HOLIDAY COOKING &HEATING SAFETY TIPS
FROM THE GLENDALE FIRE DEPARTMENT

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The winter holidays and cooler temperatures are a time for getting together with family and friends and this means more cooking, home decorating and entertaining. The Glendale Fire Department reminds you to practice safe habits and to keep in mind the following tips to ensure the health and safety of loved ones during the holiday seasons.

 Whether you are cooking a turkey or ham for the holidays it is important to know that unattended cooking is the leading cause of fires and three out of ten home fires start in the kitchen. Decorating your home with candles can be hazardous as well. Candles are the second leading cause of home fires. The holiday season should be remembered as a joyous and happy time spent with friends and relatives. Other safety tips include:

·        When cooking for holiday visitors be sure to keep an eye on the oven.

·        Enforce a “kid-free zone” of three feet around cooking areas and turn handles inward away from the reach of small children

·        Never pour water onto a grease fire and never discharge a fire extinguisher onto a pan fire, doing so will spread the fire.

·        Take a moment to test your smoke detector before cooking.

·        Discuss your escape plan with visitors in the event a fire breaks out.

·        Never leave a candle burning unattended and when “you go out, blow out.”

·        Keep candles clear of curtains, decorations and other combustibles.

·        Inspect your fireplace, chimney and make sure the flue is open before lighting a fire.

·        Never use grills indoors.

·        Keep anything that will burn three feet away from space heaters.

·        Learn or review CCC-CPR skills to aid someone who is choking or having a heart attack.

 

Useful Links/Documents Blue Gene Pulls Away from the Pack (Contains content outside the Glendale Daily Planet Server)	IBM Blue Gene Shatters Record as World's Fastest Computer   [Source: IBM]   IBM’s Blue Gene/L supercomputer is once again the fastest computer in the world, a record it has held for the past four years. The official TOP 500 Supercomputers list, released Nov. 12, reports the machine is now three times faster than its competitors with 478 trillion calculations per second, or 478 “teraflops.” The Blue Gene/L is housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. IBM has a record 232 supercomputers on the TOP 500 list, the vast majority built with commodity style, PC microprocessors. The computer maker also outlined its plans to next year achieve a computing milestone known as a “petaflop” – the ability to process 1,000 trillion calculations per second.

2 of these are to handle the runoff from the new B of A Parking garage?

Ed Sharpe - Glendale Daily Planet - 09/14/-20077-8AM

Photos and video and more details in preparation

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters was the guest of honor at a Westmarc Forum Series breakfast at 8 a.m. Friday at Glendale Civic Center, 5750 W. Glenn Drive.


"Transportation infrastructure is the most significant issue facing the West Valley," said Jack Lunsford, president and CEO of Westmarc. "For the second year in a row, our board has placed it as Westmarc's top public-policy priority."

Peters, who was appointed by President Bush as the nation's 15th transportation secretary a year ago, hails from the West Valley. She was warmly welcomed back this morning during her address.


Peters' remarks to the West Valley community focused on her reflections on her first year in her post and her vision for the future of transportation in the United States.

Questions were accepted from the floor, with a press interview session where Ed Sharpe from the Glendale Daily Planet and other journalists had an opportunity to ask pressing questions.

Peters formerly was director of the Federal Highway Administration and of the Arizona Department of Transportation.

   
. Photos and video and more details in preparation

Westmarc is a coalition of leaders in business, government and education that promotes the West Valley and advocates on its behalf.

REMARKS FOR THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

WESTMARC BREAKFAST GLENDALE, AZ SEPTEMBER 14, 2007 -  8 AM

Thank you, David Martin (Arizona Association of General Contractors), for that kind introduction. I would also like to thank my friend, Jack Lunsford of WestMarc for inviting me to be here today. It is always great to come home to the West Valley to see old friends and make new ones.

Every time I come home, I am impressed by the way people in Arizona show the kind of leadership that makes this state and this country so great.

Here in the West Valley, I see that leadership in businesses that continue to invest and innovate. I see that leadership in the local leaders working hard to make Western Maricopa County a center of education excellence. And I see that leadership in local officials who are developing policies that ensure growth while enhancing our quality of life.

People in Washington have a lot to learn about leadership from places like the West Valley and other forward-leaning communities in Arizona. Nowhere is that more apparent to me than in the current debate about the state of the nation’s infrastructure in the wake of last month’s tragic collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis. 

While many state and local officials have already come to recognize the urgency of our transportation problems, it took a nationally televised tragedy to get people in Washington talking about what’s wrong with our roads and bridges.

We must continue to properly maintain our highways and bridges. But it would be irresponsible to say that our bridges and roads are anything but safe. Indeed, since 1994, we have successfully reduced the percentage of bridges that are structurally deficient from 19 percent to 12 percent.

While the condition of our roads and bridges is getting a little better, there is absolutely no question that the way we invest in them is broken. Money that should be going to maintain roads, build new freeways, and reduce congestion is going instead to restore lighthouses and build new museums.

Washington mandates are increasingly overriding state priorities. For example, the number of earmarked projects has grown from a handful in the mid-1980s to over 6,000 in 2005 – valued at a staggering $24 billion.

And earlier this week, the Senate passed a one-year spending bill that includes an additional $2 billion in earmarks. As some of you may have read, this bill includes money for “key transportation priorities” like a peace garden, a baseball stadium, and a history museum. Despite all the rhetoric over the past six weeks on the need to focus on our infrastructure priorities, Congress still doesn’t get it.

This addiction to earmarks is an even larger problem when you consider that the true cost to states for these projects is actually much higher. On average, earmarks cover only ten percent of the total cost of a project. Imagine how your neighbor would react if you told him you bought him a new, $300 lawnmower – all he needed to do was chip in $270. And what he really needed was a hose.

Not only does Washington lack the discipline to get the money where it is needed most, but the system for financing, building, and operating roads and bridges does nothing to address the single greatest problem facing our nation’s transportation system – the rapid growth in traffic congestion.

When I returned to Phoenix in the early 1980s, the average commuter spent 18 hours a year stuck in traffic. Now that same commuter is spending almost 50 hours a year stuck in traffic throughout Maricopa County. Worse, projections are that by 2030, driving times will average over 60 percent longer during rush hour than they are at other times.

The story is the same in virtually every community across the country. Traffic is getting worse not only in New York and Los Angeles, but also in places like Knoxville, Jacksonville, and Salt Lake City.

This growing traffic leads to costly delays that undermine quality of life, waste fuel, and contribute to pollution.

Delay and fuel costs, however, are only part of the story. In too many parts of the country, our roads are no longer reliable. A cross-town trip might take thirty minutes, or it might take two hours. There is no way to know for sure. As a result, commuters and businesses are budgeting a lot more time for each trip – robbing families of valuable time together and cutting into businesses’ bottom lines.

Instead of tackling the challenge of congestion, some in Washington, DC, have jumped at the tragic bridge collapse to call for federal gas tax increases.

This misses the point. Our roads aren’t backed up and our commutes aren’t unpredictable because of a lack of spending. Over the last 25 years, we have increased spending by one hundred percent, even after adjusting for inflation. During the same period, though, traffic delays in metropolitan areas have grown by almost three hundred percent. And future gas tax increases will be just as ineffective in fighting congestion.

Proposing new federal gas tax increases is not leadership – it is ludicrous. Americans are tired of paying for excellent bridges to nowhere and horrible commutes to everywhere else.

According to every recent survey, the public overwhelmingly opposes the idea of raising the federal gas tax. That is because they have no confidence that their gas taxes – which go into the Highway Trust Fund – will be spent either wisely or well. Washington’s misplaced priorities have caused Americans to lose trust in the trust fund. I don’t blame them. I have too.

We need a new approach.

We need the kind of leadership that says the people stuck in traffic every day on I-10 ought to be making the decisions about where to build new roads and how to pay for them.

We need the kind of leadership that is willing to explore new ways to pay for road projects that not only generate revenue for re-investment but actually reduce congestion. 

That's right, I said reduce. Leaders usually do not plan to fail. Yet for some reason, every state in the country right now is planning for congestion to be worse in 15 years than it is today – regardless of how much money is spent.  

We need to begin acknowledging that we can substantially reduce traffic congestion – and that we can do it in most cases in a matter of months.

We only need to convince five-to-ten percent of the people on a rush-hour highway to shift trip times or travel plans in order to largely solve the congestion problem. That's right – five to ten percent. That is not such a heavy lift when you consider that new data shows that almost half of the people on a rush-hour highway are not taking work trips, and almost a quarter are retired.

But we cannot wish people off rush-hour roads just because they may have flexible schedules. We need to look instead at innovative measures like electronic tolling, which allows road charges to vary by time of day based on traffic levels.

Cell phone companies create capacity by charging us during the week and giving us free weekend minutes. Why can’t we do the same for our roads?

The revenues generated from those tolls will allow us to expand highways and transit systems in the same corridors. That makes a lot more sense than sending the money to Washington where strings are attached and administrative costs taken out before it can go back to Arizona.

There are parts of the country today – on I-15 in San Diego and I-394 in Minneapolis, for example – where this kind of pricing is being used to give rush-hour drivers free flow commutes that are predictable within minutes.

Other parts of the country should soon see the same kind of results. New York City, Seattle, Minneapolis, Miami, and San Francisco were all selected in August as part of our Department’s nationwide competition to pursue even more comprehensive approaches using electronic pricing.  

Yes, this approach requires us to think differently about highways. It requires us to recognize that there is no such thing as a free highway.

Most importantly, it requires leadership – leadership to recognize that our current approach is broken, leadership to embrace new ways to fund and manage our roads, and leadership to stake reputations on promises to cut traffic.

We are already seeing that kind of leadership.

Here in the West Valley, groups like WestMarc have placed transportation at the top of their priority list. In other parts of the country, mayors are guaranteeing an end to gridlock. Legislators are authorizing new lanes that will be paid for without a single dollar in gas taxes. And governors are planning desperately needed highways that will use electronic pricing.

Let’s turn the tragedy of the I-35W bridge collapse into something positive. Let’s forget the tired promises and broken tactics of the past. Let’s embrace new solutions designed to meet today’s challenges. And let’s do everything in our power to support and encourage more of the kind of leadership its going to take to make our roads work for us again.

Americans want and deserve leadership. Let’s give it to them.

# # #

    Marty Robbins Is Joining           Rex Allen In Wilcox Arizona!

http://www.rexallenmuseum.org/

And... If You Are In Wilcox Arizona on October 6th Spike The Superball will be on hand!

Two Glendale residents assume key duties  -  Civil Air Patrol    -   Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302

Maj.AttilaSzokol      SeniorMemberLesManser

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Sept. 21, 2007) – Two Glendale residents have been appointed to positions of key responsibility within Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302 of the U.S. Civil Air Patrol (CAP), announced Capt. Paula Ramage, squadron commander. The 125-member squadron is the largest and most active in CAP’s Arizona Wing.

CAP is the official civilian volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and open to adults 18 and older plus cadets 12 to 21. The 65-year-old non-profit organization performs up to 95 percent of the inland search-and-rescue missions in the United States and provides numerous other support services to communities, states and the nation including homeland security, counter-narcotic flights and humanitarian missions as well as cadet training.

Maj. Attila Szokol has assumed duties as the squadron’s deputy commander for adults and will continue his previous duties as standardization and evaluation officer. Former U.S. Air Force Capt. Les Manser has accepted multiple staff positions as the squadron’s cadet aerospace-education officer, cadet test-control officer, flight-operations officer and flight-release officer.

A pilot for 20 years and former aviation operations specialist in the Arizona Army National Guard, Szokol is a 737 first officer and simulator instructor for US Airways but has been working primarily for the past 18 months in the Training and Standards Department on the merger fleet-integration project (rewriting manuals, procedures, checklists, etc.) of US Airways and the former America West Airlines.

He has accumulated approximately 7,000 hours of flight time plus considerable simulator time. He is an Airline Transport Pilot, type-rated in the Boeing 737, de Havilland Dash 8 and Beechcraft 1900. He also is a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI-II-MEI).

The deputy commander joined Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302 in the fall of 2001. As standardization and evaluation officer, he works to ensure competence, proficiency and professionalism among squadron pilots.

Manser, a pilot who joined the squadron in May as a senior member, served for 12 years. He enlisted as an avionics maintenance specialist who attained the grade of staff sergeant before being commissioned as an officer for eight years.

As an officer, he served as an F-4E/G instructor, weapons-system officer, wing standardization and evaluation officer, wing weapons and tactics officer, wing electronic warfare officer, supervisor of flying and air-operations officer. He has 1,800 flight hours as an Air Force-rated navigator in fighter aircraft.

He earned his master of science degree in aeronautical science with a 4.0 grade-point average from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He earlier had completed his bachelor of science degree in electronics technology from Troy State University in Alabama.
After completing his graduate degree, Officer Manser had supplemental Air Force experience from 1988 to 1992 as an F-15E academic and simulator instructor at Luke Air Force Base through McDonnell-Douglas Training Systems, Inc. He trained all F-15E aircrews who participated in the 1990 Gulf War. Notably, no aircraft crewed by his students was lost during Desert Storm combat operations.

Manser served for six years as an adjunct instructor for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at its Luke Air Force Base campus, instructing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in simulation in aviation and aerospace, air-carrier operations, business and commercial flight operations, and computers in aviation.

His other qualifications include being a Federal Aviation Administration-rated private pilot and aircraft dispatcher. He has a single-engine-land (SEL) private-pilot instrument rating, multiple-engine-land (MEL) commercial-pilot instrument rating, and a total of 300 hours of SEL and MEL flight time including almost 200 hours as a pilot in command.

A quality manager since 1993, he has been employed the past six years for Ditron Manufacturing, Inc., and is a certified quality auditor.
Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302, which observed its 50^{th anniversary in May, conducts cadet meetings from 7 to 9:30 p.m. each Monday except for holidays. Meetings for adults (officers) are conducted at 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Many officers are pilots or former members of the military although such experience is not required for membership. A composite squadron has both officers and cadets.}

GLENDALE!

Are You Ready

For Some

BEAR?

GLENDALE CELEBRATES NATIONAL TEDDY BEAR DAY

An event for teddy bear enthusiasts to celebrate their collections.

Glendale Daily Planet - Glendale AZ). -- Historic Downtown Glendale was proud to celebrate National Teddy Bear Day on Saturday, Sept. 8th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m..  In honor of this annual event, several shops and the Glendale Office of Tourism joined together to offer a very “beary” special day. 

The day began at the Glendale Visitor Center (5800 W. Glenn Drive, #140) - where participants  picked up a Teddy Bear pack, spun the "Bear Themed Prize Wheel and entered drawings. 

Patricia Moore, Glendale Visitor Center Volunteer - Activity, themed prize wheel at the Visitor Center	Bear themed prize wheel at the Glendale Visitor Center
Patricia Moore and Lavonne Butterworth, Glendale Visitor Center Volunteers and an event attendee at the bear themed prize wheel at Teddy Bear Day	The visitors, armed  with their  Teddy Bear pack filled with lots of goodies and discounts headed off to to shops and restaurants in the Historic Downtown area. They followed the  the Teddy Bear Trail which included the following:   Beary Special Shop Discounts Photos with your favorite Teddy Bear (free Polaroid photo) Teddy Bear Day Tea at Kimberly Ann's ($22-Prepaid) Face Painter Make and Take Arts & Crafts (for a nominal fee) Free Trolley Rides Bear themed prize wheel at the Visitor Center Many shops will have special bear items for sale Bring in your favorite shirt and for only $10 you can have it embroidered with a bear design (at Miracle Haven) Refreshments Beary Good Ice Cream Social at The Country Maiden (proceeds to benefit the Glendale Fire Dept. Trauma Teddies Program Decorate a chocolate Teddy Bear at Cerreta Candy Company ($4)

And... Here are a few places we stopped off to visit along the 'Trail...'

First thing though... we had to stop in and see what Lorraine Pino, Glendale Tourism Manager, had collected up in the way of 'Beary Good Friends' to share with the Glendale Fire Department.

A Beary Special Day in Downtown Glendale   The Visitor Center  accepted donations of new Teddy Bears (12” or less in size) to benefit the Glendale Fire Department Trauma Teddies Program during their 3rd Annual Teddy Bear Day event on Sept. 8. The Glendale Fire Department keeps a few new teddy bears on each truck to soothe children who have been involved in a traumatic incident. The teddies are given to children who have been injured, or involved in an auto accident, or if they have witnessed a traumatic event. In every case, the child is comforted and distracted by a friendly, huggable new companion. All of the teddy bears are donated by civic groups, schools, or private citizens.   The Visitor Center received nearly 300  bears for donation to the program..
Lorraine Pino, Glendale Tourism Manager with a sample of the nearly 300 bears donated for the  Glendale Fire Dept. Teddy Trauma Program during the 3rd Annual Teddy Bear Day in Historic  Downtown Glendale held on Sept. 8.

Yvonne Knaack,  and fellow local State Farm agent, gives 150 "Good Neigh Bears" to the Glendale Fire Department's Crisis Response Unit. 

	10 Agents from State Farm Insurance, spear-headed by Yvonne Knack, donated over 150 new bears to the GFD CR Program.  These bears will be carried on the CR Units and be given to children after they have experienced a traumatic event.   The CR Vans are automatically dispatched, along with GFD Units, to the scene of fires, automobile accidents, domestic violence situations, deaths, assaults, SIDS, drownings, to name a few.    Karla Houston, Glendale Fire Department Crisis Response Program Coordinator  tell us "Our CR Volunteers come into people's lives during a frightening time, to support them in their grief, calm their fears a little, and to assist the Fire and Police Personnel on the scene.   Karla Continued... "The CR Crews, all volunteers, stay on the scene with the family and friends thus allowing the fire crews and police officers to go back in service and help other citizens when called." Back Row: John Edmonson, Dennis Pooler Front Row  Jessica Knaack, Karla Houston, Yvonne Knaack and Gwen Pooler.  Dennis Pooler is a Mentor with the CR Program
Councilperson Yvonne Knack and Karla Houston, Glendale Fire Department Crisis Response Program Coordinator Councilperson  Yvonne Knack with a box of bears. Back Row: John Edmonson, Dennis Pooler Front Row Yvonne Knaack's daughter, Karla Houston, Yvonne Knaack and Gwen Pooler.
Jessica Knaack showing off one of the  "Good Neigh Bears" That is  going to the  Fire Department to comfort children in  trauma situations.	Karla Houston, Glendale Fire Department Crisis Response Program Coordinator tells us    "You will notice that these bears are individually wrapped.  This is the best way to donate bears or any stuffed animals.    When they are wrapped like the pictures shows, then we know that they are as clean as possible to protect the children that may otherwise not be able to accept one due to allergies.  When we give a sad child a bear, we will remove the plastic and hand it to them.   It is heartwarming to see how just holding onto something soft and cuddly calms a child.  They will hang on to these bears all the way to the hospital, the domestic violence shelter, or just going to their rooms."
Gwen Pooler is currently in CR Volunteer Training.  All the new Volunteers receive 100 hrs. of training.  (50 hrs. of classroom time and 50 hrs. of practical hrs. on the CR Units)	John Edmonson, is one of the CR Team Leads.   Team Leaders are assigned shifts, just like the GFD Firefighters . . . A Shift, B Shift, & C Shift.  John is A shift and is on-call every 3rd day for 24 hrs.  He is a CR Volunteer.
Yvonne Knaack  supports the GFD CR Program in her capacity as both a State Farm Agent and also as a City of Glendale Councilperson.	Yvonne Knaack meeting Karla's mom, Dorothy Wall.  Dorothy just celebrated her 94th birthday last July.  She doesn't get on the CR Vans but she comes to Glendale Celebrations with her daughter  Karla Houston, Glendale Fire Department Crisis Response Program Coordinator, You will find Dorothy donating  her time helping out at a CR or Civic Pride booth when she can.
Photo Activity at Bears & More.  Free photo with your favorite teddy bear        7146 N. 58th Drive - Glendale, AZ 85301- Telephone 623-931-0339 - Toll free 888-795-444
Becky Shady holding a Steiff Sound of Music bear at Bears & More assisting with the photo activity L-R > A couple of teddy bear fans with  Linda & Valerie Burner  at Bears & More in Catlin Court, Glendale Arizona Sue Berntsen, Glendale Visitor Center Volunteer - Photo activity at Bears & More. Get a free photo with your favorite teddy bear!

  Fiesta Glendale!

Sept. 15, from noon to 10 p.m.

Hispanic Heritage Celebration

Entire families enjoyed a fun-filled day! Murphy Park was abuzz with music, dance and traditional food. Entertainment will included some of the Valley’s top performers, such as Ballet Folklorico and other dance troupes and musicians, as well as several family activities.

 Murphy Park is located in Historic Downtown Glendale at 58th and Glendale avenues.

If you missed the fun this year join us next year!

I

“Un Corazón Flamenco”
	Linda Machado ( Left and front in group photo) The male dancer was Alejandro Cervantes The female dancer in the photo is Belinda Rosic The guitarist is Ricardo de Cristobal Together we perform as “Un Corazón Flamenco” Here is a link to our web site for your further information:  www.FlamencoTheStudio.com
Linda Machado

Line Up For Fiesta Glendale - Saturday September 15th 2007 -