development

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US Says Goodbye to the Foot
US Says Goodbye to the Foot

US Says Goodbye to the Foot

Which means America is now 28 feet wider

(Newser) - Change is afoot for the official measuring stick used to size up big places in America, the AP reports. The reason? There are actually two different definitions of the 12-inch measurement known as a foot. Some land surveyors use what's known as the US survey foot. Others use the...

What New York Residents Fear Is Old and Underground

In one neighborhood, tourists are fighting over what may be a toxic site

(Newser) - Residents of a historic New York City neighborhood have two fears—toxic mercury and over-development—and they're combined at the former site of a 19th-century factory, the New York Times reports. South Street Seaport, a low-rise area now popular with tourists, once included a thermometer factory at 250 Water...

Marilyn Monroe's Old House May Get LA Politician Recalled

The house was demolished in June to make way for a condo

(Newser) - A Los Angeles city council member may lose his job because someone tore down a house once occupied by Marilyn Monroe, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Monroe lived in the Valley Village house a few miles north of Hollywood six decades ago, when she was 17-year-old Norma Jean Dougherty....

Bodies in Florida Cemetery Are All Missing

Residents want to know, where did the bodies go?

(Newser) - Florida developers want to build townhouses on a 3-acre plot of land that once housed a black cemetery. But residents are raising a question first: What happened to all the bodies buried there? The Deerfield Beach City Commission will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the development, continuing a 40-year...

Glare From This London Skyscraper Is Melting Cars

Building has been nicknamed the 'Walkie Scorchie'

(Newser) - A new London skyscraper appears to be acting like a giant magnifying glass. But instead of burning ants, it's melting cars. A man says his Jaguar sustained about $1,470 in damage after he left it parked for two hours near the 37-story building, which is still under construction,...

'World's Best Island' Not So Great For Some

 'World's Best Island' 
 Not So Great for Some 
in case you missed it

'World's Best Island' Not So Great for Some

Development on Boracay has made life dangerous for indigenous tribe

(Newser) - It was named the "world's best island" by Travel+Leisure, but life on the island of Boracay in the Philippines is hardly living up to its reputation for the area's indigenous inhabitants, who say they're being pushed off their land to make way for the influx of...

China's Growth Destroyed 80% of Its Coral Reefs

Alarming degradation found, 'window of opportunity' to save them closing

(Newser) - Thirty years of dynamic growth in China has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, but the environmental damage has been brutal. The latest evidence: More than 80% of its coral reefs are gone, thanks to development, overfishing, and pollution, reports AFP . A new report calls the damage "a...

Lucasfilm Pulls Plug on 'Evil Empire' Studio Complex

The empire strikes back

(Newser) - A fed-up George Lucas has pulled the plug on a digital studio development plan that Northern California neighbors treated like a plot by an "evil empire." Now Lucasfilm hopes to sell the Grady Ranch site next to Skywalker Ranch in Marin County to a developer for low-income housing....

6-Year-Olds Rule: Middle Childhood Getting Its Due

Experts giving new attention to span between toddler and teen years

(Newser) - The New York Times today sings the praises of middle childhood, that often overlooked stage from about age 5 to 13. Preschoolers and angsty teens may get all the attention, but kids in this age group are undergoing a stage of development whose importance is only now becoming evident to...

Clintons Strive to Avoid Conflict of Interest Claims

Pair lead separate lives focusing on same issues

(Newser) - Bill and Hillary Clinton live largely separate professional lives but still end up dealing with many of the same leaders and issues. The secretary of state, keen to avoid any accusations, downplays her husband's influence, but Team Clinton sometimes still works together. The couple's combined energies have paid off on...

2010 Winter Olympics Feel a Chill in One Host Town

Construction hassles, dim future depress Whistler residents

(Newser) - Whistler Village, Canada, celebrated when it learned it would host many events as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics in nearby Vancouver. But the honeymoon is pretty much over, the Seattle Times reports. Clogged roads, endless construction, and soon-to-be-closed schools have residents ruing the decision. And their ire doesn’t...

Jaycee May Never Recover
 Jaycee May Never Recover 
ANALYSIS

Jaycee May Never Recover

Overcoming lost years will be a huge challenge, mental health experts say

(Newser) - It will be a struggle for Jaycee Lee Dugard and her two daughters to recover from the years they spent in captivity, writes Karen Kaplan in the LA Times. Psychologists have few comparable cases to draw from, and those that exist are not encouraging. Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch, of Vienna,...

Ben Stein to Wal-Mart: Hands Off Civil War Battlefield

(Newser) - Ben Stein loves Wal-Mart—just don’t put one smack-dab in the middle of a historic Civil War battlefield in Orange, Va. The 1864 Battle of the Wilderness was a turning point in the conflict, Stein writes in the American Spectator, and the “battlefield is incredibly important environmentally and...

The Afghan Region Marines Invaded? America Built It

(Newser) - The 4,000 US Marines who invaded the Helmand Province in Afghanistan this week might feel at home—the US helped build it, the Christian Science Monitor reports. In a Cold War race against the Soviets, Washington lavished more than $110 million on irrigating land, constructing schools, and building the...

Homes Shrink With the Economy

Builders' 'Depression' helps drive reduction

(Newser) - Home sizes are aligned with the shrunken economy, the Los Angeles Times reports: last year, the typical home size dropped 11%—likely the fastest plunge since the 1970s. Some 90% of builders are working on a smaller scale now, an industry poll found. “People are realizing, 'Hey, I don't...

Apple Plans Cheap(ish) Wireless Tablet

(Newser) - Apple is preparing a foray into the “netbook” market, AppleInsider reports. The computer company has put out feelers to parts suppliers in a bid to create a web-connected, 7- to- 10-inch tablet one analyst thinks will retail for $500-$700. “It is increasingly clear that Apple is investing more...

11 Most Threatened Historic Sites in US

(Newser) - Development, deterioration, and a lack of funds are endangering the nation's historic treasures, says the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The group released its annual list of the most endangered sites, reports ABC News. They are:
  • The Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles
  • The WWII-era Enola Gay hangar at Wendover
...

Wind Fuels Land Rush in Wyoming

Ranchers band together to negotiate better deals

(Newser) - Wyoming is in the midst of a land grab, but this time it's wind farm developers, not oilmen, who are eager to make a deal, the New York Times reports. To deal with the onslaught of offers from out-of-state developers, ranchers are abandoning a culture of self-reliance and pooling their...

Developers Plan Feast on Thoreau's 'Silver Platter'

Prospect of vast swath of homes on Maine lake has locals up in arms

(Newser) - It was once Thoreau’s “gleaming silver platter,” and now developers want to eat off it. A Seattle developer wants to put 1,000 hotel rooms and condos around Maine’s Moosehead Lake, Bloomberg reports. The proposed construction on mostly private land abutting a huge tract of forest...

Coney Island's Astroland to Shut Down

Owner of legendary amusement park can't strike deal on lease

(Newser) - The iconic Astroland, one of two theme parks on New York’s Coney Island, will close for good on Sunday, the New York Post reports. Owner Carol Albert said she couldn't strike a lease deal with the 46-year-old site's developer and landlord. The park’s historic (and bruising) Cyclone rollercoaster...

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