IndianaLocalNewsSports Penske bullish on Indy 500 success in 2021 By Jon Zimney – March 24, 2021 1 233 Previous articleMichiana’s only emergency vet to end after hours servicesNext articleEscape room coming to Indiana Beach this year Jon ZimneyJon Zimney is the News and Programming Director for News/Talk 95.3 Michiana’s News Channel and host of the Fries With That podcast. Follow him on Twitter @jzimney. Pinterest (“Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, IN” by Josh Hallett, Creative Commons) Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske is optimistic that a fair amount of fans will be allowed to attend the Indianapolis 500 this coming May.Just six months ago, the Indianapolis 500 was held in August after having been postponed from its usual date during Memorial Day weekend in May because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, with vaccines being distributed and COVID numbers looking much better than this time a year ago, Penske eager to have fans back.“We’re not making any predictions at all because anything I would say today could be completely wrong,” he said to a NASCAR media Zoom call. “Our goal is to have 250,000.”That would roughly be full seating capacity for the speedway.“It’s outside. We’ve got the biggest stadium in the world here,” Penske added. “It’s a matter of where we’re going to be with the CDC and the governor and the mayor (of Indianapolis), so I don’t have any number that I’d want to hang my hat on.”Penske said so far 170,000 tickets have been sold for the upcoming 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. Penske, who also owns the NTT IndyCar Series, says ticket sales are also open for the first three races of the IndyCar season at Barber Motorsports Park, St. Petersburg, and the two Texas oval races.“It just shows you the interest in the race and we’ve got a lot of people that are waiting, and we have our (general admission) and what else we normally do on that weekend, but I think the good news is we’re going to have the race and it will be limited or be open based on what the current numbers are.”IMS was a vaccination hub earlier this month where Penske said upwards of 16,000 Hoosiers were vaccinated for COVID in four days, including Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. Facebook WhatsApp Twitter Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Facebook Google+ Google+ read more
Derrick Freeman’s Soul Brass Band is quickly becoming a New Orleans staple, as the bandleader and percussionist has created quite the resume for himself. With twenty years under his belt with Kermit Ruffins, studying under and collaborating with legends such as Ellis Marsalis, Harold Batiste, and Shannon Powell, Freeman and his Soul Brass Band are steeped in that NOLA-style brass band tradition that knows how to bring the party. And they are coming to New York City to celebrate Mardi Gras as an official Tulane NY Mardi Gras Party on Wednesday, March 1st at DROM (purchase tickets here).Playing alongside Freeman is an accomplished cast made up of Michael Watson, James Martin, Aron Lambert, Steven “Tuba Steve” Glenn, John Michael Bradford, and Bernard Grobman. The group has played Jazz Fests all over the world, including Ascona, Switzerland and Copenhagen, Denmark, and iconic venues such as the Apollo Theatre, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, House of Blues in New Orleans and Chicago, just to name a few.If you are in NYC and want to get in a proper Mardi Gras celebration, make sure to check out Derrick Freeman’s Soul Brass Band. It will be a show you won’t want to miss.Tickets are currently on-sale and can be purchased here.– Show Info –Band: Derrick Freeman’s Soul Brass Band w/ SupportVenue: DROM – 85 Avenue A. New York, NY 10009Date: Wednesday – March 1st, 2017Time: 7pm Doors / 8pm ShowAges: 21+Tickets: $12adv / $15dos (purchase here) read more
Late last year, as the student performers at the A.R.T. Institute readied for their newest production, a reworked version of the brothers Grimm tale “Hansel and Gretel,” they turned to their leader for some last-minute direction.The show’s youthful director, Allegra Libonati, ran through the scenes with a watchful eye, tweaking movements and adjusting lines here and there. The 12-hour days in the run-up to the production are the norm for the resident director who has her hands in myriad theatrical projects — and couldn’t be happier about it.“I feel like the luckiest person alive,” Libonati said during a break from rehearsals.Libonati has theater in her DNA. Her mother was in the original Broadway production of “Grease” and appeared in the soap opera “One Life to Live.” Her father directed TV commercials and music videos, and occasionally cast his young daughter in bit parts, such as a street urchin in a Richie Havens music video.“Nothing else really ever stuck as deeply as wanting to be in the business,” said Libonati. She fell in love with working behind the scenes while in college at the Tisch School of the Arts in New York City. There, she directed “The Island,” an intense drama about political prisoners based on South Africa’s notorious Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was confined for 27 years.“It just kind of rocked my world,” said Libonati. “It showed me how powerful theater can be, how much of a resonance it can have, and what kind of an impact you can have on people emotionally.”Libonati carried that passion to graduate school, where she reached out to one of her former professors in hopes of securing a brief internship. “I had always remembered how much I loved her work, how inspired I was by her,” said Libonati. That professor was Diane Paulus, who had just been hired as artistic director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.). Libonati’s internship morphed into a regular position as a fellow, then as an artistic associate. She became the assistant director on various productions.She has been resident director for “The Donkey Show,” associate director for “Prometheus Bound,” and assistant director for “Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera,” “Best of Both Worlds,” and the Tony Award-winning revival of “Hair” on Broadway. Libonati also curates “The Chairs Revue,” a festival of theater and performance in Harvard Yard.In 2011 she was at the helm of the reimagined version of the classic fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” by the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. It was performed by students from the A.R.T. Institute, a two-year, graduate training program for aspiring actors and dramaturges.“Children’s theater is an incredible, rich theatrical genre,” said Libonati. “There’s so much freedom and so many challenges in bringing a fantasy world to life that are a dream for the director.”For “Hansel and Gretel,” which opened Dec. 15 and runs through Jan. 6, one challenge was creating a new version of the crafty and cunning witch at the story’s core. For help, Libonati turned to Michael Kane, the former institute member and puppeteer who had created the enormous head of the A.R.T.’s eerie snow queen.For “Hansel and Gretel,” Kane’s “amazing creative mind,” in collaboration with the team of actors and designers, developed a witch with a giant talking stomach, a nod to the play’s themes of gluttony and desire. But Libonati and her creative team didn’t just rework the wicked witch. They also reframed the narrative around the Grimm brothers’ dark source material.“There are haunting issues of abandonment and hunger. We wanted to find a way to get into that story but come away with a message of family and coming together,” said Libonati.In the end she and her collaborators removed the character of the evil stepmother altogether. Instead, the story revolves around the play’s two young protagonists, their trials with the child-eating witch, and their efforts to reunite their family.“We didn’t want to vilify one parent over another and instead focused on how a young brother and sister could bring the family back together,” Libonati said.The production also includes a tangible social message. Audience members are encouraged to bring canned food to the show. Libonati helped to plan and organize a food drive as part of the theater experience, in keeping with the A.R.T.’s directive of “expanding the boundaries of theater.”“Hansel and Gretel are hungry, yet they are able to find strength in themselves to continue to take care of each other,” said Libonati. “We are giving children who come to see the show an opportunity to really take social action themselves.” read more
Major improvements planned for East Pittsford Station, a Central Vermont Public Service hydroelectric facility, will require slightly lower water levels on Chittenden Reservoir throughout the summer and into the fall.“The water levels will be about 4 feet lower than average, but within the low end of our normal operating range,” CVPS spokesman Steve Costello said. “The reservoir will remain open and accessible for boating, fishing and swimming, but boaters are reminded to use caution when putting in boats and on the water given the natural rock formations scattered throughout the reservoir.”Costello noted that the water levels sometimes fluctuate dramatically at the reservoir, as an inch of rain can quickly raise the water level by a foot. About 17 square miles of mountainous terrain drain into Chittenden Reservoir.“The water levels early in the season will be closer to typical late-summer levels,” Costello said. “The changes won’t be dramatic, but we want to ensure people are aware of them and can plan accordingly. Boaters should pay particular attention as they put in and take out their trailers.”Costello said the water level will range from about 1,488 feet above sea level in May to about 1487 feet above sea level in early August, when construction will begin. The water level must be lowered in anticipation of the work, which will cost more than $2 million, so major storms can still be managed safely.The project includes electrical equipment and switchgear upgrades at the East Pittsford Station, along with new powerhouse substructure foundation work involving replacement of the 96-year -old penstock and pipe network that feeds three turbines at the 3,600-kilowatt facility. CVPS balances the operational needs of Chittenden Reservoir by giving first priority to ensuring public and dam safety.The project is expected to last until mid-November, when recommissioning of East Pittsford Station will begin.CVPS owns all the land beneath Chittenden Reservoir and to 2 feet above the high-water mark all around the lake, along with 75 acres of land that includes the dam and parking area. The reservoir and East Creek are part of an historic generation system. The dam, now in its 101st year of operation, impounds the 700-acre reservoir, which is fed downhill through the penstock to East Pittsford Station, more than 3 miles away. After generating energy at East Pittsford, the water feeds back into East Creek, which flows to the Glen Dam, where flows are conveyed via another penstock to the 2,000-kilowatt Glen Station on the western side of Route 7 in Rutland Town, where it generates power again. The water leaves Glen Station, enters East Creek again, and flows to Patch Pond, where it creates energy for the third time at Patch Station before ultimately flowing into Otter Creek.Source: CVPS. 5.6.2010 read more
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享OffshoreWind.biz:Vattenfall has made the final investment decision for the zero-subsidy Hollandse Kust Zuid 1-4 wind farm project in the Dutch North Sea.The 1.5 GW Hollandse Kust Zuid will be the largest offshore wind farm in the Netherlands and in the world once fully operational in 2023.Vattenfall was awarded the contract to build Hollandse Kust Zuid after the company emerged as the winner of two subsidy-free tenders in 2018 and 2019. The two projects were combined into one to optimize the development process.“The Hollandse Kust Zuid project underlines our commitment to generate fossil-free electricity for the Netherlands and Europe. In addition, the final decision for this investment shows that despite the corona crisis, we are sticking to our goal of enabling life without fossil fuels within a generation,” said Magnus Hall, CEO of Vattenfall.The offshore construction on the project is expected to start in 2021.[Adnan Durakovic]More: Vattenfall greenlights Hollandse Kust Zuid 1-4 Vattenfall to build 1.5GW, subsidy-free offshore wind farm, world’s largest, in North Sea read more
International cooperation More than 40 members of Guatemalan security forces recently received training from Mexican police on the best ways to provide airport security. The training is part of a broad cooperative strategy to fight transnational criminal organizations, which often smuggle drugs through airports. The training took place from June 2 to June 6 in Guatemala City. Members of the Mexican Federal Police (FP) trained 42 members of the Guatemalan National Police (PNC) and agents from the Directorate of Civil Aviation, the Public Ministry, and the Ministry of Defense, according to the Guatemalan Ministry of Interior. The training course was organized by the Embassy of Mexico in Guatemala. Guatemalan security agents received training on the best airport security protocols, how to investigate major crimes, the tactics of transnational criminal organizations which use airports to smuggle drugs, international treaties and conventions, and human rights. The PF battles Los Zetas, the Sinaloa Cartel, La Familia Michoacana, the Knights Templar, and other international drug cartels. Those groups smuggle drugs through airports not only in Mexico but in several Central American countries, including Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Confronting transnational drug traffickers Please Life’s a game. Very good. Very good, more policemen and less delinquents. I think it’s good that the police taught them about security, so that no drug trafficker can get through. Excellent. In Guatemala, two major Mexican transnational criminal groups, Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, are fighting each other and three Guatemalan organized crime groups – the Lorenzana and Mendoza organizations and Los Chamales – for control of drug trafficking routes. To fight these drug trafficking groups, the Guatemalan government is preparing to install four high-tech radars to detect narco-flights. The radars are scheduled to be operational in September 2014. The new radars can detect the height, speed, and size of an aircraft within a radius of 110 nautical miles. They remain operative even in severe weather conditions. The use of technology, and international cooperation, are important components of Guatemala’s fight against international drug trafficking, Rodriguez Luna said. Guatemalan security forces are succeeding in seizing greater quantities of drugs in 2014 compared to 2013. From Jan. 1 through June 21, authorities seized 3,195 kilos of cocaine. Guatemalan security forces seized 3,406 kilos in all of 2013. PF agents provided training on security protocols in airport zones, how to investigator major crimes, the best ways to protect the civilian population and how to protect human rights. The training seminar is part of ongoing cooperation between Guatemala and Mexico to fight drug cartels. “The training will strengthen methods for confronting the scourges that plague us on the border of both countries, and is a way to share experience,” said Noe Talabera Diez, a representative of Guatemalan Director of National Police (PNC) Telemaco Perez Garcia. Talabera Diez spoke during the ceremony inaugurating the program. One of the goals of the training seminar is to strengthen bonds of cooperation and trust between Guatemala and Mexico, which is a key step in the effort to dismantle the structures of transnational criminal organizations, said security analyst Armando Rodriguez Luna, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Once they are trained, the Guatemalan security agents will be authorized to educate other Guatemalan security officers in airport security. The Guatemalan security agents who underwent the training completed the program successfully and met all international standards regarding airport security, the Embassy of Mexico reported June 12. By Dialogo July 29, 2014 Guatemalan security agents who completed the training were recognized by security officails from their native country and Mexico in an awards ceremony. Among the officials who attended the awards ceremony were, from Guatemala, Capt. Samayoa Jair Alberto Gutierrez, a high-ranking official in the Civil Aviation unit; and Captain Jorge Echeverría Roldán, an official to the Minister of the Interior. The closing ceremony was held at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, located in Guatemala International Airport, which is also known as La Aurora airport. The training will help improve security along the border Guatemala shares with Mexico, according to security analyst Rodriguez Luna. “Every Guatemalan security agent needs to be (trained) to confront international drug traffickers,” Rodriguez Luna said. Since 2007, the Armed Forces of Guatemala and Mexico have participated in joint operations to protect the border the two countries share, without any formal agreements, Rodriguez Luna said. Guatemalan agents receive recognition read more
Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York Bradley DennisA Long Beach man wanted for shooting a man five days after Superstorm Sandy has been apprehended, authorities said.Long Beach city police arrested Bradley Dennis on Tuesday and charged him with second-degree attempted murder.Police said Dennis shot the victim in the upper chest near Channel Park Homes on the night of Nov. 3.The victim was taken to South Nassau Community hospital for treatment.Dennis will be arraigned Wednesday at Long Beach City Court.
Jun 13, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – The European Union (EU) has approved Novartis’s seasonal influenza vaccine, Optaflu, putting the Swiss company in a position to become the first to market a flu vaccine grown in cell culture rather than eggs.The vaccine has been approved for use in all 27 EU member states plus Iceland and Norway, Novartis announced today. It is expected to be available in Germany and Austria for the upcoming flu season and in the rest of the EU in 2008-09.EU approval was expected after the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use endorsed the vaccine on Apr 26.”Optaflu marks the first major innovation in influenza vaccine manufacturing in over 50 years,” Dr. Jorg Reinhardt, CEO of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, said in a news release.”The use of a Novartis proprietary cell culture technology enables a faster and more flexible start-up of vaccine manufacturing, offering the potential to more quickly respond to a potential pandemic influenza threat,” the company announcement said.Flu vaccines have been produced in chicken eggs since the 1950s. Growing the viruses in cell cultures is seen as much more flexible and somewhat faster than egg-based production, which takes several months. Several companies are developing cell-based production methods.In 2001 European regulators approved a cell-based vaccine made by Solvay Pharmaceuticals for sale in the Netherlands, but the company has not marketed it. Solvay’s Web site says that market introduction of the vaccine is expected in the near future.Novartis said it expects to apply next year for US approval of Optaflu. In May 2006 the US government awarded Novartis a $220 million contract to develop cell-based flu vaccines, and in July 2006 the company announced plans for a $600 million plant in North Carolina to produce them.See also:Jun 13 Novartis news releasehttp://cws.huginonline.com/N/134323/PR/200706/1132639_5_2.htmlApr 27 CIDRAP News story “Panel supports EU approval of cell-based flu vaccine”Jun 27, 2005, CIDRAP News story “Momentum builds for cell-culture flu vaccines” read more
Whether the plumbing works well or not isn’t something that is checked in a standard building inspection.YOU’VE found your dream home and made an offer. You get the thumbs up from a building and pest inspection so everything should be fine right? Well not necessarily.While many home buyers are switched on about making a building and pest inspection part of their due diligence (although a surprising number of bidders at auction don’t do it), they may not realise it doesn’t check everything.It’s up to you to organise additional checks or ask questions about a whole range of things, from whether the dishwasher, oven or pool filter work properly.Does the alarm system still operate and is it just a blown bulb or a dodgy circuit that means the lounge room light won’t switch on.Master Builders Queensland, manager housing services Phil Breeze said while everyone should ensure they get a building and pest inspection done on any property they were trying to buy, they needed to be aware of the limitations.He said there were elements in the building that would be covered, such as ceilings, walls, floors windows and all things inside and outside a typical house such as the roof, stairs and balconies.Mr Breeze said it was all things that a reasonable person who went inside could walk around and visually see.And that’s the hook.If it’s behind the walls or hidden by large pieces of furniture it may not be detected.“What a lot of people don’t appreciate is inspectors don’t look at the electrical or the plumbing or the actual frame of the building, because they are hidden,’’ Mr Breeze said.“There are other inspections you can get done such as plumbing but they (plumbers) also can’t look through walls,’’ he said.More from newsMould, age, not enough to stop 17 bidders fighting for this home3 hours agoBuyers ‘crazy’ not to take govt freebies, says 28-yr-old investor3 hours agoInspectors can identify obvious structural issues such as termite damage.Mr Breeze said they advised their inspectors to make homebuyers fully aware of what was or wasn’t covered by an inspection.“It manages people’s expectations,’’ he said.He said fortunately an inspection was most likely going to pick up the big ticket items that can potentially cost a lot to fix.Place agent Simon Dean said there were a few things buyers didn’t take into account when they made an offer on a property.And not all were faults.He said one of the common issues was that buyers didn’t take into account the size and layout of rooms. The dishwasher is full but will it work when you turn it on?“Many times buyers end up only realising their furniture does not fit after they have finalised the purchase,’’ he said.“I saw this happen time and time again and decided to make sure that all of my properties had floor plans with dimensions available on the web, to give buyers a chance to work this out during the buying process.’’Rachael Spinks of Spinks and Co Residential said most of their buyers were very thorough.“For general buyers as a rule I would suggest that they make sure what is covered in their building and pest inspection,’’ she said. read more