A recent news story carried by Forbes mentions Innovationedge (the small firm where I work). The story is really about an amazing inventor, Mick Gordon, one of our clients, whose invention for improved dispensing of wet wipes recently won yet another major award. His KlenzPod™ invention may lead to greatly improved control of disease-causing germs in many environments. Very exciting!

Updates on three restaurants:

Dong Po, the Chinese restaurant at Richmond and College Avenue that used to be Chef Chu's, continues the excellent tradition of high-quality Chinese food at that location. The chef is outstanding. Excellent, savory sauces, very tender meat, with a large menu. I took my family there and we were quite impressed with each of three dishes we tried. I had Sacha Beef - first time I tried it. Very tender, nice veggies with the thin beef in a flavorful sauce. We also had dishes with seafood and chicken that were very impressive also. Large, succulent shrimp, very tender chicken (not easy to do). Our waiter was extremely friendly and attentive, originally from Fuzhou, China.

Dong Po: with a name like that, you know it's got to be authentic, right? I mean, no American would make up a name like that with such awkward possibilities, so you know we're dealing with real Chinese food. And tasty!

Ground Round has a surprisingly large menu. The name makes one think of steaks, but the menu has sections for pasta, Mexican food, sandwhiches, and more. I tried a chicken linguine that was terrific. And the flatbread on the side was perfect. Great place for lunch or dinner. Relatively inexpensive. In Neenah, at the Bridgewood Resort.

Went to Taste of Thai with a friend for lunch. Very small selection - I think only six real dishes to choose from, no salad bar or deserts other than some cheap chocolate-filled tubes. The dishes were good, but not sure I'd go out of my way to go there again.

One of the cute and quirky perks of being in Appleton is the public trolley we have. Runs regularly through the town to several points of interest. Hop on board! A nice part of our public transportation system. Come on, New York, can you beat this?

Wisconsin had intense storms in the past few days, with tornado warnings in the central part of the state and reports of huge hail, hurricane-force winds, and intense rain. One result was that a popular Wisconsin resort area less than 3 hours from here had a dam wash out, releasing much of Lake Delton into the Wisconsin River. Frightening what the power of water can do.

Could this happen to the Fox Valley someday? We do have dams on the Fox River that hold back Lake Winnebago. If there were to fail, there could be a dramatic surge. But the dams are in stages and have strong structural support, so I think the odds are remote.

If you're in the Fox Valley and would like the experience of participating in a team of innovators to help generate inventive concepts related to household safety products, let me know. There's a chance you could get your name on a patent and cut of the royalties that might be generated. Jlindsay at innovationedge.com.