| Contractor emerges as charity's Champion
Vandals destroyed the heater at the American Red Cross' headquarters on Sixth Street in Modesto last week, sending a shiver through the charity, but things began to warm up again Tuesday. Champion Industrial Contractors Inc. of Modesto donated the $2,500 deductible the Red Cross would have had to pay to replace the heating and air conditioning unit, said Rebecca Ciszek, executive director of the Red Cross's Stanislaus County chapter. Then the contractor installed a $5,702 replacement unit. The balance will be covered by insurance. By early afternoon, the place was heating up. "The classroom is nice and warm," Ciszek said about 1 p.m. "It took a little while because that room had been cold now for a week." The donation means the organization won't have to dig into its charity funds to fix the unit, Ciszek said.
PSEG giving $500K to shuttered NJ Museum
The shuttered State Museum in Trenton is due to receive a $500,000 multi-year grant from the PSEG Foundation, the first major gift to its year-old $13 million fund-raising campaign. New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells will host a public ceremony on Wednesday announcing the gift. "It's great to have that support and leadership from PSEG," said the museum's interim director, Barbara Fulton Moran. "It's wonderful." The grant represents a significant milestone for the renovation project, which is almost 2 1/2 years behind schedule and millions of dollars over original cost projections. Poor planning, construction problems and a dramatic change in the focus of the renovation have stretched an 18-month effort into almost four years. PSEG is not concerned about the delays in the renovation or the fact that the museum remains closed, a company spokeswoman said.
Author Q&A: Michael Franzini
These days, a life without a mobile phone, Sidekick, wireless internet and an iPod would be unbearable for youngsters. Whether you're working, balling or even flying, access to divergent online or mobile information is only one hand click away. Instant messaging with multiple friends while requesting that information has become out .
Independent mechanic will be downshifting
Jack Pearson of Harrodsburg is one of a vanishing breed: the independent automobile mechanic. If you are old enough -- and lucky enough -- to have known a good one, you may feel a tinge of sadness at the silent passing of an era when nearly every community had a Jack Pearson operating a garage on the corner. Some were gifted men who could nearly always diagnose a problem by listening closely to the engine or transmission. A few used a piece of garden hose, or a stick with one end on the engine and the other held next to an ear, as a physician uses a stethoscope. Most had grease on their hands, but they knew you by your first name and could fix your car and still leave you with a few dollars for groceries and house payments. "We're in the same boat -- and it's a very big boat -- that the country store was in, about all gone," Pearson said.
Wild Card -- Tuesday PM
President Bush answers a question during a news conference at the White House today. Bush is keeping his second-term pledge to hold at least one major news conference each month. He was squeezing one in on Tuesday, the last day of May. W. Mark Felt, who retired from the FBI after rising to its second most senior position, has identified himself as the "Deep Throat" source quoted by The Washington Post to break the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation, Vanity Fair magazine said Tuesday/MSNBC here. 1. Political 'Toon Fix: Paul Nowak (Amnesty International's claim), Gary Varvel (Embryonic stem cell research), and Mike Lester ("Star Wars" fans). 2. Humor Fix: PERRspectives (via politicalhumor.com) provides a "separated at birth" featuring George Bush and Darth Vader here.
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