Wolffhaus

Boeing & ANA unveil R2-D2 Dreamliner 

Star Wars theme music played and Storm Troopers held guard as the hangar doors began to open. Within moments, a Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” painted with likeness of R2-D2 emerged to a cheering crowd at Boeing’s wide-body assembly line facility in Everett.The airplane featuring images of the loyal droid from the Star Wars franchise belongs to Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) and will begin flying paying passengers Oct. 18. The jet’s first revenue flight is scheduled for a run between Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Vancouver, Canada.

After supporting and promoting local artists’ work for over 54 years, a nonprofit contemporary art center in a converted Elizabethan-style home in New Haven, Connecticut, will likely shut down this week, despite months of pleading and organizing by its supporters. On July 31, the John Slade Ely House (JSEH) will close in preparation for sale by its trustee, the bank Wells Fargo, which announced the news in early March, as the New Haven Independent first reported. The bank cites costly restorations that are beyond the trust’s budget to undertake as the reason for its decision to sell. But the Ely House’s caretakers dispute those claims, contending that the building is well maintained and in stable condition. Supporters of the historic home, built in 1905 by Alfredo S. G. Taylor, are now rallying to halt the sale and save the Ely House, whose future and continued role as a space for local art are now unclear.