Bus travels, Tour and transport

The police claimed to have foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge quantity of timber to Punjab here on Monday.

The cost of the seized timber was estimated at over Rs2 million.

Police and forest sources said that after receiving a tip-off regarding the smuggling of timber to Punjab via GT Road, two police parties were deployed in the limits of Panian Chowki and Jhari Kas. During the search, the police impounded four trucks bearing registration Nos. GLT 625, GLT 2561, GLT 4677 and GLT 6694 and recovered 499 logs typically used in construction.

The police also arrested the four truck drivers but none of the owners was booked as they were not present at the scene.

It may be added that organised gangs of lumberjacks have been involved in tree felling in Haripur and upper Hazara division. They transport the timber through Tarbela Lake on boats, from where they load the logs onto trucks for shipment to Punjab and farther down country.

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Golden Tours’ Leeds Castle bus tour will irrefutably leave you enraptured. Once you visit Leeds Castle, the redoubtable, grandiose landmark, you can then explore the stunning White Cliffs of Dover, alluring Canterbury Cathedral, and architecturally exceptional Greenwich, for an all in all extraordinary coach tour from London.

Take a thrilling coach tour from London to majestic Leeds Castle. There is no end to the activities you can undertake once you have reached the castle: why not witness a captivating falconry show, try the golf course, or even, for a particularly unique, distinctive and altogether spectacular experience, go on a hot air balloon flight? Or just traverse the grounds of imposing, grand Leeds Castle with your Leeds castle tickets.

Why not go on a package tour which includes not simply Leeds Castle, but also delightful Dover, charming Canterbury and, finally, picturesque Greenwich? Golden Tours provides just such an exhilarating day tour from London. The White Cliffs of Dover need no introduction: they possess great fame as archetypes of natural splendour. Canterbury Cathedral is an incredible landmark which will undoubtedly bewitch you with its opulence. Finally, Greenwich has its own entrancing architecture, particularly its Old Naval College.

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Embattled Chinese forestry company Sino-Forest said on Wednesday it has postponed a tour of its forestry assets because many analysts have halted coverage of the company.

The value of Sino-Forest shares and bonds collapsed last month after short-seller Muddy Waters accused the company of fraudulently exaggerating the size of its forestry assets.

The company has denied the allegations and appointed an internal committee of its independent directors to investigate the matter. However a full review is expected to take up to three months to complete.

Dundee Capital Markets analyst Richard Kelertas and RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Quinn, who initially panned the Muddy Waters allegations, later opted to suspend coverage of the company. Other analysts have put their ratings and price targets on Sino-Forest under review.

"Following management's recent conversations with the analyst community who cover Sino-Forest, it has become apparent that many of you have been precluded from resuming coverage of the company and otherwise discussing its affairs publicly until after the independent committee reports," the company said in in a letter announcing the postponemen

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With the summer season having now arrived, Anchor Tours, based in Bellurgan, Dundalk, Co. Louth is ideally positioned having recently invested in a new Volvo 9700 coach, with Prestige Plus bodywork, for their busiest time of the year.

The UK tour operator's latest coach has already been placed into active service, joining their fleet of 23 Volvos. "We've been specifying Volvo since 1963," explained Anchor Tour's owner Seamus Keenan. "This latest coach is an absolutely beautiful vehicle, I just love the interior."

Specified with 53 TS2000 comfort plus half leather seats, with 3-point safety belts and a centre demountable toilet, the high quality finish of the coach interior reflects Anchor's commitment to the comfort of their passengers.

Built on the reliable Volvo 3 axle, 13 metre B13R chassis and powered by a rear-mounted Euro 5 incentive, 13-litre diesel engine, rated at 460hp, the 9700 delivers performance, power, consistency and style.

Also featuring Volvo's I-Shift 12 speed gearbox and electronically controlled disc brakes and air suspension, Anchor have specified a coach which they know and trust. "We've had 9700's before," continued Seamus Keenan. "They are excellent quality and they are reliable, plus we know that we have the superb back-up support of the Irish Commercials Volvo dealership at Naas."

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When Tim Gilliam started Teak Master in 1997, he knew there was a void to be filled in the exterior wood surface restoration industry. Specializing in the professional care, restoration and repair of teak furniture, decks, gazebos, house trim, pergolas, play sets, spas and exotic hardwoods. Teak Master has carved a solid niche for itself in the field of teak repair and exterior wood surface care and restoration.

Teak Master has been in business for 14 years now, and is endorsed by such major teak furniture manufacturers as Brown-Jordan, Gloster, Kingsley Bate, Smith & Hawken, Henry Hall, Teak Warehouse, Jensen Jarrah and Janus et Cie as factory authorized service technicians.

Outdoor Furniture Restoration and Repair

Outdoor furniture, especially high-end teak furniture, has to endure harsh conditions, from the frigid temperatures of winter to the blistering heat of summer. When teak furniture sits outside unprotected the natural oils in the wood oxidize and turn the surface an unsightly grayish-black color, the grain can lift and crack and mildew and fungus can set in and destroy the wood through rot. The Teak Master process can forestall this condition and restore weathered furniture back to showroom quality, and new teak furniture can be enhanced and given long-lasting protection. Teak Master's exclusive custom formulated teak sealer has a special blend of solvents to penetrate deep into the hard teak wood with UV inhibitors and a mildewcide to prevent the furniture from turning gray through oxidation or rotting through mildewing. Damage and breaks to older pieces can also be expertly repaired by Teak Masters' experienced craftsmanship.


The same harsh weather conditions that can be so hard on outdoor wood furniture can also pose a hazard for wood decking, whether exotic hardwoods like mahogany or Brazilian ironwood and teak, or common redwood or IPE. Decks need the same kind of protection as your fine outdoor wood furniture to keep them structurally sound and looking their best. Without it damage can begin almost immediately. Teak Master also specializes in deck refinishing for the Los Angeles area, and can beautify and protect new or weathered decks from rot and decay due to mold, mildew and fungal attack, premature graying from UV exposure and structural damage caused by water absorption. The Teak Master process restores outdoor wood to new condition and provides the protection it needs to keep it beautiful for years to come.

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Beginning next school year, the Lake Wales Charter System will provide its own bus transportation for all of its students.

Previously, the charter system only provided bus transportation for three of its six schools: Bok Academy, Babson Park Elementary and Hillcrest Elementary.

"Transportation for us is very important because it gives us control over the bell schedule," said Robin Gibson, a Lake Wales lawyer who represents the charter schools.

Gibson said the system is considering changing its school hours to possibly a longer day.

"We haven't decided anything but we need the options for the length of the scheduling," Gibson said.

During the 2009-10 school year, it cost the Polk County School District $532,621 to provide bus service to charter schools. Of that amount, $338,938 was spent on the Lake Wales Charter System for Janie Howard Wilson Elementary, Polk Avenue Elementary and Lake Wales High School, said Rob Davis, the district's director of transportation operations.

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Vietnamese timber and wood product exporters will have to develop an elaborate system to ensure the legality of materials used to avoid the risk of losing their footholds in key markets like the US and the EU

For instance, they would need to show they have procured wood from areas with approved forest management plans and appropriate cutting permits.

They would also need to ensure they are excluding illegal and other unwanted wood both at the forest where materials are acquired as well as at processing and manufacturing facilities.

These steps become necessary as the EU and US markets are set to toughen up import restrictions through the European Union Timber Regulation and the United States Lacey Act, a workshop held in HCM City heard yesterday.

The workshop presented participants with the salient features of the two pieces of legislation as well as with practical steps that would help reduce the business risk of illegal materials entering the supply chains.

The Forest Trust (TFT) and the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa) organised the workshop with support from the United States Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade (RAFT) programme under USAID.

The organisers said the steps outlined at the workshop would help local exporters gain market credibility.

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The Dougherty County School Board’s Transportation Committee on Friday heard a pitch from school system Transportation Director Kenneth Williams for eight new school buses and other assorted needs and wants of the department.

Williams informed the committee that the state of Georgia had issued $50 million in bonds to purchase more than 600 new buses statewide.

Dougherty County, he said, has been allotted eight buses in the bond issue, for which the state would chip in $76,292 per bus. The county would be on the hook for the remaining total balance of $189,826.
The buses are all Internationals. Here is a list of the vehicles with the cost of each to the county:

One 48 passenger ($5,385)

One 48 passenger with lift ($13,773)

One 72 passenger ($10,683)

Five 84 passenger, rear engine ($31,997)

“I selected the Internationals because of maintenance,” Williams told the committee. “They (International) have a service center off Blaylock, and that would keep us from having to drive them to Macon for major service.”

The transportation committee (David Maschke, Carol Tharin and Milton Griffin) voted unanimously to send the proposal to the full board for further consideration.

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In a suspected case of arson, Zimbabwe’s largest timber producer, Border Timbers, was gutted by fire on Wednesday, reducing the multi-million-dollar factory full of treated poles ready for export to ashes.

Although there has not been an official statement on how the fire started and the extent of the damage, NewsDay understands the factory was reportedly housing treated poles ready for transporting to Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia.

An official at the company who refused to be named told NewsDay the raging fire was started by a nearby farmer who was burning dry maize stalks in the afternoon but had failed to contain it.

“Someone was preparing her field just outside our premises and she failed to control the fire, which ended up on our site. There was no proper fireguard and we failed to put out the fire.

“The story could have been different if we had had a proper fireguard, it was just an oversight on our part,” said the official.

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Discount bus lines provide discount fares and - passengers would be wise to assume - discount safety.

Last month, a deadly accident on Interstate 95 south of Fredericksburg renewed scrutiny of an industry that has repeatedly and brazenly taken advantage of pitifully lax oversight by state and federal regulators.

Despite vows by federal officials to improve safety, passengers have little hope of determining in advance whether the buses they board undertake basic safety precautions.

At least eight discount bus lines in Virginia Beach and Norfolk make daily runs to New York and Washington, The Pilot's Mike Hixenbaugh reported Saturday. But only two of those companies show up on a federal database designed to help passengers check out safety records.

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In recent weeks, federal authorities have shut down four motor coach operators for presenting an "imminent danger" to the public. Unqualified bus drivers, poorly kept records, and even instances of allowing passengers to ride in bus luggage compartments were among the myriad safety violations that caused the offending companies to be shut down.

Whether the actions will actually keep the companies out of business is another question. Such charter operators have a penchant for resurfacing under a new name — but with the same dangerous ways of doing business.

Since January, there have been six bus crashes resulting in 25 deaths, a string of accidents that has rightfully raised alarms in Washington. While bus travel has long been regarded as one of the safest modes of transportation in this country, the rise of discount charter operators and wholly unregulated web sites that broker tickets for these companies is a relatively new threat.

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Wood products maker Universal Forest Products Inc said it may consolidate or divest underperforming assets and cut jobs, due to weaker-than-expected sales this year.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based company said it will save $10 million annually, before one-time charges for severances related to the reductions.

Year-to-date net sales through May were down 9.5 percent to $765 million compared to the year-ago period, including a 15 percent drop in net sales to retail customers.

"Retail sales during what is historically our busiest selling season didn't materialize as expected this year," Chief Executive Michael Glenn said in a statement.

The company supplies lumber, plastic, and other building materials for the so-called do-it-yourself market, providing consumers with the tools needed for personal projects.

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A specially-designed info bus will be stopping at all city primary schools giving Year 6 pupils a taste of bus travel.

The bus tour comes before most of the pupils move on to secondary schools where many of them will be catching buses for the first time. The info bus gives information about safe travel by bus and details of Citycard 360, Nottingham's public transport travel card that also offers extra value and discounts at shops, cafes, leisure centres, gyms and attractions.

The specially developed 'infolink' bus has an on-board DVD player, lap top connection and fully stocked leaflet racks and mini timetables.

Councillor Jane Urquhart, Nottingham City Council's Portfolio holder for Planning and Transport, said: "By the end of the summer term around 3,500 Year 6 pupils will have the chance to try out the info bus. The bus and driver provide a fun but informative way for the pupils to find out how to catch the bus safely, what to do and what not to do when travelling by bus, where to get information and help, plus answer any questions about travelling to secondary school by bus. A DVD is played to the groups about travelling by bus, the driver gives the group a talk about bus travel.

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Northwest forests are providing a boost to the building boom in China and will likely help with the rebuilding of post-tsunami Japan. The region's loggers and longshoremen can say thanks, in part, to the Russians.

About a mile from the state Capitol as the gull flies or the salmon swims, logs cut in Southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula are gathered in stacks two to three stories high. After being bark-stripped and graded, they wait for cargo freighters like the Louise Bulker to navigate Budd Inlet at the southern end of Puget Sound and tie up at the Port of Olympia.

Nearly as long as two football fields, the Louise Bulker arrived empty two weeks ago. When it left four days later for Tianshin, China, longshoremen and stevedores had filled its holds and stacked the deck 15 to 20 logs high with some 5.5 million board feet of timber.

Many Northwest ports are experiencing a boom in log shipments, but nowhere is it more dramatic than in Olympia, where Weyerhaeuser moved one of its exporting operations from Tacoma about two years ago to service its Japan trade. Pacific Lumber and Shipping also has increased its use of the Olympia port for shipments to China.

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Principal Karen Schade looks at the departing third graders, a satisfied smile crossing her face.

"I love being here. It's a wonderful environment," she says.

Schade has been principal of School Lane since 2002. The school has 596 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and a waiting list of applicants.

"We really get the opportunity to try out new educational theories...We're not here saying we're better than a school district. We're offering a different environment, a different program. Our message is to provide a safe environment for kids to learn - not just physically safe, but emotionally and intellectually as well."

That message becomes apparent in the comments of students and staff alike. This school is working.

"It's not a boring school; it's a fun school," says Sasha Wilkerson of Bensalem, a second-grader.

School Lane is making "adequate yearly progress" for all but one year since the Pennsylvania Systen of School Assessment was initiated about six years ago.

If you had to give a report card to today's charter schools, most would earn good grades. The charter-school movement began in 1997 through a federal initiative to bring more innovation to public education.

Charter schools are schools founded by parents or educators, which receive a charter to operate for a certain number of years. The charters can be renewed. The schools are funded by the school districts in which their students reside, based on a per-student cost formula for educating a child in that district, explains Wendy Ormsby, director of the Souderton Charter School Cooperative.

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With the Malaysian ringgit strengthening against most major currencies, including the US dollar, the Euro and Sterling, a decline in furniture exports in the current year is being forecast.

Exports of Malaysian furniture are expected to decline by up to 15%, from RM7.95 billion in 2010 to RM6.8 billion for 2011. This decline would be the worst in the past 3 years.

The Malaysia Furniture Entrepreneur Association (MFEA) reported that exports by its members had declined from RM1.97 billion in the first quarter 2010 to RM1.66 billion in the first quarter of 2011. Exports for the second quarter are expected to come in below RM1.98 billion.
v For the Japanese furniture market, exports registered a 12% decline to RM166 million for the first quarter 2011 compared to RM186 million for the first quarter 2010. Japan was the second largest market for MFEA members in 2010, with exports valued at RM709 million out of a total of RM7.95 billion for the year.

Global WoodMart - one-stop centre for buyers and suppliers
The Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) expects that its Global WoodMart (MGW) 2012 exhibition will showcase timber and timber products from both tropical and temperate countries. MTC added that MGW 2012 will act as a one-stop centre for both buyers and suppliers of timber and timber products.

Official partner organizations of MGW 2012 are the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and FrenchTimber. AHEC has been active in the Asian markets for many years but FrenchTimber is a relative newcomer.

FrenchTimber was formed in 2001 at the initiative of the “Fédération Nationale du Bois” and a group of French sawmills and it pursues two main goals :

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Staff members of Georgia's Public Service Commission said Thursday they are investigating whether a charter bus company already grounded by the federal government has violated any state regulations.

Last week, CBS Atlanta News informed the PSC that the federal government had ordered East Point-based JCT Motorcoach to stop carrying passengers after finding the company was operating illegally under a different name.

The feds said the company had falsified vehicle maintenance records and used drivers that tested positive for alcohol and drugs.

Despite the federal order, the company is still certified and licensed in the state of Georgia.

CBS Atlanta's consumer investigator Adam Murphy was forcefully pushed out of the bus company's office last Friday when he showed up to question its owners.

Murphy then informed the PSC about the federal order.

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The state’s timber harvests rebounded in 2010 after a record low the previous year, driven by a buying boom in China, according to an annual report by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Harvests increased for every forest ownership class except for the Bureau of Land Management, accounting for a total of 3.2 billion board feet and a 17 percent increase over the 2009 numbers, state timber economists say.

In Columbia County, the amount of timber harvested rose at a rate less than the state average, going from 113 million board feet in 2009 to 123 million board feet in 2010.

But loggers say their situation remains far from optimal. After all, 2009 saw the worst logging output since the Great Depression.

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Beginning next school year, the Lake Wales Charter System will provide its own bus transportation for all of its students.

Previously, the charter system only provided bus transportation for three of its six schools: Bok Academy, Babson Park Elementary and Hillcrest Elementary.

"Transportation for us is very important because it gives us control over the bell schedule," said Robin Gibson, a Lake Wales lawyer who represents the charter schools.

Gibson said the system is considering changing its school hours to possibly a longer day.

"We haven't decided anything but we need the options for the length of the scheduling," Gibson said.

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