Beating the heat

Given this week’s heat wave, it seems like a good time to spotlight our list of public swimming areas and other places to beat the heat.

Click here to see it.

This information was compiled last year for our annual Living Here magazine, and I haven’t updated it since, so be sure to call and/or visit the Web site before you head out to make sure nothing has changed.

The Living Here columns you’ll see in the paper this weekend have a guest writer – Gail Smith-Arrants, a reporter in our Concord bureau, who was the part-time newcomer columnist for four years before I stepped in to make it a full-time job in June. I’ve been working on this year’s 160-page newcomer magazine, which is scheduled to come out Sept. 24 (but needs a lot of advance production time). I’ll resume the columns Aug. 12. (Saturdays in New Home, Sundays in Arts & Living and Mondays in Your Week).

In addition to that, soon I’ll be writing more stories for other sections of the paper about how newcomers are transforming our community. Got ideas or questions? Send ‘em my way.