Offerings

In these lean economic times for municipalities, there's still one thing that's free: Entertainment. Several Burlington County towns are offering easy times this summer, despite cutbacks in other parts of municipal budgets. "Municipalities have had to cut back on so many services, but not on summer entertainment," said Suzanne Veitengruber, Tabernacle's township administrator. "Municipally sponsored movies and concerts are big summertime traditions in Burlington County. " To help pay for movie and concert series, many municipalities are following the lead of Tabernacle and Burlington City and asking civic groups or businesses to help them defray the costs.

Look at the colorful picture in your workbooks, teacher Adle Elstein told students in her class at Solis-Cohen School, and "tell me what it is. " "Take a chance," Elstein coaxed the children, who had made their way to the Northeast school from such places as China, Egypt, Pakistan, and Sudan. "There are two pieces of cheese on my table," ventured Rawan Musa, 12, from Jordan. "Very good," said Theo Wood, Elstein's teaching partner in the beginners' English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Skeptics of electric utilities - you know who you are - regard deregulation as kind of a three-card monte hustle. How can alternative electricity suppliers sell power below a utility's rate and still make a profit? The commodity they sell is identical - it's all the same electrons. What's the catch? Peco Energy Co.'s 1.6 million customers can thank - or curse - the wonders of the electricity marketplace for inspiring an invasion of alternative suppliers bombarding the Philadelphia market with discount offers.

WASHINGTON - Millions of student-loan borrowers will be eligible to lower their payments and consolidate their loans under a plan that President Obama intends to announce Wednesday, the White House said. Obama will use his executive authority to provide student-loan relief in two ways. First, he will accelerate a measure passed by Congress that reduces the maximum repayment on student loans from 15 percent of discretionary income annually to 10 percent. The White House wants it to go into effect in 2012, instead of 2014.

Albertson's Cooking School, P.O. Box 27, Wynnewood. 610-649-9290 ( www.albertsoncooking school.com). Authentic Vietnamese, with chef David Boyle of Davios, at Madsen Center, 2901 Springfield Rd., Broomall. Oct. 25, 6:30-9 p.m., $45. Atlantic Cape Community College Academy of Culinary Arts, 5100 Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing, 609-343-4829 ( www.atlantic.edu/aca ). Degree programs and continuing-education classes available. Avalon Restaurant , 312 S. High St., West Chester, 610-436-6100 ( www . avalonrestaurant.

NEW YORK - Specialty-store owners have a lot to think about when they shop to stock. How many size 2's, 8's, or 16's should they buy? How do they blend funky colors with fledgling designers, while maintaining the store's personality? And when do they buy what may, or may not, be the next fashion craze? (Think skinny cargos or Silly Bandz. Who'd a thunk it?) Buyers for eco-friendly boutiques have to do all that. But they're also looking for pieces with a low carbon footprint, a win-some-lose-some challenge that demands consideration of a constantly evolving manufacturing landscape.

The Community College of Philadelphia is accepting applications from unemployed workers for free job-training courses in the manufacturing, energy and health-care industries this summer.   The federally subsidized program, Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training, will help place workers with employers in the region. Graduates of the manufacturing and energy programs will receive industry-approved certificates. With the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent nationwide and 10.3 percent in Philadelphia, jobs are scarce overall.

Neshaminy Adult School will conduct registration for its fall classes on Wednesday and Thursday. The school offers more than 100 evening classes in a variety of subject areas. Registration is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Neshaminy High School on Old Lincoln Highway in Langhorne and from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Carl Sandburg Middle School on Harmony Road in Levittown. Classes, which will begin the week of Oct. 5, will take place at Neshaminy High School, Carl Sandburg Middle School, Poquessing Middle School, and Neshaminy Middle School.

The maternity offerings at Macy's just got a lot more Philadelphia . Macy's said Monday that it has agreed to sell maternity apparel only from Center City-based Destination Maternity Corp., the national chain whose A Pea in the Pod and Motherhood Maternity lines are already well known at malls and shopping centers. Destination Maternity, which used to be called Mothers Work and was founded locally several decades ago, is boosting what had been a more limited merchandise presence on the racks of Macy's department stores nationwide.

I wrote briefly about the redesigned 2014 Forte in the wake of a Kia preview of some of its new products earlier this year. Let's take a closer, longer look now that I've spent a week in the company of this attractive compact sedan. The new Kia Forte is roomier, quieter, more comfortable, and generally more advanced than its predecessor. But what grabs you initially is the styling. The car was sculpted under the watchful eye of Peter Schreyer, the talented former Audi designer who was hired to enhance the potency of Kia's styling steroids.