| City may move homeless from underpass to shelter
Mayor Ray Nagin's administration appears to be preparing to move the city's biggest homeless colony, a highly visible collection of people and bedrolls just off Canal Street, to a Central City emergency shelter. Some City Council members and leading advocates for the homeless say they are not aware of the plan, although the director of the New Orleans Mission confirmed that the city accepted his proposal on Friday. Nagin alluded to a plan for the homeless last week during an appearance on WWL-TV. He said he had recently seen a man in the encampment on Claiborne Avenue beneath Interstate 10 "drinking beer and just flipping the bird to citizens." Calling the scene "a mess," Nagin said that before the end of February, the city will begin enforcing its "habitation laws." "We've got more mental cases out there," the mayor said.
Saguaro Lake ranch showcases nature
Nestled along the Salt River, out on the far-eastern flanks of the Valley, there exists an oasis. The Saguaro Lake Ranch Resort is fewer than three dozen miles from downtown Phoenix, as the crow flies. Yet it feels like another world. Craggy cliffs soar hundreds of feet into the sky. Lining the Salt River is a ribbon of riparian greenery where rustic casitas are scattered around a spacious lawn. "Everybody who comes out here says the same thing: 'I never knew this existed,' " says Casey Thompson, an intern at the ranch, who is studying commercial recreation at Central Michigan University. "I'd never seen anything like it. You're driving out here and it's desert, desert, desert. Then you drop down into all this," he says, a sweep of his arm taking in the river and trees and grass.
Built for the dam The resort began in 1927 as a camp for workers on the Stewart Mountain Dam.
Sam Champion's Just One Thing
We love our pets, but just like humans, dogs and cats have a big impact on the environment. Check out these innovative green pet product recommendations from Prevention magazine. Every year, 10 million tons of animal waste ends up in landfills. Even when it is left on the ground, the waste can seep into the ground water … which is dangerous because pet waste is full of pathogens. Flushable Pet Pick-Up Bags
The most eco-friendly way to dispose of dog waste is to flush it down the toilet so it does not end up in landfills. A dog lover in Wisconsin invented the flushable pet pick up bag. It is made out of meltable polyvinyl alcohol film, an environmentally friendly, non-toxic sister to the compound that makes up Elmer's glue. The bags will dissolve when flushed down the toilet or degrade quickly if buried in the back yard.
Green spaces? : Switching to hybrids could get a little more enticing
Driving a fuel-efficient vehicle could save a few dollars at the gas pump as well as the parking meter. The Off-Street Parking Improvement District No. 1 gave its approval Tuesday to an ordinance that would allow vehicles that can travel 40 or more miles per gallon of gasoline to park free in some areas of downtown Fayetteville. Sharon Crosson, parking manager for the city, said she wanted to get the district's blessing on the ordinance before going to the City Council. The city contracts with the district to lease three downtown parking lots: one behind the E. J. Ball Plaza, one catty-cornered to that lot and one at Spring Street and East Avenue. Some of the revenue collected by the district would be lost if it allowed free parking in those lots.
Direct-vent fireplaces draw air and exhaust fumes outdoors
Q: I plan to install a gas fireplace myself for additional heat in a large family room. I want an efficient one, but one that also has realistic flames. Is a direct-vent design my best option?
Jeff W.
A: New gas fireplaces are very efficient, probably more so than your existing furnace, and they produce substantial heat. Most models should easily produce enough supplemental heat to keep even a large family room comfortable and warm. The heat outputs are only slightly different when set up for propane instead of natural gas.
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