| Parent: Charged daycare worker 'a little weird'
"I always found him a little bit childish, weird and for the longest time I didn't say anything to him," said a father of three, who attended Ontario Court of Justice at College Park yesterday. Paul Thomas, 19, was a fixture at the downtown Blevins Child Care Centre with 50-plus children under the age of 7 in his care. "My first impression of him wasn't good. Everyone else there was friendly to me, but he wasn't," the man said. "He was hugging my son, so I thought I should talk to him. Naturally, as a parent, I'm concerned and I want details." "I just thought he was a little weird," added a woman, who has since removed her children from the daycare. "He spoke like a child. He sounded like a 5-year-old." .
Africa's path out of poverty requires decent jobs: ILO
Africa's path out of poverty requires the creation of quality jobs, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said at its regional Africa meeting opening on Tuesday in Addis Ababa. Strong economic growth had failed to stem rising unemployment and growing numbers of working poor, it said. "Despite (the) upturn, African economies still lack enough decent jobs," the ILO said. Africa requires 11 million new jobs every year but generates just 8.6 million, a shortfall that encourages young talent to seek work in richer economies, it warned. But even existing jobs mostly fail to lift families out of poverty. "Four workers out of five in Africa don't earn enough to keep their families above the poverty level of one dollar per day," ILO director-general Juan Somavia told the meeting.
The anatomy of a winning recipe
The deadline is approaching for the mother of all cooking contests, the Pillsbury Bake-Off.
With a $1 million grand prize, this is a contest that goes way beyond blue ribbons.
So what does it take to win that million-dollar prize? Diane Kerekes of Sapulpa came close to finding out last year when she advanced to the finals, and won $10,000 for her Southwestern Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie.
One thing that Kerekes' recipe shares with other Pillsbury winners is a creative use of Pillsbury ingredients. Taking ordinary ingredients and making them interesting, or even gourmet, is something many of the past winners have in common.
Kerekes' recipe used canned soup, plus added ingredients, and was topped with Pillsbury biscuits. Last year's grand-prize winner, from Austin, Texas, won for her Baked Chicken and Spinach Stuffing, a dressed-up concoction of chicken breasts stuffed with Green Giant spinach and Pillsbury waffle sticks.
RETAIL NEWS ROUNDUP: Week of April 2 - April 7
CoStar News is expanding its retail real estate coverage under the direction of Senior Editor Sasha Pardy to bring you a weekly feature covering the gamut of retailer expansion plans, new store openings and closings, shopping center trends, and current deals in the works. Among the news items reported this week, we report on Men's Wearhouse's acquisition of After Hours; Growth at Gander Mountain and several others; New formats and investor criticism at Home Depot; Circuit City's cost cutting, and the closing of Bombay stores. But before jumping into the real estate, as RNR was going to press came word that department store kingpin Federated Department Stores (NYSE:FD) plans to change its corporate name to Macy's after its flagship retailer and adopt the ticker symbol "M" as part of an identity simplification plan.
Norwich: Orgasmic
With a name like Orgasmic this gastro-bar puts itself in a position where it's got to deliver - and good food is something you simply cannot fake. This is one of those places that attempts to appeal to all comers. On Friday and Saturday nights its rammed with lively revellers, but at lunchtimes and early evening, when food rather than lager and cocktails are the most common orders, there's an altogether different, laid-back vibe.Facing new competition on its doorstep, Orgasmic has recently undergone a bit of a facelift. A new spacious upstairs has been created giving extra leather sofa lounging space and room for more tables. While downstairs the place has become noticeably more restaurant than bar.To go with this there's a new menu - but don't worry, the gourmet pizzas, which you can actually watch being cooked in the wood fired oven, are still the star of the show.
Dogwood Festival ushers in a blooming season
Beverly Molander can picture the perfect day. People are just starting to wear shorts and T-shirts. The sun is shining brightly as the wind lazily blows, carrying the clean scent of blooming flowers and fresh cut grass. Throw in a few bags of kettle corn, an avenue of art vendors and all the merriment of the Dogwood Festival, and it's a recipe for one fine day.
"Doesn't that sound lovely?" said Molander, event manager for the festival.
Now in its 71st year, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival will be held this weekend, whether or not the forecast is as ideal as Molander pictures.
"I'd say 71 years is pretty commendable," Molander said. "I've been attending for, oh gee, years and years. It's an Atlanta tradition. When the Dogwood Festival is here, you know it is officially springtime."
Spread throughout Piedmont Park, the Dogwood Festival will bring together the best of the city's dining, music and arts scene.
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