| Clearer vision for Aquia Towne Center
The Aquia Towne Center is being changed from a bleak strip mall into a chic, pedestrian-friendly shopping center with a new addition: residential units. The shopping mall, which will be renamed the Towne Center of Aquia, will include an apartment complex. On Thursday the Stafford County Planning Commission considered a proposal to rezone the center into a Planned Traditional Neighborhood Development zoning district. A PTND is a new zoning category for mixed-use developments that include residential and commercial uses. Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, a Farmington Hills, Mich.-based developer, owns and manages the strip mall on U.S. 1. The company's executives gave planners a better idea of the center's residential components.
Thieves Sought In Woodland Hills 'Smash-And-Grab' Heist
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. -- A jewelry store was robbed in a Woodland Hills mall Friday, and police were looking for two male thieves in the "smash-and-grab" heist. The bandits, one armed with a handgun, entered the store in the Westfield shopping center in the 6600 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard at about 4:10 p.m., said Officer Jason Lee. The men used a sledgehammer to smash a display in the store, grabbed up jewelry and fled, possibly in a gray PT Cruiser, the Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said. .
Rubin: Nothing new at mansion -- or with the mayor
Some were shooting pictures and some were shooting video, and their lenses were all pointed at Manoogian Mansion, which wasn't moving. It's one of those odd things we do after a scandal oozes its way into the news: Stake out a building, as though the central figures are going to pop out any second and say, "Jeez, am I guilty!" I didn't see anybody do that on Dwight Street, but I did see the long row of cars that the people meeting with the mayor had left at the curb. Most of them sat, undisturbed, in a tow-away zone. I saw five TV news trucks and two SUVs from radio stations. I saw a tradesman's van at a blond brick house with lavender doors across from the mansion, and I read the tradesman's slogan, which was "Shelving Solutions & More Since 1960." If you have any sort of solutions, I thought, you're in the wrong driveway.
McCain's "Mexico First" Aide
The Nissan Titan pickup is 101% worse than average. The Armada SUV is 151% worse than average. And the $50,000 Infiniti QX56 SUV scores 297% worse than average, a result so bad it might have been thought unattainable. ... Maybe the Mississippi factory's record will improve--CR documents the tendency of carmakers to work the bugs out of a new model over several years. Maybe it's just a question of weeding out bad local suppliers. But the amount of money Nissan is saving by moving its headquarters from California to Tennessee can't possibly compensate for the hit it must be taking with angry customers. ... 10:39 P.M. Hole in the oil spot: There's one thing I don't understand about the growing support for an "oil spot" strategy--which would have the U.S. military in Iraq "focus less on trying to secure the whole country and more on shoring up protection of major population centers." That might make great sense if all we were trying to do was pacify Iraq.
A Good Way to Start
As President Judith Shapiro's 14-year tenure comes to an end, Barnard College's new president has a unique opportunity to shape the course of the college's history. Debora Spar finds Barnard in a period of strength. It is currently the most selective women's college in the country, and construction is progressing on the Nexus, which will bring improved resources to campus. No one doubts Spar's impressive credentials in both teaching and research, and administrators and faculty alike are sure that she will use her experience at the college well in those regards. What remains to be seen is how Spar will prove her leadership abilities and make her mark on the college experience of Barnard students long into the future. The Presidential Search Committee—composed of faculty, students, administrators, alumnae, and the board of trustees—should be proud of its diligent and speedy work.
Thieves Sought In Woodland Hills 'Smash-And-Grab' Heist
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. -- A jewelry store was robbed in a Woodland Hills mall Friday, and police were looking for two male thieves in the "smash-and-grab" heist. The bandits, one armed with a handgun, entered the store in the Westfield shopping center in the 6600 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard at about 4:10 p.m., said Officer Jason Lee. The men used a sledgehammer to smash a display in the store, grabbed up jewelry and fled, possibly in a gray PT Cruiser, the Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said. .
Build a vacation around bookstores
When it's more than just a place to buy books. A destination bookstore can make you feel like you're part of the community, whether you're grooving on the laid-back vibe at Powell's in Portland, Ore., or tuning in to the Beltway buzz at Washington's Politics and Prose. Some bookstores offer literary touchstones, like the wooden chairs signed by writers who've visited That Bookstore in Blytheville, an Arkansas institution frequented by native son John Grisham. City Lights in San Francisco, once a hangout for Beat writers like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, draws tourists from around the world. "Each one of these stores has a unique, distinct personality and approach," said Meg Smith, chief marketing officer for the American Booksellers Association, a trade group for independent bookstores.
'Todd' runs amok in Europe
Some bookers feel Par could have given Old Men a saturation opening given the upbeat state of biz, but others praise the distrib for a measured release designed to cash in on awards season buzz. Old Men widens by approximately 100 prints this coming weekend. In Italy, local teen-romancer "Sorry If I Call You Love scored a lovely $7 million off 491, confirming the pull Cinema Italiano has these days with the homecrowd. Prurient pic, based on a bestseller and toplining hunky Raoul Bova (Under the Tuscan Sun) as a thirty-something ad man who becomes entangled with a 17-year-old brunette brat, tallied a boffo $14,000 per-screen average via Medusa. Italo frames other big winner was Into the Wild, which opened at number five, scoring $1.1 million from 176 via BIM Distribuzione.
|
