By J.W. Elphinstone, Associated Press / Statesman.com

NEW YORK — Home prices across most of the country have started to rise from the depths of the housing slump, a crucial trend that might help stabilize the broader U.S. economy, according to figures released Tuesday.

Nationally, prices in the second quarter posted their first quarterly increase in three years, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index of 20 major cities.

Home prices are still 30 percent below their mid-2006 peak and 15 percent lower than in the second quarter of 2008, but their new direction could bring relief to lenders and homeowners.

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By Geoffrey Warren-Boulton, Forbes Traveler / WREX.com

For nostalgic Americans, boardwalks are the stuff of summer dreams, mixing memories of salt water taffy at sunset, white-knuckled wooden rollercoaster rides, and kids with dogs racing along weathered walkways.  James Lilliefors, author of America’s Boardwalks, From Coney Island to California, says boardwalks have always been “bright, alluring, loud, lucrative and very American.”

Still, as Park World magazine reported in 2007, “In the 1920s there were more than 1,500 authentic seaside amusement parks in the United States, today there are less than two dozen.” Despite these dwindling numbers, those that remain are flourishing: Where once boardwalks were merely the venue for the world’s greatest oddities, now they have a civic purpose, acting as a nexus for local business and a spur to nostalgia-based urban renewal.

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By Ronald D. White / Los Angeles Times
August 23, 2009

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are so busy that they move more cargo than the next five largest U.S. ports combined. They’re so efficient that they process more international trade in one month than most North American harbors handle in an entire year.

Now the friendly rivals are leading the way into unexpected waters: attracting, testing and funding cutting-edge technology to reduce emissions and fuel consumption at the ports.

Even as their revenues declined and their budgets shrank in the worst global recession in more than 60 years, the twin ports have become accidental venture capitalists of sorts in the world of green technology.

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By Dee Long / Examiner.com

If your tastebuds are hungry for  Maine lobsters flown in fresh from the Atlantic, the Original Long Beach Lobster Festival (www.originallobsterfestival.com)  has a lobster bib with your name on it September 11 through September 13, 2009.

An international food court, beer and wine gardens, live musical entertainment, along with lobster feasts prepared by Bristol Farms (www.bristolfarms.com) chef Bruce Jacobs and staff (including lobster, butter dipping sauce, lemon, coleslaw, dinner roll and watermelon) are all part of the weekend fun, happening at Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach, 400 Shoreline Drive.

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