Briefs

Ski resorts in West go green

Denver —- A group that grades the environmental friendliness of ski areas in the West says 53 of the 83 resorts it reviewed this year boosted their scores, but seven received failing grades.

The resorts with the highest and lowest scores were both in Colorado. Aspen Mountain got an A with a top score of 85.7, while Copper Mountain ranked lowest at 31.9 for an F, the Ski Areas Citizens’ Coalition said.

Copper Mountain’s score was almost entirely due to an expansion of terrain and real estate development, coalition research director Hunter Sykes said. Aspen was credited for trying to minimize impacts of development, Sykes said.

“The score card is weighted heavily against ski area and village development and doesn’t credit resorts’ sustainability initiatives or community involvement,” Copper Mountain spokeswoman Lauren Pelletreau said.

She said Copper’s “green” efforts include buying renewable energy credits, matching employee donations to an environmental fund and installing a 4.2-kilowatt solar system on a transportation building. A new carpooling initiative on certain Saturdays this season offers visitors who arrive in vehicles with at least four people a chance to win season ski passes for 2009-2010.

The coalition said Sundance in Utah, Squaw Valley in California, Mount Bachelor in Oregon and Bogus Basin in Idaho were among a record 18 resorts that got A’s this year, up from 12 last year.

Sykes insisted that new development doesn’t automatically mean a low grade, although the financially crunched Tamarack Resort in Idaho received an F in its first year on the score card this year, largely because of its newness. Arizona Snowbowl —- with plans to add snowmaking, lifts and trails —- received an F.

He said points awarded for using renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies, for example, can offset deductions for development. “We do give due credit to what resorts are doing,” Sykes said.

Details at www.skiareacitizens.com

Vietnamese airline begins service

Hanoi, Vietnam —- Vietnam’s first privately owned airline has begun flights, aiming to tap rising demand for air travel in the fast-growing Southeast Asian nation.

Indochina Airlines, owned by a group of Vietnamese businessmen, is operating four daily flights between the southern commercial center of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, company spokeswoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Quyen said.

The company, led by Ha Hung Dung, a well-known Vietnamese pop music composer and businessman, also offers two flights daily between Ho Chi Minh City and the central coastal city of Danang.

“The launch of our airlines aims to meet growing air travel demand in Vietnam and will offer more choices for customers,” she said.

Indochina Airlines is the third airline to offer domestic flights in Vietnam, joining national carrier Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific, a partnership between a state-owned carrier and Australia’s Qantas.

Indochina Airlines is leasing two 174-seat Boeing 737-800s.

In the next two or three years, the company hopes to add flights to the resort city of Nha Trang and the ancient capital of Hue, as well as countries in the region.

Passenger air travel to and from Vietnam has grown between 13 percent and 17 percent annually in recent years, according to Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Administration.

Ancient baths, tombs reopen

Rome —- A huge hall in the ancient baths of Diocletian reopens in Rome after 30 years.

The hall, which underwent structural restoration, contains ancient tombs dating to the third century A.D.

One of the tombs on display has a vault surface covered with circles and is decorated with geometric and flower motifs. The other features niches for the ashes of the deceased and graffiti with their names.

Archaeologists said that the hall is believed to have served as a recreational room. Its marble and decorations have been lost over the centuries.

The bath complex was built between 298 and 306 A.D. Including libraries, gardens and areas dedicated to shows and games, it could accommodate up to 3,000 people.

Caribbean visits declining

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic —- Fewer tourists are flocking to the beaches of the Dominican Republic.

New statistics from the Central Bank show the number of visitors began declining in the second half of the year as the global economy began to weaken.

The Dominican Republic is heavily reliant on tourism. It has been the No. 1 Caribbean tourist destination in recent years.

The bank reported that total visitors between July and October fell to about 1.1 million. That’s a decline of 5.6 percent over the same period a year earlier.

The trend worsened toward the fall. Both September and October were down 10 percent.

Other destinations, including Bermuda and the Bahamas, have also reported declines.

Fort Worth museum doubles space

Fort Worth, Texas —- The Kimbell Art Museum will double its exhibit space in a $70 million, two-year expansion project, officials announced.

Renowned architect Renzo Piano, who designed the expansion of Atlanta’s High Museum, unveiled his preliminary designs for the 90,000-square-foot new building, which will be directly in front of the existing museum, similar to its height and scale and constructed of the same materials: travertine marble, glass and concrete.

The project is to be complete in 2012 and includes a larger auditorium and new underground parking garage.

The Kimbell, designed by Louis Kahn, was hailed as a landmark of modern architecture when it opened in 1972. But the museum has lacked the gallery space to display a major temporary exhibition and its entire permanent 350-piece collection, which ranges in period from antiquity to the 20th century, said Malcolm Warner, the Kimbell’s acting director.

Kay Fortson, president of the Kimbell Art Foundation, said Piano’s design complements Kahn’s building and brings “his own distinctive character” to the project. As a young architect, Piano collaborated with Kahn.

Piano has built three museums in Texas: the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, and the Menil Collection and the Cy Twombly Gallery in Houston.

Other projects include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, known as the Beaubourg, which he designed with Richard Rogers; Switzerland’s Beyeler Museum in Basel and Klee Museum in Bern; and the recently opened California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. He also designed the expansions of the Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Morgan Library & Museum in New York.