| Nick Robinson's Newslog
Well well. Downing Street has just announced a major new appointment - the first I sense of more to come. The former chief executive of the regulator OFCOM Stephen Carter (who's currently chief executive of Brunswick Group) has been appointed to the new post of chief of strategy and principal advisor to the prime minister. Carter will be a special adviser - in other words he's a party appointment not a civil service one - but he will not have the powers to order around civil servants that were granted to Tony Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell or his spin doctor, Alastair Campbell. Carter has, however, got a pretty big sounding title, was appointed by Gordon Brown personally and will report directly to him so civil servants may wish to listen to what he has to say.
Parts of Sound could rise 2 feet
So do you buy that little beachfront vacation house at Ocean Shores, or will it be a foot under water in 40 more years? A study released Thursday by scientists with the University of Washington and state Department of Ecology could help answer that question. "Sea Level Rise in the Coastal Waters of Washington State" gives updated projections for how much sea level is expected to change over the century because of global warming. There's no single statewide measurement for the increase. Instead, the researchers give best, worst and middle-of-the-road scenarios for what's to come along different stretches of shoreline. The calculations took multiple factors into account. In the plus column are the increased water coming from melting glaciers and ice caps, including the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, and the expansion of the oceans as they warm.
Plans for Birthplace of Country Music's heritage center unveiled to ...
BRISTOL, Va. – The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance’s planned heritage center is a "guaranteed" winner, a designer told those attending a Wednesday informational meeting. The Bristol-based alliance wants to raise about $12.5 million to convert a former downtown auto dealership into an interactive museum to promote the Twin City’s musical heritage. About 90 people attended the organization’s first public meeting to review its plans and fundraising campaign. "I’ve worked on a lot of projects in the last 15 years. I’ve never told anyone else this, but this is the most exciting project that I’ve been associated with," said David Estabrook, senior partner of the Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based design firm LaPaglia & Associates. "You have all the elements necessary to have a 100 percent winner here." The center would pay tribute to Bristol’s musical heritage, focusing on the 1927 Bristol Sessions recordings that music historians call the "big bang" of commercial country music.
Jessica Sierra Heading To Rehab; Plus Alli Sims, Mischa Barton, Avril ...
After a legal snafu that almost landed her back behind bars, former "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sierra is on her way to a rehab facility in California again. According to Florida Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi, the troubled singer — who was ordered to spend a year in the Pasadena Recovery Center as a result of her recent arrest on disorderly intoxication charges — had her emergency probation transfer order rejected by the California Department of Probation. That resulted in the awkward situation of Sierra, 22, being out of jail but unable to begin rehab. "She was supposed to get on a plane yesterday, but the probation department in California wouldn't accept her transfer on an expedited basis because they take up to 45 days to review requests, so we had the unfortunate situation of a pregnant addict on the streets," Bondi said.
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