California City Looks To Sea For Water In Drought

Santa Barbara, looking east from above Santa Barbara City College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SANTA BARBARA, CA — This seaside city thought it had the perfect solution the last time California withered in a severe drought more than two decades ago: Tap the ocean to turn salty seawater to fresh water.

The $34 million desalination plant was fired up for only three months and mothballed after a miracle soaking of rain.

As the state again grapples with historic dryness, the city nicknamed the “American Riviera” has its eye on restarting the idled facility to hedge against current and future droughts.

“We were so close to running out of water during the last drought. It was frightening,” said Joshua Haggmark, interim water resources manager. “Desalination wasn’t a crazy idea back then.”

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/05/05/4164321/california-city-looks-to-sea-for.html?sp=/99/116/128/#storylink=cpy

York To Host Street Rod Nationals In June

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting York County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The annual Street Rod Nationals East Plus will roar into the York Expo Center next month, according to a news release from the National Street Rod Association.

The event will be held at the center on June 6, 7, and 8, the release states.

Read more: http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_25697468/york-host-street-rod-nationals-june

Downtown Phillipsburg Homes And Businesses Starting To See Improvements From Tax Credit Program

Map of New Jersey highlighting Warren County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ – A $1 million investment has started trickling into the heart of downtown Phillipsburg.

The area from the black bridge on South Main Street to Stockton Street, between the Delaware River and Sitgreaves Street, is the target of the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program.

John Korp, associate director of the Northwest New Jersey Community Action Program, said people from more than 20 businesses and 30 owner-occupied homes have shown interest or submitted paperwork to enroll. Business owners need to identify what needs they have and may be eligible for reimbursement for curb-appeal, lighting and security upgrades.

Phillipsburg Downtown Association President Joe Little called it a “fantastic” opportunity for the businesses in the area. Many of the shop owners have a to-do list of improvements they had to back burner because of the economy, he said in an email last week.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/phillipsburg/index.ssf/2014/05/downtown_phillipsburg_homes_an.html

Philadelphia’s World Trade Center Seeks Higher Profile

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To most, the World Trade Center is a reminder of terrorism’s evil: two jetliners commandeered on a gorgeous September morning, bringing down New York’s landmark twin towers, killing more than 2,700 and unhinging a nation.

In Philadelphia, the World Trade Center is a bistate nonprofit fighting to be better known.

The attention the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia (WTCGP) especially seeks is from the region’s small businesses, a sector it says is missing tremendous growth opportunity by not exporting.

“Ninety-six percent of the world’s consumers lie outside our borders, so it’s a tremendous opportunity for companies to look to global markets,” said Ron Drozd, manager of WTCGP’s export services.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140505_Philadelphia_s_World_Trade_Center_seeks_higher_profile.html#DWHiDF78mKSEPZ1p.99

Turbulence Injures Six On Flight From Philadelphia To Florida

English: US Airways Airbus A330-323X (N278AY), on final approach to London Heathrow Airport, England. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA As the plane plummeted, Mark Pensiero said he felt his seat drop and his body press up against the seat belt. Gravity seemed to lose its grasp on the 58-year-old Burlington County man. The Orlando-bound Airbus rocked violently from side to side.

“For a couple seconds there, nobody was controlling that airplane,” he said. “It was doing what it wanted to do.”

The turbulence lasted five seconds, maybe 10, Sunday night. But six people – four passengers and two flight attendants – reported injuries, leading the captain to turn the plane back to Philadelphia, U.S. Airways said. Five people were taken to hospitals. The airline said the extent of their injuries was unknown, but appeared not to be life-threatening.

Pensiero said he saw one person taken away in a stretcher and another person, a flight attendant, wearing a neck brace.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140505_Turbulence_injures_six_on_flight_from_Philadelphia_to_Florida.html#8yu4xT72ZCiexPCq.99

Tragedy And Danger Discovered In Pottstown’s Mining Heritage

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jefferson M. Rightnour left his wife and six children at their home in Fruitville, a small collection of houses in Limerick Township, Montgomery County, on Sept. 1, 1880, and walked to his job in what is now Pottstown.

The 6-mile trek must have been a hardship, but it was nothing compared to what was waiting for him. Rightnour was the boss of a copper mine; he worked underground with a pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow, busting through sandstone to get to copper ore.

The mine was located on a 40-acre farm owned by James Gilbert in what was then Pottsgrove Township. An 1877 atlas of Montgomery County shows that Gilbert’s farmhouse was probably what is now the business office for Highland Memorial Park at 701 Farmington Ave. The precise location of the mine isn’t known, but it was probably somewhere along the slope of the hill in that area.

Copper had been mined there in the mid-1850s, but the endeavor was unprofitable and was soon abandoned. In July of 1874, a group of investors from Phoenixville took a crack it. The Daily Pottstown Ledger reported that excavators reopening the shaft found, at a depth of 18 feet, a wheelbarrow and box of potatoes — reportedly still “in good condition” — relics entombed in the 1850s workings.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/lifestyle/20140504/tragedy-and-danger-discovered-in-pottstowns-mining-heritage