Bus travels, Tour and transport

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Contact us online or call us at 877-302-8911 to discuss your project and determine which option is best for you.

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Eagle Tours Inc. is excited to offer to customers discounted group ticket sales for Dallas’ Texas State Fair which takes place between September 30 and October 23 of this year. For groups of 20 or more traveling to the fair, the company will discount regularly priced tickets by a full 20 per cent (details can be found on their website). The charter bus Dallas and charter bus San Antonio company, has an extensive fleet of buses which will provide hassle-free travel for attendees so they will be free to enjoy the fair without having to worry about driving in high traffic or parking.

The fair opened in 1886 to a crowd of 14,000 and today is one of the largest in the country with a 2010 attendance of more than 2.6 million. Entertainment choices are extensive, to say the least, with more than 70 amusement rides and exhibits featuring everything from the latest and greatest automobiles to the most delicious jams and jellies found anywhere.

In addition to hosting the biggest new car and truck show in the Southwest, judges evaluate 7,000-plus creative arts entries and 8,000 livestock entries annually, many of which are auctioned.

But there’s even more with pig races and dog shows, music concerts, a BMX bicycle show, the U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps, and a lot more including being “the fried food event of the year.”

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A latest study showed that the role of forests as carbon dioxide (CO2) stores was much bigger than previously thought.

The findings were published in the latest issue of the journal "Science" on Thursday.

From 1990 to 2007, 8.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) were released in the world through the use of fossil fuels, but around one third of them were absorbed by forests, according to the study.

The woods are responsible for the entire terrestrial storage of CO2 while agricultural land, grassland and tundra played no role at the global level as CO2 are absorbed as much as they emit, said one of the authors, Anatoly Shvidenko, from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg near Vienna.

The conclusion was made after analysing the relationship between the area change of the forests and green fields and the content change of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The important role of forests as a global "vacuum cleaner" of climate-damaging greenhouse gas CO2 has long been clear but the new data have proved their higher importance as terrestrial CO2-sink, the IIASA said.

Figures showed that the still not destroyed tropical rain forests are responsible for the inclusion of more than 1 billion tons of carbon per year.

The boreal coniferous forest in northern zones, primarily in Canada and Russia, swallows some 500 million tonnes per year, while the forests in the temperate zones stores annually around 780 million tonnes of carbon.

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A Montreal bus ride in the dead of summer can resemble a trip to a sauna at times, but the Société de transport de Montréal is looking into a way of changing that.

The STM has launched a pilot project by installing air conditioning on 15 buses running on seven bus lines in the city, and then asking users what they think of it.

Last year the STM dismissed the idea of air conditioned buses and metros as too expensive, but the transit corporation is now re-thinking the idea.

"We want to do a study on the impact on the carbon, the environmental impact," said STM spokesperson Isabelle Tremblay, "but also the cost."

And therein lies the hook, the STM is not saying for now how much installing such a system on a larger portion of the fleet would cost.

Instead, they are gauging the reaction of riders to the newfound comfort, and thus far, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

But the STM is also asking people whether they'd be willing to pay higher fares for a cooler ride.

"Here the buses are cheap anyway, public transit is cheaper than Toronto and all that," one rider told CTV Montreal's Derek Conlon. "So if we get air conditioning, it costs money, so we'll pay."

But not everyone necessarily agrees.

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A contract for 110,000 board feet of lumber traded for as much as $320 in mid-March before plummeting below $220 in mid-June. Now lumber is rising again and it could be one of those times when supply can’t keep up with demand. But not for the usual reasons.

Traditionally, homebuilding soaks up a lot of U.S. timber production, but the market for new houses is very soft and has been for two years or more. Timber companies have been supported primarily by exports to Asia and real estate sales. Timber producers like Pope Resources LP (NASDAQ: POPE), Rayonier Inc. (NYSE: RYN) and Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE: PCL) have seen share prices rise from nearly 20% to more than 80% in the past 12 months. The Guggenheim Timber ETF (NYSE: CUT) is also up more than 20% in the past 12 months. Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) and Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LL) have seen stock prices fall — Weyerhaeuser when it converted to a REIT in July 2010, and Lumber Liquidators last week when the company cut its forecast for 2011.

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The City Commission will vote on the purchase of a 2000 Freightliner Goshen Coach Bus under the advisement of Convention and Tourism Director Sally Fuller during this evening’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Fuller will be requesting $15,000 to purchase the item. The vehicle is not currently listed on the Tourism Department’s budget. The bus, Fuller said in a memo to the commission, will be purchased from the Liberal Bee Jays if approved.
“The Convention and Visitors Bureau is requesting to purchase a 2000 Freightliner Goshen Coach from the Liberal Bee Jays Association,” Fuller noted. “This request is in the amount of $15,000 and is a non-budgeted item. Sufficient funds for this purchase are available through the Convention and Visitors Bureau.”
Fuller said the bus will be used for official city use and not available for use by outside organizations.
Fuller listed several possibilities regarding the utilization of the bus, if the purchase does, in fact, pass the vote of the commission.

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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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Most Oregon legislators agreed Monday that one man’s trash is another man’s fuel and the state shouldn’t interfere with his ability to put it to good use while others opposed a measure to exempt woody biomass from regulations applied to solid wastes.

Rep. Andy Olson, R-Albany, introduced House Bill 3687 as a solution to uncertainty about what state rules should apply to woody biomass burners, which generate power by super-heating wood byproducts previously treated as waste. The technology is generally considered a renewable source of energy since it is fueled by what would otherwise go unused and works within the existing carbon cycle of forests rather than burning fossil fuels that were removed from the cycle under the Earth’s surface.

“Treating biomass boilers as solid waste incinerators could result in closures of existing biomass facilities and slow the development of new ones,” Olson said, which he feared would cost Oregonians jobs and weaken the state’s push for renewable energy sources.

Yet some argued the bill would the exact opposite if approved by the Senate and became law.

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Haines Tours of Gladwin, Michigan, has been ordered to immediately cease operations by the United States Department of Transportation. They are the third bus company to be shut down by the federal government this month.

The order came following a citation given on May 27 to Roger Haines, owner of Haines Tours, for carrying passengers in the bus’s cargo compartment. The ticket was given by an Ohio Highway Patrol officer in Lake Township, Ohio. The bus was chartered to take 62 passengers from Roscommon, Michigan, to Clyde, Ohio. However six of the 62 were found to be riding in the cargo compartment with unsecured baggage.

“Great customer service is not always saying, ‘yes’,” says Guillermo Williams of Rochester Hills’ Max Impact, a customer service training company. “Sometimes you have to say ‘no’ for safety or legal reasons.”

He said that when a customer’s demands or desires cannot be legally meet great customer service dictates gently but firmly explaining the reasons.

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Coming back from the worst year on record, Oregon's 2010 timber harvest increased 17 percent to to 3.2 billion board feet.

A spike in lumber prices and increased exports to China drove up the demand and price for logs, which in turn caused the increased harvest total, according to an Oregon Department of Forestry news release.

Oregon loggers cut 2.7 billion board feet in 2009, a record low. A board foot is a slab of wood 12 inches square and one inch thick.

The increased cut in 2010 came primarily from private timberland. Large corporate owners provided 2.2 billion board feet, or 68 percent of the harvest. Smaller family forest owners increased their harvest by 145 percent to a total of 228 million board feet.

The timber harvest on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service -- which has the largest timber holdings in Oregon -- increased by 32 percent, to 254 million board feet.

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A charter bus full of teenagers from Texas collided with an overturned tractor-trailer rig on a dark stretch of Interstate 10 near the Mississippi line early Monday, injuring about two dozen people.

One passenger was listed in serious condition, authorities said, but the rest of the injuries were believed to be relatively minor cuts and bruises.

Greg Eubanks, an Alabama state trooper spokesman in Mobile, said a bus carrying 48 teenagers and two chaperones from Del Rio, Texas, to Orlando, Fla., slammed into the trailer of an 18-wheeler moments after it overturned just a few miles inside Alabama on I-10 about 12:30 a.m. CDT.

“The bus (driver) just didn’t see it,” Eubanks said. A second bus also full of students from Del Rio wasn’t involved in the crash, he said.

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Wood smugglers of the district are eyeing Maharashtra's dense forest as no quality teak wood is left in the forests in the district now. They are illegally transporting teak wood into Adilabad from bordering Maharashtra.

Adilabad forest officials are going to hold a meeting with forest officials of Maharashtra next month to control wood smuggling in bordering areas. Maharashtra forest staff inspecting the forests ope-ned fire on wood smugglers entering their forests in Kinwat taluk through the Kosai jungles in Talamad-ugu bordering Maharashtra. Wood smugglers are transporting teak wood into Adilabad from bordering Mah-arashtra by crossing the river Penganga which does not have much water now.

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The highway patrol just released the results of more than 1,000 school bus inspections.

The good news is 89-percent received passing scores.

But some districts had to make repairs.

KRCG’s Facebook crew breaks down the results.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol inspects buses every February, March, April and again before the school year starts.

The highway patrol believes the inspections are making buses a lot safer.

"School buses are probably one of the safest modes of transportation we have when you look at traffic crash statistics. In most cases students do not actually get injured or killed when they're on a school bus, it's after they get off that crashes occur,” MO State Highway Patrol Capt. Tim Hull said.

Out of 1,006 bus inspections 28 buses were marked out of service.

Smaller districts are hit hardest because they have fewer buses running.

For example: the numbers show 33-percent of Fayette’s buses were ordered out of service, that's 4 out of 12.

A major defect forcing a district to take a bus off the streets could be something like a cracked frame, or a fuel leak.

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Wood producers are calling the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) attention regarding the illegal importation of plywood from China, saying the product is threatening the businesses of local producers and the safety of consumers.

Smuggled plywood, the Philippine Woods Producers Association (PWPA) said in a press conference on Tuesday, is only 4.5mm thin but often marketed to be 5mm thick. Chinese plywood is also unable to handle sanding and contains glue with high formaldehyde emissions, endangering those who work with the material, it added.

The Chinese version sells at a lower price and has forced local producers to lower their own prices in order to compete with the smuggled plywood.

"This is a coy attempt at tricking consumers who are usually naive of the existence of such standards. It also robs the government of unpaid VAT and import duties amounting to about P76 to P80 million monthly for 400 forty-foot container vans. These illegal imports unfairly compete and undercut the prices of local plywood manufacturers," said PWPA deputy director Maila Vasquez.

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Columbus City Schools must slash the number of COTA bus rides it purchases next school year for its high-school students to keep the annual cost from rising, but officials couldn't say last week how the cutbacks would be made.

"Once we have a decision on the COTA bus passes for students, we will share that information with all impacted students and their families," a district representative wrote in an email.

The district used to pay a flat fee for bus service for all high-school students, but now it pays 90cents per student ride. The contract that started in October capped the total cost at $600,000 for the first year, but that limit goes away this fall.

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Wood producers have called on the Environment Department to extend deadlines to haul previously-cut timber so that processors would be able to recoup their investments.

Under Executive Order 23, or the moratorium on wood harvesting, wood producers were given a three-month period to transport timber cut prior to the enforcement of the EO. The moratorium expired on May 21, three months after the February 21 reckoning date.

“Since these are wood that have been cut prior to approval of EO 23, we think it is only appropriate to allow us an extension of the deadline. This will help keep the wood industry alive until the government decides to revoke the moratorium," Philippine Woods Producers Association (PWPA) deputy director Maila Vasquez said in an interview over the weekend.

The moratorium on wood transport is not the only thing that is worrying wood producers lately.

Last week, PWPA called on government to tighten its watch over the illegal importation of plywood from China.

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They are commonplace on just about every vehicle on the road today, but a Delta-based transportation company is rolling through new territory with seat belts for its passengers.

The three-point safety restraints come on eight, brand new, 56-passenger motor coaches ordered by Charter Bus Lines which is headquartered on River Road, just west of the Alex Fraser Bridge.

Built at the Prevost plant in Quebec, Charter Bus Lines decided to get ahead of the curve and have them equipped with the belts. Legislation to have seat belts on all new buses is expected to be introduced by 2014.

Sheldon Eggen, president and CEO of Charter Bus Lines, which has been in business since 1949, said the choice to go with the belts earlier than required was really no choice at all.

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Analog forestry mimics a forest to create an economically productive and ecologically diverse landscape
It’s afternoon and wisps of clouds have already enveloped the Sora Muni shrine that keeps watch over Sri Lanka’s Horton Plains massif. Here, Tamil workers of the Thotulagalla tea estate in Haputale offer a sacrificial goat to the deity following the annual pruning of tea bushes.

It is ironic to see principles of analog forestry being piloted in a tea plantation. In its intent and design this silvicultural practice cocks a snook at the country’s monocultural plantation economy, a vestige of the colonial landscape.

Analog forestry attempts to create an economically productive and ecologically diverse tree-dominated landscape ‘analogous’ in structure and function to the nearest stable forest. It draws inspiration from the home gardens of rural Kandy which are highly productive, intensively farmed small plots that produce food throughout the year.

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Just two weeks after a little girl was killed after trying to get on her school bus in north Iowa, a community hundreds of miles away is rallying together to make sure it doesn't happen to any other children.

"I'm teaching a class on school bus safety," said Susan Powell, an Early Childhood Family Education Teacher.

So that what happened to seven-year-old Kadyn Halvorsen in Iowa, doesn't happen again.

"Oh my gosh, losing a child is one of the most horrible things on the planet," said Powell.

Kadyn was hit by a pick-up truck two weeks ago, while crossing the street to board her bus.

"I really wish that people could pay attention and know the rules of the road," said Powell.

But until that happens, Susan Powell is going to focus on children entering kindergarten, to make sure they have all the tools they need to stay safe.

"They need to watch and listen and they need to pay attention to the bus driver because if they are getting ready to cross the street, and for some reason the bus driver sees in their mirror that a car is not stopping, the bus driver will beep their horn and that tells the children - freeze! Stop!,"said Powell.

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A bill allowing a private Native corporation to pick choice lands in the nation's largest national forest is crucial to saving Southeast Alaska's timber industry, Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a Senate committee.

Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Wednesday that her bill conveying about 80,000 acres in the Tongass National Forest to Sealaska Corp. has seen 150 changes since 2008, and it's time to act on it.

"The timber industry in Southeast Alaska is hanging by a thread," Murkowski told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she is the ranking member. "Without passage of this bill, Alaska will likely be forced out of the timber industry."

Sealaska is owed the acreage under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. What makes the Murkowski-sponsored bill controversial is that it would allow Sealaska, which has nearly 20,000 shareholders, to choose lands outside areas designated by the act.

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Some Ohio lawmakers think advertising on the outsides of school buses would help struggling school districts bolster their budgets.

Bipartisan bills introduced in the Ohio Legislature would let schools sell ad space on their buses. Campaign advertising would not be allowed, nor would ads for tobacco, alcohol, gambling, anything sexual.

Senate sponsor Joe Schiavoni tells The Advocate of Newark that schools superintendents need ways to make up for lost government funding. He says if the ads help buy supplies or keep teachers on the payroll, it's a good thing.

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All right folks, it's time to 'fess up. No names mentioned, but you know who you are.

Those of you burning treated timber in your home fires have been spewing toxic fumes into Nelson's air. And Nelson City and Tasman District councils want you to stop.

In case you haven't heard, CCA-treated timber contains chrome, copper and arsenic. When the timber is burnt, most of the arsenic goes up the chimney and into the atmosphere attached to minute particles.

The rest of the arsenic is left in the ash, along with the residual chrome and copper, and is, according to Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science Wellington-based scientist Perry Davy, "not what you would want to be putting on your garden".

Dr Davy's findings of spikes in atmospheric inorganic arsenic during the winter of 2009 at Tahunanui monitoring sites were drawn from air quality monitoring work commissioned by the Nelson City Council.

The Tahunanui monitoring is part of the council's programme to understand, manage and improve air quality in the region. To meet new national standards in 2008, the council introduced its air quality plan, aimed at making a 70 per cent reduction in superfine particulate emissions, 80 per cent of which was identified as originating from domestic fires and wood burners.

Suspecting people were burning treated timber on their fires, Dr Davy looked at arsenic levels in three locations around the country already being monitored by GNS for air quality – Auckland, Wainuiomata and Tahunanui – and found dramatic increases in levels during winter in all three, consistent with the main fire-burning period.

In the Tahunanui case, he found levels of arsenic around 40 times greater in winter (spiking many times from May to September during 2009) than during January of the same year when levels were almost nothing.

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The New York Association for Pupil Transportation is calling for state action on proposed laws to increase penalties for passing stopped school buses.

The organization found in a study that drivers illegally pass a stopped school bus more than 50,000 times a day. Several children have been killed over the past few years by drivers passing buses illegally, and 75 kids were reported injured by vehicles that had passed their buses between 2002 and 2007.

Assemblyman Peter Rivera has proposed a bill authorizing the placement of video cameras on school buses to record motorist violations, with images to be used as evidence in prosecution of offenders. The bill also makes it a felony of criminally negligent homicide when a child is killed by a driver passing a stopped school bus.

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Authorities in Madagascar say logging of precious woods persists in its forests despite a 2010 decree banning logging, transporting and export of such woods.

Police seized 30 tons of rosewood being transported in two trucks last month in Antalaha, on the northeastern coast of the country where the problem is most acute, Inter Press Service reported last week.

Three trucks transporting 115 rosewood logs were intercepted in the southeast of the island a few days earlier, and more than 1,000 pieces of another kind of precious rosewood found in Malagasy forests have been seized in the same region.

Madagascar has the biggest rosewood reserves in the world.

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Even though the transport department has set the ball rolling for the implementation of the long-delayed school bus policy, private operators, who own almost 90% of school buses in the city, have complained that several changes mandated by the policy will unduly add to their financial burden.

Some of them, claims the association of bus operators, are needless, and even risky for the school children.

Talking to DNA on Friday after the first meeting of stakeholders — school principals and bus operators — organised by the transport department, Anil Garg, president of school bus operators’ association, said, “About 70% of recommendations in the policy are acceptable to us. The government should revise the rest as they are needless, impractical and add to our burden.” This resistance could mean a further delay in the implementation of the policy.

According to Garg, 3,340 vehicles like Maruti Omnis, Tata Sumos, Qualis etc, illegally ferry students, while 2,200 dedicated buses are run by school managements and private operators. Another 4,500 operate as both company and school buses.

Outlining his argument, Garg said, “Our expenses will double in implementing the policy recommendations. Until now, we needed only a driver and a male attendant, but now we will have to also hire a lady attendant for the girls.”

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A FARMER is about to launch a yacht that has taken him more than 20 years to complete.

Iain Tolhurst, of Hardwick Estate, Whitchurch, started building Naida in 1999 but his preparations date back more than 20 years.

The 36ft Pinky Ketch is based on those that came from the east coast of America in the early 19th century.

The craft was built entirely from either reclaimed or indigenous timber from the estate, where Mr Tolhurst runs an organic farm.

He started collecting fallen trees after the hurricanes of 1987 and 1990 and used a mobile band saw to mill them on site. The wood was then stacked to dry in a basic shed.


Mr Tolhurst, 57, said: “I have used no plywood, not even in the deck. The main deck is topped with reclaimed pitch pine, which is the only non-local timber and came from the demolition of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory in Reading.” He made both of the boat’s masts and some of the brass fittings while the 700sq ft sails were handmade by an artisan sails-maker.

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A bus driver in North Carolina is being hailed a hero after convincing a gun-wielding seventh grader to hand over his loaded gun during a terrifying bus ride.

The 12-year-old boy tried to hijack the school bus to Washington so he could shoot government officials, witnesses told ABC News Charlotte affiliate WSOC-TV.

Driver Evans Okoduwa said today that while was scared during Monday's incident he knew that if he didn't get the child to drop his weapon he "could have been shot."

"I was driving the bus approaching one of the student's stops when he stood and approached me with a gun in his hand," said Okoduwa.

"I got very scared and I thought he immediately was going to use it on me," said the driver. "But after he had stopped and I began to try to get into conversation with him I was a little calmer and said a little prayer in my heart."

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The Cochin port is all set to make it big in timber imports. In an effort to attract more timber imports to Kochi and thereby increase revenue from this source, the CPT has decided to provide ample discounts to timber storage in the CPT yards.

Currently, the Cochin Port is handling about 60,000 tonnes of timber imports every year. The attempt is to make it more than 1.5 lakh tonnes a year. "As of now, most of the imported timber needed for South Kerala comes to the Tuticorin port, where currently about 5.5 lakh tonnes of timber is being handled. The attempt is to attract a share of this to Kochi. We have decided to provide discounts in the storage rate in a slabwise manner. The discount is expected to attract timber imports as a major share of the expenditure goes to the storage charges," said Unnikrishnan Nair, traffic manager, Cochin Port Trust. As part of the new system there will be a 30 percent discount for timber storage at various storage yards under the CPT in the first slab. "The discount will be proportional to the volume of import. When the import increase the rate of discount will also increase. In the second slab we are planning to give a discount of 50 percent in storage charges," he said.

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