will be otherwise available to rent for local, regional and national cultural, arts, scientific and educational programming, as well as community, business, classroom and social events.
"Ours will be a multi-facility regional arts center that will offer a wide variety of family-friendly programming that really strikes a balance between supporting and developing local artists as well as presenting national and worldwide talent," Bragg said. Tickets for the first official "presented season" will go on sale in August, Bragg said. PACE will offer a variety of subscription packages, including a "build your own" mix-and-match option. The PACE Center will be anchored by a 500-seat auditorium with an outdoor amphitheater, as well as an art gallery, event room, dance studio, culinary kitchen and several classrooms. Outside will be Harmony Park, a collection of weatherproof wind and percussion metal instruments for anyone to play. The PACE Center is being constructed through a 25-year municipal loan, with no tax dollars of any kind. tiffany charms
TRIPOLI/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Libya's Muammar Gaddafi could fall within two to three months, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said on Tuesday, as rebels sought to build on a gradual advance toward Tripoli. The ICC's Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who on Monday announced an arrest warrant for Gaddafi on charges of crimes against humanity, is the latest international official to say the Libyan leader would soon capitulate to a NATO-backed revolt. "It is a matter of time ... Gaddafi will face charges," Moreno-Ocampo told reporters in The Hague, where the warrants were approved for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. He added: "I don't think we will have to wait for long...In two or three months it is game over. tiffany necklace white gold
" The Libyan administration rejects the authority of the ICC and has denied targeting civilians, saying it has acted against armed criminal gangs and al Qaeda militants. While there is little chance of Gaddafi being arrested if he remains in power, his foes have seized on the warrant to justify the three-month NATO bombing campaign and to try and bolster world opinion in support of the operation. In Washington, a U.S. Senate panel backed a resolution to formally authorize continued U.S.
tiffany charmsparticipation in the NATO-led operation. Senators on the panel rebuked President Barack Obama for not having sought congressional approval in the first place. In comments that appeared to make any political settlement even less likely, rebels said after talks in Paris that even indirect contacts with Gaddafi were now excluded -- hardening a line that until now acknowledged talks through intermediaries. "I don't think there is any place for direct or indirect contact with Gaddafi," Mahmoud Shammam, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC) said after meetings with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
tiffany pendantsIn its eastern stronghold of Benghazi, the NTC hosted the foreign minister of Bulgaria, whose country along with Romania brought to at least 22 the number of states which recognize the NTC as representatives of the Libyan people. REBELS CLOSER TO TRIPOLI The rebellion against Gaddafi has made only slow progress since Western countries began bombing three months ago, but rebels say they are finally advancing closer to Tripoli. Rebels based in the Western Mountains region southwest of the capital made their biggest breakthrough in weeks on Sunday to reach the town of Bir al-Ghanam, where they are now fighting pro- Gaddafi forces for control, their spokesman said. The move took them 30 km (18 miles) north of their previous position and closer to Tripoli, Gaddafi's main power base. A rebel spokesman said there had been further fighting on Monday. "Fighting broke out yesterday evening in Bir Ayad and Bir al-Ghanam. The (government) brigades used Grad rockets. tiffany cufflinks
The fighting stopped later after strikes by NATO," he said. A Reuters photographer said rebels tried to salvage weapons from a pro-Gaddafi arms depot some 20 km (13 miles) southeast of the nearby town of Zintan after it had been bombed by NATO, but they were prevented as fire broke out across the entire depot. Elsewhere, a rebel spokesman in Misrata said by phone from the rebel-held city some 200 km (125 miles) east of Tripoli that Gaddafi's forces had shelled neighborhoods. He quoted medical workers as saying one person had been killed and three wounded. The revolt has turned into the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic rulers across the Middle East, becoming a full-blown civil war with control of the country divided between the rebels and Gaddafi's government. In London, a British minister told reporters a team planning for a post-conflict Libya had recommended Gaddafi's security forces be left largely intact after any rebel victory, avoiding an error made after the Iraq war.
tiffany & co outlet"One of the first things that should happen once Tripoli falls is that someone should get on the phone to the former Tripoli chief of police and tell him he's got a job and he needs to ensure the safety and security of the people of Tripoli," said International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell. The report of the UK-led team is to be presented at the next meeting of an international contact group on Libya on July 15. "NATO FIG LEAF" Reporters were taken on Tuesday by Libyan government minders to the town of Bani Walid, a tribal stronghold about 150 km (90 miles) southeast of Tripoli to attend a pro-Gaddafi rally. tiffany rings
"We are here to show that all Libyan people love Gaddafi," said schoolteacher Haloud Ahmed, 20, one of 200 mostly female supporters, some of whom fired machine guns in the air, while two carried unloaded rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Bani Walid is home to the Warfalla, Libya's biggest tribe, which originally announced its opposition to Gaddafi when the uprising began in February. The tribe's revolt was quickly suppressed by forces loyal to Gaddafi. The launch of a third war in a Muslim country has divided U.S. public opinion while tens of thousands of troops are still deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. U.S. forces took the lead in the air campaign's initial days, but quickly turned command over to NATO, with most bombing carried out by Britain and France. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed a resolution formally authorizing U.S. participation in the operation but banning the introduction of U.S.
tiffany earringstroops on the ground. Senators said Obama should have sought approval in Congress earlier. U.S. State Department legal adviser Harold Koh said no authorization was needed because the U.S. role was too limited to be considered "hostilities" under the War Powers Resolution, which requires presidents to seek approval for military action. Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat and former U.S. navy secretary, said any operation that lasts for months and costs billions could be defined as hostilities "even under the NATO fig leaf." (Additional reporting by Maria Golovnina in Benghazi, Michael Martina in Beijing, Susan Corwell in Washington, John Irish in Paris, Joseph Nasr in Berlin, David Brunnstrom in Brussels and Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff) tiffany bracelet
tiffany mens necklaceROME – With summer officially started and school seasons wrapping up, the YMCAs of the Greater Tri-Valley will once again provide summer fun for children who are looking to fill that time gap that used to be spent at school. Rome, Oneida and New Hartford YMCAs all feature summer day camps for children ages four to 13. Camp Silver Arrow (based out of the Oneida YMCA), Camp Crooked Arrow (Rome YMCA) and Camp Mighty Arrow (New Hartford) are all summer camps that run five days a week starting June 27 and ending Aug. 26. “Our goal is to help boys and girls to grow physically, mentally, and socially,” says Maryalice Golden. tiffany uk shop
marketing manager for the YMCA of the Greater Tri-Valley. “The YMCA values of Caring, Honesty Respect and Responsibility are integrated into each activity with character building experiences your child will never forget.” A typical day at any of the camps is full of activity and fun. Summer camp days consist of arts and crafts, sports and recreation, nature activities, camp songs and water activities to beat the summer heat. Since YMCA summer camps have full access to the respective YMCA facilities, the possibilities are endless as to what a child can participate in. Children can attend these camps for just one week or for the entire summer, and although there are weekly payment rates for the camps, the camps are still cheaper than your usual babysitter rates. tiffany pendants
BEIRUT: The U.N.-backed court probing the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri will finalize its indictment next week, and it will contain the name of a Hezbollah commander among others accused of the crime, diplomatic and judicial sources told The Daily Star Tuesday. Sources familiar with the investigation said that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will provide State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza with a sealed indictment at the start of next month, which may come before the new government finalizes a policy statement that could omit direct reference to the court. “We expect the indictment on either July 3 or 4,” said one source. “Mirza has to do something [with the indictment], but the next stage is difficult.”
tiffany accessories It added that the name of a senior Hezbollah military commander who is believed to be residing in Lebanon would be contained in the indictment. State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza confirmed to The Daily Star that he would announce publicly when an indictment had been received but demurred on what would happen next. “I cannot say what I will do,” Mirza said. “I do not know [when the indictment will be released]: they have been saying that they will issue it for years.” Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has slammed the STL, labeling it an “Israeli project” and warned to “cut the hand” of anyone targeting his organization in relation to Hariri’s murder. Nasrallah acknowledged that the names of individuals belonging to the party would likely feature in an indictment.
tiffany necklace white gold The STL has maintained that it will seek to indict individuals, not political entities. But the court’s reported intent to accuse a senior party official of carrying out the assassination is likely to put Lebanon’s judiciary in a bind, particularly if the Cabinet has not formed a coherent policy statement by the time the indictment lands. “According to the procedures, the STL will inform judicial authorities to arrest and hand in the names listed in the indictment,” a judicial source told The Daily Star. “However, judicial authorities will not be able to act if the indictment includes individuals from Hezbollah.
tiffany necklace silver“Under the current circumstances and without a Cabinet [policy] statement, judicial authorities will be in some kind of limbo,” the source added. Lebanon signed an agreement with the U.N. in 2007 to cooperate with the international court, although that commitment has been questioned following the formation of a March 8 government in Beirut. Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that the new administration would maintain its international commitments on the proviso that they do not destabilize civil peace. cheap tiffany
The judicial source said that The Hague was working on a purely legal level and it was therefore unlikely that individuals such as STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare and pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen would consider the fraught condition of Lebanon before finalizing an indictment. “The situation in Lebanon will not change the stance of the STL. For whatever reason the judicial authorities fail to apprehend the suspects, the STL will consider that Lebanon has failed to implement its duties toward the tribunal,” the source said.
tiffany cufflinks “In case the indictment is issued and Lebanon fails to cooperate with the tribunal, all the named suspects will be tried in absentia.” The court’s statute dictates that STL President Antonio Cassese must be satisfied that countries receiving the indictment had exerted “sufficient effort” to apprehend accused individuals before going public and naming suspects, should the indictment be handed down in sealed form, as is expected. Former Prime Minister Hariri was killed in a massive car bomb on Feb. 14, 2005, as his motorcade sped through Downtown Beirut. The act brought about popular demonstrations leading to Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon after nearly three decades. Twenty-two others were killed in the attack. tiffany charms
Lights out for the Green Lantern FIRSTLY: a superhero who carries a lantern around like a handbag is never going to be particularly intimidating, is he? Add to that the fact he has to recharge his ring like a cheap mobile phone and his part-time powers just come off a bit, dare I say it, wet.
Pandora Necklace Silver Secondly: while we’re on a film-bashing trajectory, ‘star’ of the show, Ryan Reynolds, does little to improve matters, indeed fulfilling the description made by someone far funnier than I, that he is in fact the human equivalent of low-fat spread. Bland, weak and more than a little dull. In fairness to Reynolds, who can’t be blamed for the fact that the Green Lantern story is the diet version of a fizzy drink, the final nail in an already half-buried coffin is the fact that the power bestowed upon our Superhero Lite is the unspeakably lame possession of ‘will’. Talk about positive thinking. pandora packages
Our superhero may as well sit at home swatting up on self-help books, learning the art of zen and chanting ‘if one believes he can save the world, one can’. The film, which recounts the DC Comics ‘silver age’ era of the Green Lantern series, sees Reynolds’ character, Hal Jordan, appointed to replace dying alien warrior, Abin Sur, who has been defeated by Parallax, a former Green Lantern guardian who has succumbed to the power of ‘fear’.
pandora sets Seeing himself unfit to take the role and duly told so by his mentor Sinestro, Hal quits and returns to Earth, although he is allowed to keep the power ring and lantern battery, so it wasn’t an entirely wasted journey into outer space. But with the help of love interest, Carol, (Blake Lively), Hal comes to terms with his self worth and realises until he accepts his own downfalls, namely his aversion to any sort of responsibility (a pre- requisite for the job, you’d imagine), his standard of crime-fighting is never going to be up to scratch. Pandora Charms Bracelets
Cheap Pandora JewelrySo, he looks inside himself and thinks really really really hard about his immature behaviour and lo and behold, he throws off his man-child cloak and saves the world. I did not see that coming. On a more positive note, the one decent line in the whole cheesy script comes from Lively, who asks the question which has burned in me like an irritating fire since I learnt to read comic books: “Why do you think I can’t recognise you just because I can’t see your cheek bones?” Quite! I’m all for suspension of disbelief but a strip of material across the eyes does not a mask make. Pandora Bracelet Charms
Sadly, while it did warm me to hear someone point out something I’ve wondered for years, it doesn’t negate the fact that against the slew of comic book classics currently setting the silver screen ablaze, Green Lantern is a weak tribute to far more exciting contemporaries. Pandora Jewelry