By Helene Smith
Canal, bridge, crane.
(ENLARGE FOR PROPER VIEWING)
Posted on December 11, 2015
Awesome Adler Activities
By The Adler Planetarium and The Beachwood Linking & Embedding Affairs Desk
This holiday season, the Adler Planetarium is making our corner of the Universe a little merrier with a variety of seasonal activities, sky shows and special events.
World’s Largest Snow Globe
The holiday celebration at the Adler kicked off last week with the return of the World’s Largest Snow Globe inside the Grainger Sky Theater. After enjoying an original Adler sky show like Cosmic Wonder or Destination Solar System, stick around to tour the city from inside our magical “snow globe.” You’ll be whisked around Chicago and see famous landmarks in their holiday finery. The World’s Largest Snow Globe will be available to visitors through January 3.
Trailers . . .
Cosmic Wonder.
Posted on December 9, 2015
Illinois Beef Meets Texas Chili
By Terra Brockman/Zester Daily
Although red is the color of Santa’s suit, poinsettias and Rudolph’s nose, a “bowl of red” is probably not what springs to mind when you contemplate Christmas dinner.
But chili has many selling points as a holiday repast. It’s a one-pot meal that can feed a crowd, and it tastes best when made a day or two in advance – meaning that even the cook can relax and enjoy the feast. And although I never imagined that chili would grace our Midwestern holiday table, I thank my lucky Lone Stars that the official dish of Texas made its way into my life and onto our extended family’s Christmas menu.
Posted on December 8, 2015
Beachwood Photo Booth: Portage Park Peek-A-Boo
(Stinky Seaweed Spurs Invention
By Rebekah Kebede/The Thomson Reuters Foundation
KINGSTON, Jamaica – An unwelcome visitor sailed onto Caribbean beaches this year: huge rafts of seaweed.
The seaweed, called sargassum, has swept into the region in part as a result of changing weather conditions, turning many once-postcard-perfect beaches a dull pond-scum brown as it decomposes and releases a rotten egg stench.
“It’s a dirty horrible brown lace that just washes ashore,” said Noorani Azeez, CEO of the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association. “The foul stench of the seaweed is really an inhibitor to going (to the beach) with your family.”
Posted on November 30, 2015
Beachwood Photo Booth: End School Zone
(U.S. Taxpayers Set To Shell Out For Growing Peanut Pile
By Chris Prentice/Reuters
A mountain of peanuts is piling up in the U.S. south, threatening to hand American taxpayers a near $2-billion bailout bill over the next three years, and leaving the government with a big chunk of the crop on its books.
Peanut growers in states including Georgia and Alabama boosted sowing acreage by a fifth this spring and now are wrapping up harvesting their 3.1-million-ton crop, the second-largest ever, even as prices plumb seven-year lows.
There is a debate over why it is happening and how long the supplies and costs will build. Farmers and peanut groups blame the glut on poorer market conditions for alternative crops, such as cotton and corn, and improving yields as a result of crop rotation and new varieties.
Posted on November 26, 2015
Surf The White Winter Wave!
By The Forest Preserves Of Cook County
Wintertime brings numerous family-friendly ways to get outdoors to enjoy the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Forest Preserves visitors can experience fun activities including sledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and more.
Throughout the winter, visitors can enjoy cross-country skiing in all parts of the Forest Preserves, except for golf courses and nature centers, from sunrise to sunset. Sagawau Environmental Learning Center, 12545 W. 111th St. in Lemont, offers a complete Nordic Ski Program, including groomed trails, equipment rentals and beginner lessons.
For those looking to try something new, snowshoeing events will be offered at many Forest Preserves locations. Visitors can enjoy snowshoeing lessons, hikes and more. For a calendar of snowshoeing events, visit http://fpdcc.com/events/category/activity/snow-shoeing/.
The Forest Preserves offers nine different sledding and coasting hills for the 2015-2016 season. Dan Ryan Woods, Caldwell Woods, Deer Grove Picnic Grove #5, Westchester Woods and Pioneer Woods offer sledding with lighting from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Indian Hill Woods, Indian Road Woods, Schiller Woods and Deer Grove Picnic Grove #4 offer sledding without lighting from 10 a.m. to sunset. To learn more, visit fpdcc.com/recreation/sledding-coasting.
Posted on November 24, 2015
Survivor Of Holiday Lighting Accident Shares Life-Saving Safety Lessons
By The Energy Education Council
SPRINGFELD, Ill. – Thanksgiving weekend for millions is when the boxes of lights come out and the holiday decorating begins. Unfortunately, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that more than 12,500 people are sent to the emergency room every holiday season because of injuries sustained from lighting and decorating. To keep the holiday season merry and bright, learn from the tragic experience of Shawn Miller who encourages people to educate themselves about electrical safety to avoid tragedy.
“I was just hanging Christmas lights at my mom’s house like I do every year,” explains Miller. “Only this time, I was decorating a new area – the trees that lined the front of the yard.” As he tossed lights up into the trees, 7,200 volts of electricity entered his body, traveling from the overhead power lines through his strand of lights. He suffered 27 exit wounds as well as the loss of his left hand and a finger on his right hand.
Posted on November 23, 2015
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