Globe Trotting
One of nine new Caribbean flamingo chicks hatched at SeaWorld in San Diego sought attention from its mother Friday. The chicks range in age from 1 to 25 days old. The birds are being raised by their parents in the flamingo habitat. The park’s bird keepers are keeping an eye on 30 additional eggs that will hatch out by the end of the month.
Posthumous JFK painting is part of museum show
Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts says it has acquired a posthumous portrait of John F. Kennedy by American artist Jamie Wyeth.
The museum says the Kennedy family requested the portrait after the president’s 1963 assassination. Vicki Kennedy, widow of U.S. Sen Edward Kennedy, will view the portrait Monday.
The painting is part of an exhibit on Jamie Wyeth and will be on display from Wednesday to Dec. 28 before traveling throughout the U.S. It is accompanied by two sketches of Edward Kennedy used by Wyeth as studies for the portrait.
The painting has been displayed at the JFK Library in Boston and the Washington, D.C., home of Vice President Joseph Biden. It has also been reproduced on an Irish postage stamp.
Sochi to welcome gamblers as Russia OKs casinos
Russia will allow gambling in Sochi in a bid to make continued use of the facilities that were built in the Black Sea resort for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Russia spent $51 billion on the games, leaving many companies that invested in the city wondering how they were going to recoup their money.
Russia in 2009 closed down casinos nationwide and restricted gambling to several designated zones, all far away from major cities or tourist attractions. The parliament voted last week to put Sochi on the list of the areas where gambling is allowed.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who oversaw the preparations for the games, told Russian news agencies Tuesday the government will decide later this month on the exact location of casinos.
"We should do everything to make these projects bring returns on the investment, so that they don’t go bankrupt," Kozak said.
Russia built 14 venues for the games with a total capacity of 145,000 people.
New Metro line connects 2 Air and Space Museums
When the new Silver Line of Washington, D.C.’s Metro transit system opens later this month, it will provide the first public transportation link between the National Air and Space Museum’s locations in the capital and northern Virginia.
Beginning July 26, when the Silver Line launches, Fairfax County will run a bus from Metro’s Wiehle-Reston East station to the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The Fairfax Connector Route 983 will run every 20 minutes.
Metro’s Silver Line also will have a stop near the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall at the L’Enfant Plaza station.
Museum Director J.R. "Jack" Dailey says bridging the 28-mile distance between the two locations will help the museum serve more people. Admission for both buildings is free.
