Orders Pour In Despite Slowdown

Orders are flooding in at Bristol building firms despite fears ofa slowdown in the South West construction industry.

Both Bishopsworth firm Cowlin Construction and Stoke Gifford firmCH Pearce Construction have in recent weeks taken on orders worthmillions of pounds for projects across the region.

Orders are coming from developers of commercial buildings,housebuilders and from the public sector.

The news comes in the wake of recent research from the RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors which found work on building forbusinesses had slackened off.

But it found that work was now being done for the public sectorinstead, as a result of increased spending …

LGBT Youth Summit aims to strengthen bonds between GSA leaders Oct. 29

BEVERLY HILLS- The GSA Alliance of Southeastern Michigan and GLSEN of Southeastern Michigan are jointly presenting an LGBT Summit on Saturday, Oct. 29, aimed at uniting student leaders across the state and helping them strengthen their local gay straight alliances. The summit is the second such gathering this year.

"Two years ago we did a pilot conference that was very short, and we then abandoned that model," said Chase Stein, GSA-SM's youth coordinator. "This spring we did the first LGBT Summit as it's presented today."

The all-day event features two icebreakers and three workshops, and closes with a poetry slam/talent show. Attendees can choose workshops from one of …

Rice says US, Britain to ask UN Security Council for tough action against Zimbabwe

The United States plans to introduce a U.N. resolution next week calling for tough action against Zimbabwe's government, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday, to prevent the country's leaders from further abusing its population.

Speaking with reporters on her way to Seoul, South Korea, Rice said the U.S. and Britain could present the resolution to the U.N. Security Council as early as Monday.

The action is in response to the widely denounced runoff election in which Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is accused of using violence to coerce people to vote for him.

"It is time for the international community to act," Rice …

Music fills the air in springtime: ; Light Opera Guild presents 'A Little Night Music'

DAILY MAIL STAFF

JOANN Cordell's biggest challenge this weekend will be toremember which performance she's attending. Cordell will appear inthe opening performance of the Charleston Light Opera Guildproduction of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," Fridayevening. But that afternoon, she'll direct the choral group,Womansong, in a concert.

On Saturday, Cordell will lead the St. Anthony Catholic Schoolhonor choir in a performance at a First Communion mass, after whichshe'll rush back to the Civic Center Little Theater to perform herrole as a liebesleider for "Night Music."

On Sunday morning, she'll step up to the plate as director of theAppalachian …

Affirming the ethic of service

The turnout for the workshop, "Affirm ing the ethic of service," was small, comprising mainly Mennonite Voluntary Service Adventure (MVSA) supporters. But their enthusiasm led to a resolution, passed later by delegates, that affirmed church-based service.

At first, the mood in the workshop was muted as participants reviewed MC Canada's termination of its service program last year. It has been difficult to carry on without the support structures.

The recently opened Montreal unit closed its doors. Hamilton and Riverton are on hold. Lethbridge won't be operating next year due to lack of volunteers even though a church-owned house and leaders are in place. Toronto and …

Lebanon wish list granted

In January, the York County Economic Development Corp. pulled together representatives from six cities in Central Pennsylvania to discuss how they could tap more federal grants for development projects.

The idea was to create a regional economic development district that would include Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Carlisle, Lebanon and Reading. The goal was to identify a wish list of what the cities wanted so the corporation could help them apply for at least $2.5 million in federal grants to make their wishes come true.

About two weeks ago, one of the cities heard back.

Lebanon will receive $50,000 to study building a technology park in the city, said Russ Montgomery, director of regional economic development initiatives for York County Economic Development Corp. The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded the money to determine where the structure should be built, how much it would cost, and who would be interested in occupying it, he said.

"Once Lebanon identifies its site, we can look for brick-and-mortar public works funds," Montgomery said. He declined to estimate how much money would be needed to complete the tech park project. However, in January, Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corp. President Bob McNary said the project would cost about $1.5 million.

The federal grant money, along with private investor funds and state and local government dollars. could be used for similar development projects in the other cities. The federal government's grants provide up to 50 percent of a project's total cost.

In anticipation of the district's approval, Lancaster, Reading and Carlisle, as well as Lebanon, have selected their priority projects and applied for federal grants, Montgomery said. York and Harrisburg have yet to identify their priority projects, he said.

Lancaster has applied for $800,000 of the federal grant money to redevelop a 20-acre brownfield site into a light industrial park. The park is in a Keystone Opportunity Zone in southwest Lancaster city, said Charles H. Maneval, the city's director of economic and community development. While the city awaits word on the grant, one company has already invested in the site. In July, Rhoads Energy, a heating oil distributor that serves Lancaster and Chester counties, built a new headquarters there. The project is expected to create more than 200 jobs.

Carlisle has applied for $350,000 to expand its Murata business center. Reading has applied for $1.3 million to redevelop a 40-acre site in the northwest part of the city, said Debra Millman, director of business development for the Greater Berks Development Fund. St. Joseph Medical Center, a hospital in Reading, hopes to relocate to the site if it is redeveloped, she said.

Lebanon also might be getting a parking garage from an unrelated program. The state Department of Community and Economic Development awarded Lebanon a $30,000 grant to hire a consultant to study the city's current and future parking needs. If the consultant concludes a parking garage would benefit the city, a site and construction costs will be determined.

In January, McNary estimated it would cost $1.5 million to $2 million to build a parking garage.

Turkey Says Its Planes Hit Iraq Targets

Turkey's military hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq with artillery and air strikes in a two-day operation that killed at least 15 rebels, the military said Saturday.

Turkish military shelled areas in northern Iraq on Thursday after it detected a group of Kurdish rebels preparing to attack Turkish targets from their bases in Iraq, the military said in a written statement. It said 15 rebels were killed in the shelling.

Turkish warplanes hit rebel targets in a cross-border campaign the following day, but casualty figures in that assault were unclear, the statement said.

"Some targets in the same area were hit by the air force's warplanes," it said. "The number of terrorists killed in this air attack could not be determined."

A spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, denied any rebels had been killed, saying it was a "baseless claim."

"Turkish jet fighters launched airstrikes against sites at the al-Zab border area (for three hours) with no casualties reported," Haval Danas said. "The fighter jets have bombed old sites that witnessed fierce clashes before with the Turkish army and nobody was there."

Turkey, like the European Union and the United States, considers the PKK a terrorist organization.

The Turkish statement confirmed the first cross-border action by the military since it waged an eight-day ground incursion in late February. It said it only hit confirmed rebel targets and that it did not harm civilians.

The U.S. has been sharing intelligence on the rebels with Turkey, a NATO-ally, since November.

Turkey has carried out several cross-border operations against the PKK since the parliament authorized the government last October to send troops into Iraq to fight the rebels.

Last month's operation was the only confirmed ground incursion during this period. It was also the first of its kind since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003.

The PKK took up arms against the government in 1984, and tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting.

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Associated Press reporter Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, contributed to this report.