ATLANTIC AVENUE ARTWALK From Harlem to Clinton Hill, the chance to peer into artists’ studios is a staple of the New York neighborhood spring calendar. They’re do-it-yourself affairs: grab a map, stop where you please, talk to the artist or don’t. It’s your world now; the artists just work here.
And they’re fine with that. Or at least Mac Premo is. A 35-year-old collagist and animator (his “Nature v. Neuron,” from 2007, is above) who has had gallery shows in Chelsea and Los Angeles, Mr. Premo is among more than 100 artists taking part in this weekend’s Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk in Brooklyn, one of the last of the season. (Bushwick Open Studios is the same weekend; see artsinbushwick.org.) This will be his fifth time throwing open the studio he shares with a jewelry maker and a painter, and the idea of hundreds of people tramping through his personal workspace isn’t the headache it sounds like. “For emerging artists, it helps every time you get your art in front of people,” he said.
The benefits aren’t just visitors’ generally positive reactions. (“If they don’t like my work, they don’t tell me,” he said.) Or the chance to meet other artists. For Mr. Premo, who plays with the relationship between intended and acquired meanings in his wood-and-image collages, the ArtWalk is about a different kind of relationship: “As corny as it sounds, it does create a dialogue between artist and community that is rare in the United States.”
He also means dialogue literally: he spends most of his ArtWalk time fielding questions on topics like what cameras he prefers and what his studio used to be (a storage area for hot-dog carts, among other incarnations). He added, with no trace of disappointment, “We don’t get any work done.” (Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m., along Atlantic Avenue from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn; Mr. Premo’s studio is at 132-134 Nevins Street; atlanticavenueartwalk.com; free.) STEPHANIE GOODMAN

nytimes.com

The encore to the original iPhone, which was launched last year amid unprecedented industry buzz, is expected to be the main attraction when Apple chief Steve Jobs takes the stage at the company’s developers conference next week.
The new iPhone will be accompanied by support for corporate email and a slate of new programs that could help boost sales of the devices, which sport a touch-sensitive screen, wireless internet access and iPod-style media functions.
"The thing for Apple is to be able to leverage the iPhone for further innovation, or they run the risk of being the next (Motorola) RAZR, which was iconic in its own way, but for which innovation did not come fast enough," said Shiv Bakhshi, director of mobility research for market research firm IDC.
Apple has declined to comment on what Mr Jobs will announce, but analysts are betting he will show off a long-rumoured iPhone capable of running on 3G, or third-generation, mobile networks.
That would address one of the chief complaints about the current iPhone in the US – the speed at which it loads websites on AT&T’s pokey EDGE network.
3G capability is particularly important for customers in Europe, which is ahead of the US in building new networks and where sales of the iPhone have lagged.
"I see 3G as important for the US but essential for overseas," analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said of a next-generation iPhone.
"It will be appreciated by technology enthusiasts and anybody who wants to get fast web browsing outside the hot spots."
Australians are expected to have access to the 3G model when it launches here.
Vodafone and Optus have so far announced they will release the iPhone locally, confirming Apple does not plan to lock the handsets to a single network in Australia, as it did in the US with AT&T.

news.com.au

A man fleeing a drug raid in a Bronx apartment on Wednesday afternoon fell three stories to his death, while two women making the same escape attempt survived and were hospitalized, the authorities said.
The three people were in a ninth-floor apartment at 2001 Story Avenue in the Castle Hill section about 3 p.m. when dozens of federal agents broke down the door to find a large-scale heroin operation, said officials with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which conducted the raid with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The D.E.A. executed a search warrant in connection with an ongoing investigation, during which one individual died in the course of attempting to flee from authorities,” said Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Ms. Scribner said that in all, 13 people in or near the building were arrested.
The man and two women, whose names were not released, rushed onto the apartment’s balcony, which faces a sprawling rear courtyard, and jumped to a lower balcony that juts out at the sixth floor, officials said. The man struck a metal railing on the balcony as he landed. His body remained on the ledge for hours, covered by a white sheet, as law enforcement officials investigated. The two women were taken to Jacobi Medical Center.
More than two dozen agents forced their way into the 10-story apartment building, neighbors and law enforcement officials said. In Apartment 9G, they found a heroin-processing operation in which the drug was sorted into small packages, including a large number of “dime bags,” the officials said. The agents recovered perhaps three kilograms of heroin and a wide range of paraphernalia, including sifters, scales and trays, officials said.
Agents could be seen leaving the building on Wednesday night carrying several glass-topped coffee tables dusted with white powder and decorated with magazine cutouts of naked women. The agents also removed a dozen large boxes and plastic bags.

nytimes.com

Composer Henry Brant went about his revolutionary work for more than a quarter century on an otherwise tranquil street on Santa Barbara’s Westside. Wearing color-coordinated outfits and hats, his impish humor matched to a deep-thinker intensity, Brant stood at a worktable in his craftsman home/laboratory and wrote notes while his wife, Kathy Wilkowski, faithfully attended to real-world details and logistics, not to mention muse duties.
Known internationally for his five decades of work in the “spatial music field” — in which musicians are distributed around a space rather than constrained to a frontal stage — Brant has been Santa Barbara’s contemporary music celebrity regardless of how many realized it. For those who knew Brant and his iconoclastic musical mission, Chino Street took on a whole new resonance for many years.
Brant’s passing last week, at the age of 94, surprised those of us accustomed to hearing of the composer’s latest commissions, for intriguing pieces produced all around the world but mostly outside general public awareness. A rare public moment came in 2002, when he won the Pulitzer Prize for his dynamic orchestral work
Ice Field, commissioned for the San Francisco Symphony. Those present for that great piece will never forget the experience. Musicians were scattered all about Davies Hall, with the mild-mannered visionary Brant playing the pipe organ onstage, like a lightning rod around which mind-expanding sonic inspiration ensued.
Back in 2001, Brant said with his characteristic casualness, “I think I’m getting to be the oldest composer around. Carter is older: He’s 92 or 93, and [Alan] Hohvannes is recently deceased. He was 87 or something like that. Two years ago, Leo Ornstein was still living. He was 107. It’s impossible to catch up with that.”
Shortly before the
Ice Field premiere, Brant met me at his house to speak about his new project. He bemoaned that orchestra music was “pretty much the same as it was 100 years ago.” He explained that, ironically, his experimental daring was partly inspired by his time spent working in Hollywood, where he orchestrated for the great Alex North, among others. “In films, all they say is ‘our budget is such. You can have this much for music.’ They don’t tell you what the instruments are to be or what they shouldn’t be. Nobody has ever stated anything like that. So the Hollywood composer is free to experiment, but none of them do. They use the same old symphonic sounds that we’ve been hearing in the concert hall.’’

independent.com

The Bryant Park Project, March 6, 2008 · A rare photograph of deaf and blind advocate Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan, has surfaced — nearly 120 years after it was taken.
Captured in 1888 on Cape Cod, the image shows an eight-year-old Helen sitting outside in a chair holding Sullivan’s hand and a doll. Experts say it could be the earliest photo of the two together, and the only one showing the child with a doll. “Doll” is the first word Sullivan ever spelled for Keller.
The image was discovered in an album belonging to a man whose mother was a childhood friend of Helen Keller’s on Cape Cod.

npr.org

New skate park in the works-funding now top priority
by Lawerence W. Synett
With the help of the Villa Park Skate Park Committee, the Villa Park Parks and Recreation Department and the Villa Park Board of Trustees, a new skate park is now in the works for the “Garden Village.”
The new skate park will be housed just west of the Iowa Community Center (ICC), located at 338 N. Iowa Ave., only blocks from the village’s current 2-4-8 Skate Park, located at Jefferson Park, near the intersection of Terrace Street and Harvard Avenue.
“The existing location presented many challenges in the ten years it has been open,” said Carrie Karl, superintendent of the parks and recreation department. “The new skate park will clearly be in the open and highly visible from the ICC and Addison Road to help attract skaters to the park and to deter vandals.”
A problem at the current skate park, stated Karl, includes it being tucked in behind residences with the railroad tracks behind it, reducing visibility for police or others and it not attracting users.
Also, neighbors in the surrounding area were generally unhappy with the noise, the groups of kids who would use the park just to hang out and the vandalism that would occur.
If a new skate park is built at the proposed location, stated Karl, the park would be contiguous to the ICC, which would allow for restrooms and general assistance during the many hours the park will be used.
“In addition,” added Karl, “parents can drop off one child for a program and the other to skate, and have both at one site.”
Another major draw in the proposed location is the fact that the village owns the land, therefore there is no land purchase or lease acquisition necessary.
Village officials are anticipating the cost to be between $200,000 and $250,000, and are currently looking at a variety of grants to obtain the funding.

members.aol.com

Washington, D.C. — A new $5 bill, featuring color, is going into circulation Thursday. An image of Abraham Lincoln remains on the front and the Lincoln Memorial is still on the back.
The Federal Reserve starts moving the bills to banks Thursday. They, in turn send the money to businesses, which ends up in consumers’ wallets and purses.
As with changes made to the $10, $20 and $50 bills, the redesign is intended to thwart counterfeiters. Of course, the old $5 bills will continue to be accepted until they wear out. Next on the makeover list, the $100 bill.
Check out an interactive look at the new bills at www.moneyfactory.gov

read_more

MasterCard Worldwide to implement contactless payment technology in PATH train stations and select NJ Transit bus routes
The Port Authority will partner with NJ TRANSIT to undertake an eight-month pilot that will enable customers to use contactless bank cards, key fobs, cell phones and other devices to pay for transit. The test will help determine if customers could ultimately use these devices to pay fares on all of the region’s transit systems, including New York City’s subways and buses.
The Board of Commissioners authorized an agreement with MasterCard Worldwide and NJ TRANSIT to develop and test a contactless payment card as well as other devices at all 13 PATH train stations and on two connecting NJ TRANSIT bus routes. The pilot is to be compatible with the MTA’s current test of contactless bank cards in the New York City subway system. Contactless payment will be available exclusively to MasterCard PayPass customers during the initial two months of the test and to other bank-issued contactless card customers for the remaining time of the test period.
The pilot program is expected to launch in early 2009 after MasterCard develops, installs and tests the system. Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia said, “As we focus on expanding the region’s mass transit network, it is imperative that we explore ways to make the trip as seamless and convenient as possible. As the mass transit system that connects New York and New Jersey, PATH is a natural test bed for innovation. Our vision is to increase mass transit capacity, improve reliability, and simplify fare payment to attract even more people to mass transit. We are investing billons of dollars in mass transit and encourage the private sector to make investments along with us to realize our goals.”
Port Authority Executive Director Anthony E. Shorris said, “This is all about making life easier for our customers. The region’s diverse workforce relies on our extensive mass transit network to commute and we need to find a way to take a bit of the hassle out of trips that often span two or three separate systems. We are looking for simple fare payment solutions that will work everywhere. This is a step in that direction, and it’s the right direction to go.” NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Richard Sarles commented that “these kinds of initiatives help to foster intermodality by making it easier for customers to go from one service to another. It’s the right thing to do, bringing more convenience to riders using state-of-the-art technology.”
MasterCard was selected through a publicly advertised solicitation process. Its proposal was the highest rated and lowest cost.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates many of the busiest and most important transportation links in the region. They include John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia, Stewart International and Teterboro airports; AirTrain JFK and AirTrain Newark; the George Washington Bridge and Bus Station; the Lincoln and Holland tunnels; the three bridges between Staten Island and New Jersey; the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) rapid-transit system; the Port Authority-Downtown Manhattan Heliport; Port Newark; the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal; the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island; the Brooklyn Piers/Red Hook Container Terminal; and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan. The agency also owns the 16-acre World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.
NJ TRANSIT is the nation’s largest state-wide transportation system providing bus, rail and light-rail services within the State of New Jersey as well as links to both New York City and Philadelphia. The agency provides over 882 thousand daily trips on 238 bus routes, 11 commuter rail lines, and 3 light rail lines. Annual passenger trips for FY2007 were more than 250 million.

contactlessnews.com

Gov. Eliot Spitzer is looking for broad-based support for his plan to create a $4 billion endowment plan to fund higher education in the state.
Spitzer addressed several hundred individuals Wednesday at the University at Buffalo, encouraging them to tell their friends, co-workers–and their legislators–to support the venture.
The governor wants to invest a chunk of New York’s multi-billion lottery system with a goal of realizing $200 million annually for higher education. Spitzer said creating a predictable, sustainable funding source would remove higher education from the annual budget battle in Albany.
"Education is the key to our future," he said. "This $4 billion will be transformative. It will begin to take us down a path that will be transformative for New York."
Spitzer said the endowment is one of three important steps the state must implement to both stabilize and fuel the growth of the state’s higher education system. The other critical steps include adding 2,000 new faculty, including 250 superstars, transforming the community college system, investing in infrastructure at all the State University of New York campuses and creating flagship institutions.
"Just as you need superstars on a team, you need flagships that define the system," he said.
Spitzer also referenced his proposed $1 billion upstate revitalization plan.
"We need both pieces," he said. "Education alone will not be sufficient to bring back the economy of New York."
Spitzer addressed critics of his plan to sell off parts of the lottery system, which some have said could lead to an increase of gambling or an expansion of gaming. While clarifying that the plan would call for recapitalizing the funds rather than privatizing them, Spitzer said he would meet with anyone, any time to discuss alternative funding options. The endowment, he said, is critical. The funding mechanism is up for discussion.
The state Division of Budget began the process earlier this month to seek a financial adviser to analyze options and research ways to maximize the lottery’s value. Bids on the position are due by Feb. 25, and a contract is expected to be awarded in mid-March. Spitzer said the endowment would be in place by year’s end.

bizjournals.com