Governor, First Lady to Light Governor's Mansion Christmas Tree

Governor Sonny Perdue and First Lady Mary Perdue will host the annual tree lighting at the Governor’s Mansion this SUNDAY, December 5 at 6:30 p.m., an event jump starting the Mansion holiday touring season.

“Mary and I would like to invite Georgians to visit the Governor’s Mansion this holiday season,” said Governor Perdue. “It is our privilege to welcome visitors to the Mansion and celebrate the holidays in this beautiful residence.”

The annual holiday tour hosts musical performances from students and groups from across the state.   Tours featuring the holiday-themed decorations at the Governor’s Mansion will be held Dec. 6 through Dec. 17, Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 p.m. to 1 p.m. For information regarding holiday tours please visit www.mansion.georgia.gov.

The Governor’s Mansion is also a drop-off location for Toys for Tots. Visitors are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy for children ranging from toddlers-18 years of age. Toys for Tots Began in 1947, when Major Bill Hendricks, USCR and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The tradition has continued for more than 60 years and thousands of toys are donated each year. More information on the Toys for Tots program can be found at www.toysfortots.org.

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Macon Launches Georgia's Largest Community-Wide Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Initiative

PRNewswire/ -- Macon launched its community-wide child sexual abuse prevention initiative on Saturday with huge success. Hosted by the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, "Macon A Difference" held at the Macon Train Terminal kicked off the state's most comprehensive community-wide Darkness to Light training initiative to date. More than 200 people turned out to take a stand against child sexual abuse, and nearly 100 people signed up for Darkness to Light training.

"We were thrilled to see such a large turnout from the Macon community on Saturday," said Nancy Chandler, CEO of the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy. "With such an initial strong show of support, we are confident we will reach our goal of training 6,000 adults in Macon by the end of 2009, and one million Georgians by 2020."

Frank Malloy of WMAZ-13 opened the event with facts about child sexual abuse and introduced Bibb County Schools Superintendent Sharon Patterson who discussed the importance of the Darkness to Light training initiative to the faculty and staff of Macon schools. Georgia Center for Child Advocacy CEO Nancy Chandler spoke to attendees about the importance of getting adults trained on preventing child sexual abuse, and presented a proclamation signed by Mayor Robert Reichert declaring Sept. 13 Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Day in Macon. Attendees not only participated in the free Darkness to Light training and signed up for future trainings, but also pledged their support to protect children by signing a banner which will remain on display in Macon at The Medical Center of Central Georgia.

The Darkness to Light training curriculum educates adults to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. The Georgia Center hopes to motivate more and more adults throughout the state to sign-up for the training in order to recognize and prevent instances of child sexual abuse.

"The Macon community has proven its commitment to protecting its children from sexual abuse," said Chandler. "The next step in stopping child sexual abuse in Georgia is for every city to follow Macon's lead and implement comprehensive community-wide Darkness to Light training initiatives in their own town."

The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy is working with other local child sexual abuse organizations throughout the state to institute similar community-wide Darkness to Light training initiatives. The Macon event was successful thanks to numerous Macon community partners and volunteers including Crescent House, Bibb County DFCS, Bibb County School System, Georgia Children's Museum, Peyton Anderson Foundation, Macon Police Department, Bibb County Sheriff's Department, Exchange Club of Macon, WMAZ-13, and Food Lion.

For more information on Darkness to Light training in your community please visit www.georgiacenterforchildadvocacy.org or call 678-904-2880 x205.

About The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy

The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, a nationally certified child advocacy center is the preeminent authority on the treatment of childhood sexual abuse, providing evaluation and treatment for children's long-term recovery, and leading a statewide prevention and education program to end the sexual abuse on children.

About Darkness to Light

Darkness to Light is a nonprofit organization that seeks to protect children from sexual abuse by placing responsibility on adult shoulders. They educate adults to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.

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Cooper Controls Launches iLumin Control System for North American Marketplace

BUSINESS WIRE--Cooper Controls Ltd., a subsidiary of Cooper Industries, Ltd. (NYSE:CBE), announces the launch of iLumin, a new architectural control system for complete lighting management in North American markets. The iLumin product line will capitalize on increasing energy codes, “green” market trends, and increased awareness of the need to control and manage the lighting in architectural spaces such as Hotels, Casinos, Convention Centers, Auditoriums, and general commercial environments.

“iLumin will complement our Greengate Energy Management Solutions, which debuted in North American markets in March 2008,” said Ken Walma, General Manager, Cooper Controls North America. “It includes a number of innovative features, including real-time energy metering and direct Ethernet connections which are ideal for performance architectural environments that currently lack these technology advancements.”

Cooper Controls utilized extensive experience from UK-based Polaron (acquired April, 2007) and global R&D teams to design, develop, and manufacture the product within 12 months. The iLumin system is continued evidence of the successful integration of four targeted Cooper Controls acquisitions.

“This launch represents a success story on multiple fronts: continued double digit growth of a global business, launching an innovative ‘industry first’ product line, and the integration of global R&D teams on a common hardware/software platform, supply chain, company culture and value set,” said Joe Stelzer, VP & Managing Director, Global Business, Cooper Controls Ltd.

The iLumin system is an iterative development of the iLight control system installed in several thousand projects in the UK, Europe, Middle East, and China. The system incorporates lighting source controller panels that replace standard lighting breaker or relay panels, which can switch or dim any lighting source with input from a control station or a touchscreen, timeclock, building management system, or PC.

iLumin source controllers have a number of attractive features, including the ability to control any lighting load type, (incandescent, fluorescent, high intensity discharge, LED), delivery of actual metered energy usage of those loads, and automatic data collection of that information via on-board Ethernet connectivity.

In the past, energy savings from lighting controls was limited to energy management products such as occupancy and daylight sensors. iLumin now allows high end customers who have been using standard theatre or dimmer based systems to continue to meet performance requirements, while also benefiting from the measuring and monitoring of energy usage as well.