Imagine 'Moore' with craft contest

If you are looking for some fun to do with the kids this fall, why not check out A.C. Moore's anniversary celebration in a few weeks? The store is inviting crafters of all ages to join employees at the A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, Cowesett Corners, here in Warwick, on Saturday, Oct. 3 in celebration of the companys 24th anniversary. The arts and crafts events will begin at 11 a.m. with birthday cake and a Pumpkin Decorating Make & Take from 1 to 3 p.m. Here, visitors can buy a pumpkin to carve and decorate it at the store. From 3 to 5 p.m. there’s free papercrafting and scrapbooking advice and free classes for birthday parties, and gift cards. Mark the calendar.

Local Panera employees awarded for excellence

At its Leadership Meeting at Six Flags in Agawam, MA, one of Panera Breads franchises, the Howley Bread Group recognized some of its employees for excellence and leadership during the second quarter of 2009. The Howley Bread Group owns and operates 20 Panera Bread bakery-cafes in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Earning Baker of the Quarter honors, was Warwick resident Jen Pasqualini for consistently producing great bakes and being easy to work with the retail team at the Route 2 bakery. Leadership is an important part of everyday life at Panera, said Bahjat Shariff, vice president of operations. Our award recipients recognize that setting an example, striving to provide a positive dining experience for customers, and performing to the best of their ability makes a true leader. Warwick resident Simone Gauvin was named Associate of the Quarter for the East Greenwich location and the Warwick location's winner was Hilarie McGrath.

RI Web site wins national honor

We offer congratulations to the Rhode Island State Government and Rhode Island Interactive. Rhode Island's official Web site www.RI.gov has earned top honors in the Interactive Media Awards, an international competition for excellence in Web site design and development. The site – a joint effort between the State of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Interactive – was named an Outstanding Achievement winner in the Government category for meeting the highest standards of design, usability, innovation, content and accessibility. RI.gov was once again recognized as a top Web site by the Center for Digital Government in the 2009 "Best of the Web" competition. The survey evaluates state, city and county Web sites on their functionality for improved citizen access. The site was identified as one of the ten best in the country, marking the third time in four years RI.gov has earned the honor. We're pleased to have RI.gov recognized as a best-in-class Web site and I congratulate the team behind this work, said Governor Donald L. Carcieri. "Citizens are turning to the Web more and more to conduct government business, and it's important to provide an easy-to-use, informative resource." RI.gov provides over 1,200 links to state and local government Web pages and information and over seventy online government services. The site also offers an 'open checkbook' displaying the latest expenditure and budget data for twenty state agencies and offices. RI.gov is also an industry leader in 'Web 2.0', using emerging Web trends and technology to help citizens interact with government. RI.gov offers a Twitter feed of state agency press releases, a YouTube channel for government video notifications, and homework help via live chat with a Rhode Island librarian. A Flickr photo pool has over 1,000 publicly submitted photos mapped to popular Rhode Island locations, and much of the portal's database is available through XML feed for developers to use in data-sharing projects. More information about the Interactive Media Awards is available at www.interactivemediaawards.com/.