A 9-foot-tall praying mantis watched passers-by at the corner of Fillmore Street and Cheney Drive West.
People didn’t fear the large insect. After all, it wouldn’t bite them.
“Violin Praying Mantis” is a metal sculpture created by Gooding resident Jacob Novinger as an entry in this year’s Art & Soul of the Magic Valley contest. The citywide art contest kicks off today and runs through May 5, and anyone who strolls the streets of Twin Falls to puruse the art can help decide the winners.
It is the second year the Art Guild of Magic Valley and the Magic Valley Arts Council have sponsored the event. And, director Art Hoag said, it’s bigger and better than last year.
This spring, 178 artists entered their work, compared with last year’s 94, and $30,000 will be given away in prizes this time, compared with $10,000 in the contest’s first year. Artists came from around Idaho and even from neighboring states.
Money comes from artist fees — $50 each — and sponsor and venue fees — $100 each — plus donations from area residents and businesses, Hoag said.
The contest is not only a way to get artists and their work recognized, but to promote area businesses.
“I think that people are getting a better idea about what the contest is about,” Hoag said. “It’s about getting community involvement in a collaborative effort.”
The artists’ work is scattered throughout Twin Falls in 45 businesses, he said. Don’t just view the art; let the businesses know you appreciate them.
When stopping by to see the praying mantis, check out sponsor Lori Ward’s store, Flutter, where she’s also sponsoring four other pieces of art. The mantis sculpture, she said, is “awesome. I like that it’s imaginative and well-executed.”
Head next door for art and a frozen yogurt at Kiwi Loco, then over to Cycle Therapy. Inside the bike shop, notice the colorful painting by Twin Falls artist JasonUrry. Titled “Morning Light,”it shows a barn with sunlight streaming onto its roof.
The painting is meant to “bring feelings of the quiet serenity of mornings in a small town where the glorious sunrise is not obstructed by tall buildings,” Urry said.
Cycle Therapy owner RobinSeastrom said she’s excited to meet new customers as they come in to see the art.
“Come and have a yogurt” at Kiwi Loco, she said, “and ride a bike.”
Head downtown to see another sculpture, this one of a blue heron perched on the corner of Shoshone Street and Main Avenue. The 8-foot bird sculpted by Maylen Pierson of Lewiston, Utah, sits amidst the tables and chairs outside O’Dunkens Draught House.
Got a craving for something sweet? Head next door to The Cookie Basket to see the large ceramic-tile painting by Scott Moon of Hansen, depicting a hardened cowboy on a bucking horse.
Shop owner Jayne Fischer said she’s sponsoring four other pieces of art, including “Sepia Significance,” a lifelike oil painting by Kathy Lilyford of Buhl. It’s of an attractive woman dressed Western style.
Once she agreed to sponsor the ceramic tile, Fischer said, the western theme was set.
She’s excited to see the other art in the contest and meet new people as they come into her store.
2012年4月27日星期五
2012年4月26日星期四
The Neuro Hospital ‘Gift of the people for the people’
The Neuro Hospital (Institute of Neurology) on Kynsey road opposite the De Soysa Maternity Hospital, is 30 years old. It is a unique hospital built entirely from public donations in the short space of three years. The Lake House group of newspapers helped in no small measure to make this unusual project a success, by giving publicity to the project, the progress and donors.
Diseases of the nervous system affect the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. If they are not diagnosed early and treated adequately, the patient may be disabled for life. Even in the 1970s the patient with a neurological ailment did not receive the special attention they needed. A few beds were allocated in the general medical wards for the neurologically ill patient with little or no special attention. At that time there were no CT scanners or MRI scanners, and diagnosis depended on traumatic investigations like angiography, myelography and electromyography, for which there was a quota and a waiting list. The only non interventional investigation available was the EEG and even this machine was located in the surgical unit. Medical neurology was a much neglected specialty.
Thus there was an urgent need for a specialized unit or hospital where neurological disorders could be diagnosed early and accurately and managed by specialized staff. It was the lack of these facilities that led to the concept of a separate Neuro hospital where all the facilities for diagnosis and treatment are available under one roof, as is available in the Institute of Neurology of today. To start this ambitious project was not easy. All the necessary items were missing viz: land, funds and a suitable contractor willing to undertake an unusual project without and advance or adequate safeguards for payment.
With difficulty we found a narrow strip of land adjacent to the Kynsey road opposite the De Soysa Maternity home which served as garages for consultants. There were two obstacles - a large tree which needed special permission for felling and removal and the standby generator for the General hospital which had to be relocated at an immense cost, which we were able to obtain from the President's fund.
Having circumvented this initial obstacle, we had to have plans drawn for a custom built Neuro hospital. Fortunately, the Design Consortium headed by Navin Gooneratne came to our rescue by drawing the plans free of charge. He also requested Mohan Coomaraswamy to provide the necessary technical input and regular follow up of the building process.
The biggest challenge was still to come - obtaining funds. We were given the encouragement we needed by a donation for the ground floor by Milina Sumathipala, in memory of her husband. The first fund raising function was held in the official residence of the then Medical superintendent, Dr Joe Fernando with Hema Premadasa, the wife of the Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa as the chief guest. We needed a steady flow of funds to keep the building programme in motion and for this we needed an energetic committee. Fortunately, the Hospital Welfare Services of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress headed by Venerable Vipassi were able to muster a small dedicated committee for the purpose. It was virtually going round with a 'begging bowl' for a worthy cause. We had two regular meetings every week - on Sundays to discuss funding and Thursdays to discuss technical details. It was a 'turn key job' in construction parlance - build while collecting funds, in spite of which there wasn't a single day off work.
Diseases of the nervous system affect the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. If they are not diagnosed early and treated adequately, the patient may be disabled for life. Even in the 1970s the patient with a neurological ailment did not receive the special attention they needed. A few beds were allocated in the general medical wards for the neurologically ill patient with little or no special attention. At that time there were no CT scanners or MRI scanners, and diagnosis depended on traumatic investigations like angiography, myelography and electromyography, for which there was a quota and a waiting list. The only non interventional investigation available was the EEG and even this machine was located in the surgical unit. Medical neurology was a much neglected specialty.
Thus there was an urgent need for a specialized unit or hospital where neurological disorders could be diagnosed early and accurately and managed by specialized staff. It was the lack of these facilities that led to the concept of a separate Neuro hospital where all the facilities for diagnosis and treatment are available under one roof, as is available in the Institute of Neurology of today. To start this ambitious project was not easy. All the necessary items were missing viz: land, funds and a suitable contractor willing to undertake an unusual project without and advance or adequate safeguards for payment.
With difficulty we found a narrow strip of land adjacent to the Kynsey road opposite the De Soysa Maternity home which served as garages for consultants. There were two obstacles - a large tree which needed special permission for felling and removal and the standby generator for the General hospital which had to be relocated at an immense cost, which we were able to obtain from the President's fund.
Having circumvented this initial obstacle, we had to have plans drawn for a custom built Neuro hospital. Fortunately, the Design Consortium headed by Navin Gooneratne came to our rescue by drawing the plans free of charge. He also requested Mohan Coomaraswamy to provide the necessary technical input and regular follow up of the building process.
The biggest challenge was still to come - obtaining funds. We were given the encouragement we needed by a donation for the ground floor by Milina Sumathipala, in memory of her husband. The first fund raising function was held in the official residence of the then Medical superintendent, Dr Joe Fernando with Hema Premadasa, the wife of the Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa as the chief guest. We needed a steady flow of funds to keep the building programme in motion and for this we needed an energetic committee. Fortunately, the Hospital Welfare Services of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress headed by Venerable Vipassi were able to muster a small dedicated committee for the purpose. It was virtually going round with a 'begging bowl' for a worthy cause. We had two regular meetings every week - on Sundays to discuss funding and Thursdays to discuss technical details. It was a 'turn key job' in construction parlance - build while collecting funds, in spite of which there wasn't a single day off work.
2012年4月25日星期三
UK recession case studies - how three firms are weathering the storm
Despite today's return to recession, it's not all doom and gloom for British industry. Amtico is a manufacturing business that continues to benefit from retailers, despite the sector's ongoing UK woes. The Coventry-based flooring manufacturer counts shops from Germany to the US among its biggest clients and its home market remains strong. "It is looking fine," says Jonathan Duck, Amtico's chief executive. While construction has suffered in the UK over the past three months, Amtico has benefited from refurbishment orders from retailers, offices and hospitals. "Most of it is remodelling and refurbishment. If you are largely in the new-build sector things might look a little different, because that has been depressed."
Amtico's floor tiles can last 25 years in a well-trodden environment, underlining the company's appeal at a time when capital expenditure has to endure and the path to recovery grows ever longer. It posted double-digit revenue growth in the first quarter and expects the same for the whole financial year, which ended in March. It has also repatriated some manufacturing from China after whittling down costs.
Duck says there are many more companies that have outperformed the wider economy. "There are lots of people like us out there who are succeeding.But the issue is that when you have government spending accounting for 50% of the economy, and that is being reduced, you are going to hear squeals."
He admits, however, that doom and gloom will have an impact. "It is a confidence game. Looking at the eurozone will affect people's investment plans."
Amtico's spending proposals are safe after it was taken over by a US business in March, although Duck would like to see UK businesses unlock a corporate cash pile that stands at 754bn, according to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club.
The UK is not investing enough, he says, due to a mix of low confidence at home and abroad, an uncompetitive tax regime and a lack of bank funding. "I would love to find a way of unlocking this corporate cash that has built up," he says.
Hard times mean difficult meetings for Jill Thomas, whose wealth management firm on the edge of Sheffield is getting more and more clients from both ends of business – success and failure.
"It can get quite emotional for all of us," she says of sessions with former riders of the 'noughties' boom whose investments on borrowings have crunched and, judging by today's GDP figures, are not in sight of revival any time soon.
"It has to be a Betty Ford moment," she says, comparing the plight of those caught by hard times with the United States' First Lady who had the courage to confront her alcoholism. "It may be a matter of accepting losses and dealing with them before things get worse, but facing up to reality is the essential first step."
The offices of Future Life are in a converted stables at Renishaw Hall but a dose of Yorkshire pragmatism isn't always enough to solve problems for her clients.
Her team of accountants and lawyers comb regulations and financial options, both to rescue clients landed with debts – unsaleable and unlettable foreign property is a commonplace – and others who might have, for example, a flourishing engineering firm but need skilful handling of expansion in a turbulent market.
"Part of the time, we're looking at options which are available now," she says, citing a way in which currently low-valued commercial premises can be bought through a self-invested personal pension scheme, thus helping a business through hard times. "Sometimes it's keeping a more strategic eye: we've had two meetings this week where quantitative easing has come up, and its possible effect on final salary pension funds. Take that with the gender equality retirement measures and the time we're taking to get out of recession, and you've the makings of a perfect storm."
Thomas talks with the brio of a well-experienced sailor heading into rough seas, but she's also sustained by a conviction that the trials of double-dip mask a different challenge: the UK's unreadiness for success.
She says: "One of the commonest cries of successful manufacturing clients is: where are the skills? They've won back orders from China because their standards are so much higher, but they need new staff to come in and keep that up."
Amtico's floor tiles can last 25 years in a well-trodden environment, underlining the company's appeal at a time when capital expenditure has to endure and the path to recovery grows ever longer. It posted double-digit revenue growth in the first quarter and expects the same for the whole financial year, which ended in March. It has also repatriated some manufacturing from China after whittling down costs.
Duck says there are many more companies that have outperformed the wider economy. "There are lots of people like us out there who are succeeding.But the issue is that when you have government spending accounting for 50% of the economy, and that is being reduced, you are going to hear squeals."
He admits, however, that doom and gloom will have an impact. "It is a confidence game. Looking at the eurozone will affect people's investment plans."
Amtico's spending proposals are safe after it was taken over by a US business in March, although Duck would like to see UK businesses unlock a corporate cash pile that stands at 754bn, according to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club.
The UK is not investing enough, he says, due to a mix of low confidence at home and abroad, an uncompetitive tax regime and a lack of bank funding. "I would love to find a way of unlocking this corporate cash that has built up," he says.
Hard times mean difficult meetings for Jill Thomas, whose wealth management firm on the edge of Sheffield is getting more and more clients from both ends of business – success and failure.
"It can get quite emotional for all of us," she says of sessions with former riders of the 'noughties' boom whose investments on borrowings have crunched and, judging by today's GDP figures, are not in sight of revival any time soon.
"It has to be a Betty Ford moment," she says, comparing the plight of those caught by hard times with the United States' First Lady who had the courage to confront her alcoholism. "It may be a matter of accepting losses and dealing with them before things get worse, but facing up to reality is the essential first step."
The offices of Future Life are in a converted stables at Renishaw Hall but a dose of Yorkshire pragmatism isn't always enough to solve problems for her clients.
Her team of accountants and lawyers comb regulations and financial options, both to rescue clients landed with debts – unsaleable and unlettable foreign property is a commonplace – and others who might have, for example, a flourishing engineering firm but need skilful handling of expansion in a turbulent market.
"Part of the time, we're looking at options which are available now," she says, citing a way in which currently low-valued commercial premises can be bought through a self-invested personal pension scheme, thus helping a business through hard times. "Sometimes it's keeping a more strategic eye: we've had two meetings this week where quantitative easing has come up, and its possible effect on final salary pension funds. Take that with the gender equality retirement measures and the time we're taking to get out of recession, and you've the makings of a perfect storm."
Thomas talks with the brio of a well-experienced sailor heading into rough seas, but she's also sustained by a conviction that the trials of double-dip mask a different challenge: the UK's unreadiness for success.
She says: "One of the commonest cries of successful manufacturing clients is: where are the skills? They've won back orders from China because their standards are so much higher, but they need new staff to come in and keep that up."
2012年4月24日星期二
RaceWay Fine-Tunes Its Design
RaceTrac Petroleum Corp.'s RaceWay division rolled out its first new prototype in 2009, featuring a larger footprint, more cooler doors and an expanded foodservice area. The division, which focuses on the company's contractor-operated convenience stores vs. its RaceTrac company-operated stores, then reached out to its franchisee operators for feedback and decided to make a few more adjustments to accommodate new foodservice programs and better meet the demands of being a one-stop shop.
In 2011, RaceWay opened seven stores featuring its new design, and the chain will add 20 more prototype stores this year. The division, which has approximately 290 c-stores across 12 states in the Southeast, is also retrofitting some existing buildings with features taken from the new prototype as well.
"Seeking this kind of feedback from our operators follows our mission: 'to build long-term mutually beneficial relationships with outstanding operators,'" Justen Giambalvo, director of RaceWay operations, told CSNews Online.
The retailer's latest design includes changes to both the exterior and interior compared to the original 2009 prototype. On the exterior, the company chose a center tower design with a larger soffit in order to direct a customer's attention to the front doors of the store. For the same purpose, the design also incorporates new front windows. This draws attention to interior signage, while also allowing for more natural light, according to Giambalvo.
"Our goal on the exterior was to make the building stand apart from the canopy," he explained. "We wanted to create a classic look for the building that would stand the test of time."
Materials used for the exterior facade include brick, stone and an exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS). The use of both brick and stone offer different textures to "create a warm feel, telling our customers visually that 'this isn't your average convenience store,'" Giambalvo noted.
For the interior, the company added a beer cave, a flexible foodservice area, larger coffee and fountain areas, expanded restrooms and a larger back room. The main goal was to use the feedback received from the operators to create an attractive and efficient overall layout, he said.
"We wanted the inside to be inviting to the customers and have all the features necessary for our operators' success," he added. "We wanted to create an environment where customers can navigate the store easily and find the items they need quickly."
Ceramic tile flooring is featured throughout, and LED lights were installed in the coolers. In the coffee and fountain area, 12 feet of millwork was added to allow operators the needed space for the latest coffees, teas and other fountain offerings. Additionally, the deli or foodservice area is now near the center of the store -- in close proximity to the checkout -- so operators can maximize labor and make food the "centerpiece of the store," Giambalvo said.
Adding the beer cave to the new design was also based on operator feedback. They wanted the ability to expand specialty beer in the cooler, while also bulk-buying cases for the cave, Giambalvo said. This allows operators to provide their customers with the best selection and pricing possible.
In 2011, RaceWay opened seven stores featuring its new design, and the chain will add 20 more prototype stores this year. The division, which has approximately 290 c-stores across 12 states in the Southeast, is also retrofitting some existing buildings with features taken from the new prototype as well.
"Seeking this kind of feedback from our operators follows our mission: 'to build long-term mutually beneficial relationships with outstanding operators,'" Justen Giambalvo, director of RaceWay operations, told CSNews Online.
The retailer's latest design includes changes to both the exterior and interior compared to the original 2009 prototype. On the exterior, the company chose a center tower design with a larger soffit in order to direct a customer's attention to the front doors of the store. For the same purpose, the design also incorporates new front windows. This draws attention to interior signage, while also allowing for more natural light, according to Giambalvo.
"Our goal on the exterior was to make the building stand apart from the canopy," he explained. "We wanted to create a classic look for the building that would stand the test of time."
Materials used for the exterior facade include brick, stone and an exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS). The use of both brick and stone offer different textures to "create a warm feel, telling our customers visually that 'this isn't your average convenience store,'" Giambalvo noted.
For the interior, the company added a beer cave, a flexible foodservice area, larger coffee and fountain areas, expanded restrooms and a larger back room. The main goal was to use the feedback received from the operators to create an attractive and efficient overall layout, he said.
"We wanted the inside to be inviting to the customers and have all the features necessary for our operators' success," he added. "We wanted to create an environment where customers can navigate the store easily and find the items they need quickly."
Ceramic tile flooring is featured throughout, and LED lights were installed in the coolers. In the coffee and fountain area, 12 feet of millwork was added to allow operators the needed space for the latest coffees, teas and other fountain offerings. Additionally, the deli or foodservice area is now near the center of the store -- in close proximity to the checkout -- so operators can maximize labor and make food the "centerpiece of the store," Giambalvo said.
Adding the beer cave to the new design was also based on operator feedback. They wanted the ability to expand specialty beer in the cooler, while also bulk-buying cases for the cave, Giambalvo said. This allows operators to provide their customers with the best selection and pricing possible.
2012年4月23日星期一
River Watcher: The Clay Connection
Near the Diversion Dam at Oroville after a spring rain, I discovered a puddle rimmed with a photogenic film of yellow pine pollen. In the process of getting close, I stepped into gummy clay mud, and the Nike rippled soles were plastered as I skidded my way to solid ground.
Clay! That type of soil is like a mixture of glue-stirred, pliable slick manure, as a ceramist well knows, but fortunately, water, nature's greatest solvent, comes to the rescue. Let clay dry, though, and you have a brick or yellow caked shoes, or it can be permanently hardened by firing in a kiln to make pottery.
According to geological summaries, the Earth was a mass of melted magma for the first two billion or so years after its creation until it finally cooled down into solid rock. At least on the surface. The hot liquid magma lurks beneath the crust at our feet!
Until living creatures got into the act with organic matter, rock ruled, and erosion contributed pulverized pieces to the formation of future soils. Clay is essentially fine-ground rock-minerals containing trapped water molecules, which may be mixed with sand, loam, and loess to form various degrees of soil — the foundation of life.
I think of clay bluffs in my homeland of Northern Missouri. Bunker Hill and Foxden Bluff were mounded hills of secondary clay; composed of smashed glacial gravel drift called glacial till, but I loved to explore those eroded "mountains" and find transported Lake Superior agates, spruce fossil wood, and rocky oddities from far away places.
The creamy colored brick stamped "Mo-Rex" that I have, is fire-brick from Mexico, MO.
Great granite erratic boulders had been shoved far from their origins, and the glacier weight pulverized rock to glacial flour, hence clay. Some of that ice mass was 13,000 feet thick and was like a giant bulldozer. The last Ice Age was about 10,000 years ago, and in three million years there were 30 ice sheet ages fingering across the Midwest to as far south as the Missouri River, and down the spine of the Sierra Range into Yosemite.
Clay that remains in place is called primary clay, and is not infiltrated with till impurities, making it highly desirable for potters to work the fine textured clay. The purest form is called kaolin, used in delicate porcelain. The word Kaolin comes from Kao-ling, China, famous for Chinaware made from the kaolinite aluminum silicate mineral clay combination found there.
In the silica sand removal in Table Mountain's Morris Ravine, pockets of primary clay were found in the sand, and it was pumped into a retaining pit. Ceramist Richard Harvey gained permission to take some of the Artists of River Town there to obtain a few buckets of the grayish clay. You don't want to get stuck in that sticky stuff or you'll sink and be stranded!
Some clay trivia: Clay has been used in construction as bricks and pottery since 6000 B.C. Clay mixed with straw and sun-dried forms adobe bricks. The tile roof on the Feather River Nature Center is fired clay, as it was in the original 1935 building. The core of Oroville Dam is clay transported from the "Clay Pit" southwest of Oroville.
On my desk I have a block of catlinite, or Indian pipestone, bought at Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota by my cousin Al Tolle. Several tribes quarried the very fine soft clay that is wedged between layers of very hard Sioux Quartzite. The argillite metamorphosed mudstone contains kaolinite, making it suitable for pipe-making, as in Native American 'peace pipes'.
Clay! That type of soil is like a mixture of glue-stirred, pliable slick manure, as a ceramist well knows, but fortunately, water, nature's greatest solvent, comes to the rescue. Let clay dry, though, and you have a brick or yellow caked shoes, or it can be permanently hardened by firing in a kiln to make pottery.
According to geological summaries, the Earth was a mass of melted magma for the first two billion or so years after its creation until it finally cooled down into solid rock. At least on the surface. The hot liquid magma lurks beneath the crust at our feet!
Until living creatures got into the act with organic matter, rock ruled, and erosion contributed pulverized pieces to the formation of future soils. Clay is essentially fine-ground rock-minerals containing trapped water molecules, which may be mixed with sand, loam, and loess to form various degrees of soil — the foundation of life.
I think of clay bluffs in my homeland of Northern Missouri. Bunker Hill and Foxden Bluff were mounded hills of secondary clay; composed of smashed glacial gravel drift called glacial till, but I loved to explore those eroded "mountains" and find transported Lake Superior agates, spruce fossil wood, and rocky oddities from far away places.
The creamy colored brick stamped "Mo-Rex" that I have, is fire-brick from Mexico, MO.
Great granite erratic boulders had been shoved far from their origins, and the glacier weight pulverized rock to glacial flour, hence clay. Some of that ice mass was 13,000 feet thick and was like a giant bulldozer. The last Ice Age was about 10,000 years ago, and in three million years there were 30 ice sheet ages fingering across the Midwest to as far south as the Missouri River, and down the spine of the Sierra Range into Yosemite.
Clay that remains in place is called primary clay, and is not infiltrated with till impurities, making it highly desirable for potters to work the fine textured clay. The purest form is called kaolin, used in delicate porcelain. The word Kaolin comes from Kao-ling, China, famous for Chinaware made from the kaolinite aluminum silicate mineral clay combination found there.
In the silica sand removal in Table Mountain's Morris Ravine, pockets of primary clay were found in the sand, and it was pumped into a retaining pit. Ceramist Richard Harvey gained permission to take some of the Artists of River Town there to obtain a few buckets of the grayish clay. You don't want to get stuck in that sticky stuff or you'll sink and be stranded!
Some clay trivia: Clay has been used in construction as bricks and pottery since 6000 B.C. Clay mixed with straw and sun-dried forms adobe bricks. The tile roof on the Feather River Nature Center is fired clay, as it was in the original 1935 building. The core of Oroville Dam is clay transported from the "Clay Pit" southwest of Oroville.
On my desk I have a block of catlinite, or Indian pipestone, bought at Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota by my cousin Al Tolle. Several tribes quarried the very fine soft clay that is wedged between layers of very hard Sioux Quartzite. The argillite metamorphosed mudstone contains kaolinite, making it suitable for pipe-making, as in Native American 'peace pipes'.
2012年4月22日星期日
Treating Allergies and Asthma During Pregnancy
Congratulations! You’re pregnant! Now your doctor gives you the bad news — the medications that keep your allergies under control are forbidden during pregnancy. How are you going to survive the next nine months of sniffling, sneezing and wheezing?
The first step to allergy relief is avoidance. Substances such as pollens, molds, animals, dust mites and even drugs such as aspirin can trigger allergic reactions. Eliminating these triggers from your environment is the biggest improvement you can make.
There are medications that can provide relief, but check with your doctor before you try anything, especially during the first trimester when the most development occurs in your baby.
Antihistamines are sometimes used to treat nose and eye symptoms, hives and eczema. But as with any medication used during pregnancy, your doctor will weigh the benefits of these drugs against possible risk to your baby.
Decongestants, especially nasal sprays containing a chemical called oxymetazoline, may be dangerous. In “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth,” Dr. Michele Isaacs Glikman, chief of obstetrics at the Boston Medical Center, explains that oxymetazoline clears the sinus by tightening the small blood vessels in the nasal passages. It can also tighten the arteries that lead to the uterus, reducing the supply of blood and oxygen to your baby. In addition, over-the-counter nasal sprays tend to make your congestion worse if you use them for more than three consecutive days, a condition called “rebound congestion.”
In “I’m Pregnant & I Have A Cold,” Dr. Craig Towers states that an over-the-counter drug called Nasalcrom, which contains the chemical cromolyn sodium, may provide some welcome relief. It is an anti-inflammatory nasal inhaler that prevents your respiratory symptoms from occurring in the first place. Antihistamines work by blocking the effects of histamine after it has been released. Cromolyn sodium prevents the release of histamine, before it gets the chance to cause symptoms.
This drug is poorly absorbed into the bloodstream, so the risk to your baby is minimal. Several studies have shown no increase in major birth defects when pregnant women use it as directed. Again, it is important to discuss this drug with your doctor before using it.
Allergy shots, also known as immunotherapy, are another option. If you are already receiving allergy shots, you may continue this therapy with careful monitoring from your doctor. Immunotherapy usually takes several months to become effective, so starting it after you become pregnant will not do much good.
According to the ACAAI, asthma and allergies are often connected. Asthma is an inflammation of the lung airways that causes coughing, shortened breath and a feeling of tightness in the chest. Allergy triggers, as well as exercise, infections and stress usually cause it. It affects up to 15 million Americans, and 7 percent of expectant mothers.
For about a third of pregnant women who already had asthma, the problem becomes worse. Another third actually improve during pregnancy. The final third see no difference at all. Statistics from the American Medical Association show that asthma symptoms usually become most severe between the 29th and 36th weeks of pregnancy. About 1 in 10 women with asthma experience it during labor and delivery.
If severe asthma is uncontrolled during pregnancy, an expectant mother may suffer from high blood pressure, hypoxemia (low oxygen) or pre-eclampsia. Risks to the baby include premature birth and low birth weight.
“Women are often told to eliminate or restrict the use of many things during pregnancy, including many over-the-counter and prescription medications,” said Michael Schatz, M.D., co-chair of the ACAAI’s pregnancy committee. “In the case of asthma, the potential benefits of using the appropriate medication to control asthma outweigh the potential risks of the medication and uncontrolled asthma.”
According to ACAAI, most asthma medications are not harmful to unborn babies. Inhaled medications are preferred because they have a localized effect, with only small amounts entering the bloodstream.
Inhaled beta2-agonists, sometimes called rescue medications, may help control acute asthma symptoms, especially at night when asthma can make sleeping difficult. Anti-inflammatory medications, or asthma controllers, help prevent the symptoms, and are usually used daily.
An influenza (flu) vaccine may help expectant mothers who suffer from severe asthma. These injections generally pose no risk to the baby.
The first step to allergy relief is avoidance. Substances such as pollens, molds, animals, dust mites and even drugs such as aspirin can trigger allergic reactions. Eliminating these triggers from your environment is the biggest improvement you can make.
There are medications that can provide relief, but check with your doctor before you try anything, especially during the first trimester when the most development occurs in your baby.
Antihistamines are sometimes used to treat nose and eye symptoms, hives and eczema. But as with any medication used during pregnancy, your doctor will weigh the benefits of these drugs against possible risk to your baby.
Decongestants, especially nasal sprays containing a chemical called oxymetazoline, may be dangerous. In “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth,” Dr. Michele Isaacs Glikman, chief of obstetrics at the Boston Medical Center, explains that oxymetazoline clears the sinus by tightening the small blood vessels in the nasal passages. It can also tighten the arteries that lead to the uterus, reducing the supply of blood and oxygen to your baby. In addition, over-the-counter nasal sprays tend to make your congestion worse if you use them for more than three consecutive days, a condition called “rebound congestion.”
In “I’m Pregnant & I Have A Cold,” Dr. Craig Towers states that an over-the-counter drug called Nasalcrom, which contains the chemical cromolyn sodium, may provide some welcome relief. It is an anti-inflammatory nasal inhaler that prevents your respiratory symptoms from occurring in the first place. Antihistamines work by blocking the effects of histamine after it has been released. Cromolyn sodium prevents the release of histamine, before it gets the chance to cause symptoms.
This drug is poorly absorbed into the bloodstream, so the risk to your baby is minimal. Several studies have shown no increase in major birth defects when pregnant women use it as directed. Again, it is important to discuss this drug with your doctor before using it.
Allergy shots, also known as immunotherapy, are another option. If you are already receiving allergy shots, you may continue this therapy with careful monitoring from your doctor. Immunotherapy usually takes several months to become effective, so starting it after you become pregnant will not do much good.
According to the ACAAI, asthma and allergies are often connected. Asthma is an inflammation of the lung airways that causes coughing, shortened breath and a feeling of tightness in the chest. Allergy triggers, as well as exercise, infections and stress usually cause it. It affects up to 15 million Americans, and 7 percent of expectant mothers.
For about a third of pregnant women who already had asthma, the problem becomes worse. Another third actually improve during pregnancy. The final third see no difference at all. Statistics from the American Medical Association show that asthma symptoms usually become most severe between the 29th and 36th weeks of pregnancy. About 1 in 10 women with asthma experience it during labor and delivery.
If severe asthma is uncontrolled during pregnancy, an expectant mother may suffer from high blood pressure, hypoxemia (low oxygen) or pre-eclampsia. Risks to the baby include premature birth and low birth weight.
“Women are often told to eliminate or restrict the use of many things during pregnancy, including many over-the-counter and prescription medications,” said Michael Schatz, M.D., co-chair of the ACAAI’s pregnancy committee. “In the case of asthma, the potential benefits of using the appropriate medication to control asthma outweigh the potential risks of the medication and uncontrolled asthma.”
According to ACAAI, most asthma medications are not harmful to unborn babies. Inhaled medications are preferred because they have a localized effect, with only small amounts entering the bloodstream.
Inhaled beta2-agonists, sometimes called rescue medications, may help control acute asthma symptoms, especially at night when asthma can make sleeping difficult. Anti-inflammatory medications, or asthma controllers, help prevent the symptoms, and are usually used daily.
An influenza (flu) vaccine may help expectant mothers who suffer from severe asthma. These injections generally pose no risk to the baby.
2012年4月19日星期四
Original Vizianagram Hall tile to help in restoration work
Even as the Allahabad University authorities have shown their commitment for the restoration of historical Vizianagram Hall of the Science faculty and its magnificent dome, the work has been hindered in the absence of any specimen of the original broken tiles that were removed to fix the present tiles on the dome. However, now a piece of the tile has been found that may help in restoring the glory of the building.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) in its Xth Five Year Plan sanctioned an amount of Rs 10 crore to AU and three other old universities of the country -- Bombay, Madras and Calcutta varsities -- for restoration of heritage buildings on their campuses. UGC had allocated an amount of Rs 3 crore in the Xth Plan for the purpose, rest was to be given once the amount was utilized.
Later, AU authorities asked the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to prepare a detailed report for restoring four heritage buildings at AU, including Vizianagram Hall, in 2008-09. But after submission of the report, varsity remaining silent and finally asked RITES to undertake the restoration work of Vizianagram Hall and the dome.
Later, a three-member committee of conservation experts was formed by the AU authorities. Its members included convenor of INTACH (Delhi Chapter) Prof A G K Menon, conservation architect Vikas Vedprakash Dilawari of Mumbai and director, Conservation and World Heritage, JanhwijSharma of ASI. It was to give its recommendation on the viability of such ambitious projects. This high-powered committee visited AU in the last week of March and gave its approval to AU V-C Prof Anil Kumar Singh for going ahead with the restoration work.
However, although RITES has been assigned the work for restoration of the dome and the hall, neither the AU authorities nor people from RITES were able to locate any of the broken or intact pieces of the original tile that was removed in 1985 when Prof R P Mishra was the AU V-C.
"Any specimen of the original tile would have been of immense help for the restoration work as we could have then done the chemical analysis of the tile and the material used to plaster the dome which held the tiles for many decades. But unfortunately, we do not have any specimen making our work so difficult," said one of the higher officials of RITES.
In this backdrop, a small piece of the original tile of turquoise blue shade has been found to be in possession of Prof Manas Mukul Das, a former faculty member of the Department of English. "When we witnessed the desecration of AU's heritage, i.e., the dome of the Vizianagram Hall, we collected some broken tiles from the debris and send those pieces to INTACH," said Prof Das. He even handed over one piece of the original tile to TOI.
Quoting from records, Prof Das said: "After the formal opening of the building on April 8, 1886, Sir Alfred Lyall, the Governor of the Province, said in his speech -- 'Now that we have taken to erecting for our students a hall like this in which we are assembled, with cool colonnades, domes, and towers, spacious lecture rooms and libraries, we have set up an external visible sign of the spirit in which our generation regards education'."
Prof Das said the dome tiles of the Vizianagram Hall were glazed by craftsmen of Rajasthan guilds. In Islamic architecture, there is a centuries old history of the art of lustre painting on tiles and the craft of making ceramic bodies of quartz and other glossy material. The art was perhaps imported from Egypt, he added.
About the colour of the tiles, Prof Das said, "The colours mainly used on the tiles were turquoise, cobalt blue and white, and less frequently, green." When Sir W Emerson, who designed the Muir Central College in "a modified Saracenic style", thought of tiles to decorate the Vizianagram Dome, he naturally chose the glazed blue-and-white tiles. "Rai Bahadur Bipin Bihari Chakravarti, Government Executive Engineer, was in charge of the construction work. His papers, now in possession of Ajoy Chakravarti, his great grandson, show that 14 Rajasthani Guilds wore contacted, and some of them entrusted with the task of glazing the tiles brought from England," the professor added.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) in its Xth Five Year Plan sanctioned an amount of Rs 10 crore to AU and three other old universities of the country -- Bombay, Madras and Calcutta varsities -- for restoration of heritage buildings on their campuses. UGC had allocated an amount of Rs 3 crore in the Xth Plan for the purpose, rest was to be given once the amount was utilized.
Later, AU authorities asked the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to prepare a detailed report for restoring four heritage buildings at AU, including Vizianagram Hall, in 2008-09. But after submission of the report, varsity remaining silent and finally asked RITES to undertake the restoration work of Vizianagram Hall and the dome.
Later, a three-member committee of conservation experts was formed by the AU authorities. Its members included convenor of INTACH (Delhi Chapter) Prof A G K Menon, conservation architect Vikas Vedprakash Dilawari of Mumbai and director, Conservation and World Heritage, JanhwijSharma of ASI. It was to give its recommendation on the viability of such ambitious projects. This high-powered committee visited AU in the last week of March and gave its approval to AU V-C Prof Anil Kumar Singh for going ahead with the restoration work.
However, although RITES has been assigned the work for restoration of the dome and the hall, neither the AU authorities nor people from RITES were able to locate any of the broken or intact pieces of the original tile that was removed in 1985 when Prof R P Mishra was the AU V-C.
"Any specimen of the original tile would have been of immense help for the restoration work as we could have then done the chemical analysis of the tile and the material used to plaster the dome which held the tiles for many decades. But unfortunately, we do not have any specimen making our work so difficult," said one of the higher officials of RITES.
In this backdrop, a small piece of the original tile of turquoise blue shade has been found to be in possession of Prof Manas Mukul Das, a former faculty member of the Department of English. "When we witnessed the desecration of AU's heritage, i.e., the dome of the Vizianagram Hall, we collected some broken tiles from the debris and send those pieces to INTACH," said Prof Das. He even handed over one piece of the original tile to TOI.
Quoting from records, Prof Das said: "After the formal opening of the building on April 8, 1886, Sir Alfred Lyall, the Governor of the Province, said in his speech -- 'Now that we have taken to erecting for our students a hall like this in which we are assembled, with cool colonnades, domes, and towers, spacious lecture rooms and libraries, we have set up an external visible sign of the spirit in which our generation regards education'."
Prof Das said the dome tiles of the Vizianagram Hall were glazed by craftsmen of Rajasthan guilds. In Islamic architecture, there is a centuries old history of the art of lustre painting on tiles and the craft of making ceramic bodies of quartz and other glossy material. The art was perhaps imported from Egypt, he added.
About the colour of the tiles, Prof Das said, "The colours mainly used on the tiles were turquoise, cobalt blue and white, and less frequently, green." When Sir W Emerson, who designed the Muir Central College in "a modified Saracenic style", thought of tiles to decorate the Vizianagram Dome, he naturally chose the glazed blue-and-white tiles. "Rai Bahadur Bipin Bihari Chakravarti, Government Executive Engineer, was in charge of the construction work. His papers, now in possession of Ajoy Chakravarti, his great grandson, show that 14 Rajasthani Guilds wore contacted, and some of them entrusted with the task of glazing the tiles brought from England," the professor added.
2012年4月18日星期三
Tigre USA charts growth in Janesville
When it landed in Janesville in 2006, Tigre USA could have been considered a start-up manufacturer of molded PVC fittings.
Certainly new to Janesville, the company also was new to North America.
But don't be fooled. The Brazilian company entered the North American market with 70 years of experience as the world's third-largest maker of PVC pipes, fittings and accessories.
That expertise and history have helped the Janesville plant double in size since 2008.
"We arrived in the United States at a time when the housing market was suffering," said Fabricio Rubine, the general manager of the plant on Beloit Avenue. "We were trying to grow the business in a very hostile environment."
In Janesville, Tigre has 47 employees who work across three shifts to make molded and fabricated fittings for plumbing and sewer applications.
The Janesville plant ships to eight warehouses in the United States. Its products are sold through 30 manufacturer's representatives in North America, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.
In part, the company came to Janesville because of an initial relationship with Freedom Plastics, which no longer is in business.
Tigre USA has grown because it found innovative ways to stand out from its competition, Rubine said.
As examples, he points to the company's incorporation of manufacturing expertise from Tigre's other facilities and the hiring of experienced leaders.
In addition, he said, the company has made significant investments in state-of-the-art equipment, including a 1,000-ton injection molding machine that is the largest of any at other Tigre plants.
The company has two primary sectors. The above-grade plumbing market is traditionally associated with home and business construction, while the sewer market serves municipal infrastructure markets.
"The housing market is very important to us, and when it comes back we will be in a very good position," Rubine said. "We've been very aggressive since we got here to pursue suppliers and distributors and establish relationships with them."
Specifically, he said, Tigre targets niche markets where it can use its size to be creative and flexible in delivering outstanding products and customer service.
That flexibility is evident on Tigre's production floor, where the company's 16 machines use any of 284 different molds to convert resin pellets into fittings with a scrap rate of less than 1 percent.
Production manager Mike Hicks said a new system has enabled employees to become current with their production quotas while still retaining the flexibility to accommodate special orders that require different molds.
A look at a recent production log shows just three of the plant's 430 or so different products on back order.
"Last fall that would have shown 30 back orders," Hicks said.
That improvement is critical to Dagoberto Darezzo, the plant's logistics manager who choreographs order management, shipping and customer service.
"The easiest thing to do is make a production schedule when you're behind," Darezzo said. "The difficult part is when you're ahead."
That's a challenge employees welcome, even as the production schedule now includes weekend work.
Worldwide, Tigre had 2011 revenues of $1.5 billion. It's in the middle of an aggressive growth plan that aims to double the company's size by 2014.
The expansion plan calls for new products and global acquisitions. It also includes an uptick in business at Tigre's existing 22 plants, including Janesville.
Rubine said he'd love to see the operation and its local employment expand in Janesville.
So, too, would Vic Grassman, Janesville's economic development director.
"It's a company I'm impressed with," he said. "I'm convinced Fabricio really wants to grow the company here and has made significant efforts with the corporate headquarters to see if that's possible."
Tigre USA, he said, has easily met the benchmarks tied to the tax increment-financing district in which it's located.
"This is a very mature market with a lot of competition," said Tim Johnson, Tigre USA's marketing and product manager. "We're still relatively small here, and that puts us in the hustle mode.
Certainly new to Janesville, the company also was new to North America.
But don't be fooled. The Brazilian company entered the North American market with 70 years of experience as the world's third-largest maker of PVC pipes, fittings and accessories.
That expertise and history have helped the Janesville plant double in size since 2008.
"We arrived in the United States at a time when the housing market was suffering," said Fabricio Rubine, the general manager of the plant on Beloit Avenue. "We were trying to grow the business in a very hostile environment."
In Janesville, Tigre has 47 employees who work across three shifts to make molded and fabricated fittings for plumbing and sewer applications.
The Janesville plant ships to eight warehouses in the United States. Its products are sold through 30 manufacturer's representatives in North America, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.
In part, the company came to Janesville because of an initial relationship with Freedom Plastics, which no longer is in business.
Tigre USA has grown because it found innovative ways to stand out from its competition, Rubine said.
As examples, he points to the company's incorporation of manufacturing expertise from Tigre's other facilities and the hiring of experienced leaders.
In addition, he said, the company has made significant investments in state-of-the-art equipment, including a 1,000-ton injection molding machine that is the largest of any at other Tigre plants.
The company has two primary sectors. The above-grade plumbing market is traditionally associated with home and business construction, while the sewer market serves municipal infrastructure markets.
"The housing market is very important to us, and when it comes back we will be in a very good position," Rubine said. "We've been very aggressive since we got here to pursue suppliers and distributors and establish relationships with them."
Specifically, he said, Tigre targets niche markets where it can use its size to be creative and flexible in delivering outstanding products and customer service.
That flexibility is evident on Tigre's production floor, where the company's 16 machines use any of 284 different molds to convert resin pellets into fittings with a scrap rate of less than 1 percent.
Production manager Mike Hicks said a new system has enabled employees to become current with their production quotas while still retaining the flexibility to accommodate special orders that require different molds.
A look at a recent production log shows just three of the plant's 430 or so different products on back order.
"Last fall that would have shown 30 back orders," Hicks said.
That improvement is critical to Dagoberto Darezzo, the plant's logistics manager who choreographs order management, shipping and customer service.
"The easiest thing to do is make a production schedule when you're behind," Darezzo said. "The difficult part is when you're ahead."
That's a challenge employees welcome, even as the production schedule now includes weekend work.
Worldwide, Tigre had 2011 revenues of $1.5 billion. It's in the middle of an aggressive growth plan that aims to double the company's size by 2014.
The expansion plan calls for new products and global acquisitions. It also includes an uptick in business at Tigre's existing 22 plants, including Janesville.
Rubine said he'd love to see the operation and its local employment expand in Janesville.
So, too, would Vic Grassman, Janesville's economic development director.
"It's a company I'm impressed with," he said. "I'm convinced Fabricio really wants to grow the company here and has made significant efforts with the corporate headquarters to see if that's possible."
Tigre USA, he said, has easily met the benchmarks tied to the tax increment-financing district in which it's located.
"This is a very mature market with a lot of competition," said Tim Johnson, Tigre USA's marketing and product manager. "We're still relatively small here, and that puts us in the hustle mode.
2012年4月17日星期二
Restaurant owner denies knowing people were living in adjacent suites condemned
The co-owner of Oh! Calcutta restaurant testified Tuesday he was aware a wooden door had been placed on the basement floor as a makeshift bridge so staff could walk across raw sewage about 15 to 20 centimetres deep from a sewer backup.
Ehsan Ali, however, said he was unaware anybody was still living in the basement when public health inspector Daria Romanish ordered the restaurant to be closed down and declared the basement suite unfit for human inhabitation on March 21, 2011.
Ali said he found out people were living illegally in the basement a week or 10 days prior to Romanish’s inspection and told them to leave. He said he called police on March 21, the same day as the sewage backup was discovered by health officials.
Romanish found evidence of three people living in the basement.
There were three separate sleeping areas with beds, a large-screen television, clothing, personal items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste and photos, among other things.
As well, restaurant items standing in the sewage could be seen in photos entered as exhibits by prosecutor Rob O’Neill.
There were also plastic bottles floating in the sewage that could be seen in the pictures.
Ali and co-owner Salauddin Choudhury each face 58 charges under the Public Health Act relating to the restaurant, the basement and two illegal suites in the upstairs of the building at 507 17th Ave. S.W.
Choudhury failed to show up for the first two days of trial and was arrested Tuesday, spending the night in custody, and he has not participated in this trial.
Ali said he also was unaware that several people were still living in the two upstairs suites at the time of the March 21 inspection, long after it had been deemed unfit for human inhabitation.
Even if he was aware, he said, he was not responsible for them as he had relinquished the lease on the upstairs.
However, O’Neill told provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux in his final argument that Ali should be convicted as he still had control and was responsible for maintenance at that time.
O’Neill cited numerous health and safety infractions in the upstairs suites, including uncovered plug-ins and missing or non-functioning smoke alarms.
As well, he said an outside staircase to the upstairs had rotting boards with grass, plants and weeds growing between steps, and no lights for the stairwell or at the landing area, creating a highly dangerous situation.
Ceiling tiles were buckling and had fallen because of the water damage, mould had eaten through the ceiling and the kitchen ceiling had caved in and fallen from the water damage. There was also mould on the walls in the pantry.
O’Neill also noted the fact that, although there were windows in the bedrooms, none of them complied with minimum size requirements for egress, in case of fire or other emergency situations.
He insisted the owners had allowed the upstairs suites to be reoccupied in the face of the inspector’s order, without any of the repairs being done as required.
O’Neill requested that Choudhury’s trial begin next Monday, as two weeks were set aside for the entire case and Ali’s trial is expected to be concluded by the end of this week.
Ehsan Ali, however, said he was unaware anybody was still living in the basement when public health inspector Daria Romanish ordered the restaurant to be closed down and declared the basement suite unfit for human inhabitation on March 21, 2011.
Ali said he found out people were living illegally in the basement a week or 10 days prior to Romanish’s inspection and told them to leave. He said he called police on March 21, the same day as the sewage backup was discovered by health officials.
Romanish found evidence of three people living in the basement.
There were three separate sleeping areas with beds, a large-screen television, clothing, personal items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste and photos, among other things.
As well, restaurant items standing in the sewage could be seen in photos entered as exhibits by prosecutor Rob O’Neill.
There were also plastic bottles floating in the sewage that could be seen in the pictures.
Ali and co-owner Salauddin Choudhury each face 58 charges under the Public Health Act relating to the restaurant, the basement and two illegal suites in the upstairs of the building at 507 17th Ave. S.W.
Choudhury failed to show up for the first two days of trial and was arrested Tuesday, spending the night in custody, and he has not participated in this trial.
Ali said he also was unaware that several people were still living in the two upstairs suites at the time of the March 21 inspection, long after it had been deemed unfit for human inhabitation.
Even if he was aware, he said, he was not responsible for them as he had relinquished the lease on the upstairs.
However, O’Neill told provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux in his final argument that Ali should be convicted as he still had control and was responsible for maintenance at that time.
O’Neill cited numerous health and safety infractions in the upstairs suites, including uncovered plug-ins and missing or non-functioning smoke alarms.
As well, he said an outside staircase to the upstairs had rotting boards with grass, plants and weeds growing between steps, and no lights for the stairwell or at the landing area, creating a highly dangerous situation.
Ceiling tiles were buckling and had fallen because of the water damage, mould had eaten through the ceiling and the kitchen ceiling had caved in and fallen from the water damage. There was also mould on the walls in the pantry.
O’Neill also noted the fact that, although there were windows in the bedrooms, none of them complied with minimum size requirements for egress, in case of fire or other emergency situations.
He insisted the owners had allowed the upstairs suites to be reoccupied in the face of the inspector’s order, without any of the repairs being done as required.
O’Neill requested that Choudhury’s trial begin next Monday, as two weeks were set aside for the entire case and Ali’s trial is expected to be concluded by the end of this week.
2012年4月16日星期一
If high gas prices keep you home this summer, re-floor with Tuftwick
High gas prices this summer will cause many families to travel less in order to save money. If you’re staying close to home, summertime is a great time to re-floor with Tuftwick Carpet!
Check out all of the deals they have going on right now in their showroom at 4602 34th St. There you’ll find their usual wide selection of flooring, plus new wood, ceramic and carpet samples that have just arrived!
If what you’re looking for is not in stock, Tuftwick will gladly order it for you.
Looking for something small? Tuftwick’s entire inventory of remnants is on sale! Add warmth and color to a dorm room or apartment with a stylish remnant or use a remnant as an area rug on hardwood floors. Remnants start at just $5 per yard!
If you have rental property, you can freshen up the interior with affordable flooring before new tenants move in. Consider new carpet for the living area and vinyl for the kitchen or bathroom. Also available for the kitchen or bathroom is a new line of backsplash tile.
With more than a half a century of experience, Tuftwick Carpet can help you make the right choice for your flooring needs. Recently, they’ve added a new salesperson to their staff. Jeff Cumby has more than 15 years of industry experience, and would love to talk to you about any of today’s popular flooring options.
Tuftwick also carries the latest flooring trend – Arko ceramic tile that mimics the look and feel of hardwood.
Also available is vinyl wood plank flooring. There are numerous advantages to installing vinyl wood plank floors. The cost savings makes it an affordable choice, and manufacturers are capable of producing realistic looking wood floors out of vinyl material, so you get a lot of style for a lower price. Another important aspect of vinyl wood flooring that makes it attractive is the ease of maintenance. A damp mop with an all-purpose cleaner is all it takes to clean these floors.
For maintaining carpet’s original beauty, there’s nothing better than the Capture Carpet Cleaning System. Tuftwick is one of the few places in town where the Capture system is still available. It deep cleans and deodorizes dirty carpets with powder instead of shampooing or steaming – in just 30 minutes!
Come by and ask the staff at Tuftwick Carpet about 12 months, no interest, no payment financing on all Shaw products!
From sales to installation and even after the work is finished, the crew at Tuftwick Carpet will make sure you are happy. Remember, everything is backed by a warranty, including installation. Tuftwick’s installers have been with the store for 20 years, and their work speaks volumes about the store’s high standards.
Check out all of the deals they have going on right now in their showroom at 4602 34th St. There you’ll find their usual wide selection of flooring, plus new wood, ceramic and carpet samples that have just arrived!
If what you’re looking for is not in stock, Tuftwick will gladly order it for you.
Looking for something small? Tuftwick’s entire inventory of remnants is on sale! Add warmth and color to a dorm room or apartment with a stylish remnant or use a remnant as an area rug on hardwood floors. Remnants start at just $5 per yard!
If you have rental property, you can freshen up the interior with affordable flooring before new tenants move in. Consider new carpet for the living area and vinyl for the kitchen or bathroom. Also available for the kitchen or bathroom is a new line of backsplash tile.
With more than a half a century of experience, Tuftwick Carpet can help you make the right choice for your flooring needs. Recently, they’ve added a new salesperson to their staff. Jeff Cumby has more than 15 years of industry experience, and would love to talk to you about any of today’s popular flooring options.
Tuftwick also carries the latest flooring trend – Arko ceramic tile that mimics the look and feel of hardwood.
Also available is vinyl wood plank flooring. There are numerous advantages to installing vinyl wood plank floors. The cost savings makes it an affordable choice, and manufacturers are capable of producing realistic looking wood floors out of vinyl material, so you get a lot of style for a lower price. Another important aspect of vinyl wood flooring that makes it attractive is the ease of maintenance. A damp mop with an all-purpose cleaner is all it takes to clean these floors.
For maintaining carpet’s original beauty, there’s nothing better than the Capture Carpet Cleaning System. Tuftwick is one of the few places in town where the Capture system is still available. It deep cleans and deodorizes dirty carpets with powder instead of shampooing or steaming – in just 30 minutes!
Come by and ask the staff at Tuftwick Carpet about 12 months, no interest, no payment financing on all Shaw products!
From sales to installation and even after the work is finished, the crew at Tuftwick Carpet will make sure you are happy. Remember, everything is backed by a warranty, including installation. Tuftwick’s installers have been with the store for 20 years, and their work speaks volumes about the store’s high standards.
2012年4月15日星期日
Exploring the Spanish fishing village of Sitges
"There it is," says Gemma, who's taking me for a walking tour around the former Spanish fishing village of Sitges, "The last standing fisherman's home." I yank my neck towards her finger and barely make out a squat, single storey home facing the placid sea. The antiquated fisherman's home stands forlornly like a broken tooth. Sandwiched between stylish buildings five odd storeys high, it's the last man standing in a land of former seafarers.
Propped on the Mediterranean Coast, just south of Barcelona, Sitges is separated from the city by the Garraf Massif, a calcareous rock mountain, and literally means 'deep hole.' In the Middle Ages, it skirted the country's Arab and Christian regions, yet owed allegiance to none. No man's land over the centuries began to develop, nets being cast in the ocean by most dwellers. But only in the late 19th and early 20th century Sitges blossomed. The Americanos, Sitgetanos who'd earned fortunes in Cuba and Puerto Rico, returned to the hamlet to construct imposing homes designed straight from the annals of fantasy. The palm trees brought back from the colonies dot Sitges, corporal reminders of those far off lands the Americanos once lived in.
It wasn't only the nouveau rich immigrant who changed the complexion of Sitges. Painter and writer Santiago Rusinol fell in love with the city of anglers and moved here, ushering to the boondocks the Modernisme or Catalan Modernism movement, immortalised in architecture, and brought with him a touch of genteel culture.
Far from its fishing origins, today Sitges oozes with bohemian counterculture, a spark fuelled in the '60s during the dictatorship. Millionaire mansions dot the shoreline, nudist beaches skim the seas, clubs have sprouted across its girth, and it holds pride in being one of the most gay-friendly regions in the world.
Strolling from the train station to the sea, I wandered through narrow pathways with road names spelt out on colorful tiled signs tacked up high on buildings. Gemma pointed out thick lines painted outside homes in the old quarter, running parallel to the roads, "Blue meant it was a fisherman's house, brown a farmer's," speaking of the tradition.
Americano residences reared high over the others so the merchants could climb atop the towers and watch the shipments of wine and coffee and more sail safely out of the harbour. At the main square, the Clock House, a towering example of the latter, is the most distinct of modernist homes, its spire atop a ceramic encrusted tower, piercing the skies.
As we continued forward, a warm balmy breeze from the yet unseen sea washed over the city, funneling through the silent Raco de la Calma, aptly named the quiet corner. On one side was the Maricel Complex - a museum and palace, the latter a clutch of fisherman's cottages put together. Maricel, meaning the sea and the sky, was a palace built by American millionaire Charles Deering. An image of the sun dipping into the ocean was frozen for posterity on a ceramic tile. On the other end was the other the Cau Ferrat Museum, the lovely home and studio of Rusinol. From here, we walked on to La Punta, a point where I could see the beach bereft of umbrellas in the nippy spring weather. The esplanade was littered with beach bars, known quaintly in Spain as chiringuitos, named after the original one on the beachfront; and wandering tourists. And of course, rows of palm trees, tall and knobbly, their mop like heads in stark contrast to the pino, bushy Mediterranean pine trees. Beyond this was the aquamarine sea with nary a boat breaking the waves.
Propped on the Mediterranean Coast, just south of Barcelona, Sitges is separated from the city by the Garraf Massif, a calcareous rock mountain, and literally means 'deep hole.' In the Middle Ages, it skirted the country's Arab and Christian regions, yet owed allegiance to none. No man's land over the centuries began to develop, nets being cast in the ocean by most dwellers. But only in the late 19th and early 20th century Sitges blossomed. The Americanos, Sitgetanos who'd earned fortunes in Cuba and Puerto Rico, returned to the hamlet to construct imposing homes designed straight from the annals of fantasy. The palm trees brought back from the colonies dot Sitges, corporal reminders of those far off lands the Americanos once lived in.
It wasn't only the nouveau rich immigrant who changed the complexion of Sitges. Painter and writer Santiago Rusinol fell in love with the city of anglers and moved here, ushering to the boondocks the Modernisme or Catalan Modernism movement, immortalised in architecture, and brought with him a touch of genteel culture.
Far from its fishing origins, today Sitges oozes with bohemian counterculture, a spark fuelled in the '60s during the dictatorship. Millionaire mansions dot the shoreline, nudist beaches skim the seas, clubs have sprouted across its girth, and it holds pride in being one of the most gay-friendly regions in the world.
Strolling from the train station to the sea, I wandered through narrow pathways with road names spelt out on colorful tiled signs tacked up high on buildings. Gemma pointed out thick lines painted outside homes in the old quarter, running parallel to the roads, "Blue meant it was a fisherman's house, brown a farmer's," speaking of the tradition.
Americano residences reared high over the others so the merchants could climb atop the towers and watch the shipments of wine and coffee and more sail safely out of the harbour. At the main square, the Clock House, a towering example of the latter, is the most distinct of modernist homes, its spire atop a ceramic encrusted tower, piercing the skies.
As we continued forward, a warm balmy breeze from the yet unseen sea washed over the city, funneling through the silent Raco de la Calma, aptly named the quiet corner. On one side was the Maricel Complex - a museum and palace, the latter a clutch of fisherman's cottages put together. Maricel, meaning the sea and the sky, was a palace built by American millionaire Charles Deering. An image of the sun dipping into the ocean was frozen for posterity on a ceramic tile. On the other end was the other the Cau Ferrat Museum, the lovely home and studio of Rusinol. From here, we walked on to La Punta, a point where I could see the beach bereft of umbrellas in the nippy spring weather. The esplanade was littered with beach bars, known quaintly in Spain as chiringuitos, named after the original one on the beachfront; and wandering tourists. And of course, rows of palm trees, tall and knobbly, their mop like heads in stark contrast to the pino, bushy Mediterranean pine trees. Beyond this was the aquamarine sea with nary a boat breaking the waves.
2012年4月12日星期四
Shape-shifting
Art circles throughout the nation and as far as Canada and Mexico recognize the remote, desert city of San Angelo as the host of the mecca of ceramic competitions.San Angelo's Ceramic Weekend of activities — a cooperative venture between the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Angelo State University and the Old Chicken Farm Art Center that centers on the biennial San Angelo National Ceramic Competition and annual Ceramic Symposium — is April 19-23.
"It's highly regarded, not just in Texas, but throughout the nation," said Rick Hernandez, an Austin ceramist and retired director of the Texas Arts Commission. "When Howard (Taylor, SAMFA director) came to San Angelo and they chose to dedicate the museum to ceramics, that in itself was really unique and interesting.
"Before he started the Monarch Tile National Ceramic Competition (in 1986) when the company was still in San Angelo, the big festival everybody talked about was in Syracuse, and San Angelo kind of took that away from them and became this stellar competition because of the support they had from Monarch. Even after Monarch left (and the competition was renamed), it maintained its status."
Taylor said the ceramic contest this year drew about 1,400 pieces submitted by 515 artists from throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Of those entries, 106 works by 87 artists were selected to be exhibited, and the winners among those will be announced during the Nineteenth San Angelo National Ceramic Competition opening April 20.
Taylor estimated 2,000 people will attend the opening, and about 10,000 will view the exhibit during its two months at the museum.
"I think the first year, years ago, we had 200 people, then 300" at the opening, Taylor said. "We had 2,000 (attend) the last time, so that's incredible. It really has grown."
Hernandez credited the event's renown to Taylor's reputation in the art world.
"When he opened that museum, it was the biggest feature in The New York Times the day it opened," he said. "It has continued to have a reputation, and the extent is far beyond Angelo and Texas."
David Freeman, who teaches digital photography at South Texas College and publishes the magazine Voices of Art — distributed primarily in San Antonio and Austin — also praised Taylor for the event's success.
"Howard Taylor is just brilliant at what he does," Freeman said. "I think he's bringing a lot of new and genuine art that's fresh and conceptual and experimental — especially with the ceramics — to your region of Texas."
For artists, the competition "is just another arrow in your quill, and it just helps you advance because you've been recognized in a well-respected competition," Hernandez said.
The show is the biggest of its kind in America, Taylor said, and is unique because it draws both new and established artists to compete.
"The show has such a reputation and the jurors are always (such) leading people in the art world that even established artists like to get their name in front of them," Taylor said. Serious artists also strive to have their work shown at a museum, so appearing in the largest show of its kind in America is "the big-time," he said.
The museum prints a call for entries for the competition in national art magazines, including Ceramics Monthly, American Crafts and Clay Times. Those publications and others also feature write-ups about the competition.
"It's highly regarded, not just in Texas, but throughout the nation," said Rick Hernandez, an Austin ceramist and retired director of the Texas Arts Commission. "When Howard (Taylor, SAMFA director) came to San Angelo and they chose to dedicate the museum to ceramics, that in itself was really unique and interesting.
"Before he started the Monarch Tile National Ceramic Competition (in 1986) when the company was still in San Angelo, the big festival everybody talked about was in Syracuse, and San Angelo kind of took that away from them and became this stellar competition because of the support they had from Monarch. Even after Monarch left (and the competition was renamed), it maintained its status."
Taylor said the ceramic contest this year drew about 1,400 pieces submitted by 515 artists from throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Of those entries, 106 works by 87 artists were selected to be exhibited, and the winners among those will be announced during the Nineteenth San Angelo National Ceramic Competition opening April 20.
Taylor estimated 2,000 people will attend the opening, and about 10,000 will view the exhibit during its two months at the museum.
"I think the first year, years ago, we had 200 people, then 300" at the opening, Taylor said. "We had 2,000 (attend) the last time, so that's incredible. It really has grown."
Hernandez credited the event's renown to Taylor's reputation in the art world.
"When he opened that museum, it was the biggest feature in The New York Times the day it opened," he said. "It has continued to have a reputation, and the extent is far beyond Angelo and Texas."
David Freeman, who teaches digital photography at South Texas College and publishes the magazine Voices of Art — distributed primarily in San Antonio and Austin — also praised Taylor for the event's success.
"Howard Taylor is just brilliant at what he does," Freeman said. "I think he's bringing a lot of new and genuine art that's fresh and conceptual and experimental — especially with the ceramics — to your region of Texas."
For artists, the competition "is just another arrow in your quill, and it just helps you advance because you've been recognized in a well-respected competition," Hernandez said.
The show is the biggest of its kind in America, Taylor said, and is unique because it draws both new and established artists to compete.
"The show has such a reputation and the jurors are always (such) leading people in the art world that even established artists like to get their name in front of them," Taylor said. Serious artists also strive to have their work shown at a museum, so appearing in the largest show of its kind in America is "the big-time," he said.
The museum prints a call for entries for the competition in national art magazines, including Ceramics Monthly, American Crafts and Clay Times. Those publications and others also feature write-ups about the competition.
2012年4月11日星期三
Memorial Dedicated to Honor Flying Tiger
Hundreds of eyes turned skyward Saturday as a Chinese plane, trailing smoke, peeled off from a formation of four, heading west.
That “missing man” flyover culminated the midday dedication of a second memorial at Gilliam-McConnell Airfield in Carthage, both honoring young fighter pilots lost in battle defending people in distant lands against invading oppressors.
The new memorial joins a historic granite monument supporting the bronze tablet France sent to Carthage in 1917 following the death of James Rogers McConnell — last of the Lafayette Escadrille to fall before the United States entered the Great War.
Now two new granite pillars stand in tribute to a 21-year-old Flying Tiger pilot from High Falls lost in World War II. One is engraved and has his picture on a ceramic tile. The other carries a golden plaque and a second tile showing a gigantic granite cross that bears his name on a mountainside in China.
The plaque says in both Chinese and English, “2nd Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch will live forever in the hearts of the Chinese people.” It was hand carried from China by a delegation of 11 men who had flown halfway around the world to take part in these ceremonies.
Two flags — the red flag and gold stars of the People’s Republic of China and the Star-Spangled Banner — snapped in the breeze overhead as cadets of Pinecrest High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC lifted sabers over delegates from China and other dignitaries crossing a red carpet as they arrived.
Mayors and representatives of every municipality in Moore County came, each bearing a resolution endorsing the day. State Sen. Harris Blake greeted them and welcomed J. Don Hobart, the official representative of Gov. Bev Perdue.
Among the Chinese delegates were two from Huaihua — where the Flying Tigers were based — and two from Zhijiang, Pinehurst’s sister city. There were delegates from Hunan’s capital city of Changsha, the district’s central city of Chenzhou, and from Guidong, Moore’s sister county.
The crowd — estimated at more than 300 — stood to face the two flags as a brass ensemble conducted by the Rev. Dr. Paul Murphy played the anthems of two nations. Airfield owner Roland Gilliam then led the Pledge of Allegiance.
A nearly full-sized replica of a Curtiss P-40N fighter plane like the one Upchurch had flown “over the hump” on the Burma front to get into China stands on the memorial site. It was a P-40 Upchurch was flying Oct. 6, 1944, returning from the last mission of the day when last seen near cloud-shrouded mountains in Hunan Province.
Upchurch was listed as missing in action. His mother and father never knew his fate.
But in the mountains of Guidong County, a team had hiked four days to reach the crash site in hopes of rescuing the doomed plane’s pilot. It was not to be. They returned with bits of the wreckage and what they could recover of his body, which was washed, wrapped in red silk and placed in the traditional 7-inch thick coffin reserved for heroes.
Hundreds in Guidong gathered to mourn their unknown American pilot, and they buried him down the slope from a Ming Dynasty tower on Santai Mountain overlooking the city.
For more than 60 years Guidong people brought flowers and said prayers there until DNA identified him. When his remains were reburied in the family plot with military honors, the mayor of Guidong wrote to propose the two counties formally form a sister-county bond.
That “missing man” flyover culminated the midday dedication of a second memorial at Gilliam-McConnell Airfield in Carthage, both honoring young fighter pilots lost in battle defending people in distant lands against invading oppressors.
The new memorial joins a historic granite monument supporting the bronze tablet France sent to Carthage in 1917 following the death of James Rogers McConnell — last of the Lafayette Escadrille to fall before the United States entered the Great War.
Now two new granite pillars stand in tribute to a 21-year-old Flying Tiger pilot from High Falls lost in World War II. One is engraved and has his picture on a ceramic tile. The other carries a golden plaque and a second tile showing a gigantic granite cross that bears his name on a mountainside in China.
The plaque says in both Chinese and English, “2nd Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch will live forever in the hearts of the Chinese people.” It was hand carried from China by a delegation of 11 men who had flown halfway around the world to take part in these ceremonies.
Two flags — the red flag and gold stars of the People’s Republic of China and the Star-Spangled Banner — snapped in the breeze overhead as cadets of Pinecrest High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC lifted sabers over delegates from China and other dignitaries crossing a red carpet as they arrived.
Mayors and representatives of every municipality in Moore County came, each bearing a resolution endorsing the day. State Sen. Harris Blake greeted them and welcomed J. Don Hobart, the official representative of Gov. Bev Perdue.
Among the Chinese delegates were two from Huaihua — where the Flying Tigers were based — and two from Zhijiang, Pinehurst’s sister city. There were delegates from Hunan’s capital city of Changsha, the district’s central city of Chenzhou, and from Guidong, Moore’s sister county.
The crowd — estimated at more than 300 — stood to face the two flags as a brass ensemble conducted by the Rev. Dr. Paul Murphy played the anthems of two nations. Airfield owner Roland Gilliam then led the Pledge of Allegiance.
A nearly full-sized replica of a Curtiss P-40N fighter plane like the one Upchurch had flown “over the hump” on the Burma front to get into China stands on the memorial site. It was a P-40 Upchurch was flying Oct. 6, 1944, returning from the last mission of the day when last seen near cloud-shrouded mountains in Hunan Province.
Upchurch was listed as missing in action. His mother and father never knew his fate.
But in the mountains of Guidong County, a team had hiked four days to reach the crash site in hopes of rescuing the doomed plane’s pilot. It was not to be. They returned with bits of the wreckage and what they could recover of his body, which was washed, wrapped in red silk and placed in the traditional 7-inch thick coffin reserved for heroes.
Hundreds in Guidong gathered to mourn their unknown American pilot, and they buried him down the slope from a Ming Dynasty tower on Santai Mountain overlooking the city.
For more than 60 years Guidong people brought flowers and said prayers there until DNA identified him. When his remains were reburied in the family plot with military honors, the mayor of Guidong wrote to propose the two counties formally form a sister-county bond.
2012年4月10日星期二
S.F. Presidio story unearthed in thousands of bits
Tile fragments from a burned adobe house, a bottle of Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup and colored chips of ancient dinner plates are part of a vast cache of artifacts being scrubbed, studied and meticulously catalogued in a new laboratory at what was once El Presidio de San Francisco.
The entire Presidio is officially part of the nation's only urban national park, but its historic center is also a site where soldiers and civilians from three nations - and the Ohlone people long before them- left traces of their lives when they moved on or died.
Those traces now fill thousands of carefully labeled transparent plastic bags held in 1,000 numbered cardboard boxes, and the contents of each box awaits detailed analysis by archaeologists working in the two laboratory buildings that will open to the public next year. The buildings are two converted 1940s-era garages standing next to the old Presidio Officers Club, and when they open there will be changing displays of the most interesting artifacts, tours of the lab and public lectures by the Presidio's archaeologists.
The scientists have already collected 526,000 individual artifacts, all variously dated from the ninth through the 20th centuries, according to Liz Clevenger, curator of archaeology for the Presidio Trust, which runs the park.
"There's a special excitement handling these remnants of so many past lives, and a pleasure in the research we do - research into so many people who never made it into the history books," said Clevenger.
The other day, two recent graduates of UC Berkeley's archaeology and anthropology departments were hard at work in the laboratory as paid interns, leaning over basins of muddy water and wielding toothbrushes to scrub brown detritus off every item - adobe brick chunks as big as a fist, specks of unburned charcoal, each almost as small as a grain of sand, and bottles of all shapes, sizes and ages.
Most of the material they worked on came from recent digs at the Presidio's Pershing Square, a site inside the boundaries of the fort the Spanish built in 1776. It's also where the home of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing later stood before it burned down in 1915, killing his wife and three daughters.
Other treasures have also emerged unexpectedly from another area near Crissy Field, not because archaeologists were digging there, but because Caltrans bulldozers unearthed them while working on the new Doyle Drive. Somehow the soothing syrup bottle had landed there - a relic from some baby teething in the 1800s.
"We're looking at 200 years of history," said Sarah Giffin, a Berkeley archaeology grad, as she scrubbed away at a clutch of gopher teeth dug from an earthen animal tunnel beneath what once had been an adobe building. Its purpose in the Spanish fort is as yet unknown.
"This isn't really my field," Giffin said as she examined the teeth. "I'm more into the Bronze Age Greeks, but it's all fascinating."
Opposite Giffin sat Elizzabeth Campos, the anthropologist, cleaning chips of glazed earthenware that archaeologists call majolica, perhaps from a time long before the Spanish came, and just right for Campos to study.
"Oh, neat - my time!" she said as she scrubbed.
At Berkeley Campos had done her field work at Brooks Island, an East Bay regional shoreline hilltop where the Ohlone Indians lived for 2,000 years before the Spanish built El Presidio.
But scrubbing artifacts ignores time, for along with the majolica were fragments of blue and white china, possibly brought to California aboard one of the Manila galleons that carried porcelain and other treasures from China. These ships stopped in Monterey on their way to Mexico in the 1800s with cargo for the Spanish settlements along the California coast.
Aided by high-tech tools like ground-penetrating radar, the Presidio Trust's archaeologists are steadily unearthing history. Their excavation sites lie within the old fort square, at El Polin Springs and in nearby Tennessee Hollow, where Spanish civilian settlers built homes outside the fort's protection.
By 1848, when Mexico ceded California and the southwest to America, American soldiers moved in, and today the Presidio's archaeologists are unearthing relic after relic from the days when soldiers of the Spanish-American War and two world wars were stationed there.
The entire Presidio is officially part of the nation's only urban national park, but its historic center is also a site where soldiers and civilians from three nations - and the Ohlone people long before them- left traces of their lives when they moved on or died.
Those traces now fill thousands of carefully labeled transparent plastic bags held in 1,000 numbered cardboard boxes, and the contents of each box awaits detailed analysis by archaeologists working in the two laboratory buildings that will open to the public next year. The buildings are two converted 1940s-era garages standing next to the old Presidio Officers Club, and when they open there will be changing displays of the most interesting artifacts, tours of the lab and public lectures by the Presidio's archaeologists.
The scientists have already collected 526,000 individual artifacts, all variously dated from the ninth through the 20th centuries, according to Liz Clevenger, curator of archaeology for the Presidio Trust, which runs the park.
"There's a special excitement handling these remnants of so many past lives, and a pleasure in the research we do - research into so many people who never made it into the history books," said Clevenger.
The other day, two recent graduates of UC Berkeley's archaeology and anthropology departments were hard at work in the laboratory as paid interns, leaning over basins of muddy water and wielding toothbrushes to scrub brown detritus off every item - adobe brick chunks as big as a fist, specks of unburned charcoal, each almost as small as a grain of sand, and bottles of all shapes, sizes and ages.
Most of the material they worked on came from recent digs at the Presidio's Pershing Square, a site inside the boundaries of the fort the Spanish built in 1776. It's also where the home of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing later stood before it burned down in 1915, killing his wife and three daughters.
Other treasures have also emerged unexpectedly from another area near Crissy Field, not because archaeologists were digging there, but because Caltrans bulldozers unearthed them while working on the new Doyle Drive. Somehow the soothing syrup bottle had landed there - a relic from some baby teething in the 1800s.
"We're looking at 200 years of history," said Sarah Giffin, a Berkeley archaeology grad, as she scrubbed away at a clutch of gopher teeth dug from an earthen animal tunnel beneath what once had been an adobe building. Its purpose in the Spanish fort is as yet unknown.
"This isn't really my field," Giffin said as she examined the teeth. "I'm more into the Bronze Age Greeks, but it's all fascinating."
Opposite Giffin sat Elizzabeth Campos, the anthropologist, cleaning chips of glazed earthenware that archaeologists call majolica, perhaps from a time long before the Spanish came, and just right for Campos to study.
"Oh, neat - my time!" she said as she scrubbed.
At Berkeley Campos had done her field work at Brooks Island, an East Bay regional shoreline hilltop where the Ohlone Indians lived for 2,000 years before the Spanish built El Presidio.
But scrubbing artifacts ignores time, for along with the majolica were fragments of blue and white china, possibly brought to California aboard one of the Manila galleons that carried porcelain and other treasures from China. These ships stopped in Monterey on their way to Mexico in the 1800s with cargo for the Spanish settlements along the California coast.
Aided by high-tech tools like ground-penetrating radar, the Presidio Trust's archaeologists are steadily unearthing history. Their excavation sites lie within the old fort square, at El Polin Springs and in nearby Tennessee Hollow, where Spanish civilian settlers built homes outside the fort's protection.
By 1848, when Mexico ceded California and the southwest to America, American soldiers moved in, and today the Presidio's archaeologists are unearthing relic after relic from the days when soldiers of the Spanish-American War and two world wars were stationed there.
2012年4月9日星期一
County attorney sues judge-exec in rare move
In a lawsuit filed in Kenton Circuit Court, Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson alleges Kenton Judge-executive Steve Arlinghaus illegally spent public funds renovating county offices – a claim Arlinghaus and his attorney deny.
Arlinghaus says he’s complied with the county’s administrative code, and he accuses Edmondson of giving “conflicting and inconsistent advice on this matter from the very beginning.”
Edmondson is seeking reimbursement of $23,314.47 from Arlinghaus, as well as interest and costs, and reimbursement of 115 hours of paid staff time for claims that he says were illegally paid and presented to Kenton Fiscal Court.
“What prompted this (lawsuit) was the action taken by the judge-executive and the fact that the Fiscal Court refused on several occasions to ratify it,” Edmondson said. “Once that happens, it’s incumbent on me to make sure that the bill does not get paid until the fiscal court authorizes it.”
Edmondson alleges in his lawsuit that Arlinghaus purchased goods and services and ordered county employees to renovate second-floor office space without securing Kenton Fiscal Court’s approval, and later presented claims totaling $11,194.78 for materials already installed, in violation of state law.
Before that, Edmondson said some initial bills totaling $10,583.57 for the second-floor renovation project were paid, but the contract for that work had not been authorized by Fiscal Court, as required. He said the latter payment was brought to his attention after one of the county commissioners raised the issue at a meeting.
In a memo to county officials, Edmondson said Arlinghaus briefly discussed the work with Kenton County Commissioners Beth Sewell and Kris Knochelmann while standing in front of their desks in fiscal court chambers. However, no presentation was made in an open Fiscal Court meeting, and no vote was taken by county officials to do the remodeling or spend county funds on that work, Edmondson said.
The lawsuit also alleges a bill totaling about $1,536 has yet to be presented to Fiscal Court. Arlinghaus said there’s an outstanding bill for about $1,400 for renderings for new entrance doors for the county administration building’s first floor entrances. He said that was a project Sewell and Knochelmann had asked him to look into and that it had nothing to do with the second-floor renovations.
Arlinghaus says he authorized the renovations for security reasons and to improve the work environment for county employees. He and his attorney, Mark Arnzen, say Arlinghaus did nothing wrong. Arlinghaus claims the lawsuit is “to settle a political score,” adding Edmondson supported his opponent in the 2010 judge-executive’s race.
Edmondson, who says he’s never sued a member of Kenton Fiscal Court in his 19 years as county attorney, denied that his motives are political. He says in the lawsuit that state law requires him, in his role as county attorney, to ensure that no illegal or wrongful appropriation of county public dollars is made.
“I’m just doing my job as the statutes have laid out,” Edmondson said. “I’ve tried talking to (Arlinghaus), and I’ve tried talking to the other commissioners to see if there was some way to work this out. I told them if they didn’t work it out in open (fiscal) court (meetings) that I’d have to file a lawsuit. (The fiscal court) could settle this tomorrow by having a meeting and ratifying the expenditures.”
At a special Fiscal Court meeting Wednesday, it was proposed that Edmondson, Deputy Judge-executive Mark Kreimborg and Acting Treasurer Doug Bramlage review and revise the county’s purchasing policies and procedures.
Arlinghaus produced an email from an attorney with the Kentucky Department for Local Government and a letter from a state assistant attorney general that appear to support his claims that he had the authority to do the renovations.
In citing language in Kenton County’s administrative code, the attorney for the Kentucky Department for Local Government wrote: “The county appears to have authorized the judge to exercise authority for purchases under $20,000, with certain purchase orders over $15,000 also requiring pre-approval by the fiscal court. The judge’s authority is not stated as clearly as it could be, but is strongly implied...”
Arlinghaus says he’s complied with the county’s administrative code, and he accuses Edmondson of giving “conflicting and inconsistent advice on this matter from the very beginning.”
Edmondson is seeking reimbursement of $23,314.47 from Arlinghaus, as well as interest and costs, and reimbursement of 115 hours of paid staff time for claims that he says were illegally paid and presented to Kenton Fiscal Court.
“What prompted this (lawsuit) was the action taken by the judge-executive and the fact that the Fiscal Court refused on several occasions to ratify it,” Edmondson said. “Once that happens, it’s incumbent on me to make sure that the bill does not get paid until the fiscal court authorizes it.”
Edmondson alleges in his lawsuit that Arlinghaus purchased goods and services and ordered county employees to renovate second-floor office space without securing Kenton Fiscal Court’s approval, and later presented claims totaling $11,194.78 for materials already installed, in violation of state law.
Before that, Edmondson said some initial bills totaling $10,583.57 for the second-floor renovation project were paid, but the contract for that work had not been authorized by Fiscal Court, as required. He said the latter payment was brought to his attention after one of the county commissioners raised the issue at a meeting.
In a memo to county officials, Edmondson said Arlinghaus briefly discussed the work with Kenton County Commissioners Beth Sewell and Kris Knochelmann while standing in front of their desks in fiscal court chambers. However, no presentation was made in an open Fiscal Court meeting, and no vote was taken by county officials to do the remodeling or spend county funds on that work, Edmondson said.
The lawsuit also alleges a bill totaling about $1,536 has yet to be presented to Fiscal Court. Arlinghaus said there’s an outstanding bill for about $1,400 for renderings for new entrance doors for the county administration building’s first floor entrances. He said that was a project Sewell and Knochelmann had asked him to look into and that it had nothing to do with the second-floor renovations.
Arlinghaus says he authorized the renovations for security reasons and to improve the work environment for county employees. He and his attorney, Mark Arnzen, say Arlinghaus did nothing wrong. Arlinghaus claims the lawsuit is “to settle a political score,” adding Edmondson supported his opponent in the 2010 judge-executive’s race.
Edmondson, who says he’s never sued a member of Kenton Fiscal Court in his 19 years as county attorney, denied that his motives are political. He says in the lawsuit that state law requires him, in his role as county attorney, to ensure that no illegal or wrongful appropriation of county public dollars is made.
“I’m just doing my job as the statutes have laid out,” Edmondson said. “I’ve tried talking to (Arlinghaus), and I’ve tried talking to the other commissioners to see if there was some way to work this out. I told them if they didn’t work it out in open (fiscal) court (meetings) that I’d have to file a lawsuit. (The fiscal court) could settle this tomorrow by having a meeting and ratifying the expenditures.”
At a special Fiscal Court meeting Wednesday, it was proposed that Edmondson, Deputy Judge-executive Mark Kreimborg and Acting Treasurer Doug Bramlage review and revise the county’s purchasing policies and procedures.
Arlinghaus produced an email from an attorney with the Kentucky Department for Local Government and a letter from a state assistant attorney general that appear to support his claims that he had the authority to do the renovations.
In citing language in Kenton County’s administrative code, the attorney for the Kentucky Department for Local Government wrote: “The county appears to have authorized the judge to exercise authority for purchases under $20,000, with certain purchase orders over $15,000 also requiring pre-approval by the fiscal court. The judge’s authority is not stated as clearly as it could be, but is strongly implied...”
2012年4月8日星期日
Village of Liverpool property includes two houses, pool
In-law suites are great for keeping relatives close, but when multiple generations share a house it can be a little too much togetherness.
There's a four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house at 100 Fifth St., Liverpool, that might solve that problem, since it comes with a two-bedroom, two-bath house next door at 102 Fifth St.
Mary Ann and Jay Ledden are selling the houses, built around 1858, together for $249,000 after owning them for 12 years. The Leddens rent out the little house, but Mary Ann heard the original owners presented it to their oldest daughter when she married.
The larger home's main entrance faces Tamarack Street. On one side of the foyer, there's a small office with a built-in desk. On the other side, there's a wall of clear, leaded-glass panels that divides the foyer from the formal living room.
On either side of the living room's fieldstone wood-burning fireplace, doors with matching leaded-glass panels cover built-in bookshelves. A triple picture window floods the room with light and overlooks a small covered side porch.
The adjacent formal dining room has original oak floors, fluted Victorian moldings and a tin chandelier. The room has lots of windows and would easily accommodate a large table, sideboard and hutch.
The kitchen, which Mary Ann said is her favorite room in the house, has an atrium morning room with window seats that open for additional storage. The lower windows have blinds as well as removable decorative grids Mary Ann slips in place when she wants to give the room a cozier look, especially in the winter. The atrium's glass roof is outfitted with a motorized sun shade that is raised or lowered with the touch of a button.
"There's so much light, I have grown tomatoes and other plants from seeds in there," Mary Ann said.
The kitchen has pegged golden oak floors, raised-panel dark-stained oak cabinetry and a mixture of solid surface and butcher block counter tops. There are two ovens - one is convection - and an electric range with a grill/griddle and an integrated center exhaust vent.
Adjacent to the kitchen is a powder room, and around the corner there's additional counter space, cabinets and a trash compactor. The washer and dryer are hidden behind louvered doors next to a large food pantry. The counter space offers additional food prep space and a handy place to fold laundry.
A previous owner added a family room with a cathedral ceiling and dark-stained oak floors with antique iron nails. A section of brick wall and floor complements a free-standing faux wood stove that is fueled by natural gas.
The family room, which also has electric baseboard heat, easily accommodates a grand piano. "It's always been a problem, anyplace we've lived," Mary Ann said of her piano. "Not here, though."
Double doors in the family room open to a wood deck with benches, a brick walk to an asphalt driveway and a detached two-car garage with cedar closets and a walk-up attic. A gate in the wood fence behind the deck opens to a pool house and an in-ground pool surrounded by brick decking.
The pool house has a room in the back for the pool's mechanicals as well as pool toys and outdoor furniture. One of the two front rooms, both finished in cedar, has a refrigerator and a sink with counter space and cupboards. The other room is a dressing area with a toilet. The pool house's roof overhangs a patio, providing a convenient spot for grilling and getting out of the sun.
The home has four bedrooms on the second floor, and all have deep closets and original pine floors. One bedroom has an atrium window and a window seat with storage. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and a full bath with a glass-enclosed stall shower. There is a ceramic tile floor, pedestal sink, linen closet and a tub with a shower in the hall bath.
Both homes have a gas forced-air heat and are on public water and sewers. The larger home has central air and a central vacuum system.
Mary Ann said she loves living in the village because she can walk to the grocery store, to events at Johnson Park and to Liverpool Public Library , which she considers the hub of the close-knit community.
There's a four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house at 100 Fifth St., Liverpool, that might solve that problem, since it comes with a two-bedroom, two-bath house next door at 102 Fifth St.
Mary Ann and Jay Ledden are selling the houses, built around 1858, together for $249,000 after owning them for 12 years. The Leddens rent out the little house, but Mary Ann heard the original owners presented it to their oldest daughter when she married.
The larger home's main entrance faces Tamarack Street. On one side of the foyer, there's a small office with a built-in desk. On the other side, there's a wall of clear, leaded-glass panels that divides the foyer from the formal living room.
On either side of the living room's fieldstone wood-burning fireplace, doors with matching leaded-glass panels cover built-in bookshelves. A triple picture window floods the room with light and overlooks a small covered side porch.
The adjacent formal dining room has original oak floors, fluted Victorian moldings and a tin chandelier. The room has lots of windows and would easily accommodate a large table, sideboard and hutch.
The kitchen, which Mary Ann said is her favorite room in the house, has an atrium morning room with window seats that open for additional storage. The lower windows have blinds as well as removable decorative grids Mary Ann slips in place when she wants to give the room a cozier look, especially in the winter. The atrium's glass roof is outfitted with a motorized sun shade that is raised or lowered with the touch of a button.
"There's so much light, I have grown tomatoes and other plants from seeds in there," Mary Ann said.
The kitchen has pegged golden oak floors, raised-panel dark-stained oak cabinetry and a mixture of solid surface and butcher block counter tops. There are two ovens - one is convection - and an electric range with a grill/griddle and an integrated center exhaust vent.
Adjacent to the kitchen is a powder room, and around the corner there's additional counter space, cabinets and a trash compactor. The washer and dryer are hidden behind louvered doors next to a large food pantry. The counter space offers additional food prep space and a handy place to fold laundry.
A previous owner added a family room with a cathedral ceiling and dark-stained oak floors with antique iron nails. A section of brick wall and floor complements a free-standing faux wood stove that is fueled by natural gas.
The family room, which also has electric baseboard heat, easily accommodates a grand piano. "It's always been a problem, anyplace we've lived," Mary Ann said of her piano. "Not here, though."
Double doors in the family room open to a wood deck with benches, a brick walk to an asphalt driveway and a detached two-car garage with cedar closets and a walk-up attic. A gate in the wood fence behind the deck opens to a pool house and an in-ground pool surrounded by brick decking.
The pool house has a room in the back for the pool's mechanicals as well as pool toys and outdoor furniture. One of the two front rooms, both finished in cedar, has a refrigerator and a sink with counter space and cupboards. The other room is a dressing area with a toilet. The pool house's roof overhangs a patio, providing a convenient spot for grilling and getting out of the sun.
The home has four bedrooms on the second floor, and all have deep closets and original pine floors. One bedroom has an atrium window and a window seat with storage. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and a full bath with a glass-enclosed stall shower. There is a ceramic tile floor, pedestal sink, linen closet and a tub with a shower in the hall bath.
Both homes have a gas forced-air heat and are on public water and sewers. The larger home has central air and a central vacuum system.
Mary Ann said she loves living in the village because she can walk to the grocery store, to events at Johnson Park and to Liverpool Public Library , which she considers the hub of the close-knit community.
2012年4月4日星期三
Firm approved to build new recreation center
At a special Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation meeting, board members chose Martinsburg company W. Harley Miller Contracting Inc. to be the construction company for the upcoming South Berkeley Recreation Center.
Board members accepted the $2,159,000 bid proposal from W. Harley Miller, which Executive Director Steve Catlett said included all of the equipment for the gymnasium like the scoreboards, baskets and curtains.
After the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation approved an additional $600,000 for the project, a total of $2,100,000 is being given through the foundation and the Randy Smith Fund, leaving $59,000 to be collected through additional funding resources.
"We're selling sponsorships and stuff, so we'll make that up easily. That won't be a problem at all," Catlett said. "What we're trying to sell total is about $90,000 worth of sponsorships."
Additional money raised for the recreation center could be used for multiple additions to the building not included in the base bid, such as sound absorbing panels, exterior masonry or the instillation of ceramic tile.
The South Berkeley Parks and Recreation Center will be located in Inwood next to Musselman High School.
"It's going to have the main gymnasium, a double gymnasium with all the support stuff like administrative offices, restrooms lobby, concessions, whatever it takes. The structure we're building now, like we did (at the Berkeley 2000 Recreation Center) where we built an original structure and then expanded it several times, we will have room for expansion (at the South Berkeley location) as well," Catlett said.
Since board members just approved a construction company for the project, a beginning and completion date for the project won't be known until a meeting with W. Harley Miller, although Catlett hopes the center will be open to the community by winter 2013.
Board members accepted the $2,159,000 bid proposal from W. Harley Miller, which Executive Director Steve Catlett said included all of the equipment for the gymnasium like the scoreboards, baskets and curtains.
After the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation approved an additional $600,000 for the project, a total of $2,100,000 is being given through the foundation and the Randy Smith Fund, leaving $59,000 to be collected through additional funding resources.
"We're selling sponsorships and stuff, so we'll make that up easily. That won't be a problem at all," Catlett said. "What we're trying to sell total is about $90,000 worth of sponsorships."
Additional money raised for the recreation center could be used for multiple additions to the building not included in the base bid, such as sound absorbing panels, exterior masonry or the instillation of ceramic tile.
The South Berkeley Parks and Recreation Center will be located in Inwood next to Musselman High School.
"It's going to have the main gymnasium, a double gymnasium with all the support stuff like administrative offices, restrooms lobby, concessions, whatever it takes. The structure we're building now, like we did (at the Berkeley 2000 Recreation Center) where we built an original structure and then expanded it several times, we will have room for expansion (at the South Berkeley location) as well," Catlett said.
Since board members just approved a construction company for the project, a beginning and completion date for the project won't be known until a meeting with W. Harley Miller, although Catlett hopes the center will be open to the community by winter 2013.
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