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The South Bend common council is taking a harder look at whether the Ireland Road Wal-Mart can begin selling guns.

Council president Derek Dieter, a city police officer, said he wants more information on the store’s proposed sales of assault weapons ammunition. In particular, the store has proposed selling .223-caliber three-rounds, which is used in high-powered rifles such as the A.R.-15, Dieter said.

Dieter said he has asked the council’s attorney, Kathy Cekanski-Farrand, to research whether the city can restrict the sale of certain types of ammunition.

Wal-Mart needs a special exception to the city’s zoning code to begin selling guns. The s Read more…

The Craft Ale House staff will help you choose a beer that will complement their menu offerings. Mercury file photo

Craft Ale House owners Gary and Melissa Fry are pictured inside the 708 W. Ridge Pike pub they opened in December 2008. Mercury file photo

LIMERICK — What better way to celebrate American Craft Beer Week, May 16 to 22, than to visit an area establishment that promotes craft beer every day.

Craft Ale House, which opened at 708 W. Ridge Pike in the last days of 2008, has made it so that fine beer connoisseurs no longer need to foam over having to travel far and wide to indulge their passion.

Craft by draft is not only readily available here, it reigns supreme.

From ales to lagers, the 16 flavorful artisan beers on tap provide an endless, aromatic flow that changes regularly, and are only a fragment of a supply that includes hundreds of bottled brews.

Walking into Craft Ale House, with its rich woodwork and welcoming spirit, it’s immediately apparent that owners Gary and Melissa Fry tapped into the pub aesthetic they always had in mind during their long search for the right location.

Not bad for first-time restaurateurs who squinted and saw the potential in a drastic upgrade of a deli-convenience store that others might well have missed.

“I came here for lunch to grab a sandwich in the summer of ’08 and the sign out front said it was available,” Gary recalled. “

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Jim Rebarcheck, air quality program manager for the Department of Environmental Protection, bikes to work from Harleysville to his office in Norristown. Photo provided

Kathy Yeagle does it for the exercise.

Laura Catalano does it because it is a fun way to get to work.

Robert Kuhlman doesn’t like putting more money than necessary into the pockets of the oil companies and wants to keep as many greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere as possible.

Jim Rebarchak hopes to inspire others to follow his example.

These four commuters all have something in common: They ride their bikes to work.

With gas teetering at the $4 a gallon mark and headed higher, much like America’s obesity rate, they are among the many who have converted to pedal power for a remedy.

“I don’t have that far to go, and I love the exercise. I used to bike 30 miles a day, and it was the most free I’ve felt in my lifetime,” said Yeagle, who used to ride her bike from Pottstown to work in Collegeville and even commuted by bike while pregnant.

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SOUTH BEND –– When Kim Wilson was offered the opportunity to take the reins of The South Bend Tribune, she gladly accepted.

Wilson, 41, who most recently served about three years as president and publisher of the Fort Collins Coloradoan, was announced as The Tribune’s new president and publisher on Thursday. She is taking the place of David Ray, who retired April 29th, after 11 years as publisher.

She will begin her duties at The Tribune June 1. She is the first woman publisher at the newspaper in its 139-year history.

“I am so passionate about what this industry needs to do to not only survive but thrive in the future that I was thrilled to be offered this opportunity,” said Wilson, who spent her entire 20-year career with Gannett Co. newspapers in places such as Louisville, Ky.; Huntington, W.Va.; and Pensacola, Fla.

Wilson was introduced to Tribune employees during three sessions throughout the day Thursday.

She described herself as a listener who cares about each of her employees when asked what she hoped the employees took from a meet-and-greet session in which she took questions from the audience.

“I want to hear their ideas, concepts,” Wilson said. “I know I don Read more…

Almost one-in-four South Africans use social media as a tool to look for work, but are concerned about the potential career fallout from personal content on social networking sites, new data out on Tuesday from JSE-listed training and employment specialist Kelly Group (KEL) has revealed.

The Kelly Global Workforce Index, which is an annual survey, revealed that 29% of respondents secured their most recent position through word-of-mouth referrals, the leading source of jobs, ahead of recruitment/staffing firms, used by 26%, direct approaches from employers (20%), print advertisements (10%), online job postings (8%), other methods (5%) and social media sites (1%).

The survey contained the views of about 97 000 people in 30 countries, including the opinions of more than 1 000 South Africans.

Even though a small percentage of people actually secured their most recent job through social networking, 24% of respondents said they had looked at social media sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, seeking job openings or promotions.

The survey, conducted from October 2010 until January 2011, showed that while social media was active as an employment tool, so too was apprehension about the damage it could have on careers. M Read more…

Two years ago, heavy spring rains combined with course drainage problems set the South Bend Country Club up for disaster.

An inadequate system could not properly remove the water pouring onto the already-saturated fairways after the winter thaw. The 18-hole course was forced to completely close for a while. Several holes remained idle for weeks, meaning golfers could not always complete full rounds.

But the brutal April storms that have saturated courses across the region this spring have had little adverse affect on the private west-side club and its schedule. Most days the club closed in recent weeks, other courses did, too.

New owners saved the club with financial and emotional investments and brought back excitement and pride that had been missing for some time.

The 95-year-old club nearly closed last year before it averted a sheriff’s sale and a listed judgment of $1.79 million. The investors later came to an agreement with the club membership to purchase it.

“In years past, we’ve stayed par for the course, which is a terrible pun,” says Christine Walsh, the new membership and marketing director. “We loo

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