News lifestyle 2008-05-22 Andanh.com

Plan for von Trapp plan falls on deaf ears Wed, 21 May 2008 19:42 EDT

VIENNA, Austria . The hills are alive ... with the sound of protest.

Plans to run a hotel out of a former home of the von Trapp family immortalized in the movie The Sound of Music have triggered fierce resistance from neighbors who fear tourists will tie up traffic and make a nuisance of themselves.

.We will fight this with all means at our disposal,. said Andreas Braunbruck, who lives near the Villa Trapp in a neighborhood of Salzburg.

.Buses and cars are constantly in the street in front of our homes as it is,. Braunbruck recently told Austrian television.

Ads rank hospital satisfaction Thu, 22 May 2008 02:04 EDT
The federal government is spending nearly $1.9 million on newspaper ads around the country that disclose hospital satisfaction rates, part of a unique campaign to improve health care through the power of publicity.

The full-page ads will show for better or worse how patients rated more than 2,500 hospitals nationwide.

The ads feature two questions: The percentage of patients who always got help when they needed it. And the percentage of patients who got antibiotics one hour before surgery. The latter question reflects broad interest in curbing infections acquired at the hospital.

The ads reflect an emphasis by the Bush administration to increase transparency in the health care system. Officials say greater public disclosure of costs and quality will drive providers to improve on both fronts.

While some hospital administrators might not like being singled out, the industry supports the effort and helped craft the comparison questions. Patients will benefit because the information is educational and will lead to better care, said Charles Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals.

Raising chickens in your own backyard Thu, 22 May 2008 16:57 EDT

When was the last time you encountered a real live chicken? Sure, you've probably eaten eggs or snacked on nuggets or wings within the week, but odds are it's been a while since you've met any poultry, nose-to-beak. Doesn't it seem odd that such an important part of our daily diet has become so absent from our daily view?

For city folks like Wayne and Shirley Davis, however, chickens remain a normal part of everyday life. Wayne sent an intriguing note a couple of months ago, which in part read: .We have chickens in our fenced back yard. Keep 2-4 hens and always have eggs. Come by sometime and see our hens and our neat little hen house..

Who could resist?

Members of a growing movement of urban chicken enthusiasts, the Davises live near Lexington's Southland Drive neighborhood. Wayne Davis is well-known throughout Kentucky for encouraging installations of nesting boxes for wild birds, particularly bluebirds, warblers and Carolina wrens. His involvement with domestic bird-keeping began about two years ago, when daughter Beverly Davis, who had chickens at her farm, brought them a few of their own to raise. The birds have a secure roost, where there's a nest to lay eggs and a safe haven at night, but are free to roam the fenced yard during the day. One of their original hens, a Dark Cornish named .Black,. lays an egg every day or so now. A younger pullet hatched in February, .Little Black Hen,. is expected to begin laying in August.

Consider canine custody Wed, 21 May 2008 19:42 EDT

For many, dogs are substitute children (or .ancillary ones, at least). So it should come as no .surprise that when marriages break up, custody of the cockapoo or labradoodle can become a pitched battle.

That's why Jennifer Keene, a dog trainer from Beaverton, Ore., wrote We Can't Stay Together for the Dogs: Doing What's Best for Your Dog When Your Relationship Breaks Up (TFH Publications, $22.95).

Before her 2005 divorce, Keene and her ex were the .pet parents. of Moxxy, an Australian cattle dog, and Sixxy, a pointer mix. And along with dividing the china and the furniture, they had to decide who would take which furry charge.

As with children of the two-legged variety, deciding canine custody should center around the needs of the dog first and foremost, Keene says. This is not in keeping with the legal perspective, which sees animals as property, to be dealt with in the same manner as a toaster or television.

Allied Artists exhibit coming to HMA
Allied Artists of West Virginia, Inc., will bring its biennial juried exhibition to the Huntington Museum of Art.

75-year-old ballet dancer to perform in Huntington
Ella Hay of Huntington, a 75-year-old ballerina and one of the world’s oldest dancers, will appear on pointe in a new work, “The Colors of Currier and Ives,” at 8 p.m. May 31 at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse at Marshall University.

Memorial Day sing returns to Flatwoods
The eighth annual Memorial Day Gospel Sing, presented by the KYOVA Gospel Music Association, is set for 1 p.m. Monday at Flatwoods City Park Amphitheater.

Bluegrass rising
Eden Valley Farm prepares for a crowd as the seventh annual Appalachian Uprising Music Festival approaches.

Chinese Dir