Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Andrew Westoll Wins The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

TORONTO, March 6, 2012 - The winner of The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Andrew Westoll (Toronto, ON) for his book The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery.

Of the book, the jury said: "Brilliantly blending science and storytelling, primatologist and author Andrew Westoll takes us deep into the world of the haunted and haunting rescued research chimps of Fauna Sanctuary. Pulled from decades of horrific lab conditions, rescued chimps live out the balance of their long lives in sanctuaries such as Fauna, cared for and loved by an extraordinary group of people. Westoll deftly draws the reader into the wild day-to-day ride of life with the Fauna chimps and soon their Otherness falls away. Through his lens, the chimps are revealed as the individuals they are, with all their foibles, damage, and possibility — and the reader's world view shifts on its axis. Heart-rending and heart-warming, this is a stunning and important work of art and documentary and science."

Andrew Westoll's winning book, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery, was also nominated for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. He is an award-winning narrative journalist and internationally published author. A former biologist and primatologist, his first book, The Riverbones, is a travel memoir set in the jungles of Suriname, where he once lived as a monkey researcher. He took creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Andrew lives in Toronto with his wife, and continues to write while working at the University of Toronto.

The $25,000 prize was awarded to Andrew Westoll on Monday, March 5th during a gala luncheon, hosted by CBC's Mary Ito, and held in the historic Sovereign Ballroom of downtown Toronto's Le Meridien King Edward Hotel. The remaining finalists — Wade Davis, Charlotte Gill, JJ Lee, and Madeline Sonik — each received $2,000.

RBC Wealth Management, presenting sponsor of the prize, will host Andrew Westoll in select cities across Canada to speak about his winning book. Authors at Harbourfront Centre will feature Andrew Westoll at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) in October.

The jurors for The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction are authors Allan M. Brandt (Cambridge, MA, USA) and Stevie Cameron (Toronto, Canada), and publishing consultant Susan Renouf (Toronto, Canada). They selected The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery from their shortlist of five books, which they in turn selected from their longlist of eleven books. All three jurors each read 115 books, submitted by 35 publishers from around the world. Books in the genre of literary non-fiction, published between November 1, 2010 and October 21, 2011, were eligible for submission if authored by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and widely available for purchase in Canada.

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are Michael Bradley (Toronto), Judith Mappin (Montréal), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor (Toronto). When asked about the jury's selection, Noreen Taylor, founder of the prize, said: "This year's jury had an exceptionally difficult task, for each of the five finalists presented unique strengths and approaches to their material. Andrew Westoll has the rare capacity to make all of his subjects engaging and memorable. Once introduced to his characters, their stories stay with you, leaving you to hope that he writes a sequel."

This is the eleventh awarding of the prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, which recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates. Since its inception, the prize has engaged Canadians in the genre of literary non-fiction and boosted sales of the winning authors' books. Founded in commemoration of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community, the prize is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.

The presenting sponsor of The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is RBC Wealth Management. "Congratulations to Andrew Westoll for winning the prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for 2012," said George Lewis, Group Head, RBC Wealth Management, presenting sponsor of the prize. "The work of all five finalists are impressive examples of literary excellence and demonstrate Canada's talent on the world stage. It is this excellence that RBC Wealth Management applauds and is proud to support."

The Major sponsor of The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Windfields Farm. Its exclusive newspaper sponsor is The Globe and Mail; its media sponsors are CBC Books, CNW Group, The Huffington Post Canada, Maclean's magazine, and Quill & Quire magazine; and its In-Kind sponsors are Authors at Harbourfront Centre, Ben McNally Books, Event Source, Indigo Books and Music, Kobo Inc., Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, and The Toronto Review of Books.

White Castle Teams Up With Wal-Mart for a FREE Slider Giveaway

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 5, 2012,

WHAT: White Castle is teaming up with Wal-Mart to bring the Original White Castle Slider to Panama City Beach, Florida during Spring Break.  The Wal-Mart Supercenter in Panama City Beach will host the one day giveaway of 10,000 burgers.
 
WHO: White Castle is teaming up with Wal-Mart for this historic occasion.
 
WHEN: This first ever event is the kick-off of the Spring Break party.  The party starts Saturday, March 10 at 1:00 pm with 10,000 White Castle Original Sliders FREE to excited Spring Break Cravers and Panama City White Castle loyalists.
 
WHERE: This one day Slider giveaway will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, 10270 Front Beach Road, Panama City Beach, Florida.

America's first fast-food hamburger chain is participating with Wal-Mart for a Slider Spring Break Party like no other.  Hungry Panama City Beach residents and Cravers from around the country are invited to the Wal-Mart Supercenter for a taste of the Original White Castle Slider hot off the grill.  White Castle team members from the Chicago area will be grilling 10,000 hamburgers and cheeseburgers starting at 1:00 pm, Saturday March 10.  The FREE Sliders will be handed out until they are gone.  There will be a limit per person so we can provide steamy hot Sliders to lots of cravers throughout the afternoon. 

Kicking off the Panama City Beach Spring Break event is the 10,000 Slider giveaways open to vacationers and local residents alike.  In addition to burgers hot off the grill; coupons will be distributed for savings on White Castle frozen burgers at the Panama City Beach Wal-Mart Supercenter. 

About White Castle
White Castle is a family-owned business based in Columbus, Ohio that owns and operates more than 400 White Castle restaurants in 11 states. The company was founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1921 and is America's first fast-food hamburger chain. All White Castle Sliders are made from 100-percent USDA approved beef or 100-percent white meat chicken.

For more information on White Castle, visit www.whitecastle.com.  White Castle Food Products, LLC distributes frozen Sliders through Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, Food Service outlets and Vending Machines all across the country.  

General Dynamics Awarded Air Force Cyber Intelligence Contract

FAIRFAX, Va., March 5, 2012 - General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems was awarded a contract to continue its cyber network defense, operations and exploitation support of the U.S. Air Force's 35th Intelligence Squadron (35IS) Cyberspace Operations program Sensor Shadow. The contract has a maximum value of $5 million over three years if all options are exercised. General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).

"The Sensor Shadow program is representative of our cyber security heritage. For two decades General Dynamics has been providing leading-edge cyber intelligence support to the Air Force through Sensor Shadow, dating back to Operation Desert Storm," said John Jolly, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems' Cyber Systems division. "Our close partnership with the 35IS allows us to effectively apply our mission understanding and in-depth expertise in the cyber domain to bring more capability to the cyber analyst toolset for more effective and timely analysis."

Through this contract General Dynamics' analysts and engineers help to collect, analyze, produce and disseminate vital cyber intelligence to ensure the warfighter maintains information dominance in the cyber domain. This includes supporting the U.S. Cyber Command and other Department of Defense customers. The Sensor Shadow program team conducts in-depth analysis of network intrusions, threat profiling, all source intelligence analysis and long-term analysis of stored network connection data and supports operations across the globe.

The work in this contract will be performed at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

Apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans in Minnesota, Last Date April 9

ATLANTA, March 5, 2012 - The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding businesses in Minnesota that working capital loans are still available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private non-profit organizations that were affected by the severe storms and tornadoes that occurred on May 21 - 22, 2011.

"Businesses that suffered economic losses as a result of the disaster and want to apply for low-interest loans from the SBA are urged to do so before the April 9 deadline," said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA Field Operations Center East.

Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) up to $2 million are available at 3 percent for private non-profit organizations of all sizes and 4 percent for small businesses, with terms up to 30 years. The loans are intended to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other expenses that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred.  To be considered for this assistance, disaster survivors need to apply by the deadline.
These working capital loans are available to businesses and non-profit organizations in the following counties: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne and Wright in Minnesota .   

To obtain disaster loan information and application forms, call the SBA's Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or send an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  Loan application forms can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX  76155.

Those affected by the disaster may also apply for disaster loans electronically from the SBA's website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.
The deadline for economic injury applications is April 9, 2012 .

Prescribed Burns for Wildfire Prevention

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 5, 2012 - The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs' Forestry Department has begun its spring prescribed burns to reduce the risk of wildfire at Fort Indiantown Gap, Lebanon County.
Weather permitting, the burns will be held between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
A prescribed burn is a commonly used forestry management technique that reduces the amount of combustible material naturally existing in the wilderness. It is performed only when conditions such as humidity, wind and temperature are ideal for managing fires. Prescribed burns are not conducted unless all required weather conditions are met.
"Prescribed burns help reduce the potential of major wildfires on Fort Indiantown Gap property," said DMVA Forest Program Manager Shannon Henry. "More than 250 prescribed burns have occurred at Fort Indiantown Gap in the past decade and they are always conducted by properly trained personnel with an approved plan and coordinated with the appropriate authorities."

Prescribed burns will be conducted on approximately 2,500 acres at Fort Indiantown Gap through May.

Fort Indiantown Gap, headquarters to the DMVA and Pennsylvania National Guard, offers more than 17,000 acres and 140 training areas and facilities for year-round training. It balances one of the region's most ecologically diverse areas with a military mission that annually supports 19,000 Pennsylvania National Guard personnel and more than 130,000 other states' Guard, military, law enforcement, and civilian personnel each year. It is the only live-fire, maneuver military training facility in Pennsylvania.