Illinois saw 867 fatal car accidents in 2012, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Specific data is not yet available with regard to how many of those crashes were related to alcohol use. Though holiday accident data for 2012 is also not yet available, historically accidents related to alcohol increase during holiday weekends such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2010, more than 10,000 people died in U.S. highway accidents involving a drunk driver. Fatal accidents can result ...

As the world prepares to recognize the first ever International Day of Happiness on March 20, a day established by the United Nations General Assembly, a new poll reveals how travel factors into happiness worldwide. A large majority of respondents (83%) of the 2013 G Adventures Happiness Survey said travel is very important to their happiness. In fact, in terms of making people happy travel was deemed more important than marriage and having a baby. "At G Adventures, Creating Happiness & Community is one of our Core Values. We understand the positive effects ...

Sierra Pacific Mortgage has released their final results for 2012 which showcase a banner year for the national mortgage banking leader. With 312% growth in Retail production in 2012, Sierra Pacific Mortgage has validated its retail banking strategy, capitalizing on its dominance in the wholesale mortgage marketplace. Sierra Pacific set a company record with over 25% of their funding coming from retail originations, and funded over $2 billion in retail production in 2012. Mr. Chuck Iverson, company Vice President states "Our move from 8% retail to over 25% shows ...

Procrastination is on the rise. Recent studies show the percentage of college students who admit they procrastinate is as high as 95%, up from 25 percent in the 1970's. For some people it is a minor annoyance, but for others, procrastination can take a costly toll. A survey by H & R Block estimated that procrastination costs a person an average of $400 on his or her taxes, resulting in more than $473 million in overpayments each year. Economists cite budgetary crises from delayed action by corporations and governments; and medical professionals note the growing number ...

Having won the Design of the Year award in 2012 for the London 2012 Olympic Torch, it's time for Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby to hand the title over to another deserving designer. Spread across seven categories - Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Product and Transport - the awards are regarded as 'the Oscars of the design world' and showcase some of the most innovative and creative works from London and around the world. The Designs of the Year 2013 exhibition opens to the public on 20th March 2013 at London's Design Museum and the category winners ...

AgilQuest Corporation announced a support service for OnBoard, their hoteling and conference room management technology, and its use in clusters and similar high availability configurations in large organizations. Automatic failover of servers within a cluster allows IT departments to keep mission-critical applications running and available for their employees with little or no interruption. This new service offering supports IT departments in configuring and testing OnBoard and its components within their existing HA environment. "With a single installation of ...

According to a report from the Daily Mail on February 1st 2013, the Duchess of Cambridge's baby news had encouraged a huge surge in home fertility testing sales, which soared by 60% as women rushed to share the experience of a princess. The craze coincides with the tradition of many conceptions talking place between the months of February and March - spring signalling the distant sound of tiny baby feet by autumn. As pregnancy planning takes hold, many expectant parents think of saving for cots, prams and nappies; for new nurseries and university funds. However, ...

On March 1, a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Dragon capsule lifted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on the second Commercial Resupply Services flight (CRS-2) to the International Space Station. Two investigations, Biological Research In Canisters (BRIC)-17-1 and BRIC-17-2 were aboard. The BRIC series canisters consist of a compact storage system for housing experiments first used in studies during the U.S. Microgravity Payload mission aboard space shuttle Columbia's STS-87 mission in November 1997. BRIC ...

Diana Clemente, President of Big Apple Car, Inc., received the nation's premier award for excellence among women's business enterprises (WBEs) bestowed by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) at its Salute to Women's Business Enterprises today. The annual event took place before 1,000 corporate and government executives, WBEs and members of WBENC's Regional Partner Organizations (RPOs) at the Baltimore Hilton, Baltimore, MD. Big Apple Car, Inc. is an industry leader in the provision of black car and luxury chauffeured services in the New York metropolitan ...

Touted as the 'world's largest and longest-running professionals-only game industry event', the Game Developers Conference (GDC) is a market defining conference that attracts over 22,500 attendees - and this year, Hey Snails Inc. is one of the exhibitors. Happening on March 25-29 in San Francisco, GDC 2013 will have 400+ conference sessions covering wide range of topics such as game design, monetization, free to play and mobile engagement. This year's Advisory Board includes experts from Microsoft Studios, Blizzard Entertainment, Media Molecule, Signia Ventures and ...

Tickets are on sale for the 24th annual America's Family Pet Expo (AFPE) returning April 19-21, 2013 to the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa. Always a "petstravanagza", the America's Family Pet Expo boasts all creatures great and small - from rabbits, cats, dogs, to miniature horses and exotic lizards, all on display, allowing show guests to get up close in a variety of interactive exhibits, educational shows and displays, as well as shop the latest in pet trends and products. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.PetExpoOC.com . AFPE kindly reminds guests ...

BALAM Dance Theatre (BALAM), a nonprofit dance theatre company, will present a new educational program, Commedia dell'Arte: The Silly Truth, at the Leonia Public Library, located at 227 Fort Lee Road in Leonia, New Jersey, on Saturday, April 13 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. This family friendly entertainment event is free and open to the public. Limited seating is available. For further information, contact the Leonia Public Library at (201) 592-5770. BALAM, a New York City-based company, offers a new vision of contemporary dance by fusing and diverse cultural dance styles and ...

Oink Ink Radio, the country's only bicoastal creative radio agency, has announced freelance copywriter Joe O'Neill as this year's Dead Radio Contest winner. O'Neill's script, "Rock & Roll Casualty" was selected as the winning script out of hundreds of entries from agency copywriters all vying for that top spot. O'Neill's radio script promotes the Canadian Hearing Society, as over 3 million Canadians are affected by noise-induced hearing loss. The spot features a rock star who literally can not hear his cheering crowd. "Hello Cleveland, are you ...

While part of the population is taking advantage of 'going green' in March, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care all natural skin care takes that phrase a little differently. Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care full line of chemical free skin care is made from ingredients grown on its USDA Certified Organic farm in Colorado. After grown, those ingredients are walked over to its FDA inspected lab, on the same property, where they are formulated into organic skin cleansers, toners and moisturizers for all skin types. The formulations are then placed into glass bottles ...

Cherub Improv, the Manhattan- based non-profit organization that provides free improvised comedy performances and educational workshops to people in the greater New York City area most in need of laughter, announces that culinary author and award-wining dietician, Gina Keatley, has joined its team as its newest board member. No stranger to charity work, Keatley was named a 2011 CNN Hero and L'Oreal Woman of Worth for her philanthropic work. Founder of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, Keatley is an American Diabetes Ambassador known for her food-focused appearances ...

The count of 43 completed business for sale deals in Sacramento County last month is well ahead of the total of 29 small and mid-sized county businesses sold in February last year, it was announced by the BizBen Index. The company also said last month's total sales volume for the state reached 1,241, a 25% increase from the 992 business transactions closed during February 2012. "While it's encouraging to see improvement in the business for sale marketplace in much of California and in Sacramento County, we need a growth trend that shows every month recording more ...

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that senior district court judge and civil rights leader Thelton Henderson will take part in the Farella Braun + Martel Law and Justice Credit Recovery Program. Judge Henderson will visit Thurgood Marshall High School in San Francisco's Bay View/Hunter's Point community on Tuesday, March 19 to meet with students and to answer their questions about his life and career. The Farella Braun + Martel Law and Justice Credit Recovery Program was made possible by a charitable gift to ConnectEd: The California Center for College and ...

Grassi & Co. is pleased to announce that it was named as one of the Top 100 Firms by Accounting Today. Accounting Today has also ranked Grassi & Co. among the Top 20 Mid-Atlantic Firms. "Being among the nation's Top 100 Firms, as well as, being one of the Top 20 Mid-Atlantic Firms are achievements of which I'm very proud," commented Louis C. Grassi, CPA, CFE, Managing Partner of Grassi & Co. "Being recognized by an industry publication like Accounting Today is not only an honor, but also an attribution to the firm's overall commitment to expanding ...

EbonyLife TV is proud to announce the wrap up of the filming of one of its flagship programmes, SISTAZ! Directed by Heidi Uys, Sistaz! is a compelling Reality TV Series about two sisters of Greek-Nigerian descent, the STAVRO sisters, who decide to check into the famous Eko Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, for a long overdue holiday reunion. While there, they meet STEPHANIE, a British-born Nigerian friend who has also checked in to relax from a busy schedule. Together, they set out on a 30-day roller-coaster to rediscover afresh the passion of sisterhood, friendship and ...

One of the most widely used contract vehicles in the federal market is the GSA Schedule, and on March 20, 2013, the Government Contracting Institute in conjunction with bwtech@UMBC is presenting a full day class "Navigating the GSA Schedule System." This class demystifies the GSA Schedule application and negotiation process and details the successful marketing of a GSA Schedule. Specific topics covered in the course include an overview of the GSA Schedule, scope of services and products covered, the importance of the vehicle, how to identify competitors on ...

The USO of Metropolitan Washington (USO-Metro) hosted its 31st Annual Awards Dinner last night at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Crystal City. The evening was devoted to honoring outstanding individuals from each branch of service, as well as the exceptional people who support our nation's service members and their families, with special emphasis on the military medical community. Attended by senior government and military leaders, celebrities, business and community leaders, nearly 600 guests joined with USO-Metro last night to honor our nation's heroes ...

Christie has donated a top-of-the-line Christie digital cinema projector to help entertain the local community in the new Gianopulos Family Theater at the Wilson-Hanks Family Cultural Center, Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, California. The theater is the latest addition to the Huffington Center, located in the Byzantine-Latino Quarter of Los Angeles. Christie's Managed Services team worked with audio-visual innovator BLACKSTAR Engineering to install the Christie Solaria Series projector and other theater equipment, transforming a basketball court by day into a fully ...

Terramor Homes (http://www.terramorhomes.com/), a local premier home building company in the Triangle, has announced that they are now accepting donations to benefit the Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center's 2014 Miracle Home. Terramor Homes proudly accepted the invitation to build the 2014 Miracle Home to benefit the cause, joining the recent Mix 101.5 Radiothon, and have pledged to raise more than $120,000. The company plans to achieve the fundraising goal through its "Touch of Hope" community outreach program by creating partnerships with trade partners ...

ETCO Homes in conjunction with Westbrook Properties today announced that construction is underway at 432 Oakhurst, an uncommonly opulent new home community located in the prestigious 90210 Beverly Hills zip code. The luxury condominium community is artfully designed to meet the living tastes and needs of some of the world's most discerning buyers. An anticipated completion, grand opening event, and first move-ins are expected in July 2013. The collection of 34 homes that make up 432 Oakhurst are designed in a warm, contemporary style and feature thoughtfully planned, ...

Earthquake, the leading expert and manufacturer of outdoor power equipment appointed Billiou's Inc. in Porterville, Calif. as their new distributor in the western United States. With over 50 years of experience, Earthquake, out of Cumberland, WI, will now be represented by Billiou's, who has been serving the parts needs of Outdoor Power Equipment dealers across the Western United States for more than 65 years. Earthquake's quality lawn and garden chore products, such as power-augers, tillers, and chainsaws, will have the full support of Billiou's corporate culture of customer ...