Silver Mountain Resort opens indoor water park

Silver Mountain Resort opens indoor water park

KELLOGG, Idaho — Skiing and surfing overlapped for a weekend at the Silver Mountain Resort, as the ski season ended June 1 and the new Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark opened May 30.

The 42,000-square-foot indoor water park includes a FlowRider Surf Wave surfing machine, a family raft ride with a water slide, two enclosed tube slides, a lazy river, a spray deck for toddlers, an activity pool with basketball hoops, a watery obstacle course, and a multi-level play structure with a giant tipping bucket. For adults, there’s a hot tub area with a bar.

The ski resort also offers outdoor summer activities, including downhill mountain biking. Concerts scheduled for this summer include Ted Nugent on July 27 and Corbin Blue from “High School Musical” on Aug. 2. The Annual Microbrew Festival takes place Aug. 9. Fly-fishing in nearby lakes is also popular in the region.

For more information, visit www.silvermt.com or call (800) 204-6428.

Paperless boarding pass utilized at more airports

NEWARK, N.J. — Air travelers whose cell phones get e-mail now have more airports where they can utilize paperless boarding passes for Continental Airlines flights.

The program started in Houston last year, and is now available for flights out of Newark Liberty International Airport, Logan International Airport in Boston and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Boarding passes that Continental e-mails to passengers’ cell phones and other handheld devices will display an encrypted bar code along with passenger and flight information.

Transportation Security Administration officials will use hand-held scanners to validate the passes.

Users must be flying alone to a domestic destination.

Milwaukee to dedicate ‘Happy Days’ statue

MILWAUKEE — Downtown Milwaukee will soon have a permanent reminder of the “Happy Days” television show.

The bronze statue of Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli, played by Henry Winkler, will be dedicated Aug. 19 along the Milwaukee River.

“Happy Days” was set in Milwaukee and aired from 1974 to 1984.

Most of the show’s stars are expected to attend the ceremony, including Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley and the show’s creator, Garry Marshall.

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams from “Laverne Shirley,” a spinoff of “Happy Days,” also are expected to attend.

Hotels still available for Beijing Olympics

BEIJING — There are still plenty of hotel rooms available for the Beijing Olympics.

Director of Beijing’s Tourism Bureau Zhang Huiguang says the crunch that was predicted doesn’t seem to be happening.

She said that about 500,000 foreigners were expected for the games, a figure Beijing officials have long been predicting.

She said only 77 percent of capacity at Beijing’s five-star hotels have been booked during the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games, and the four-star hotel rate is only 44 percent. And it’s even lower for three- and two-stars.

One reason could be China’s crack down on visa procedures, targeting students and others on short-term stays who might be activists intent on protesting during the Olympics.

High-speed ferry arrives

PORTLAND, Maine — The high-speed ferry called The Cat has arrived for the first time at its new home on the Portland waterfront.

The 320-foot catamaran arrived at the city’s $21 million Ocean Gateway terminal, which will serve The Cat as well as cruise ships.

The ship’s owner, Bay Ferries, has signed a five-year lease with the city. Service between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, began in May.

Associated Press