Black heritage destinations from SoulOfAmerica.com TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) - Where can you find a museum dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen? Or a walking tour about the Black Panthers? Or a park honoring the Temptations? The SoulofAmerica.com Web site is recommending a number of cities where you'll find these and other sites as destinations for Black History Month, which takes place in February. The cities, and some of their attractions, are as follows: --Atlanta, home to the birthplace, church and tombs of Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta. --Baltimore, where attractions include the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum; the Reginald Lewis Museum, named for a lawyer, entrepreneur and philanthropist from Baltimore; and the new Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Museum. --Birmingham, Ala., home to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and park dedicated to Eddie Kendricks and the Temptations. --Chicago, where you'll find the Du Sable Museum of African-American history, named for Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, an early settler, and the A. Philip Randolph-Pullman Porter Museum, which pays tribute to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters --Cincinnati, where you can visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. --Detroit, home to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the National Museum of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Motown Historical Museum. --Memphis, site of the Lorraine Hotel, where King was assassinated, along with a memorial in his honor and the National Civil Rights Museum, as well as music-related attractions including the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. --New York City, where you can visit the Apollo Theater and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture or take a Harlem Heritage Tour. Several museums around town, including the American Museum of Natural History and the International Center of Photography, have special programs in February related to black history. --Philadelphia, home to the African-American Museum of Philadelphia; the Mother Bethel AME Church, which was founded in 1794 and began the AME denomination; and the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, founded in 1792, which claims to be the longest-running black congregation in America. --San Francisco and Oakland, which offer the Museum of the African Diaspora and the Black Panthers Legacy Walking Tour. --Washington, D.C., where you will find the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum and the Benjamin Banneker Memorial & Fountain. SoulofAmerica.com offers information about these cities and three dozen more around the country, as well as Caribbean and international listings. General-interest attractions as well as black heritage sites are included on the Web site. --- Hilton Head Island Gullah celebration HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) - Readings, music and theatrical performances, art exhibits and food events will take place on Hilton Head Island throughout February as part of the 11th annual “Gullah Celebration." Gullahs descended from African slaves who settled on isolated sea islands and marsh areas between Wilmington, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla., in the 19th century. The Hilton Head Island events start Feb. 1 with an exhibit and sale of fine arts and crafts at the Walter Greer Gallery-Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. On Feb. 4, 4-7 p.m., the Barnes & Noble store at Festival Centre on Highway 278, will showcase authors of cookbooks, fiction and history books for readings and recipe tastings. On Feb. 10, a daylong event will feature Gullah cuisine at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, which will also host a screening of the movie “Daughters of the Dust" on Feb. 10 at noon. On the weekend of Feb. 17-18, an arts, crafts and food expo called “A Total Gullah Experience" will take place at Shelter Cove Community Park, with storytelling, African dance, gospel music and basket-weaving on the program. An evening of gospel music performed by the South Carolina State University's United Voices of Christ will take place Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Hilton Head High School, which will also host a performance of “Decoration Day," about Gullah culture, on Feb. 23. For a complete listing of events, go to www.gullah celebration.com or call (877) 650-0676. --- Safety specialists say more skiers now using helmets PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - For decades, many skiers thought it wasn't cool to wear helmets for safety. But more recently they seem to be warming to the idea. Safety experts now estimate that an average of 40 percent of skiers and snowboarders use them. The issue arose anew after Geoffry Bradeen, 45, of Portland died of a head injury Jan. 5 while skiing at Mount Hood Meadows. Investigators say he apparently was hit from behind by a snowboarder. A helmet would likely have saved Bradeen, who died of a skull fracture, Dr. Karen Gunson, Oregon's medical examiner, told The Oregonian. But studies show such collisions are rare and account for only 6.4 percent of reported ski accidents, Jasper Shealy, who has studied skiing and snowboarding injuries and fatalities for 35 years, told The Oregonian. He said most skiing and snowboarding deaths are caused by hitting a tree or other fixed object at high speed, resulting in chest or torso injuries. “Frankly, you're going to need more than a helmet to prevent that fatality," he told the paper. Shealy is chairman of the American Society for Testing and Materials International's skiing committee and a U.S. technical delegate for the International Standards Organization relating to skiing. He and others looked at 562 deaths from fall 1991 through spring 2005, finding that 60 percent were the result of a skier or snowboarder hitting a tree. Hitting the snow is the second-biggest killer, with 9.7 percent, and hitting manmade objects, such as lift towers, is third, at 7.6 percent. The researchers also found that helmet use is up by up to 5 percentage points a year but that the number of deaths still averages 38 a year, unchanged. A U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission study concluded that 44 percent of 17,500 head injuries to skiers and snowboarders in 1997 could have been prevented or reduced in severity with helmet use. It suggested that helmets could prevent an average of 11 deaths a year. --- More travelers using Eurostar train between England and continent LONDON (AP) - The Eurostar train, which connects London with continental Europe, appears to be getting more popular. Eurostar carried 7.85 million passengers in 2006, a 5 percent increase over the previous year. Leisure travelers increased by 4.5 percent, while business travelers increased by over 17 percent, according to Eurostar Group Ltd., which operates the train. The company attributed the increase in part to travelers looking to avoid hassles in air travel, like the new airport security measures imposed last summer, and the foggy weather that grounded flights in Britain around Christmas. The company estimated that of those who used Eurostar for the first time last year, 1,000 business customers a week have now permanently switched to taking the train. Eurostar said it also benefited last year from its partnership with “The Da Vinci Code" film that was set in London and Paris. The train line ran a “Da Vinci"-style marketing contest with codes and puzzles, and its marketing director Greg Nugent was quoted in Business Week magazine as saying that “the No. 1 lost and found item on the trains" were copies of the book, as many passengers appeared to making London-Paris pilgrimages related to the story. Eurostar trains run from London's Waterloo station to Gare du Nord in Paris, through the Chunnel, in two hours, 35 minutes, and from London to Brussels in two hours, 30 minutes. Other stations served by Eurostar include Marne-la-Vallee at Disneyland Paris. --- Monticello begins construction of new visitor center CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A new visitor center is under construction at Monticello, the historic home of Thomas Jefferson. The center will be located where Monticello's ticket office used to be. The ticket office was relocated to a temporary structure while construction takes place. The new 42,000-square-foot facility will consist of five pavilions around a central courtyard. It will be designed to blend into the landscape, using materials like fieldstone, brick and cedar. The pavilions will include exhibit space, classrooms, an orientation center, a cafe, a museum shop, a garden shop, and a place to buy tickets and get visitor information both for Monticello and for the region. The center is scheduled to be completed in late 2008, with related work extending into 2009. Tours of Monticello - including Jefferson's home, gardens and other parts of the property - will be uninterrupted by the construction. --- Mississippi Blues Trail marker to be unveiled CLARKSDALE, Miss. (AP) - A historical marker has been added to the Mississippi Blues Trail, which will ultimately highlight more than 100 locations in the state that have played roles in the development of blues music. Three markers were placed by the Mississippi Blues Commission in December. The fourth marker, unveiled Jan. 18, will be located at the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale. The hotel has been home to many blues musicians through the years and is still in operation. Since 1944, the hotel has provided lodging for legendary artists like Sonny Boy Williamson II, Ike Turner, and Robert Nighthawk. The hotel was formerly the G.T. Thomas Hospital and is best known as the place where the empress of the blues, Bessie Smith, died in 1937 from injuries sustained in a car accident. “The Riverside Hotel is a monument to our blues heritage and many international visitors come to make it a part of their cultural tourism experience," Alex Thomas, heritage trails director for the Mississippi Development Authority, said. The previous three markers are: -The grave of Charlie Patton at Holly Ridge. Patton is considered one of the earliest of the blues singers. -The Southern Whispers Restaurant in Greenville, which honors the blues heritage of Nelson Street, where the restaurant is located. -Former site of WGRM radio in Greenwood, where B.B. King made a live radio broadcast in 1940. In 1939, WGRM occupied the second floor of the building, which was originally built in 1901. --- Diggers excavate Maribel cave that may be among state's largest MARIBEL, Wis. (AP) - A cave in eastern Wisconsin that was little bigger than a crawl space four years ago has been excavated to accommodate some 250 standing adults, and spelunkers believe the humid cave will eventually prove to be among the largest of the state's estimated 400 caves. Diggers used “just shovels and a lot of muscle" to remove rocks and glacial sediment from the New Hope Cave formation, Kasey Fiske, the president of the Wisconsin Speleological Society, told the Herald Times Reporter. The workers excavate down to the solid rock of the cave's floor, walls and ceiling, often revealing glistening formations, he said. The cave was discovered in Maribel Caves County Park in 1984. But diggers didn't begin unearthing it until 2003, after researchers used electrical probes to determine that much of the cave was filled with dirt, not rock. Scientists say the Manitowoc County cave could be up to 700 feet long. Currently about 150 feet of walking space and 100 feet of crawling passage have been dug out and opened to the public. “There's an extensive cave system throughout the whole park, so as far as digging there's probably no limits to how long this cave is," Fiske said. “It could possibly be the largest cave system in Wisconsin." Local bats already seem to appreciate the excavation. Nearly 50 of the flying mammals have settled in an area dubbed the “Halloween Room," up from about a dozen in 1985, said Speleological Society member Gerald Biebertz. Spelunkers say their goal is to prepare the cave for public tours and eventually to build a learning center to teach people about the area's glacial history. --- Key West center on environment opens KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Florida Keys visitors now have a way to experience the area's underwater ecosystem without getting wet: the new Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center. The 6,400-square-foot, $6 million facility opened Jan. 13 on the Key West waterfront to showcase the underwater and upland habitats that characterize the Keys, emphasizing the coral reef that parallels the island chain. Admission to the facility is free. Through interactive and touch-screen exhibits and audio and video components, visitors can explore the Keys' hardwood hammock, mangrove, patch reef, seagrass, deep shelf and Dry Tortugas environments. Exhibit highlights include a walkthrough version of the Aquarius Undersea Lab, a manned underwater research laboratory located off Key Largo. Visitors can hear recordings from the lab, take video tours of the Keys' undersea world and view indigenous fish and sea creatures through video screens shaped like portholes. The Eco-Discovery Center is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Details at http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/eco-discovery.html. --- Are retirees shortening their Florida stays? MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) - Florida's mild climate and world-class beaches continue to draw Northern retirees seeking temporary refuge from the winter, but tourism experts say many of these snowbirds are shortening their stays. Rental rates have risen to keep up with spiraling property insurance rates from recent hurricanes, pricing some retirees out of the market. “Prices in rentals have gone up because of insurance. We're 98 percent booked for February and March, but booked about 75 percent for January, which is very unusual," Lisa Durgin, a Cocoa Beach-based realtor who rents to snowbirds, told Florida Today. Durgin said this January is among the slowest she has seen. Blanka Kovarik, a retiree from Toronto, said many of her friends are planning shorter stays in Florida this winter. Along with the increased rental costs, gas prices and rising medical expenses are also a factor, she said. In Brevard County, for example, a study by Schulman, Ronca, Bucuvalas, Inc., found that the number of snowbirds fell nearly 9 percent to 27,600 in 2005 from 30,300 in 2003. Abraham Pizam, dean of the Rosen School of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida, said that snowbirds have been stricken with “Florida fatigue." “Snowbirds are not returning to Florida as they used to," Pizam said. “We're not getting as many repeat visitors. Other destinations are competing with us as well. Also, remember that snowbirds have a lot of expenses, with insurance and medical costs, and they have less money for trips. So, rather than cutting out the vacation completely, they're staying for a shorter time." Business are feeling the crunch, said Rob Varley, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism. “The season is shorter, and the part-time residents are not coming as soon, either," Varley said. --- Cambodia reopens coastal town's airport in hopes of boosting tourism PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The airport at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main coastal city, has reopened with hopes high that it will further spur travel and the country's burgeoning tourism industry. A Soviet-made Antonov-24 plane belonging to a locally owned airline company landed at the Sihanoukville airport following an opening ceremony Jan. 13, said Norinda Khek, spokesman for Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports, or SCA, a subsidiary of the French construction group Vinci. He said the plane flew from Siem Reap province, Cambodia's main tourist hub, and that it carried 11 passengers, who were airline staff flying on the promotional trip. It was the first landing at the airport in the last three years, he added. The airport had been closed for reconstruction. The airport, located about 115 miles southwest of the capital Phnom Penh, is expected to serve as the first air link between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor temples, deputy tourism minister Thong Khon said. He said he hoped the airport's reopening would encourage tourists to extend their stay to enjoy Cambodia's sandy beaches after touring the temples. “This is part of our strategy in linking the two tourist destinations," he said, adding that 1.7 million tourists visited Cambodia last year, about a 20 percent increase over 2005. Tourism has become a major source of income for the cash-strapped Southeast Asian country. Norinda Khek said that the airport will host only domestic flights because its mile-long runway can accommodate only propeller planes. But he said the company plans to extend the runway to 1.4 miles to handle jet aircraft by the end of the year.