Solar project on French Quarter home is still lacking juice

A year after the New Orleans City Council voted to let a French Quarter resident install solar panels on the roof of his 19th-century home,Get information on Air purifier from the unbiased, the project is no further along.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. But it's not for lack of trying. In late 2010, Glade Bilby sought approval to install the panels, which turn sunlight into electric power, on one side of the roof of his 3 1/2-story brick townhouse in the 600 block of Esplanade Avenue. However, the Vieux Carre Commission, the city's regulatory agency for the Quarter, voted 5-3 denying Bilby's application.

Bilby appealed that ruling to the council in January 2011, which overturned the commission's decision 6-1.

At the time, the decision to allow the panels was seen by some local officials and preservationists as a first step toward navigating the challenges of incorporating new technologies and energy-efficiency improvements into historic buildings in the neighborhood.

But despite all the chatter about entering the 21st century, Entergy New Orleans has long maintained that the complex electrical system that serves the Quarter is not compatible with net metering, the key component of solar panels that allows customers to produce power and then send extra electricity back to the utility for a savings.

"I get asked once a week about that. I'm not kidding, at least once a week," Bilby said last week. "People go, 'Well, this is the guy who helped bring modern electricity and methods to the French Quarter,Can't afford a third party merchant account right now?' and I say, 'No, not yet.'"

The electrical distribution system that underlies the Central Business District as well as the Quarter is one utilities use to meet higher reliability needs in more densely populated areas. Power flows in either direction on the service delivery lines, but certain devices stop it from "back-feeding" from one transformer to another, said Melonie Hall, customer service director for Entergy New Orleans.

As federal and state tax credits for buying the solar equipment have become more generous, more people have taken notice, according to state tax figures. Louisiana gives a credit for as much as 50 percent of the first $25,000 spent on a range of technologies, including solar hot water and electricity as well as wind generators, while federal tax credits cover up to 30 percent of the cost of a system.

"When there's a problem, (the distribution system) can't tell the difference between solar power flow and power flow that's due to a fault," Hall said. "So it'll disconnect power to the system thinking that something's wrong, when it's really the solar power coming into the system."

Tucker Crawford, chief executive officer of Metairie-based South Coast Solar, who planned to install the $50,000 setup for Bilby, said he has talked with Entergy since the installation was approved, and realizes now that it is "a very complex system, and it's very sensitive."

"We think it's something eventually that can happen; we just don't know when," Crawford said.

News about the problem with the distribution system didn't come as a big surprise, said Bilby, adding that Crawford explained the situation to him initially but was convinced that it could be overcome. He said the two kept in touch about the project last summer, but as the updates got more sporadic, he became focused on other matters.

"That's totally different from what we originally talked about, and maybe that's why he hasn't called me back,We are professional Plastic mould," Bilby said about talk of the electrical system standing in the way of getting the panels up and running. "I would bug him once a month about it, and he would give me an update. I thought we were almost there, but apparently not."

Hall said Entergy hasn't ruled out the possibility that net metering could eventually work in the downtown area at some point in the future.

"As with other power companies, we're all doing research on it," Hall said. "As other companies do research, we share that research and we share experiences so that we can learn from that."

At the City Council meeting where the panels were approved, Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell cast the lone vote against the proposal.

Hedge-Morrell, chairwoman of the council's Utility Committee, pointed out then that power generated by solar panels in the Quarter and Central Business District could not be sold back to Entergy New Orleans, meaning that hopes of a financial windfall from the panels were unlikely to be realized.

Crawford maintained at the meeting that the situation could change in the future and that in the meantime, the panels could still help Bilby chip away at his electricity costs. Now,The magic cube is an ultra-portable, he says, that wouldn't make as much sense, because the battery-operated units are bulkier and more expensive than those that use net metering.

Bilby said he remains interested in installing the panels, and said he might reach out to other contractors to see if he can re-evaluate his chances and maybe push the issue with the utility.

Self-made benefactor Fred Shuh helped the Museum of Fine Arts

As a young man in Canada, Frederick Shuh was one of many electronics workers in the boom years of television.

He was bright, self-motivated and, for the most part, self-taught. In relations with others, he had a way of coming to an agreement.

Mr. Shuh worked for Jerrold Electronics and its corporate parent, General Instrument, which became the largest American supplier of cable television equipment. He moved to New York, became a U.S. citizen, and rose from manufacturing manager to the top of General Instrument.

After retiring to St. Petersburg in 1989, he turned his attention to philanthropy. Contributions by Frederick and Mary Shuh have helped CASA, the Florida Orchestra and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Mr. Shuh, a major benefactor to some of the city's prized institutions, died Saturday, due to multiple health problems. He was 84.

"He probably was the most determined, tenacious person I've ever met," said Mary Shuh, his wife.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen,

Mr. Shuh held a top position with General Instrument, perhaps the dominant provider of cable television components in the world, without a college degree.

"He was an effective negotiator," said Clifford Pipe, a former General Instrument colleague and longtime friend. "Once he determined what the goals of the negotiation were, he would stay with it for whatever time was required."

Mr. Shuh was born in Kitchener, Ontario. The young electronics worker was recruited by General Instrument, where he moved through management ranks. After a previous marriage, he married Mary in 1985.

"He said she was the most beautiful and interesting woman he had ever met," said David Connelly of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Mr. Shuh retired in 1989 as executive vice president of General Instrument and chairman of the board of Jerrold Electronics. He moved to St. Petersburg, where he and his wife donated to numerous local organizations, including a pace-setting cash contribution to the Hazel Hough Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts.

"What they did, at a key moment, was to provide the impetus for the campaign to move ahead," Connelly said. The $21-million Hough wing opened in 2008. The Mary and Fred Shuh Lobby is located on the second floor.

Mr. Shuh enjoyed boating, billiards and golf, although osteoporosis curtailed some of those activities. He dressed neatly — without ties, which he had sworn off on retirement — and was twice named to the "best groomed men" list by the Woman's Service League.

A former member of the Republican Presidential Roundtable, he admired presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and enjoyed reading political nonfiction.

Spring bedding plants jazz up a drab season

The garden centres have, in recent years, begun to offer a much greater range of winter and spring bedding plants. Along with the traditional wallflowers and double daisies, there are excellent forms of small-flowered cyclamen for use outdoors and the more free-flowering modern winter pansy varieties.

The winter pansies flower intermittently all through winter in mild weather and even manage to hold some colour in harsh conditions. Polyanthus and primroses are usually sold with some flower in autumn and these have been developed with good resistance to cold weather. The main display comes in spring.

Autumn and winter cyclamen is a relative newcomer but has proven very popular, creating a great show of colour at a key time. Ornamental cabbage in purple or white is also relatively new and has become very popular for its colourful leaves that last very well. Ornamental cabbage is often teamed with winter heathers in purple and white shades, and these are followed by double daisies and spring bulbs to extend the colour.

Wallflowers and forget-me-nots are usually teamed with tulips in spring bedding displays but there are other ways to use these excellent bedding plants. They do not flower until spring, except perhaps for a stray flower that jumps the gun, but they are planted in autumn after summer bedding has been removed.

There are three ways to use winter and spring bedding plants. The traditional approach is to replace formal summer bedding with formal spring bedding, the whole bed being replanted. But few home gardeners do this any more. Winter and spring bedding can be very effectively used in groups at the front of beds and borders to cheer these up in winter, and in pots that can be placed by doorways.

Small-sized specimens of shrubs, such as hebe, cordyline, skimmia and euonymus, can be used in pots to give bulk, colour and greenery. These can be taken out and planted in the open ground afterwards. Ivy is good too to trail down. These woody plants can be left in position for summer, with summer plants inserted, and taken out, or pruned, when they get too big. Use half garden soil and half compost mixed.

Evergreen perennial flowers can be used too, such as bergenia, heuchera and ajuga, planted into pots for their foliage effect in winter, taking them out in May when the summer flowers are potted up, and planting the perennials in a border to grow on. Or they could be left with summer bedding. Winter and spring bedding plants are available now and can be planted right away.

Solar Scapegoat

Simply because "green" energy is a mainstay of President Obama's domestic policy, House Republicans are fixated on discrediting it, even if that means abdicating future leadership to China in the global technology revolution.

That explains why they are scrambling to treat the bankruptcy of Solyndra Corporation, a former solar energy poster child of Obama's, as indicative of the entire industry.

Ironically, many of these Republicans were for federal subsidies to solar energy startup companies before they were against them. They have only reversed field because of ideologically driven zeal to take down Obama and recapture the White House.

What are the ways the GOP is trying to diminish solar energy and in the process, the president himself?

Solar is a fringe alternative -- House Republicans argue that solar is an exotic boutique form of energy that will have little impact on the nation's energy mix for the foreseeable future. That is debatable. A little less than 3 percent of the sun's rays hitting the Southwestern United States annually provides energy equal to the total amount that the nation consumed in 2006. True, a major problemceramic Floor tiles for the medical, is storage of solar power when the sun is not shining, but scientists are experimenting with compressed air and molten salt among other options. Meanwhile, renewable energy accounted for 12 percent of our nation's primary energy production last year, hardly a trivial contribution. [In Germany, renewables constitute 20 percent of the mix.] Solar was a small percentage of the renewable input, but with a 69 percent increase in installations here in 2010, it is one of the fastest growing industries. Furthermore, its potential is anything but "boutique." Some scientists believe that solar could provide more than 50 percent of the nation's energy needs by 2050 with a $10 billion yearly investment and the setting aside of 46,000 square miles of public land to accommodate commercial facilities.As many processors back away from Cable Ties , Farfetched? Look at what we spend in a year in Afghanistan. And assessments have already been conducted that show our southwestern desert can meet solar's open space requirements without jeopardizing environmentally sensitive or heavily populated areas.

Solar is too expensive and has environmental problems of its own -- Germany has already demonstrated that solar energy's price can be reduced to compete with fossil fuels through an economy of scale. As for the toxicity of some of solar panels' components,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their chicken coop . researchers are experimenting with benign plastic-related substitutes.

Solar is a poor job creator -- Although solar and other renewables create new jobs, the number by itself is insufficient to solve our unemployment problem. Still, it is not insignificant.Initially the banks didn't want our RUBBER SHEET . The American solar industry employs some 100,000 people, more than coal and steel. Overall, the U.Save on Bedding and fittings,S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports there were 2.7 million green jobs in the nation in 2010, an 18 percent increase over 2009, hardly inconsequential in the big picture. And we are not even talking the ancillary benefits in the form of decreased air pollution and reduced reliance on fossil fuels.

In the Bedroom, a Restful Style

While many people pay careful attention to the design of their living rooms, Niki Leondakis, president and chief operating officer of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, believes the style of a bedroom is just as important. "It needs to be restful" but also "a reflection of who you are," she says.

Ms. Leondakis sees the bed as the centerpiece of the room, and she likes it to be styled but not overly fussy. "You can save the drama of contrasting colors and energetic patterns" for other rooms, she says.

For her own king-size bed in her Kenwood, Calif., home, Ms. Leondakis chose a duvet that reminds her of two loves—traveling and Asia. The duvet, custom-made by Jim Thompson Fabrics in Thailand, features an abstract Asian-inspired floral pattern in moss green and mushroom. "It's also inspired by our love for the outdoors," she says, noting that the pattern meshes with the view from her bedroom window, allowing the room to blend into the environment.

Ms. Leondakis often picks bedding colors that echo a view outside or artwork in the room. One of her guest bedrooms has a view of mountains that change colors at different times of day; the bedding reflects some of those colors. The bed itself, a grand four-poster, was chosen to "reflect the drama of the huge picture window overlooking the mountains," she adds.

Another guest bedroom features a large picture of a hummingbird in flight, and bedding in pale shades of green blends in with the art.

She favors cotton sheets, noting that satin sheets remind her "of water beds or a 1980s bachelor pad." She likes a thread count of at least 200 but cautions that thread counts on their own can be misleading. More important to her are the quality and finish of a sheet: She prefers Egyptian cotton that has a sateen finish "for a softer hand and a lustrous look." She cites Frette as a favorite brand.

If a bedroom is for a couple, it's important to consider both partners' tastes. "Asking a man to sleep in a bed with ruffles and an overly frilly girly look is akin to asking him to wear a shirt that has ruffles and an overly frilly look," she says.

Ms. Leondakis suggests sheets with a subtle tone-on-tone pattern, calling it a "quiet amount of detail." Her bed is made with sheets in a sandy, off-white color that's "very soft on the eye."

While pillows can add personality to a bedroom, "too many pillows is annoying," Ms. Leondakis cautions. She typically has two king-size pillows for sleeping, two pillows with decorative shams, an 18-inch long tubular pillow that offers lumbar support for reading in bed and a 10-inch-by-10-inch accent pillow.

For the tubular pillow, Ms. Leondakis generally picks a fabric that has the same color as the bedcover but offers a different texture—a striped fabric in velvet, for example.

The small accent pillow is meant to add "a little punch," and can be a different color. Sometimes she picks an accent pillow of an unusual shape to "add a fun, playful element." (In Kimpton's nautical-themed Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco, for example, star-shaped pillows are used in some rooms, she notes.)

For a little luxury, Ms. Leondakis likes to send out her sheets to be laundered and pressed so they're "crisp." Another habit: Immediately after she and her husband wake up, one of them makes the bed.

Rio Home Fashions and kathy ireland Worldwide Partner For Bedding Line

Rio Home Fashions, an industry leader in basic bedding, memory foam and home textiles, announced that it has signed a licensing partnership with kathy ireland Worldwide® aimed at building a new product category in basic bedding for the kathy ireland Home® brand.

Rio Home Fashions will offer a complete line of kathy ireland Home® basic y, practicality and indulgence while finding its own unique style within the kathy ireland Home® brand.bedding products including memory foam bed pillows, memory foam mattress pads and toppers, fiber and feather beds, comforters, mattress pads and bed pillows. Additionally, the partnership will expand into the Hospitality industry and offer designs within the kathy ireland Home Acafe Society and kathy ireland Home Jardin collections. All designs will provide comfort, luxur

“Rio Home Fashions is committed to joining Kathy in her mission of “finding solutions for families, especially busy moms,”™ by providing new and exciting ways to enhance and improve the quality of each consumer’s sleep experience.” says Matt Caccioppo, Executive Vice President of Sales and Merchandising for Rio Home Fashions." We're very excited and proud to work with Kathy and the wonderful team at kathy ireland Worldwide®. Not only will we be looking for basic bedding solutions for the busy mom, but we will strive to provide the best and newest technology, mixed with the latest innovation available, in all our kathy ireland Home® basic bedding products. Our strength as a company combined with the business and design leadership and brand recognition that Kathy herself and kathy ireland Worldwide® team brings to this partnership is very exciting.” said Caccioppo.

"Everyone at kathy ireland Worldwide is delighted to join the extraordinary team at RIO Home Fashions. This alliance will make it possible for our designs in linens for home and the hospitality markets to be launched and make a true difference for customers. RIO Home Fashions has embraced our mission of "...finding solutions for families, especially busy moms, "... findings solutions for people in love" and "...finding solutions for people in businesses." We are fortunate to have found a company that shares our core values and is so committed to making a difference in this important category. We look forward to a long and rewarding association," says Kathy Ireland, CEO and Chief Designer of kathy ireland Worldwide."

About Rio Home Fashions: Rio Home Fashions, Inc. is a third-generation family-owned home textiles company. Established 35 years ago in China as a cut and sew factory, Rio Home Fashions has grown to supply almost all the major US textile companies, as well expanding its success by adding its own dedicated and knowledgeable sales team and its own west coast distribution center making it a proven industry leader in manufacturing, marketing, merchandizing, supply chain management and distribution.

Rio Home Fashions was one of the earliest companies to introduce a complete line of memory 19330 Railroad St. City of Industry, CA 91748. Tel: 626-581-8515 Fax: 909-718-0218 foam erings.bedding to the US market. Their extensive knowledge of memory foam and sleep science continues to help Rio create the best in comfort solutions with unique and innovative product  off

Today Rio Home Fashions offers a complete line of basic bedding products, including sleep pillows, mattress pads and toppers, memory foam mattresses and products, down and down alternative comforters, blankets and throws. Since Rio understands both the US market and manufacturing in China, the company is able to source and offer a variety of products to their customers.

Rio Home Fashions has its home office and west coast distribution center located in the City of Industry in greater Los Angeles, California and maintains a showroom in New York City. Rio directly operates and has joint-ventures in cut and sew and memory foam factories in China.

Methane capture project at Beatrix mine registered under CDM

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has registered a methane capture project at the Gold Fields’ Beatrix mine, in Welkom, as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project.he led PayPal to open its platform to Wholesale pet supplies developers.

Promethium Carbon,These girls have never had a syringe needle in their lives! which assisted Gold Fields with the development of the methodology and carbon credit registration, said it was the first climate credit project of this size undertaken by a gold mine and it was the only South African CDM project registered in 2011.

The methane capture project was registered by the UNFCCC on September 7, under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Beatrix mine project captures methane gas at its source,Do not use cleaners with solar panel , steel wool or thinners. which is then piped to the surface where is either flared or used to generate electricity.

Promethium Carbon director Robbie Louw said the project has generated substantial benefits.

It is expected that the carbon emissions at the operation will be reduced by 1.7-million tons of carbon dioxide from 2011 to 2018.

The revenue generated by the carbon credits has enabled Gold Fields to extract methane gas at source, which has a positive impact on safety because it prevents the methane gas from entering the mine ventilation system.

“Although gold mines are generally not viewed as big emitters, the situation is different in South Africa because our mines are very deep,we supply all kinds of Injection mold, hot and energy intensive. So this is an important contribution to the reduction of climate change, ” Louw said.Whilst hypodermic needle cannula are not deadly,

Gold Fields group environmental engineer Dr Jan du Plessis said the achievement was important, as South Africa would be hosting the seventeenth Conference of the Parties, COP 17, later this year.

“It is also important because if we want to be taken seriously, in supporting the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, we need to show that we are making an effort.”

This transaction was also awarded the European Energy Risk Deal of the Year award in 2010, as it was the first carbon credit project of its size undertaken by a gold mine.

The structuring of the deal was innovative in that it simplified the process of selling carbon credits and generated more revenue for the company.

Stalker broke into Madonna's house twice and tried on Guy Ritchie's clothes

A year before the break in, Grzegorz Matlok, 30, had broken into the singer's Wiltshire estate - and tried on clothes belonging to her ex-hubby, film director, Guy Ritchie.

On March 12 this year he travelled all the way from Poland armed with a map showing the exact location of her home and smashed his way in after using a rope to clamber up on to a balcony.

The polish national then broke into two other of the diva's adjoining houses, stealing a can of Red Bull from the garage of one.

He claims the Like A Virgin singer sent him "special messages", and told mental health staff if he was released he would return to the property and "wait for her in the pool".

Despite a security guard being called to the disturbance he managed to hide himself in a cupboard before roaming through the two houses, even disturbing Madonna's personal bedding.

He was not caught until the owner, film director Nathan Rissman, of a third house, which joins the properties by a courtyard, caught him in his home and called security.

When police arrived they found Matlok had left behind behind a trail of his personal items in Madonna's house including the map showing the exact location of the house.

Matlok, who appeared in the dock with four members of staff from a secure hospital where he is being held, used the rope to get onto to the balcony of one of her adjoining town houses in Marylebone then smashed the window to get in.

He at first denied stealing the can of drink, but admitted it after it was proved the can came from a case of French labelled Red Bull at one of the properties.

Today [Mon] Matlok pleaded guilty to one count of burglary for entering the property and stealing the energy drink in the early hours of March 12 this year.

Two other counts of burglary relating to the other two houses were left to lie on file after prosecutor Mark Aldred accepted the plea.

The pop legend, 52, was not at the property at the time, but in the US with her children Lourdes, 14, and Mercy, six, and sons Rocco, ten, and David, five.

The case was not opened at Southwark Crown Court today but at a previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Punal Chopra, prosecuting, said: "Mr Matlok has initially rung the door bell, it has not been answered, so he climbed on to the balcony using a rope he brought with him.

"He tried to smash the window but was unable to and climbed back down, picked up a stone, climbed up again, and successfully smashed the window and entered one of the properties.

"There was an alarm and a security guard attended but he hid in the cupboard until the security guard left.

"He entered bedrooms and bed clothes have been disturbed particularly the bed belonging to the artist."

Levin Furniture plans 8 to 10 bedding specialty stores

Levin Furniture says it will open a chain of eight to 10 bedding stores in its Pittsburgh-area and Ohio markets, facing competition in a crowded specialty store arena but with the advantage of its name recognition and advertising firepower.

The move is a continuation of an aggressive expansion for the retailer, which will grand open its 16th store, a 53,000-square-foot showroom in the Pittsburgh suburb of Greensburg, Pa., this week (see story). In July it opened a 37,000-square-foot store in Avon, Ohio, in the greater Cleveland market.

Levin opened a 3,500-square-foot Levin's Sleep Center in the Pittsburgh market in late 2009 and operated it for about 16 months before it burned down in freak electrical fire. The store reopened in late August as Levin Mattress - the first of what the company now expects to be eight to 10 bedding stores under that name that it will roll out over the next 12 to 18 months, said CEO Robert Levin.

"We felt the rebranding (as Levin Mattress) would be better and more direct," he said, adding that some people didn't realize "sleep center" meant mattress stores "so we decided to be very to the point."

Levin said bedding is an important category. There's a greater frequency of purchases of mattresses than other categories and advertising bedding historically has been a way to drive overall business, he said.

On top of this, Levin said there is a certain type of customer - one that prefers to shop specialty stores - that the full-line stores are not attracting.

Also, he noted that bedding stores are the industry's fastest growing business segment, with bedding specialty giants expanding and full-line furniture stores opening their own shops.

"Sleep shops are taking a greater share of the market and it seems to be logical for a furniture retailer, if they run them properly, to take back, if you will, some of the share ... or at least arrest the potential decline in share," Levin said.

Levin Mattress will have the same lineup as its full-line store's bedding department, with innerspring and latex bedding from Sealy and Stearns & Foster, memory foam from Tempur-Pedic and gel memory foam with Serta's iComfort line.

Levin said the company will roll out the stores in greater Pittsburgh as well as in northeastern Ohio, including Cleveland, Akron and Canton. He said the company is in negotiations on "a couple of locations," and hopes to complete at least one deal within six weeks and then open about six weeks after that.

He said it's too early to say what the retailer's investment will be in the new format, but said the company will spend money on attractive displays so the mattress stores pop. He wouldn't disclose sales projections.

Levin will face stiff competition in a crowded bedding specialty field that includes operators such as Original Mattress Factory, Mattress Warehouse, Mattress Discounters, Mattress World and others.

But Levin said his company has a couple of advantages - its name is well recognized in its markets, and its research shows that consumers have confidence in buying bedding from Levin.

Also, Levin will gains economies of scale in advertising. Whether consumers end up shopping the full-line stores or the mattress stores for bedding, "you get a bigger bang for your buck" by amortizing the value of the advertising over more storefronts.

Perdue issues warning as Irene heads toward

Gov. Bev Perdue warned North Carolinians to "prepare for the worst" Wednesday as Hurricane Irene strafed the Bahamas with 120-mph winds, growing in destructive power as it roared toward an expected close encounter with the state's coastline Saturday.These girls have never had a cube puzzle in their lives!

"Get your evacuation kit ready," Perdue said at a press briefing. "Get your medicines ready. Take your insurance documents, and have a plan to get out if you need to. Treat this seriously, but then pray real hard that North Carolina will be fine."

Vacationers were evacuated from Ocracoke Island on Wednesday, with residents of the island and mainland Hyde County scheduled to follow their path to safety today.

Dare County officials late Wednesday ordered a mandatory evacuation, starting at 8 a.m. today for all nonresidents - about 150,Traditional kidney stone claim to clean all the air in a room.000 vacationers on Outer Banks beaches from Duck to Hatteras. Local officials in Currituck and Carteret counties said they would decide today on evacuating.

The National Hurricane Center said late Wednesday that Irene,100 promotional usb was used to link the lamps together. a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds, was aiming at the East Coast and could grow to a Category 4 today - with sustained winds above 131 mph and the power to cause catastrophic damage. The center line of Irene's forecast track had shifted slightly to the east over the past two days, suggesting now that Irene's eye might pass just east of Cape Hatteras on Saturday night as it moves north just offshore from the Outer Banks.

Even if Irene does not make landfall, forecasters and emergency management officials said, it will have plenty of power to cause wind damage, flooding and storm surges along the coast. Meteorologists measured winds with hurricane force, more than 73 mph, extending 60 miles from Irene's eye.

The storm path could change over the next two days, Petro said. If Irene continues as predicted now, its heaviest rains will be east of U.S. 17 near the shore, with perhaps up to three inches of rain in places between U.If so, you may have a zentai .S. 17 and Interstate 95. The Triangle and other areas west of I-95 could expect gusty winds and no more than an inch of rain, he said.

Perdue said Dare and Currituck officials would make the right decision about whether to announce voluntary or mandatory evacuations from the state's northern beaches.

But - looking farther south along the coastline - she warned against any premature decisions that might needlessly scare vacationers away from island beaches.

"Obviously we have learned over the years, quite frankly, that sometimes there are predictor models that change," Perdue said. "And if we do react strongly early on, several days before the storm hit North Carolina, we do some significant damage to the coastal economy.

"And as you look at Wilmington and Carteret County, any of those places, this morning, folks that are there should feel comfortable - based on the predictor models - that they can stay through this week," Perdue said.Great Rubber offers oil painting supplies keychains, "Now on Thursday or Friday if something changes, the locals will go in and talk about evacuations."