| Dairyland Power implements state-of-the-art filters to reduce air emissions
Dairyland Power Cooperative retrofitted its two largest coal-fired power plants with state-of-the-art air filters as part of a $250 million endeavor to curb toxic emissions and meet future federal and state mandates.Wisconsin will be required to cut 61,000 tons, or 32 percent, of its sulfur dioxide emissions and 50,000 tons, or 61 percent, of nitrogen oxide by 2015. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Wisconsin "significantly contributes" to fine particle pollution and ground-level pollution in neighboring states as well as New York.
These pollutants are associated with bronchitis and aggravating asthma.The $48 million coal ash filters called a baghouse � a fancy particulate vacuum cleaner � were installed at Dairyland's John P. Madgett plant in Alma and its Genoa, Wis., plant.Additional environmental control equipment to reduce sulfur dioxide, mercury and nitrogen oxide emissions will be added to both facilities over the next few years."This baghouse is the first big step," said spokesperson Katie Thompson.While the new technology is expected to significantly reduce Dairyland Power's toxic emissions, it allows the electric cooperative to continue using coal.
Key vote on consolidated dispatching looms
Terry Nixon shows the new equipment in the temporary dispatching center for the Davenport Police Department in the basement of the Scott County Courthouse. Dispatchers are getting used to the equipment before a consolidated dispatching center is built.(Kevin E. Schmidt/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo! .
Development won’t spare bowling alley
Dueling proposals to build an art museum or a history museum at Presidio National Park have at least one thing in common: Both projects would demolish a 10-pin bowling center, halving the number of bowling lanes in San Francisco from 24 to 12. Presidio trustees have received two proposals to build a museum at Montgomery and Moraga streets in the Presidio. Gap founder Don Fisher wants to build a public museum for his contemporary art collection, and the Presidio Historical Association wants a local history museum. Either project would demolish the 12-lane Presidio Bowling Center. Nearly 1,000 people use the center for league events organized by the Golden Gate Sport and Social Club, according to general manager Michael Murphy. Opened in late 1988, the center uses pin-setting equipment previously used by the Army at its Presidio bowling alleys, owner Victor Meyerhoff said.
Merchant of death or poster boy? India's Modi seeks re-election
We live on a garbage dump," she said, pointing to huge mounds of refuse near her home in a resettlement colony on the edge of Gujarat's commercial capital Ahmedabad. As the race has tightened, Modi has started playing the Hindutva or Hindu nationalist card but only he says in reply to Congress's campaign of vilification. He caused a national stir last week when he justified the police killing of an innocent Muslim man by saying the victim "got what he deserved." The state government has said police, who claimed the man was plotting to assassinate Modi to avenge riot killings, shot the victim dead in a staged gunbattle. Stakes in the elections are high not only for the BJP but also for Congress which rules India at the national level.
Sweetness & Blight: Holiday CDs span extremes from sultry magic to ...
Music of the holiday season has a hard balance to strike. A certain amount of classicism is to be expected at this time of year, but that's no excuse to pile on the gloopy garbage and think that the supposedly overweening sentimentality of the season will leave everyone crying in their eggnog anyway. Baloney. There's a lot of joy in the holiday season, but there are a lot of other emotions. And that's not even counting the religious aspects. The best seasonal music reflects that; the worst ignores it to lay on the glop in a display of passive aggression that, well, helps produce a lot of those other emotions. And as usual, this year's forced march through the holiday discs unearths examples of both extremes. I'll Be Home for Christmas The Isley Brothers Featuring Ronald Isley (Def Soul Classics) Executive-produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, yet it begins with spring-in-your-step, lo-fi versions of "Winter Wonderland" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," both backed by a piano trio and a few understated strings.
Friday wild card
S-R reporter Amy Cannata came to my desk this morning to vent about these kids today and their flip-flops. Once upon a time, flip-flogs (did anyone else call them "thongs?") were reserved solely for the beach, but are now everyday footwear. The problem - teenagers don't walk anymore, she said, they "shuffle." I can't help but wonder if my posture and gait was permanently altered by the days of untied sneakers. Question: Is it the shoes? It's gotta be the shoes... .
Thank you to all the participants in the Parade of Lights!
Thanks to all the Fargo "Green Team" folks who decked out the alternative fuel vehicles, handed out reusable grocery totes, biked, walked and rode demonstrating conservation can also be a lot of fun! The Parade helped us celebrate Fargo's #1 rank as best city for overall environment by the Earth Day Network this year. I think this Parade of Lights was the best one yet. Here's the "Reclaimed Resources" crew ready to hand out reusable totes and candy to go in it! Click here to see the renewable energy production at the landill. This is "Big Green" the Soy Bean bus. Fargo uses Biodiesel in it's entire fleet unless it's too cold. Ridership for MAT Transit is over 1.2 million riders annually, 30% of those are 18 - 23! Justin Kristan and Nate Bailey and friends demonstrated pedal power! Is that Santa? Global Electric cars were a big hit, especially their new 6 seater. Thanks GEM!! Thanks to Corwin Honda for sending this beautiful Civic Hybrid to join our alternative energy fleet! NDSU brought their Hydrogen Tractor they converted to run on H2 for under $20,000 in parts thanks to Bob Pieri and his students in the Mechanical Engineering Department.
Manchester builds on industrial past
Manchester's manufacturing past is to meet its economic future with plans for a £54m facelift for its biggest industrial museum, illustrating the reliance that many cities now place on visitor spending to sustain growth. The city hopes a new gallery – built with the same materials as Cornwall's Eden Project and drawing inspiration from the heyday of Lancashire's cotton industry – will pull more visitors into its Museum of Science and Industry (MoSI) and expand its reputation as a creative and cultural centre. .
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