Posts

A close look at seaside and lakeshore garbage

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The Make-Up of Seaside and Lakeshore Trash By Stephen Weir Writer Posts and Reader Responds divermag.com I don't usually post on this site articles of mine that Diver Magazine has posted on its website www.divermag.com. Diver's website gets an impressive numbers of daily visitors ( I get in the 10s they get in the 100s and 1,000s). However, one of the drawbacks of the Diver site is that there isn't a forum yet to show how readers have responded to the articles. The following story was posted a few days ago (July 15) and almost immediately I received a thoughtful response that should get posted. So what follows is what was posted followed by a response from a reader. The Washington-based Ocean Conservancy earlier this year released its annual report on trash in the ocean with new data from its 2007 International Coastal Cleanup Project. Their findings? Seashore trash is hurting the world! Beach trash is clogging shorelines and killing birds, animals and fish. Accordin

News from the Maple Gazette - B&B of the summer in New Hampshire

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Manchester’s famed Ash Street B and B is tankful guests are driving inn By Stephen Weir (from the summer edition of the Maple Gazette) Aware of rising fuel costs, the owners of the historic Ash Street Inn have created a package for people taking a motor-vacation to their establishment this summer. The 123 year-old Manchester Bed and Breakfast Inn is offering a $20 refund per night to help guests fill that gas tank. The Ash Street Inn is a three-story stain glassed filled Victorian home located minutes from Manchester’s cultural and sports attractions. This summer the award winning Bed and Breakfast Inn is offering three packages to lower the cost of a driving vacation. Guests who spend two or more weeknights received a $20 refund per night. Their “Explore New England” package gives those guests who plan to take driving day trips a $20 a night rebate and for one of those day trips they will also pack a gourmet lunch in an insulated bag for a meal on the road (and guests get to kee

Toronto Star Runs Stephen Weir Trump Tower Story: Posting of the Orginal Version of the Story

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On Saturday, May 31st, the Toronto Star ran a story I wrote about the new Trump Tower Hotel and Condo project in Toronto. The story, with an illustration by ED SCHNURR can be see at: /www.thestar.com/article/432040. Below is the original version which was edited by the Star for accuracy and length. Donald Trump’s new vision of luxury Small, Tall and Tight. Really really tight. By Stephen Weir Stephen@stephenweir.com May 22, 2008 Shoe-horning a luxury hotel and condo tower into the already hyper-crowded financial district of downtown Toronto is forcing Donald Trump's real estate company to think small while building tall. The 924 ft (282 metres) Trump International Hotel and Tower is finally underway and as the hole is being dug in a miniscule plot of land at the southeast corner of Adelaide and Bay Streets, a team of architects and builders are importing both people and different construction techniques to build a $400 million tower where a tiny five and dime store used to

Trump Story Sidebar

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ORIGINAL SIDEBAR TO TRUMP STORY BY STEPHEN WEIR Trump Tower's: Tale of the Tape ß The first Trump property to be built in Canada, Trump International Hotel & Tower will be one of the tallest buildings in the country when completed. ß Opened for sales in September 2004. Ground breaking event held in October 2007. ß Lot size 15,520 square feet ß Building footprint – 98% of the lot ß Height: 281.6 m / 924 ft. 60 storeys tall ß Hotel Condominiums: 261 (600 - 4,000 sq. ft.) ß The Residences: 118 (1,300 - 7,700 sq. ft.) ß Sticker Shock $900,000 to $14 million. ß Total Suites: 379 ß Model Suites – 11am to 6pm, Amy Richards, 416-214-9285 ß Owners: Trump Organization and Talon International Development Inc ß /www.trumptoronto.ca

Mermaids in Diver Magazine / divermag.com

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Mermaid on the Rocks – has Diver Magazine hatched a trend? Swimming our way back to November 2007, Diver Magazine featured Malena Sharkey on the cover wearing nothing but her mermaid costume. The Florida-based diver has a unique moonlighting career as a mermaid model and the magazine wanted to give her career some exposure. That particular issue turned out to be extremely popular. Does that mean that nearly nude mermaid models will be the next big thing? Is Diver the first publication to grab the mermaid craze by the tail? Check out the latest Compari calendar and you will see that Diver has jumped onto the mermaid popularity wave long before it is even close to cresting. The makers of Compari aperitif have issued a new 2008 calender featuring Eva Mendes posed in 12 different fairytale scenes – one story picture for each month of the year. This month, the American actress (2 Fast 2 Furious, Hitch, Training Day and We Own the Night) appears as a sultry mature Little Mermaid. The c

Moose Spotting in New Hampshire

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March 26, 2008 Title: NEW HAMPSHIIRE'S MOOSE SPOT HUMANS WHILE HUMANS SPOT THE MOOSE RIGHT BACK GREAT NORTH WOODS LEAD THE MOOSE-ON-THE-LOOSE PARADE By Stephen Weir Toronto – A trained eye means everything. One New Hampshire moose, his velvet antlers skimming the surface of the water, didn’t even have to stop munching on water weeds and lift his massive head to spot the six humans standing on the opposite shore of the pristine lake. He tilted his head sideways and looked for the telltale reflection of dawn’s early light on the telephoto lens of a digital camera. “Gotcha” snorted the moose, “my first people spotting of the day.” And while some of New Hampshire’s estimated 10,000 moose (no the plural isn’t meese) are avid people watchers, from May to October, the real sport is Moose Spotting and it is pursued by thousands and thousands of avid animal watchers wanting to get close to New Hampshire’s gentle giants. Most of the moose live in the Great North Woods section of the st

Terra Nova wanted for shipwreck duty in the St. Lawrence River. Divers rally to sink her

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Title: If group can find $2 million Warship that saw Gulf War service could become the St Lawrence River’s first artificial reef By Stephen Weir (April 2008, Diver Magazine - unedited version of feature including sidebars that didn't make it into print): Canadian divers along the north shore of the St Lawrence River know what ship they want and where they want to sink it, but what they don’t have is the money to make it happen … yet. Late last December a small group of divers in Brockville kicked off a bold plan to create an artificial reef near this small Ontario city. The Eastern Ontario Artificial Reef Association, (EOARA), have set their sights on the now mothballed HMCS Terra Nova. The “paid-off” 112 meter long warship, is currently docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A second warship, the HMCS Gatineau, is also available to the group. She has also been mothballed by the Canadian Navy. “We really want the Terra Nova, it is the right height for where we want to sink her i