PUT YOUR CAR KEYS BESIDE YOUR BED AT NIGHT

Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr’s
office, the checkout girl at the market, everyone you run across.

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside
your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic
button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue
to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home (more…)

Afsaneh Rabiei, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at
North Carolina State University, has invented a space-age material so light and
strong that it could revolutionize everything from vehicle bumpers to armor to
biomedical devices.  A brand new material that can save energy and lives.

“Basically, it is a new material for all sorts of safety devices,” said Rabiei
Her invention isn’t the first metal foam, but she says it’s the strongest. The main weakness of
existing metal foams is the varying sizes of their cells – tiny pockets (more…)

May 2008

The new city council is meeting for the first time.  Mayor Dixson asked Steve
Hewitt to give the administration update.  Steve lets the council know that
the business incubator is fully funded.  Kim Alderfer, Recovery Coordinator,
and Steve visit the business incubator site only to find that 3 days of rain
has slowed all activity.

Tyler Schmidt is running for student body president.  Shane Engelken is also
running for student body president.  They put their flyers together, hung
them in the most unique areas and are getting their speeches ready. (more…)

How are the Candidates Going to Clean America?

The method in which America creates energy has been a hot topic during the 2008
presidential election. For most, a primary concern deals with how we can keep prices
down at the pump while eliminating our need for foreign oil. This desire has lead to the
“drill here, drill now” crowd calling for domestic offshore drilling (among other things).
While everyone agrees that energy independent principles are vital to revving
up the American economy, there are big differences in how to accomplish this task.

Notably, when it comes to the energy resources and environmental protection standards,
there are fundamental differences in Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s interests.
Additionally, when it comes to bills in congress addressing consumer protection, (more…)

I am going off topic today thanks to my satellite company deciding to cut me off
for a 24 hour period yesterday. Since this was my first experience with paying
hard earned money to be unjustly punished, pardon me while I rave on!

Yesterday morning, I poured my first cup of coffee, posted my article and went
back to correct something when I received the deadly web acceleration error.
Since I had not rebooted my laptop or reset the modem in a while, I cold booted
both of them. Everything lit up like a charm. I tried accessing the internet
and again received the web acceleration error. So, Stupid me, decided to call
customer support to find out the nature of the problem. (more…)

Studio 804 arrives at the defunct Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, 285 miles from
Greensburg, to dismantle one of the abandoned buildings and reuse the structural
wood and materials for the skin of the new Arts Center. They stage the new building
construction in a warehouse in Lawrence.

January 9,2008, Stacy Barnes, President of the Arts Center Board, holds the first
meeting of the board, now renamed the 5.4.7 Arts Center, the date of the tornado.
Her mother and father have purchased some land for the Arts Center and will donate
it at the appropriate time. She tells the board that Studio 804 has offered to (more…)

Ice Storm

End of November 2007, Steve Hewitt is worried over rebuilding downtown with no money. A contractor meeting for the business incubator is held. The project will be a 9,300 square foot facility that will contain retail shops and professional services. And to initiate this going green project as quick as possible. Steve is hoping to get it out to bid, designed, and start construction in the spring, for completion in the summer. Before the storm Richard and Rhonda Engelken owned three commercial buildings, one rental house, four cars, and their own home. After the storm, all gone. Rhonda’s (more…)