What's happening

June 27th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Belleville News Democrat (Original Article)

Benefits

Concerts

Concert at the Park — 8 p.m. today, Bellevue Park, Belleville. Free. Music by Ed and Friends. Bring lawn chairs.

Edwardsville Municipal Band — 8 p.m. today, bandstand, City Park, Edwardsville Free. Concession stand open during intermission.

Dave Sheppard — 7-8:30 p.m. today, Centennial Pavilion, Wilson Park, Granite City. Bring lawn chairs.

Concert in the Park — 7 p.m. today, O’Fallon City Park, Route 50, O’Fallon. Free. Features George Portz and His Friends of Bluegrass.

Municipal Band Concert — 8 p.m. Friday, downtown Highland. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Lincoln Theatre Organists — 6:30 p.m. Friday, Lincoln Theatre, 103 E. Main St., Belleville. Friday: Dave Stephens.

Summer Concert Series — 6:30-8 p.m. Sunday, Woodland Park, Collinsville. Features Jordan Carter (country).

Concert in the Park — 7 p.m. Sunday, Village Park, West White St., Freeburg. Snacks available. Bring lawn chairs. Music by Chris Talley Trio.

Homeward Bound Patriotic Concert — 3, 7 p.m. Sunday, St. Paul United Church of Christ, 115 W. B St., Belleville. Features The Massed Community Choir and “Young Voices of America” scholarship winners Joseph Baker, Brennan Brooker and Anna McKee. Picnic supper between concerts.

Concerts at the Square — 8 p.m. Monday, downtown Belleville. Bring lawn chairs. Music by Country Music Machine. Free.

Concerts in the Cafe — 7 p.m. Tuesday, Southwestern Illinois College, 2500 Carlyle Ave., Belleville. Music by the Waterloo German Band. Free.

Wednesday Night Jazz — 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Blum House, 414 W. Main St., Collinsville. Free. Music by Travis Mattison Trio.

Dances 6-9 p.m. Friday, Collinsville Senior Citizens Center, 420 E. Main St., Collinsville. $3 admission. 344-7787.

Highland Dance — 7-11:30 p.m. Friday, Lindendale Park Ballroom, Highland. Country western dance. DJ Larry Luecking. No Annual Fee Credit Card 670-5809.

Barn Dance — 8 p.m. Saturday, …continue reading

What's happening

June 27th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Belleville News Democrat (Original Article)

Benefits

Concerts

Concert at the Park — 8 p.m. today, Bellevue Park, Belleville. Free. Music by Ed and Friends. Bring lawn chairs.

Edwardsville Municipal Band — 8 p.m. today, bandstand, City Park, Edwardsville Free. Concession stand open during intermission.

Dave Sheppard — 7-8:30 p.m. today, Centennial Pavilion, Wilson Park, Granite City. Bring lawn chairs.

Concert in the Park — 7 p.m. today, O’Fallon City Park, Route 50, O’Fallon. Free. Features George Portz and His Friends of Bluegrass.

Municipal Band Concert — 8 p.m. Friday, downtown Highland. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Lincoln Theatre Organists — 6:30 p.m. Friday, Lincoln Theatre, 103 E. Main St., Belleville. Friday: Dave Stephens.

Summer Concert Series — 6:30-8 p.m. Sunday, Woodland Park, Collinsville. Features Jordan Carter (country).

Concert in the Park — 7 p.m. Sunday, Village Park, West White St., Freeburg. Snacks available. Bring lawn chairs. Music by Chris Talley Trio.

Homeward Bound Patriotic Concert — 3, 7 p.m. Sunday, St. Paul United Church of Christ, 115 W. B St., Belleville. Features The Massed Community Choir and “Young Voices of America” scholarship winners Joseph Baker, Brennan Brooker and Anna McKee. Picnic supper between concerts.

Concerts at the Square — 8 p.m. Monday, downtown Belleville. Bring lawn chairs. Music by Country Music Machine. Free.

Concerts in the Cafe — 7 p.m. Tuesday, Southwestern Illinois College, 2500 Carlyle Ave., Belleville. Music by the Waterloo German Band. Free.

Wednesday Night Jazz — 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Blum House, 414 W. Main St., Collinsville. Free. Music by Travis Mattison Trio.

Dances 6-9 p.m. Friday, Collinsville Senior Citizens Center, 420 E. Main St., Collinsville. $3 admission. 344-7787.

Highland Dance — 7-11:30 p.m. Friday, Lindendale Park Ballroom, Highland. Country western dance. DJ Larry Luecking. Citibank Credit Cards 670-5809.

Barn Dance — 8 p.m. Saturday, …continue reading

Don't trust a door-to-door contractor

June 21st, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Chicago Daily Herald (Original Article)

Q. Is putting a 2-inch layer of macadam over existing macadam a good idea? I had my driveway (100 by 15 feet) done about 10 to 12 years ago, and it is cracking in the same places as before and looks like it needs to be replaced.

The contractor that did the job dug up the front 75 feet then put down stone and blacktop. He said that the back 25 feet was good and put down stone over that and topped it off with a layer of blacktop. I waited the recommended time before I sealed it. Every three years, I had it spray coated by a reputable contractor. I kept sealing the cracks with crack sealer.

Now it is cracking and peeling. I know I get water drainage underneath the driveway from the property next door, and at times I get water in the basement on that side. In the winter, it freezes, and the driveway picks up. I am trying to control the buildup of water on that property by sloping the ground to a runoff on my property through a 4-inch plastic pipe leading to the street.

A contractor who knocked on my door suggested the overlay of a 2-inch topping and told me he would pitch all drainage to the front of my property. Do you have any suggestions?

A. My first recommendation is to never deal with contractors who knock on your door with all kinds of promises. You are very likely to get a poor job and never see them again. You should get the advice of a long-standing contractor whom you contact yourself to save yourself a potential headache. This is the same advice you’ll get from consumer-protection organizations.

Poor water drainage is a major contributor to the driveway problem. Getting rid of the water with a drain system is a very good approach. Putting 2 inches of new asphalt over the existing driveway would probably be the least expensive option and would relieve the symptoms for a while. Eventually, the driveway will crack again - most likely in the same places it does now. When it does crack again, University Course 1215 hire a reputable contractor to seal …continue reading

What's happening

June 20th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Belleville News Democrat (Original Article)

Benefits

Andy Hamilton Benefit — 7 p.m.-midnight Saturday, St. James Parish Center, West Washington, Millstadt. Features games, food, music, ABC raffle, beer. Donations accepted at the door. He had a grand mal seizure in January and was diagnosed with brain gliomas. Donations will help pay medical bills.

Concerts

Concerts at the Park — 8 p.m. today, Bellevue Park, Belleville. Free. Music by The Alley Cats. Bring lawn chairs.

Edwardsville Municipal Band — 8 p.m. today, bandstand, City Park, Edwardsville. Free. Concession stand open during intermission.

Lincoln Theatre Organists — 6:30 p.m. Friday, Lincoln Theatre, 103 E. Main St., Belleville. Friday: Dave Stephens.

Municipal Band Concert — 8 p.m. Friday, downtown Highland. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Alton Symphony — 7 p.m. Saturday, Hatheway Hall, Lewis & Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Road, Godfrey. Pops & Jazz. $15 adults, $12 seniors, $8 students. 467-2326.

Collinsville Chorale — 7 p.m. Friday, Collinsville High School Fine Arts Center, 2201 S. Morrison St., Collinsville. Patriotic and inspirational music. Free. Donations accepted. www.collinsvillechorale.org.

Big Boss Blues Band — 7-11 p.m. Friday, Community Park, Dupo.

Arts in the Park — 6 p.m. Friday-midnight Saturday, City Park, Edwardsville. 1950s and ’60s music.

Concerts in the Park — 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Freeburg Village Park, Freeburg. Music by Freeburg High School Stage Band and the Freeburg Community Band. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Joey James Orchestra — 6:30-8 p.m. Sunday, Woodland Park, Collinsville. Free. Part of Collinsville Area Recreation District’s Summer Concert Series. 346-7529.

Clarion Brass Quintet — 7:30 p.m. Monday, Abbott Auditorium, Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois Univeristy Edwardsville. Broadway melodies, light classics and music from Gershwin to Bernstein. Free. www.siue.edu/maps.

Concerts at credit card au the Square — 8 p.m. Monday, …continue reading

Electric Hand Dryers vs. Paper Towels

June 17th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Slate (Original Article)

The restroom at my office has electric hand dryers with little plaques that read, “Thanks for helping us save trees.” Is my company really doing the planet a favor by ditching paper towels? Generating electricity doesn’t strike me as a clean endeavor.

Both hand dryers and paper towels carry an environmental cost, so the Lantern’s peers typically advise folks to wipe their hands on their trousers. But if you fancy yourself too classy to walk around in damp pants, then hand dryers are, indeed, the greener option—not because they necessarily prevent deforestation, but because they actually use less energy once everything’s taken into account.

Calculating the impact of electric dryers is easy enough. A fair amount of energy goes into manufacturing metal goods with mechanical parts. But the fact that dyers last so long—typically between seven and 10 years—means that production accounts for a negligible part of the hardware’s total energy consumption. The vast majority of a dryer’s environmental toll stems from the electricity it requires; a typical warm-air dryer uses around 2,200 watts of power when switched on, plus about 2 watts while in standby mode. If you dry your hands for 30 seconds (as opposed to the 43 seconds required to get them fully water-free), then you’re using about 0.018 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Do that three times a day for a year, and your insistence on dry-hand decorum has run you 19.71 kWh of electricity, which translates into roughly 26.61 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

There are several variables that can complicate the hand-dryer equation. The first is the emergence of a new generation of dryers, such as the XLerator and the Dyson Airblade, that claim to be at least 80 percent more efficient than their forerunners (due in part to much shorter drying times). You also need to consider how your local power grid generates its electricity—the more coal that is used, the more carbon ANZ Low Rate MasterCard a dryer will generate per kilowatt-hour. …continue reading

2009 Buick Lucerne

June 15th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Auto Spectator (Original Article)

Other Stories

dog the bounty hunter dvd

What's happening

June 14th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Belleville News Democrat (Original Article)

Benefits

Andy Hamilton Benefit — 7 p.m.-midnight Saturday, St. James Parish Center, West Washington, Millstadt. Features games, food, music, ABC raffle, beer. Donations accepted at the door. He had a grand mal seizure in January and was diagnosed with brain gliomas. Donations will help pay medical bills.

Concerts

Concerts at the Park — 8 p.m. today, Bellevue Park, Belleville. Free. Music by The Alley Cats. Bring lawn chairs.

Edwardsville Municipal Band — 8 p.m. today, bandstand, City Park, Edwardsville. Free. Concession stand open during intermission.

Lincoln Theatre Organists — 6:30 p.m. Friday, Lincoln Theatre, 103 E. Main St., Belleville. Friday: Dave Stephens.

Municipal Band Concert — 8 p.m. Friday, downtown Highland. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Alton Symphony — 7 p.m. Saturday, Hatheway Hall, Lewis & Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Road, Godfrey. Pops & Jazz. $15 adults, $12 seniors, $8 students. 467-2326.

Collinsville Chorale — 7 p.m. Friday, Collinsville High School Fine Arts Center, 2201 S. Morrison St., Collinsville. Patriotic and inspirational music. Free. Donations accepted. www.collinsvillechorale.org.

Big Boss Blues Band — 7-11 p.m. Friday, Community Park, Dupo.

Arts in the Park — 6 p.m. Friday-midnight Saturday, City Park, Edwardsville. 1950s and ’60s music.

Concerts in the Park — 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Freeburg Village Park, Freeburg. Music by Freeburg High School Stage Band and the Freeburg Community Band. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Joey James Orchestra — 6:30-8 p.m. Sunday, Woodland Park, Collinsville. Free. Part of Collinsville Area Recreation District’s Summer Concert Series. 346-7529.

Clarion Brass Quintet — 7:30 p.m. Monday, Abbott Auditorium, Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois Univeristy Edwardsville. Broadway melodies, light classics and music from Gershwin to Bernstein. Free. www.siue.edu/maps.

Concerts at budgettravelnews the Square — 8 p.m. Monday, …continue reading

What's happening

June 14th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Belleville News Democrat (Original Article)

Benefits

Andy Hamilton Benefit — 7 p.m.-midnight Saturday, St. James Parish Center, West Washington, Millstadt. Features games, food, music, ABC raffle, beer. Donations accepted at the door. He had a grand mal seizure in January and was diagnosed with brain gliomas. Donations will help pay medical bills.

Concerts

Concerts at the Park — 8 p.m. today, Bellevue Park, Belleville. Free. Music by The Alley Cats. Bring lawn chairs.

Edwardsville Municipal Band — 8 p.m. today, bandstand, City Park, Edwardsville. Free. Concession stand open during intermission.

Lincoln Theatre Organists — 6:30 p.m. Friday, Lincoln Theatre, 103 E. Main St., Belleville. Friday: Dave Stephens.

Municipal Band Concert — 8 p.m. Friday, downtown Highland. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Alton Symphony — 7 p.m. Saturday, Hatheway Hall, Lewis & Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Road, Godfrey. Pops & Jazz. $15 adults, $12 seniors, $8 students. 467-2326.

Collinsville Chorale — 7 p.m. Friday, Collinsville High School Fine Arts Center, 2201 S. Morrison St., Collinsville. Patriotic and inspirational music. Free. Donations accepted. www.collinsvillechorale.org.

Big Boss Blues Band — 7-11 p.m. Friday, Community Park, Dupo.

Arts in the Park — 6 p.m. Friday-midnight Saturday, City Park, Edwardsville. 1950s and ’60s music.

Concerts in the Park — 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Freeburg Village Park, Freeburg. Music by Freeburg High School Stage Band and the Freeburg Community Band. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

Joey James Orchestra — 6:30-8 p.m. Sunday, Woodland Park, Collinsville. Free. Part of Collinsville Area Recreation District’s Summer Concert Series. 346-7529.

Clarion Brass Quintet — 7:30 p.m. Monday, Abbott Auditorium, Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois Univeristy Edwardsville. Broadway melodies, light classics and music from Gershwin to Bernstein. Free. www.siue.edu/maps.

Concerts at Gold Credit Card the Square — 8 p.m. Monday, …continue reading

What's happening

June 5th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: Belleville News Democrat (Original Article)

Concerts

Concerts at the Park — 8 p.m. today, Bellevue Park, Belleville. Free. Music by Dave Willeford Band. Bring lawn chairs.

Granite City Concert — 7:30 p.m. today, Wilson Park, Granite City. Music by Stan Fornaszewski. 14-piece orchestra. Free. Sponsored by the Granite City Park District.

Lincoln Theatre Organists — 6:30 p.m. Friday, Lincoln Theatre, 103 E. Main St., Belleville. Friday: Dave Stephens.

Organ Concert — 7:30 p.m. Friday, St. John’s United Methodist Church, 7372 Marine Road (Route 143), Edwardsville. Features guest artist Aran Basmadjian. Free.

Municipal Band Concert — 8 p.m. Friday, downtown Highland. Free. Bring lawn chairs.

International Carillon Weekend — Friday-Saturday, downtown Centralia. Features Frans Haagen of The Netherlands at 6:30 p.m. and Koen Cosaert of Belgium at 7:15 p.m. on Friday; Ann-Kirstine Christiansen of Denmark at 2 p.m. and Carlo van Ulft of Centralia at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday. Free. Bring lawn chairs. 533-4381.

Concerts in the Park — 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Freeburg Village Park, Freeburg. Music by St. Paul’s “Faith Journey.” Free. Snacks available for purchase. Bring lawn chairs.

Music at Metter — 6-8 p.m. Sunday, Metter Memorial Park, corner of East Legion and South Metter streets, Columbia. Music by Larry Haller’s Two Star Final. Free. Food, drink available for purchase. Bring lawn chair, blanket.

1000 Days — 10 a.m. Sunday, New Baden Park, New Baden. Hosted by New Baden United Methodist Church. Christian fold-rock band. Potluck picnic follows. Bring lawn chair. 228-7202.

Concerts at the Square — 8 p.m. Monday, downtown Belleville. Free. Music by Four of a Kind. Bring lawn chairs. Dances 7-9:30 p.m. Friday, Caseyville Township Office, 10001 Bunkum Road, Fairview Heights. Sponsored by Dandy Dancers Square Dance Club, Inc. $5 per person. Tom Roper, caller; Jacqui Landau, cuer. 624-4188.

Highland Dance budgettravel — 7-11:30 p.m. Friday, Lindendale Park …continue reading

White Scores Top Five Finish at Five Mile Point Speedway

May 29th, 2008 by bethjones

Source: WhoWon.com (Original Article)

MERTZTOWN, Pa. — Barry White, the extremely popular Modified campaigner from Mertztown, Pennsylvania, has in his own words been awful in his early season starts at the Five Mile Point Speedway.

One crazy malady after another has haunted the team since the 2008 racing season began. The season began on a somber note as first Barry’s wife was injured in a freak accident at her place of employment and lost the use of her hand for many months as the recovery has been extremely slow and the rehabilitation has been quite painful. If that wasn’t enough Barry’s Mom and the team’s “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer” suffered a major stoke that sent the team reeling even more. Mom is on her way to recovery as well but the team has suffered a great deal without the moral support of the solid team members.

When White first fired-up the car at the start of the new campaign, the car acted well when he cracked the throttle in the race shop. Once the team arrived at FMP for the first race all of that changed as the car proved to be bulky and unresponsive no matter what the team tried to do to cure the ills. This led to White taking off the carb and sending it out for inspection and repair. Once those ills were solved the car became tough to tame on the raceway and White found himself flustered at the misfortunes of the team.

Saturday night as the Point was no different as White raced to a third place finish in his heat event but once again was having a problem in turning the car. White began the feature event from the pole position by virtue of the handicapping process and did jump out to an early lead in the contest. Deciding his car was not going to co-operate for the duration of the feature, White allowed the first one car to move by him on the outside and knew for the remainder of the race he would have a fistful of race car to try and negotiate around the 1/4 mile FMP race track. Despite the ill handling piece, White found enough ANZ Visa Debit straightaway speed to hang on and …continue reading