Conveyor Belt

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The swirling, foaming class II-IV rapids at the US National Whitewater Center are getting rave reviews from elite athletes and amateurs alike. But the real excitement centers around the 180-foot conveyor belt that takes the paddlers and their kayaks and rafts back to the start of the run. "I wish all rivers had them," said Jacob Black, 20, of Anderson, S.C., who had driven 90 minutes north with a friend to put their kayaks in for the afternoon. "I usually go on the Saluda or Green River, but when the rivers don't run, now I can come here," he said.

NEW YORK - Murray Lender, who with his brothers took over what started as their father's bakery in a backyard garage and built it into a business that brought the bagel - the "Jewish English muffin," as he called it - into kitchens across the country, died Wednesday in Miami. He was 81. The cause was complications of a fall several weeks ago at his home in Aventura, Fla., his brother Marvin said. Murray, Marvin, and Sam Lender expanded H. Lender & Sons - founded by their father, Harry - into the nation's leading distributor of packaged frozen bagels.

WASHINGTON - The Northeastern US coast is likely to see the world's biggest sea level rise from man-made global warming, a new study predicts. However much the oceans rise by the end of the century, add an extra 8 inches or so for New York, Boston, and other spots along the coast from the mid-Atlantic to New England. That's because of predicted changes in ocean currents, according to a study based on computer models published online yesterday in the journal Nature Geoscience. An extra 8 inches - on top of a possible 2 or 3 feet of sea rise globally by 2100 - is a big deal, especially...

AMSTERDAM — Scientists are monitoring a massive pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean that could spill into the Atlantic and potentially alter the key ocean currents that give Western Europe its moderate climate. The oceanographers said yesterday that the unusual accumulation has been caused by Siberian and Canadian rivers dumping more water into the Arctic and from melting sea ice. Both are consequences of global warming. If it flushes into the Atlantic, the infusion of fresh water could, in the worst case, change the ocean current that brings warmth from the tropics to European...

AMSTERDAM — Scientists are monitoring a massive pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean that could spill into the Atlantic and potentially alter the key ocean currents that give Western Europe its moderate climate. The oceanographers said yesterday that the unusual accumulation has been caused by Siberian and Canadian rivers dumping more water into the Arctic and from melting sea ice. Both are consequences of global warming. If it flushes into the Atlantic, the infusion of fresh water could, in the worst case, change the ocean current that brings warmth from the tropics to European...

Two solo shows featuring conceptual art about consumerism, senseless accumulation, trash, and fruit stickers have opened in the Boston area in the past week. Both shows — Gabriel Kuri at the Institute of Contemporary Art and Rachel Perry Welty at the DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum — have their good points. But where the Welty show, for all its sparkle, seemed formulaic, Kuri’s work veers toward the esoteric. On balance, I liked the Kuri better. (The show was organized by the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston by that museum’s director, Claudia Schmuckli.)

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Imperial Sugar Co. and managers of its Georgia refinery ignored known dangers of explosive dust for decades before a chain of dust-fueled fireballs erupted at the plant last year and killed 14 people, investigators said in a report yesterday. The US Chemical Safety Board, which investigates industrial accidents, said that it found written warnings of explosive dust hazards in refinery memos from the 1960s and that the deaths probably could have been prevented by routine housekeeping.

LINCOLN — Resourceful, professional, full of wit and visual pizzazz, Rachel Perry Welty’s exhibition at the DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum is also artistically lackluster. I look at it and, somewhere at the back of my mind, am conscious of boxes being ticked. Here comes the enormously long wall covered with a billion photos of everyday items. Here comes the artist using herself in a video. Here comes the snippet of performance art. Here come the text-based works. And here comes the artist using her body in big, staged photographs with droll titles.

Ann Davis, the Northeast public affairs manager for the Transportation Security Administration, has a few suggestions to help get you through the checkpoint as quickly as possible, particularly during the holidays, when traffic is up and more “casual,” or infrequent, travelers will be standing carry-on-to-carry-on with you in longer-than- usual lines. 1. Remove your laptop from its carrying case, and take phones, DVD players, cameras, iPods, and any other portable electronic devices out of your pocket, purse, or bag. Tape your business card or an ID tag with name and phone...

NEW YORK - Murray Lender, who with his brothers took over what started as their father's bakery in a backyard garage and built it into a business that brought the bagel - the "Jewish English muffin," as he called it - into kitchens across the country, died Wednesday in Miami. He was 81. The cause was complications of a fall several weeks ago at his home in Aventura, Fla., his brother Marvin said. Murray, Marvin, and Sam Lender expanded H. Lender & Sons - founded by their father, Harry - into the nation's leading distributor of packaged frozen bagels.

Two solo shows featuring conceptual art about consumerism, senseless accumulation, trash, and fruit stickers have opened in the Boston area in the past week. Both shows — Gabriel Kuri at the Institute of Contemporary Art and Rachel Perry Welty at the DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum — have their good points. But where the Welty show, for all its sparkle, seemed formulaic, Kuri’s work veers toward the esoteric. On balance, I liked the Kuri better. (The show was organized by the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston by that museum’s director, Claudia Schmuckli.)

LINCOLN — Resourceful, professional, full of wit and visual pizzazz, Rachel Perry Welty’s exhibition at the DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum is also artistically lackluster. I look at it and, somewhere at the back of my mind, am conscious of boxes being ticked. Here comes the enormously long wall covered with a billion photos of everyday items. Here comes the artist using herself in a video. Here comes the snippet of performance art. Here come the text-based works. And here comes the artist using her body in big, staged photographs with droll titles.

Ann Davis, the Northeast public affairs manager for the Transportation Security Administration, has a few suggestions to help get you through the checkpoint as quickly as possible, particularly during the holidays, when traffic is up and more “casual,” or infrequent, travelers will be standing carry-on-to-carry-on with you in longer-than- usual lines. 1. Remove your laptop from its carrying case, and take phones, DVD players, cameras, iPods, and any other portable electronic devices out of your pocket, purse, or bag. Tape your business card or an ID tag with name and phone...

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Imperial Sugar Co. and managers of its Georgia refinery ignored known dangers of explosive dust for decades before a chain of dust-fueled fireballs erupted at the plant last year and killed 14 people, investigators said in a report yesterday. The US Chemical Safety Board, which investigates industrial accidents, said that it found written warnings of explosive dust hazards in refinery memos from the 1960s and that the deaths probably could have been prevented by routine housekeeping.

WASHINGTON - The Northeastern US coast is likely to see the world's biggest sea level rise from man-made global warming, a new study predicts. However much the oceans rise by the end of the century, add an extra 8 inches or so for New York, Boston, and other spots along the coast from the mid-Atlantic to New England. That's because of predicted changes in ocean currents, according to a study based on computer models published online yesterday in the journal Nature Geoscience. An extra 8 inches - on top of a possible 2 or 3 feet of sea rise globally by 2100...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The swirling, foaming class II-IV rapids at the US National Whitewater Center are getting rave reviews from elite athletes and amateurs alike. But the real excitement centers around the 180-foot conveyor belt that takes the paddlers and their kayaks and rafts back to the start of the run. "I wish all rivers had them," said Jacob Black, 20, of Anderson, S.C., who had driven 90 minutes north with a friend to put their kayaks in for the afternoon. "I usually go on the Saluda or Green River, but when the rivers don't run, now I can come...

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. -- A lightning strike a mile from the mouth of the Sago Mine probably sent an electrical pulse along a power line, ultimately igniting methane gas and causing the explosion that killed 12 miners, a consultant hired by the mine owner said yesterday. The electrical charge apparently flowed from a tree to a power line 300 feet away and into the mine, said Thomas Novak, a Virginia Tech mining professor hired by International Coal Group Inc. to investigate the blast.

It's a problem travelers have been trying to solve for decades. Just how do you find your black rolly among all the others tumbling along the baggage conveyor belt? Innovative and somewhat successful attempts have been made : One cannot forget the fluorescent ribbons à la grandma or the more creative (and permanent ) stenciled graffiti. Leave it to California-based Pamela Barsky (www.pamelabarsky.com) to come up with a witty and multitasking solution: disposable luggage tags. On one side of the cowbell-shaped, brightly colored vinyl and plastic tag is a tongue-in-cheek...