text:
Project 2007-300-00 - Fish Passage Technical Services Project
Fish Passage Technical Services Project
Staff central analytical group to provide technical support to state and federal fishery managers.
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) (Tribe)
Proposed - Project Status Report
Basinwide - 100.00%
2007-300-00 - Fish Passage Technical Services Project
A portion of the unallocated balance will be available for the Council to make final project funding recommendations for fish passage science and analysis.
Response Requested
This is a proposal to replace most of the functions of the current Fish Passage Center (FPC), which is a required element in the Fish and Wildlife Program. The ISRP found this proposal lacking sufficient technical detail for an adequate technical review and requests a response.
This project is very similar in organization, language, objectives, and methodology to project proposals # 200732100 and # 200732600. In general, these three proposals recommend a return to the same organization and staff of the present FPC, which may be dissolved in November 2006. The ISRP recommends close coordination among these four proposals' proponents (CRITFC, ODFW, CBFWA, and WDFW) to develop one well-organized proposal with sufficient technical detail to address ISRP comments/recommendations.
A response should address the comments and suggestions made within each of the following sections of the proposal:
Technical and scientific background: Only general statements are given describing the need for the technical support that this project has provided to the state, tribal, and federal fishery managers: "The project addresses the problem of the continuation needed technical support for the fishery managers which has been recognized in the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Fish and Wildlife Program and a central structure that the agencies and tribes have built upon over the years. The core staff structure, data, analysis and technical services continue the cost effectiveness and efficiency established and operational to date. The central function provides a foundation for ongoing and future collaborative efforts of the states, tribes and federal fishery mangers. Specifically those in the Biological Opinion appendices related to long term system wide monitoring and Evaluation."
This section does not indicate the kinds of technical services to be provided (i.e. daily juvenile and adult fish passage data, passage timing, duration, survival, etc.), their importance, or do anything to help justify this project. The Abstract preceding this background section does a better job of this.
Rationale and significance to subbasin plans and regional programs: The Council's Mainstem Amendments (2003) and the BiOp are cited as requiring this project to provide technical support to the state, tribal, and federal fishery managers. The specific objectives of this project in relation to these regional programs/plans are not described.
Relationships to other projects: On the administrative form, three BPA Projects are listed as having a close relationship to this one, and a brief relationship of this project to each is described. The narrative of the proposal doesn't do this, but describes an organizational structure and gives a description of oversight and governance structure, which doesn't seem to belong in this section.
The function of the Hatfield School of Government (at PSU) is not clearly explained other than "Specifically, the Hatfield School will help clarify performance guidelines necessary to avoid advocacy-based technical services and ensure objectivity and transparency. The Hatfield School will review the oversight process and a sampling of technical service products on a semi-annual basis to assess performance relative to established guidelines." Detailed descriptions should be added to determine how the school will "clarify the performance guidelines" and what criteria the school will use to review technical service products.
The section describing Oversight and Governance Structure along with the proposed Memorandum of Agreement and Principles for Fish Migration and River Management Technical Assistance should be included in the background section, not here.
The project history section only consists of a few sentences and is lacking sufficient detail to provide project accomplishments and give adequate justification for continued support. For such a long-running project there have been a number of important accomplishments and completed documents that need to be listed.
Objectives: Objectives are not clearly stated, and it appears that the sub-objectives (a-d) under Objective 1 are the real objectives and most of the main objectives are general statements related to program activities and collaborative activities.
Tasks (work elements) and methods: Too often the reviewer is referred to FPC documents or memos for details that should be included in the proposal. Examples are: pg. 8 "Data auditing procedures will be implemented using procedures outlined in the Fish Passage Center's September 17, 1997 memorandum describing the data auditing tasks"; pg. 9 - "Maintain the web based presentation and distribution of the Smolt Monitoring Program by species in the present daily format with daily automatic updates to the SQL data system concurrently with presentation on the web utilizing the data protocols described in the FPC32 Smolt Monitoring Program Remote Sites Data Entry Program"; pg. 11 - "Consistent with the present FPC work statement, attend and provide technical assistance to the agencies and tribes in the water quality technical committee, including the annual water quality report for NOAA, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the state water quality agencies."
The methodology for some of the most important work elements in this proposal (e.g. passage index, relative abundance, migration timing, travel time, and survival estimates) is briefly summarized on about one page. The methods for each of these work elements needs to be clearly detailed.
Monitoring and evaluation: The major functions of the FPC are M&E. However, the proposal only makes several general statements that the project will "develop annual smolt monitoring plan with the Fish Passage Advisory Committee of CBFWA" and as Objective 5 - "Participation in long-term development of Research, Monitoring & Evaluation in coordination with CSMEP and other regional RM&E programs, as requested by managers participating in the Remand processes, and as needed for the SMP."
The proposal needs to provide some detail of how they will develop this annual monitoring plan and give details of how they will coordinate with other regional RM&E programs.
Facilities, equipment, and personnel: Nothing useful is mentioned about facilities and equipment. The project personnel are the current staff of the FPC, who have a long history of association with the FPC and are well qualified.
No Problems Exist
Technical/analytical support to fishery agencies for regional collaboratives (eg BiOp remand).


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America needs a peace movement now more than ever [Opinion]
Opinion // Outlook
By Oliver Stone and Dan Kovalik July 3, 2019
Members of the ANSWER Coalition hold a June 23 anti-war with Iran rally outside the White House.
Photo: Andrew Harnik, STF / Associated Press
Former President Jimmy Carter recently made a profound and damning statement — the U.S. is the "most warlike nation in the history of the world." Carter contrasted the U.S. with China in this respect, saying that China is building high-speed trains for its people while the U.S. is putting all of its resources into mass destruction. Where are the U.S.'s high-speed trains, Carter appropriately wondered.
As if to prove Carter's assertion, Mike Pence told the most recent graduating class at West Point that "[i]t is a virtual certainty that you will fight on a battlefield for America at some point in your life…. You will lead soldiers in combat. It will happen." Clearly referring to Venezuela, and possibly also to Guatemala, where the U.S. has just sent troops ostensibly to halt immigration, Pence continued, "Some of you may even be called upon to serve in this hemisphere." In other words, Pence declared, war is inevitable, a certainty for this country.
Moreover, it was recently reported that the Pentagon is preparing for war against both Russia and China, even as Trump and his henchmen openly threaten war against Iran and Venezuela, doubling down on the U.S.'s nearly 20 years of war in Afghanistan, and aiding and abetting Saudi Arabia in its genocidal war in Yemen. One might think, and certainly hope, that there would be a massive outcry against what appears to be the imminent threat of another world war.
And yet, this threat has been met with near total silence. Indeed, to the extent our elite media has reacted at all to Trump's war plans, the reaction has been disappointment that Trump is not moving quickly enough towards military aggression. One example of this reaction was the May 11 New York Times piece, "Trump Said He Would Tame Rogue Nations. Now They Are Challenging Him" — a piece that openly goads Trump into using military force against North Korea, Iran and Venezuela.
What the Times and other like press sources fail to recognize is that it is the U.S. that is the rogue state by any true measure. And this truth is not lost on the citizens of the world who, in two global polls, ranked the U.S. as the greatest threat to world peace.
In the meantime, the promised and desperately needed infrastructure overhaul in this country is barely mentioned anymore; tent cities sheltering the homeless are rising in nearly every major U.S. city; nearly half of Americans cannot afford necessities; and basic healthcare is still out of reach of millions of Americans.
The mammoth in the living room is the insatiable military-industrial complex, which is diverting precious resources away from these causes and toward the cause of destroying other nations. Meanwhile, the U.S. war machine is arguably the greatest contributor in the world to the global warming crisis. Symbolic of its environmental threat, the U.S. military just opened an airstrip in the Galapagos Islands.
As we approach the 2020 presidential elections, it is baffling that none of this is a matter of debate. The one candidate who is willing to broach this subject — military veteran Tulsi Gabbard — is vilified and ridiculed as a result. Don't people realize that there will be no Green New Deal or Medicare for All or other such laudable social programs as long as we continue down our unending path of war?
Indeed, the U.S. just made history this year by experiencing an unprecedentedly high increase in the deficit during good economic times, and this is because we are now engaged in deficit spending on war instead of meeting human want.
In the end, the greatest single thing we can do, both for ourselves and for the world, is to stop the U.S. from starting its next war while demanding that it end the wars it has already started. We must demand that our government stop putting resources into war and destruction and instead put those resources towards building, meeting human needs and saving our environment.
This will require rebuilding the U.S. peace movement, which once helped stop the war in Vietnam and the U.S. war on Central America, and which mobilized record numbers of people in opposing the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Such a peace movement is needed now more than ever, and it is literally a matter of life and death.
Stone is an Academy-Award winning filmmaker and author. Kovalik teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. They both contributed to the new book, The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How The US is Orchestrating Coup for Oil, published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I find a mossy rock and just sit for a while. I look down at our camp, with flocks of alpine choughs swooping noisily in to look for morsels of food, and feel my own personal pangs of regret at leaving all this behind. There are few places outside the Himalaya where the relation of man to nature can be experienced on such a gigantic scale, and something like that may not change your life, but it does stretch it a bit.
Jomolhari is draped in cloud as we set off across the stream and down along the broad, treeless meadow of grass and stones that leads down the valley. Within minutes the mountain is out of sight.
A yak caravan sways up towards us. Doje says he prefers to use horses and donkeys for carrying. He says they're much brighter than yaks and look where they're going.
Jomolhari is 11 miles (18 km) behind us by the time we reach our next campsite. It's in a tight neck of the mountains, where the valley becomes a gorge. Thickly wooded slopes of cedar, blue pine, maple and larch rise behind us and the stream we've followed since it left the glacier is now a river, some 30 feet wide and running fast and clear. A fire has been lit and internal warmth is taken care of by a slug or two of Special Courier Bhutanese Whisky. The description on the bottle, 'brewed at Gelephu Distillery (a unit of Army Welfare Project)', suggests that we are not only warming ourselves but helping the Bhutanese military at the same time. Very odd. Food is served early and I'm one of the last to bed. It's a quarter to nine and snowing.


Thank you to Chef Silvana for the amazing tacos. If you get the chance hit up Barrio Cafe on (16th street & Thomas) for some amazing tacos among other great dishes served at the restaurant. Plus over 100 different bottles of tequila for your taste buds. Also thanks to Breeze and Kaper for their amazing luchadores moves.
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If you're an attorney in Arizona and tired of abuses like this by the State Bar of Arizona, here are the candidates I recommend voting for to start cleaning things up. Notice if you go to the State Bar's website, you can find nothing on the home page about this annual election - one of the biggest annual events you'd think for the Arizona Bar. Surprised? It's done on purpose. The leftists that control the Bar would prefer to have as few attorneys as possible vote to control their leadership. If you can actually FIND the page to read about the candidates, the link to vote online doesn't work!
If you can locate the link to vote on the Bar's website, let me know, I spent 10 minutes trying to find it and cannot.


text:
Q: EF4 Lazy Loading - How do I force a load? I have the following code:
    public IEnumerable<RMAInfo> GetAllRMAsByReseller(string resellerID)
    {
        using (RMAEntities context = new RMAEntities())
        {

            IEnumerable<RMAInfo> ret = from r in GetRMAInfos_Internal(context)
                                       where r.ResellerID.ToUpper().Trim() == resellerID
                                       select r;

            return ret;
        }
    }

When I try and access the return value, I get the expected error of:
The ObjectContext instance has been disposed and can no longer be used for operations that require a connection.

I know this is happening because of lazy loading, and it's trying to load now that the context has been closed (via the using going out of scope).
My question is how do I force a load before I exit the method?
I originally did it like
return ret.ToList<RMAInfo>();

This worked fine, but I'm not sure if it's the correct or best way to do it?

A: query.ToList(); is the correct way to force load the results. How else would you force evaluation of linq query?

A: That is perfectly fine and accepted.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We supply coffee to a number of cafes, restaurants and offices around Oxford and beyond.
We know what it's like to open a cafe and we love working with our wholesale customers to get their coffee offering just right. We offer SCAE certified barista training, help and advice on finding the right equipment and can help with servicing.


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Hall of Fame cornerback/safety Aeneas Williams was drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 1991 NFL draft. Williams recorded 55 career interceptions, his first of which came in his NFL debut.
This Topps Stadium Club brand trading card is part of the Hall of Fame's permanent collection.


Bring realistic building to your setting with these soft, safe Role Play Building Bricks.
These building bricks are the size and colour of real house bricks (they even include core holes).
However, unlike real building bricks, they are made from strong, plastic covered foam, ideal for indoor and outdoor use.


Sam & Max Save the World is a graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games. The game was originally released as Sam & Max: Season One before being renamed in early 2009. Save the World was developed in episodic fashion, comprising six episodes that were released for Microsoft Windows over the course of late 2006 and early 2007. The episodes were initially distributed online by GameTap and Telltale Games themselves, although the later retail releases of the game were published by The Adventure Company and JoWooD Productions in North America and Europe respectively. A Wii port of the game was published in late 2008, and a Xbox Live Arcade version for the Xbox 360 was released in mid 2009. The two Sam and Max games are one of the four XBLA games priced at 1600 Microsoft Points (20$).
What's your user review score for Sam and Max Save The World?
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Sam and Max Save The World has been added to Game-Debate but does not currently have the Sam and Max Save The World system requirements.


text:
John Lewis: No Obama Without 'Selma'
There's no President Barack Obama without "Selma."
That was what Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) had to say Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," as he discussed the legacy the historic Selma-to-Montgomery Marches of 1965.
"I don't think as a group we had any idea that our marching feet would have such an impact 50 years later … If it hadn't been for that march across Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, there would be no Barack Obama as president of the United States of America."
Lewis, a long-time activist turned politician, was beaten during the infamous March 7, 1965 "Bloody Sunday" march where protesters made their first attempt to cross Selma's Edmund Pettis Bridge. The protest was part of a larger strategy to put pressure on the then Johnson Administration to back the Voting Rights Act. At the time, blacks living in Alabama, as well as throughout the South, had to contend with punitive laws meant to depress and deny their right to vote.
On that day Lewis, along with about 600 other protesters were stopped by police who attacked them with bullwhips, billy clubs and tear gas. His skull was fractured in the onslaught, but Lewis, undeterred, continued his work as then chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Protesters would later complete a third and finally successful march to Montgomery, Ala. later the same month. The three marches and their eventual success were documented recently in Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated film "Selma."
President Obama is set to visit Selma this March for a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.
Said Lewis during the interview:
"Sometimes I feel like crying, tears of happiness, tears of joy, to see the distance we've come and the progress we've made," Lewis said. "When people tell me nothing has changed, I just feel like saying, 'Come and walk in my shoes. I will show you. I will take you to those places.'"
But Lewis also conceded that we still have some ways to go. He cited recent incidents like the protests that erupted last year in Ferguson, Mo. after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of a white police officer.
"We can make progress, we can deal with the issue of justice, we can deal with the issue of police and communities," Lewis said. "You bring communities and law enforcement and not sweep the issues under the rug."
TagsBarack Obamacivil rightsCongressman John LewisJohn LewisselmaslideshowVoting Rights Act
West Takes the East in NBA All-Star ...
Mississippi Judge Accused of Racial Abuse Indicted


Hakusan Shrine is a small local shrine right in the centre of Bunkyo-ku, the Tokyo ward famous for its many universities and historic places. While small, this shrine received support from the ruling shoguns in the Edo period (1603-1868) and was selected as important shrine at the start of the Meiji period (1868-1912) receiving support from the emperor. Furthermore, the founding father of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen, received the final incentive here to start a revolution in China by way of comet Halley. And last but not least, it is home to Bunkyō Ajisai Matsuri, the major hydrangea festival in central Tokyo.
Hakusan is a quiet neighbourhood with many showa-style coffee shops (no Starbucks or any other coffee chain to be found here), all overshadowed by the presence of Toyo University and the Koishikawa Botanical Garden.
Hakusan Shrine was founded in 948 (moved to its current location in 1655), and is part of "The 10 Jinja of Tokyo", a grouping of 10 major shrines. In 1868, at the time of the Meiji Restoration, Emperor Meiji chose 10 shrines throughout the city that became sanctuaries for the new capital. These 10 shrines are a grouping of all the major shrines, with the big exception of Meiji Shrine (but that one was not yet around in 1868 as it is a shrine dedicated to the Meiji Emperor after his death).
The shrine is named after Mount Hakusan (literally white mountain) in Ishikawa prefecture close to Kanazawa, one of Japan's most sacred mountains. The shrine was popular with the ruling shoguns due to the place where it is located. The shrine was originally inside Koishikawa Botanical Garden, the place where the 5th Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (in office 1680–1709) built his mansion and as a result of that more or less random connection the shrine received support from the shoguns from that time onwards.
A shrine is nothing of course without its kami (deities) that are worshipped. People go to Hakusan Shrine for two things: marriage and toothaches, an interesting combination. Kikurihime, the goddess of marriage, is worshipped here and the shrine is therefor hailed as a power-spot for love. According to legend, Kikurihime mediated in a fight between a married couple (of gods) in the next world, hence praying to this god will help particularly to mend a relationship if there is trouble between the partners. More in general, praying to this god could also help to fix discord between family members and friends.
The toothache story is more difficult to link, one theory claims that an empress got rid of her toothache after coming to this shrine, another theory puts the connection in a play of Chinese characters (歯苦散 is pronounced hakusan, meaning disappear tooth pain, the characters for this location are different though: 白山). Whatever the theory, in the Edo period this shrine apparently became known for alleviating a toothache. In those days that was a serious issue and it is easy to understand why people were looking into the religious corner for relief. Hakusan Shrine played along and started awarding toothpicks to people who came to pray for dental problems. These days it is possible to hold a service for your toothbrush. If you want, you can deposit your used toothbrush into a box (only during the Ajisai Matsuri in June), and then a service will be held.
Hakusan Shrine is one of those shrines where cats are plentiful, especially in the morning and the evening many cats are inhabiting the shrine grounds. They roam in between all the bushes and mikoshi kura, storehouses for portable shrines. There are in total 14 of these storage houses, a sign that this shrine has indeed a long history and is rather important.
Once a year in June the shrine attracts a lot of visitors, including many foreigners, for the Bunkyō Ajisai Matsuri (hydrangea festival). Be aware though that the shrine gets packed with people during this festival, so if you want to avoid the crowds for a quiet shrine visit, best to avoid June.
There is one final history related element linked to this shrine. A stone monument was put here for Sun Yat-sen, founding father of the Republic of China. The story goes that while in Japan, he saw the comet Halley at Hakusan Shrine in 1910 and this spurred him to start the revolution in his homeland. Sun Yat-sen spent several years in exile in Japan, even married a Japanese girl. He found support for his revolutionary ideas in Japan out of shared pan-Asian fear of encroaching Western imperialism. In 1910 he stayed at the home of Miyazaki Toten, who lived close to Hakusan Shrine.
Note there are two entrances for Hakusan Shrine, if you come from the station, the closest one is the side entrance and in fact this is the one that most people use. However, you can also use the main entrance that brings you straight to the front. Unfortunately, you will also have to cross a rather ugly parking lot if you take this route.


JoeMcD has returned his $100 sPod Gift Certificate that he won at the Anniversary Run and told me to use it as a giveaway. Thank You Joe.
Ralphtommaccio won the GC in the August giveaway but was unable to use it and was gracious enough to send it back to giveaway again. The GC expires at the end of December 2018.
Click here to become a supporting member - Become a supporting member!
No takers? I guess I will be buying a switch setup for my trailer.
sPod is quality stuff man and it aint cheap. 100$ sure does ease the order final price though...lol. Who is the certificate through Paul?
Straight from sPod. I am kinda hoping nobody takes it so I can use it for a switch system for the Trailer.
Haha thanks guys. But that's not how I do things.
We have one entry for the giveaway. Mark asked if you are automatically entered, you are not. If you want in on the giveaway you need to post in the appropriate thread to let me know you want in. If you are a supporting member, go to the supporting member only section and post up one time in the giveaway thread. If you are a Tier 1, that one entry is it, if you are Tier 2 you get 2 entries, your initial post and I add the second one in for you and if you are Tier 3 you get 3 entries, your initial post and I add the second and third one in for you. So you only need to post once in the Supporting Members only thread for the giveaway.
According to Randomnumbergenerator.com #6 Budman86 won the sPod gift card. Please send me a PM with your address and I will get your prize sent out to you ASAP.


text:
Q: Teams Bot - Adding scanning capability We have built a Teams bot using bot v4 framework using C#. We wanted to integrate the QR code scanning feature inside the bot , like if user clicks on a button the camera pops up and scans the QR code .Is scanning a QR code inside a Teams bot built using bot framework v4 possible ?

A: Unfortunately this feature is not supported yet. Please raise a User Voice. Microsoft will always focus on customer's feedback and experience and based on those, new features will be added to the service.


On Tuesday night, May 5, the North Rockland School Board held its final meeting prior to the budget vote scheduled for May 19. School Superintendent Ileana Eckert made the final presentation of the budget, already approved at the prior meeting of April 21. Although the public had an opportunity to comment or ask questions, none were offered.
The budget as currently formulated would grow from the 2014-2015 amount of $208,323,157 to $210,160,879 for 2015-2016. The increase of $1,837,722 represents a 0.88 percent rise. The total district tax levy is projected at $139,671,890, a 1.33 percent increase over last year.
If the budget is approved, Eckert explained, the district would still have to cut a total of 10 staff positions in order to satisfy its financial limits. However, if the budget is not approved, the current budget would remain in effect and the district would have to cut a total of 31 positions to remain balanced. Of the 10 positions slated for elimination, eight would be through regular retirements.
Eckert acknowledged that even though the levy increase would only be 1.33 percent—less than that in 2006—homeowners will experience a greater increase in their school taxes now because of the change in how the tax burden is being carried. Prior to 2006 and the Mirant tax certiorari settlement, homeowners bore only about a third of the total tax levy, and commercial property owners, predominantly the Bowline and Lovett power plants, carried about two thirds. In 2004 the district received almost $50 million in tax revenue from those two sources alone; in 2015 that number has been reduced to less than $2 million.
Accordingly, the tax burden apportionment is completely reversed. Homeowners currently carry about 68 percent of the tax levy and commercial property owners about 31 percent. That 68 percent is then divided among the towns and villages that make up the district, taking into account the state's equalization rate, a ratio intended to even out discrepancies caused by variances in property assessments among the municipalities. Last year the split between Haverstraw and Stony Point was at 55/45 percent. Using those numbers, the total residential portion of this year's proposed tax is $94,976,885 of which Haverstraw's portion would be $52,237,286 and Stony Point's $42,739,598. These amounts are then apportioned to each property according to the rate set by that town's assessor.
In addition to taxes, the district receives revenue through state aid, although the state continues to lag far behind in paying what it has committed. This year is a little better, as the state has paid a small portion of what it owes. The district's expenditures continue to be predominantly for student services—staff salaries and benefits—along with transportation, maintenance and other outlays. Eckert pointed out somewhat ruefully that the district's debt service, necessitated by the repayments to Mirant for the tax certiorari, is the district's second highest expenditure. The district will also use $12,264,648 from its fund balance reserves to keep taxes from going any higher. The fund balance, however, continues to diminish and faces the possibility of eventual depletion.
Eckert also made sure to point out, however, that despite continuing financial challenges, the district remains committed to the highest level of education and opportunities for its students, and she proudly noted some of this year's achievements in academics, sports and the arts. A number of student athletes and athletic teams received certificates of recognition at the meeting for their achievements in county, regional and statewide competitions. A North Rockland senior received a full merit scholarship to the nursing program at Dominican College.
Fieldstone Middle School principal Anthony Zollo also gave a presentation about the school's ongoing Band Room Acoustic project in which students learn and apply principles of mathematics, engineering and physics while designing an improved acoustic system for the music facilities. The total cost of the project will be about $5,000; the same work, if contracted out to professionals, would have cost the district about $50,000. Not only does the project save the district money, it also affords the students a hands-on learning opportunity not found in many other places.
More information about the budget can be found on the district's website at nrcsd.org.


This recipe for Turkey Asparagus Felix, by Sylvia Stepnoski, is from Sylvia's Kitchen, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We help families or individuals create heirloom cookbook treasures.
Sauté turkey in olive oil until juices run clear. Add asparagus to boiling salted water and steam, covered, about 2 minutes or until barely tender; drain. Place sauteéd tarkey slice on plate, place 3 crab legs on each and top with 4 cooked asparagus spears. Spoon 2 to 3 tbsp. sauce on each serving. Makes 4 servings.
1. Combine 2 tbsp. flour, ⅛ tsp. salt and dash pepper in small saucepan. Gradually add ¾ c. chicken broth and stir until smooth. Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens.
2. Add ¼ c. lowfat dairy sour cream, 1 tsp. each Dijon-style mustard and lemon juice and ½ tsp. crushed tarragon; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Makes about ¾ c.
Serve with wild rice, garnished with sprig of tarragon.
Broccoli can be used instead of asparagus.


text:
Swedish Lutherans say they are a "trans church" as they attack conservative Christians
In an open letter, priests and other members of the Swedish Lutheran Church say they believe in "a humanity in all the colours of the rainbow, absolutely amazing and infinite in its diversity".
Evangelical Focus
STOCKHOLM · 31 MAY 2021 · 16:04 CET
Lutheran churches in Sweden are increasingly pro-transgender. / Memphis M. , Unsplash, CC0
The national Lutheran church in Sweden is a "trans church", according to an open letter published on the institution's official website.
The Swedish Lutheran Church (SK) has 5.8 million members (figures of 2019), which makes it the largest Lutheran institution in Europe. The SK is marrying homosexual couples since 2009 and much of its leadership is theologically liberal in its approach to the Bible.
"We have (…) employees, churchwardens, elected representatives (…) who define themselves as trans people. The church also consists of trans people. Therefore, the church could be described as trans", says the letter, signed by over 1,000 people, including priests, staff and regular church members.
The signatories compare the Biblical story of Hagar with the suffering of trans-identifying people. "Like Hagar, we all, Christians or not, transgender or cispers, have our own relationship with God. We have our own story that exists and is true, regardless of whether someone else wants it to exist or not".
Against radical Christians and feminists
The letter accuses "radical right-wing Christian groups" and the media of setting the base for "hate" against trasns people. "Trans-excluding feminists" are also an obstacle, in contrast with "a broad solidarity feminism that fights narrow gender norms".
The Sk signatories emphasis that "many have wanted to limit you [the trans people] and we [the Church] can no longer stay silent".
The letter fully embraces the pro-LGBT theology adopted by other Protestant churches in Northern Europe and the United States. "Whatever you encounter and whatever others say, no one can take away your gender identity and your human dignity. God loves you, just as you are", they say.
The letter, written originally by four senior priests and sent out to LGBT groups, closes with this idea: "We believe in a church and a God who welcomes people beyond power, national boundaries, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity. A humanity in all the colours of the rainbow, absolutely fantastic and infinite in its diversity."
A Church in decline
Already in 2017, the Swedish Lutheran Church encouraged priests to use gender-neutral language to refer to God, avoiding the pronoun "He" and the concept of "Father".
The institution has been losing around 1.5% of its membership every year. Although more than half of the country's population is still a member of the Lutheran Church, official figures in 2017 showed that only 5% of Swedes attend its worship services, while 8 in 10 consider themselves "non-religious".
Free evangelical churches, which generally hold to an orthodox understanding of the Bible's teaching about sexuality and marriage, are still a minority in Sweden. The Swedish Evangelical Alliance has clearly stated its commitment to heterosexual marriages and the respect for the authority of the Bible in matters of sexuality, while calling for a compassionate approach to LGBT people.
Hospital stops trans treatments for minors
Meanwhile, the renowned Karolinska hospital in capital Stockholm, has announced it will end all use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones with minors after May 2021.
The new medical policy of the health centre distances itself from the known as "Dutch protocol", through which puberty blockers were given to children aged 12 and cross-sex hormones when they reached the age of 16.
From now on, the hospital will only offer such treatments in a context of scientific research but no longer in the usual protocols for gender-dysphoric minors.
According to the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, Sweden's Health and Technology Assessment evidence review found in 2019 a lack of explanation for the sharp increase in the numbers of adolescents with gender dysphoria in recent years.
Sweden is one of several countries where medical institutions have stopped procedures related to gender transitions in children and teenagers after voices of alarm were raised by health experts and families.
Published in: Evangelical Focus - europe - Swedish Lutherans say they are a "trans church" as they attack conservative Christians
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New Southern Energy completes first floating PV project in South Africa
New Southern Energy has completed the first floating PV project located in South Africa, with the installation operating at a dam next to a fruit farm just outside of Franschhoek in the country's Western Cape province.
The floating PV project has a generation capacity of 60kW and will help produce clean energy to the farm, while also minimising evaporation from the farm's dam and saving valuable agricultural land.
The first phase of the installation, which also includes a land-based solar installation on the Marlenique farm, will allow the facility to run 90% of its energy intensive cold storage, irrigation and wedding venue facilities off of traditional electrical grid. A second phase, which features energy storage assets, will remove the farm from the electrical grid entirely.
Beverley Schäfer, Minister of Economic Opportunities for the Western Cape province, said: "This project has looked at some of the key issues sustainability issues we are facing in agriculture and the economy today- water and energy- and has attempted to find solutions. The system reduces the farm's reliance on the electricity grid, and provides clean, affordable energy supply, while at the same time also reducing evaporation and saving water. The knock on effect is that the business will save money in the long run, and create a business that is not only environmentally sustainable, but financially sustainable as well."
Schäfer added: "As the Western Cape Government we have been urging businesses to take up solar PV as an alternative energy source. We've seen uptake grow from just 18MW in 2015 to 112MW today, which reduces demand on the grid and helps to diversify our energy mix. We are pleased to see businesses like Marlenique responding to our call to invest in resilience in such an innovative way."
March 4, 2019 PV-Tech 0


This style of fencing has been used since America's earliest Colonial Days.
I'm linking with Jan 'n Jer's Friday Fences.
It reminds me of old English country cottages and their picket fences.
A white picket fence with roses--what could be prettier!
My dolls' house has a white picket fence - I need to fix it back into position!
What a beautiful fence... we've always loved white pickets. Wonderful point of view!


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Home » News » Willis Group, Family Shareholders Sign Agreement With Astorg Partners
Willis Group, Family Shareholders Sign Agreement With Astorg Partners
By valentinavalentina 17 Nov 2009
To reorganise the capital of Gras Savoye
Willis Group Holdings Limited, an insurance broker, and the original family shareholders of Gras Savoye & Cie, a French insurance broker, have entered into a definitive agreement with Astorg Partners to reorganise the capital of Gras Savoye in a leveraged transaction.
Gras Savoye has been an associate company of Willis since 1997 when Willis acquired a 33% ownership interest. Since then, Willis has gradually increased its shareholding to 48.6% of voting rights (46.2% of outstanding shares). The family shareholders and management currently own 51.4% of the voting shares of Gras Savoye.
As per the terms of the transaction, Astorg Partners will acquire 33.3% of the voting rights (31.8% of outstanding shares) of a new holding company while Willis and the family shareholders will sell part of their stakes in Gras Savoye to Astorg Partners and roll over their remaining shares into the new holding company, through a combination of equity, convertible debt and seller financing.
Willis, the family shareholders of Gras Savoye, and Astorg will hold equal stakes of 31.8% in the new holding company and have equal representation of 33.3% of the voting rights on its Board. The remaining 4.5% will be held by a large pool of Gras Savoye managers.
This transaction values Willis' existing investment in Gras Savoye at approximately $343m. Willis will roll over approximately $135m in equity and convertible debt and lend approximately $48m to the new holding company at a rate of 6% per annum. Willis expects to generate approximately $160m of tax-free net cash proceeds from the transaction, which it will use to pay down existing debt.
The agreement also gives Willis the option to purchase 100% of the capital in the new holding company in 2015, should it choose to do so, with notification in 2014. An existing put option, which gave family shareholders an option to sell their shares in Gras Savoye to Willis between now and 2011, will be cancelled at the closing of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009, subject to customary approvals and completion of financing.
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Q: HEX to Threejs rgb conversion with THREE.MeshPhongMaterial not working I am using below js code to change color of a part in 3D model
document.getElementById("custom_color").onchange = function() {
    var custom_color = $("#custom_color").val().split('#').join("0x");
    console.log(custom_color);
    const color = new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial({ color: custom_color, shininess: 10 });
    console.log(color);
    var name = $(".--is-active").data("option");
    initColor(speaker,name,color);
  }

First console.log(custom_color) giving result
0xd04343

Second console.log(color) giving as
color object as
b: 1
g: 1
r: 1

I am unable to understand why THREE.MeshPhongMaterial not converting it.

A: This happens because you pass string "0xd04343" instead of a real hex 0xd04343. If you want to pass a string, then leave it as is with # and pass it into color parameter: "#d04343". That format of string in CSS-style is valid for color.
The docs say:
It can be a CSS-style string. For example:
'rgb(250, 0,0)'
'rgb(100%,0%,0%)'
'hsl(0, 100%, 50%)'
'#ff0000'
'#f00'
'red'


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Q: Can benefit be used with the preposition with? Can benefit be used the preposition WITH?
For example,
My participation in this program will benefit me with a head start on my medical education.
Is it consider grammatically correct? If not, why?
(I know it may sound awkward, but can it be written that way.)
I cannot find the answer anywhere.

A: Far more idiomatic, I think, to say "give me the benefit of".  As a verb, benefit takes a direct object and nothing else.


Wooly Boys, Badlands Girl, move over. Sanctified, full-length feature film could be shot in Billings County next spring. Those first two films generated considerable interest in Western North Dakota, the Badlands and Medora. More attention seems to be headed that way.
It's cold out here, but it won't be when the movie is shot somewhere out there. This is from Square Butte with Sentinel Butte on the horizon to the right. They are two of the highest points in the Badlands.
We've been honored with the opportunity to work with Daniel Bielinski to find suitable locations for the period piece. It's given us more reason to explore the backroads of Billings, Golden Valley, Stark, and Slope Counties.
The work of producing a full-length feature film such as Sanctified requires being centrally located near one community with access to the back areas for a crew of 40 or more people and their gear.
The roads in the Badlands are not built for speed nor for comfort.
Bielinski has chosen to be centrally located in Billings County and Medora. He plans to showcase the rugged beauty of the Badlands, the forested areas along the Little Missouri River and a third element – an abandoned school or church building.
Southern Stark County has one old abandoned school building complete with a bell in the belfry.
Bielinski has not made final choices on locations or details for Sanctified. He's courting investors to join the effort. He's put together his production team of good hardy stock; trail bosses who know what it takes to move down the trail to market — a wagon-load of talent. Like a cattle drive, they know what they're doing: Canticle Productions is Bielinski's company and riding with him are Headwaters Entertainment, Nickolaus Swedlund, Matt Roy, and Tim Saxhaug.
As the head drover, we've found him to be a gentle-spirited, good-hearted man with great vision. He is a talented and accomplished artist. Not only is he the Director of Theater at the University of Mary in Bismarck, but he is also active as an actor, writer, and producer. He co-starred on HBO's "The Leftovers." His short films, "The Good Father" and "You Beautiful Crazy Blind Cripple" have picked up numerous awards on the film festival circuit. He stars in the upcoming feature film, "Nina of the Woods" (IMDb: a meditative, avant-garde feature-length drama, exploring themes of faith, memory, and the malleable nature of reality.") Bielinski's most recent film is "The Badlands Girl", a short western film shot in the ND Badlands.
Somewhere out there, a movie could be filmed.
They're still looking for the right region of Badlands bluffs, buttes, hills that are accessible to a production crew and their trucks. He's familiar with the region since Badlands Girl was shot at the Logging Camp Ranch near the burning coal vein west of Amidon. So, he has an image in mind and is shopping around for accessible private property with the beauty of the Badlands.
Once investors are lined up comes pre-production work. If all goes well, it will be shot in May with a unique plan for release that could include a theater near you.
Follow Beautiful Badlands ND to stay up to date on the progress of the movie Sanctified. Just tell us where to send the notices. The subscription box is in the upper right corner.
If you're looking for entertainment, activities, and events this holiday season. Here is a free resource of links that will tell you what is happening and where.


Absolutely stunning, these pieces resemble fine pieces of jewelry. This listing includes two personalized shoe photo charms with gorgeous CZ's embedded in the sterling silver plated charms for a little added sparkle. These photo charms are made using only the finest jewelers grade glassy resin in order to preserve and enhance the images. Each charm is is attached to your shoes using a matching pinch bail and they are easily removed leaving no damage. The charms work just as well with flats as they do with heels. Please feel free to use any color background for your text...Especially if you'd like to add 'Something Blue'.
Stats: Each image is 3/4" wide by 1" tall. Once you have made your purchase, I will be in contact for the image(s)/text. I will send a proof prior to production of your item(s). Please allow 3-5 days production time before shipping once the proofs have been approved.
This is really special. The quality is nice and they did great job using the photo I sent. I think it would be great if the saying was on the back of the photo instead of two separate charms. The hair pin was a very nice touch as well. Would recommend this to anyone who has a beloved one who passed. Awesome touch to something that will mean so much honoring someone who passed.
This seller is incredibly patient and kind. They walked me through myndofferent options to find the perfect charm for my best friends wedding day. Quick response and shipping and the product was perfect! Pleasure doing business with you!
My sister got married 2 weeks ago and since we lost our dad just over a year ago, I gifted these to her. They turned out absolutely beautiful and had everyone in tears. Thank you for working with me and providing multiple proofs so that I could make sure her day was perfect.


Endurance® Doors is again backing Fire Door Safety Week, which will be held week commencing 25th September, 2017 and promoted through social media and through other marketing communications.
Fire Door Safety Week is promoted by the British Woodworking Federation at www.firedoorsafetyweek.co.uk and Endurance® Doors are eager to play their part with their proven solid and secure composite door, that's achieved a FD30S rating. As well as a free best practice guide on this website, there's an additional initiative to reduce the amount of fire doors being wedged, with people encouraged to share their images using the hashtag #ClickItKickIt.
Thanks to the Rehau specification of the RAUFERNO Fire Door, Endurance® Doors have been able to lead the solid core composite market with this FD30S performance standard, that also offers an impressive reduced sound reduction to 34db. The range includes standard doors, along with additional top and side light options. With opportunities for sales of internal garage doors that necessitate additional security, it's also a product USP that's an important part of their portfolio.
Internal garage doors are a part of the composite door market that's relatively untapped, when most people assume fire doors means the commercial sector. The reported burglary of Jamie Oliver's house through the garage door back in October 2015 serves only too well the importance of a high security, internal garage door.
Endurance Doors is the brand name for Rocal, a group associated with solid and secure composite doors since 2002 and a true product pioneer. Recent testing has shown that these doors can resist the cut through test of the new PAS 24 standard with ease. Based in Brigg, North Lincolnshire, the company can also boast in-house facilities of tool making, extrusion and foil lamination within the Rocal Group, making for a stronger product development programme.
Their products boast CoolSkin technology, Rehau PVCu door frames and the use of recycled reinforcement. There are an impressive 16 door colours available inside and out, with 11 door frame colours and 39 different door designs in total. More recently the company has just launched the Classical Collection, which is inspired by traditional timber door designs and those of the Victorian and Georgian eras.


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Washington Coal Country's Underpowered Future
As Puget Sound Energy phases out coal, struggling Lewis County is left searching for economic answers.
By Aaron Kunkler • March 19, 2018 11:00 am
Tags: energy, Environment
The Centralia Power Plant is a coal-burning plant owned by TransAlta which supplies 380 megawatts to Puget Sound Energy. It is located in Lewis County and slated to shut down by 2025. Photo by Aaron Kunkler
On a recent sunny Monday afternoon, 82-year-old Robert Oberg is sitting inside the Yard Birds Mall in Chehalis, overseeing his second-hand DVD shop in the indoor flea market.
Vendors like him rent space here and sell merchandise. It's the closest thing the county has to a traditional indoor mall, but the goods for sale consist heavily of odds and ends and second-hand items. For life's necessities, there is the Walmart Supercenter, the only big-box store in Lewis County and located just on the other side of I-5.
When asked, Oberg, who has lived in the area for most of his life, recalls when the TransAlta Centralia Power Plant shuttered its local coal mine in 2006. The community took a blow, he says. Many people left following the closure of the mine, he adds, and the ones that stayed often found jobs that paid far less.
"That was one of the best-paying jobs, I guess it was," he says. "There isn't any jobs much here except for retail."
He says there has been a downturn in his DVD business over the last year. There are a number of potential reasons for this, but to Oberg it is a sign of the state of the local economy.
"There's a lot of people that just don't have much money," he says.
Robert Oberg and his wife own a second-hand DVD shop in Yard Birds Mall in Chehalis around 90 miles south of Seattle. He's lived in the area for decades and has seen the economy take a hit following downturns in the local coal industry. Aaron Kunkler/Staff Photo
For many years, the economy in Lewis County was humming, powered by the coal that was dug from that nearby mine, and burned at the TransAlta Centralia Power Plant to create energy that was sent to manufacturers and public utilities across the region. Much of that energy has gone to Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy, the largest power supplier in the state with more than one million customers, including everyone who plugs in a toaster on the Eastside (though it does not provide energy for Seattle).
Many, including all those Eastside residents, still rely on the coal that is burned here, but that is changing. And while the economic future remains cloudy in Lewis County, one thing is clear: That, despite President Donald Trump's assurances that coal is on a comeback, power suppliers like PSE are moving away from the fossil fuel, and are unlikely to return to it.
As a result, government and business leaders in the region have been exploring options for a post-coal future. This week, TransAlta announced plans to create the largest solar farm in the United States, right over the county line in Lewis' neighboring Thurston County.
According to The Chronicle in Centralia, the 1,000-acre solar farm would be capable of producing up to 180 megawatts of electricity, a fraction of the 380 megawatts of coal-fueled power that the plant currently provides PSE. The solar farm could be operational by 2020, the same year that the first of two coal boilers at the plant are scheduled to shut down.
TransAlta is currently in the permitting process to obtain a land rezone from Thurston County to begin construction, The Chronicle reported. While it would provide around 300 jobs during construction, it would result in only four permanent technician jobs.
The solar farm would then provide a short-term shot in the arm for Lewis County, which is still reeling from lingering effects of the Great Recession and the loss of industries within its borders. Beyond those short-term gains, uncertainty remains.
A SMALLER CARBON FOOTPRINT
The planned closure of the TransAlta plant has followed intense pressure on energy companies in the Pacific Northwest. With the stated interest of arresting man-made climate change, activists and government officials have pressed for these entities to eliminate the use of coal and reduce their carbon footprint.
Energy suppliers and industrialists across the state have watched as Gov. Jay Inslee has attempted to implement a carbon tax on energy sources that rely on fossil fuel. The latest effort died earlier this month in the state Legislature, but an initiative to create a carbon tax—one that is likely to be even more punishing to industry reliant on fossil fuels—is being drawn up by environmental groups for November's ballot.
In September, PSE offices in Bellevue were stormed by activists demanding that the company stop using oil derived from fracking, stop plans to build a natural gas facility in Tacoma, and shut down the Colstrip coal power plant in Montana.
Meanwhile, the price of other sources of energy has become competitive with coal.
It's difficult to say which pressure points are having the greatest impact on PSE, but it is responding. In December 2017, officials announced that the utility would be reducing its carbon footprint by 50 percent by 2040 while completely eliminating coal from its portfolio.
This is no small task. PSE currently sources a majority of its power from a mixture of hydroelectric, wind, and natural gas, but according to data from the PSE website, the company still gets 37 percent of its power from coal.
Much of the conversation surrounding PSE's coal usage has been focused on the Colstrip, Mont. plant that it partially owns. In 2013, the plant provided 667 megawatts of energy. Along with co-owner Talen Energy, which provides substantial portions of its power to the East Coast, the power company agreed to shut down the Colstrip plant in 2016, stemming from a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club and the Montana Environmental Information Center over air quality violations in 2013. Boilers 1 and 2 at the Colstrip plant are slated to shut down in 2020 with another two boilers operating at least until 2027. PSE is required to provide updates to Washington state regulators on when the last two boilers can be shuttered, but there is no final shutdown date.
Receiving less attention of late is the TransAlta plant, which sealed the fate of its coal economy in 2011, following negotiations between the state, the Sierra Club and TransAlta.
The Centralia Power Plant as seen from the west. It is owner by TransAlta which used to have a nearby coal mine which was shut down in 2006. The power plant is scheduled to shut down by 2025 and supplies power to Puget Sound Energy and the Eastside. Photo by Aaron Kunkler
According to a 2013 Penn State study, written after the agreement, the Centralia Power Plant produced roughly 13 percent of total carbon emissions generated by the top five polluting plants in Washington. The Seattle Times reported that the plant has generated as much pollution as 1.75 million cars while generating 1,340 megawatts of electricity annually. In terms of raw volume, it was pumping 5.36 million metric tons of CO2 into the environment every year, accounting for 81 percent of emissions from the top five most polluting power plants in Washington state. The second biggest plant contributing to pollution in the state was the River Road Generation Plant in Clark County, which produced 0.39 million metric tons of CO2 in 2013.
These carbon emissions were the driving force behind the Sierra Club lawsuit that led to the agreement. As a result, the plant's first boiler is scheduled to shut down in 2020, with the remaining boiler closing in 2025.
While this was welcome news for environmentalists in 2011, it was met with foreboding in Lewis County, which still relies on coal for at least 150 good-paying jobs. Sitting dead center between Seattle and Portland, the county is far removed from the rolling hills of West Virginia coal country where the national conversation about coal is centered, but it is a prime example of what can happen when coal winds down.
A TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW
The impending closure of the TransAlta plant is regarded as the third part of what Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund calls a "triple whammy."
"It's been a tough pill for us to swallow economically," she says.
The first hit came with the closure of a coal mine in the rural southwest Washington county in 2006.
According to Power Technology, TransAlta cited operations costs for closing the 600-worker mine. They weren't the only ones; according to Fortune Magazine, the nationwide coal workforce had been reduced by 40 percent in less than a decade, reaching the lowest levels of employment since 1978.
The next hit came in 2007 when a severe flood submerged whole communities throughout the county and turned sections of I-5 into a lake.
Then, as the county was recovering from those two developments, the entire country found itself in economic free fall. The resulting Great Recession led to 10 percent unemployment nationally in the months following the initial drop in 2007. Lewis County's unemployment rate hit a high of 15.4 percent in 2009 compared with a statewide peak of 9.9 in 2010. And while coastal cities have seen much or all of their economic growth recover, rural communities like those in Lewis County have continued to lag.
So, technically, the announcement that the TransAlta plant would be closing in 2011 was a fourth whammy, one that promised the loss of jobs that paid upwards of $80,000 annually. High-paying logging jobs have been on the wane as well, with the state Employment Security Department reporting that between 2000 and 2016, logging and mining jobs in Lewis County dropped from 1,430 to 580. Those jobs are outliers in a lower-paying, largely service-based economy that already ranked 34th out of 39 counties in Washington in terms of per-capita income in 2013.
Income figures in the county vary, but the U.S. Census Bureau pegged the per-capita income in the county at $23,000, with a total population hanging around 76,000. It had a 6.7 percent unemployment rate last December, compared to 3.6 percent in King County. In 2015, 14.3 percent of the county's population was living below the poverty level, compared to 12.2 percent statewide.
On top of the loss of high-paying jobs in a generally impoverished area, these factors have also led to a lack of public tax revenue for emergency services such as fire departments and the Lewis County Sheriff's Office, Fund said.
The two largest school districts in the county have high rates of students on free and reduced lunch, a barometer used to approximate poverty in a community. In the Centralia School District, nearly 70 percent of students are in the program, along with 45 percent of students in Chehalis. This is compared to 34 percent of students receiving free or reduced lunches in Seattle Public Schools, around 18 percent in the Bellevue School District, and 11 percent in Lake Washington School District.
To help offset damages caused by the shutdown, $55 million in economic assistance is being provided by TransAlta, a Canadian corporation with 64 facilities in Canada, the United States, and Australia. As part of the 2011 TransAlta Energy Bill, the company agreed to pay $10 million for weatherization efforts for local businesses, nonprofits, and governments to promote energy efficiency, another $20 million for worker retraining, and $25 million to promote energy technology for projects that promote clean air, clean energy, and the environment.
Lewis County also receives additional help from the state, which has categorized the county as "distressed," meaning the three-year unemployment rate is at least 20 percent higher than the statewide average.
According to The Chronicle, TransAlta had around 200 employees last summer. When the first boiler shuts down in 2020, there will be around 110 jobs remaining. If it is successful in an $84 million bid to transition to a natural gas plant, around 150 jobs would remain. Converting the plant will rely on market needs, TransAlta president Bob Nelson told the paper. A plan to give TransAlta a tax cut if it transitioned the plant to natural gas was vetoed by Gov. Inslee in 2017.
Meanwhile, county commissioners and local chambers of commerce have been scrambling to replace jobs and attract new industry to fill the economic gap.
"We're hopeful that we can recruit businesses to make up for them," Fund said of mining and logging jobs.
Fund said they hope to create a highway interchange off I-5 to facilitate an industrial park near the site of the plant, and say they have received interest from potential land buyers.
Cindy Booth owns Dunnies cafe in the Yard Birds Mall in Chehalis. Photo by Aaron Kunkler
Cindy Booth, the owner of Dunnies Espresso and Boutique in Yard Birds, says the community has been waiting for economic improvement to trickle down to them for a long time. She isn't expecting it anytime soon and wasn't optimistic that any relief would be coming from the federal level in the form of the recently passed tax cuts.
"It's gonna take a while," she said.
This sentiment was echoed by an antique store business owner in Centralia, who wished to remain unnamed for privacy. She said she hopes the county can attract corporations that pay decent wages.
"In my opinion, we're still in a recession ever since it dumped," she said. "We've been sitting on the bottom for a long time waiting for things to get better."
Another antique store owner in downtown Chehalis said he used to sell new merchandise, but had to switch to second-hand items due to a lagging economy and lack of customers who could afford new products. Antique stores are a staple of downtown Centralia's main thoroughfare.
Chris Rohr stands behind the bar at Flood Valley Brewing. Rohr opened the brewery in recent years and hopes to help revitalize the local economy by becoming an anchor business in downtown Chehalis. Photo by Aaron Kunkler
A few miles away in the county seat, Chehalis, is Chris Rohr's bar, Flood Valley Brewing. A tap house amongst the city's rustic brick buildings and small streets, the business opened as a bar in late 2016. It was previously a brewing supplies store.
Rohr said both state regulations and local politicians were holding the county back, citing a decision by the county commissioners to ban marijuana agriculture unless growers could get a federal water permit. This essentially places an indefinite ban on growing legal commercial pot until federal laws change.
"(They) bring in a few more low-paying jobs, but they're not trying to bring in industry," he said. "It's not like we have Microsoft."
Rohr hopes to turn his bar—which hosts comedy nights, live music, and has a broad selection of craft beers from across the state—into a brewery to stimulate the local beer industry and become an anchor business in the city.
Rohr wants to provide good-paying jobs for his employees.
"It's something more that may actually help people," he said.
Talking with Lewis County residents who attribute the loss of the lumber, coal, and power industries largely to regulations, it's easy to understand the feeling of being left behind in a state with booming industry in the Puget Sound counties only a couple hours drive to the north.
While Fund is optimistic they will be able to attract a major industry to the county by the time the coal power plant shuts down in 2025, she shied away from what could happen if they are unsuccessful.
"We're trying to have alternative employment for people and good, family-wage jobs," Fund said. "If we don't have those jobs … our future doesn't look so good."
A version of this story first appeared in the Bellevue Reporter.
Yard Birds Mall is a year-round indoor flea market in Chehalis and is the closest thing Lewis County has to an indoor mall. The county's only real super-center store is a Walmart located in Chehalis. Photo by Aaron Kunkler
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For 34 years, UD has provided disability awareness education in Reading, MA. We are a donation driven, volunteer run non-profit organization. Without the support of donors, our program could not run. Be instrumental in creating a culture of inclusion and respect in schools. Be a leader in innovation in disability awareness, and contribute to the development of our children and community. We appreciate your support!
This project will receive all of the funds Donated by 2019-06-27.
Help create a culture of inclusion and respect in school.


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Current Page Parent Crypto News
Markets Climb As Inflation Keeps Cooling Off
The CPI print for November came in today at 7.1%.
The print is 0.6% lower than October's, and 0.2% lower than expected.
The crypto market reacted positively to the news, with BTC and ETH soaring by 4.65% and 6% each before falling back slightly.
The year-to-year inflation rate came in at 7.1% today, strengthening the market's belief that inflation may indeed have peaked and that the Federal Reserve might soften its aggressive monetary policy.
Inflation Loses Steam
It appears that inflation really is cooling off.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November came in at 7.1% today, solidifying hopes that inflation may have peaked and entered a steady downtrend. The figure is 0.2% less than the 7.3% print expected by analysts for this month; it also marks a 0.6% decrease from the October CPI print, which reached 7.7%.
Markets reacted positively to the print, with BTC and ETH initially rising by 4.65% and 6% respectively on the daily—briefly touching $18,000 and $1,350—before falling back down slightly. At the time of writing, the top cryptocurrencies were each trading for $17,780 and $1,327.
The reaction from legacy markets was similar. The S&P 500 opened up by 2.60%, the Nasdaq by 3.60%, and the Dow Jones by 2%. However, they quickly gave back a portion of their gains and are currently only up 1.31%, 0.59%, and 2.43% respectively.
Signs of abating inflation are certainly welcomed by the crypto market, as they foreshadow a potential easing of the aggressive monetary policy the Federal Reserve has been pursuing throughout the year. To combat the surge in price of core consumer goods, the U.S. central bank began raising interest rates in March—first by 25 basis points, then 50 bps, and subsequently 75 bps every month, quickly bringing them from roughly 0% to approximately 4%.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated in a public appearance two weeks ago that the next rate hike would possibly only be 50 bps, citing a need to "moderate the pace of… rate increases" due to the inflation cooldown and the lagging effect of rapid rate increases on the economy. However, Powell reiterated his intention to bring the inflation rate back down to 2%. The central bank will be conveying their decision with regards to the next hikes tomorrow at 14:00 EST.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.
#Markets #Climb #Inflation #Cooling
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Road trips are the norm this time of year. Everyone is heading to visit family over the holidays, college students are going home for their winter vacation and it's not uncommon to travel in a couple of cars if you have a lot of passengers. That's where 2 way radios can come in handy.
Imagine driving along and realizing that you've lost your friends in the other car. Maybe they turned off for gas or a bathroom break, maybe they just got caught behind a slow trailer. Either way, this can cause delays as you try to figure out where they are, often on a busy highway where it's difficult to pull over.
Cell phones are in wide use these days, but they're not infallible. In fact, they don't work too well in a lot of places, especially the mountains. So if you're driving along and need to communicate with the other vehicles traveling with you, it makes sense to have a two way radio to make life a bit easier.
Two way radios aren't just good for finding lost vehicles, though. They're actually very handy for a few reasons. Traveling in a group usually means someone is hungry at any given time and a radio lets you check in on everyone to see if enough people are hungry to warrant stopping off at the next fast food joint. Radios are also useful if there's a delay or something on the road, you can let other vehicles know what's going on.
Regardless of how you use them, 2 way radios can be extremely useful in many situations on a road trip. Any time you need to communicate, you'll have the ability to do so without using your phone, so check out our selection today.
Do you iron your own shirts? Most of the time my industrious Joy Ann irons the clothes in our home. About once or twice a week I iron my own shirt. Ironing can be very empowering. It demonstrates self-reliance, humility, concentration and you get to really know your clothes.
My favorite shirt is Strongman. Strongman is a teal green, long shelve, button down Ralph Lauren shirt. Strongman cost about $50 but has worn like iron. I bet I have worn Strongman a hundred times. I ironed Strongman on Monday for the first time in a couple of months. Strongman is over three years old. The cautionary Joy Ann has been warning me for sometime that Strongman is on his last leg. Strongman is made from 100% cotton. The material is like duck cloth or a light canvas. It might be called broadcloth. I'm not sure of the name but boy is he comfortable.
When she saw me pulling Strongman from the laundry basket, the stern Joy Ann said, "You can't wear that thing. It's worn out. The underarms are stained. Put on something else!" Basically she refused to iron Strongman. Not one to let go easily I put Strongman on the ironing board and turned the iron on high steam. If this was to be Strongman's last trip I wanted him to go out pressed.
A few years ago I was taking flying lesson at Louisville's Bowman Field. I usually wore the same shirt to most lessons. It was a shirt that was a lot like Strongman except the shirt had flap pockets, epaulets and was khaki colored. I felt very military when I wore that shirt.
One day after landing the plane, my flight instructor told me to stop on the taxiway. She got out of the plane and announced over the roar of the engine, "Today is the day you solo." I responded with a feeble, "So soon? Are you sure? I'm not ready." She told me I was in fact ready and she closed the door and walked away without looking back.
I may have looked military but I felt totally unprepared and pretty much scared to death. I taxied out and took off. I don't remember much about my first solo except the constant blare of the stall warning horn and my apparent loss of all directional control of the aircraft.
Somehow I landed and returned to the flight school. I was soaked in nervous perspiration and on wobbly knees. My instructor met me with scissors and intent to cut off my shirttail. Cutting off the shirttail of a newly soloed pilot is an old aviator's custom. I told her, "I nearly died and now you want to cut up my favorite shirt. ARE YOU NUTS?" I left and never returned. I wore my flying shirt many times after that day but never in the air.
So there I was ironing Strongman when I saw it. A hole! Strongman had sprung a leak in his left shelve. I can put up with fading. I can take some fraying. I could put up with a little yellowing under the arm but a hole….. This changed everything. I knew this was the end for Strongman.
I tell you this my esteemed reader, it was with sadness and pride that I stuffed Strongman into the trash bin. Call it a rite or a ritual, it is hard to say goodbye to those that have served so well.
If you need help with 2 Way Radios give me a call. Doing business with us is easy.
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Do You Iron?
I sell 2 way radios. That's my job, as well as my business, and the truth is, I really enjoy it. These days, there are so many people who just don't take joy in what they do, but for me, helping people find the right 2 way radio equipment is an enjoyable experience. Our clients often share what they plan to use the radios for or tell us about past experiences they've had with them.
The best part of this job is being able to communicate with my clients. I guess you could say I'm a people person, I really do enjoy the face to face contact with clients in the area. While the internet isn't nearly as personal, it's still possible to communicate with people through it and that works very well for anyone who doesn't live here in Florida. In fact, it's a bonus because I get to talk to folks all over the country!
Sure, I may not be doing something as exciting as being a spy for the CIA, but building awareness about how 2 way radios can help people stay safer and ease some of the stress of daily living is exactly what I want to be doing. I even got to write about my passion in my book "The Little Green Radio Book", which is available on the website, if you're interested. How many people can say that they're doing what makes them happy? Not nearly enough.
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Hi friends, Al Purnell here.
Friends of ours recently traveled to Guatemala and they were doing a lot of sightseeing. At one point, one of them got separated from the group at Tikal, a large Mayan ruin. Trying to find everyone else in a gigantic archeological site full of tourists could have been a nightmare if they hadn't brought along two way radios. Within minutes, they met up at one of the pyramids and continued on with their sightseeing.
One of the biggest problems with traveling in another country is that your cell phone might not work. Two way radios, on the other hand, don't care what country you're in. You could even be at sea and you could still communicate within the range of your 2 way radio.
The only thing you need to remember is to check which adapters you need to bring with you when you travel, since not all electric outlets are the same. There are kits available with all the possible variations you might want, no matter where you go in the world with your radios.
Two way radios can be very useful in all sorts of situations, as I've been sharing on this blog for months now, but that's especially true if you're in a foreign country where language barriers make it even more difficult to find someone who's lost. Make sure you have your 2 way radios on hand for traveling, along with the appropriate adapters for charging them and you'll always be prepared.
Want to Try Two Way Radios for Free?
Not all radios work in all locations, that's to be expected, but to find that out when you most need to communicate with a 2 way radio is a disappointment that no one wants. So, we figured out a solution for it, giving our clients free radios.
To make sure that the two way radios you want to use are actually functional in your area, we let you test them out for a week. If they don't work well enough for you, just ship them back and we'll gladly help you choose a better set of radios.
The fact of the matter is, two way radios just don't help much if they're not working properly. Since each set of radios is built differently, it's entirely possible that another model of two way radio will function for you, but this way you can test them out to see what works best.
If you're one of those people who hates to buy online because you can't try the product for yourself, this is a great option. We aren't in this just for the money, we want to make sure our customers are actually happy . . . . that's how word of mouth advertising works, after all.
Our clients range from construction sites to schools, so we offer a range of two way radios to ensure that there's something for everyone. If you're interested in testing a couple of radios out, just fill out the 7 day trial form. After all, you don't have anything to lose!
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Want to Try Two Way Radios for Free?
Tim lives in Melbourne, Florida and does our 2 way radio repair work. Tim is very inventive, in an unconventional way. He is kinda like Doc Brown, the character played by Christopher Lloyd in the movie "Back to the Future". When it comes to electronics Tim is exceptionally smart and creative. I think Tim could have invented the Flux Capacitor, unfortunately he can be a little grumpy and stubborn.
John is our customer in Atlanta. John's organization has been using VHF 2 way radios for several years. VHF radios are best suited for outside use. The VHF signal does not penetrate walls and solid objects as well as the UHF signal. We typically recommend UHF radios for applications like John's, however, John inherited the VHF-UHF problem when he joined his organization.
Recently, John asked if we had a way for him to economically make the switch from VHF radios to UHF radios. This is where Tim comes in.
Tim built an electronic device (we are calling it the Timulator in Tim's honor). The Timulator receives a VHF radio signal on one side and rebroadcasts the signal as UHF on the other side. In other words, it allows VHF and UHF radios to talk to each other. Instead of having to replace all of his 2 way radios at once, our customer John, can continue to use his existing VHF radios and replace them with UHF radios when it is more convenient.
We can build Timulators with any combination of radio signals.
For example, suppose you have a bunch of loading docks at your business. All day long trucks are picking-up and dropping-off stuff. When truckers pull up to your gate they are talking on CB radios. You are probably using UHF radios in your facility so your radios and the truckers radios can't talk to each other. If you want to direct a trucker to the correct loading dock you have to either carry an additional CB radio or walk up to the trucker and confront him mano to mano.
Please allow me to Introduce the "Timulator." The Timulator will let you talk back and forth with truckers using your regular 2 way radios. How cool is that?
We haven't posted Timuator information anywhere else on 2wayradioexpress.com yet but if you'd like more information give us a call at 239-601-1969.
Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Do You Have a Loading Dock?


Bespoke, made to measure kitchen designs in Folkestone. Visit our nearby kitchen showroom to see our concepts come to life.
"Our new kitchen is perfect.
William guided us through well thought out design options suitable for the shape and size of the room, including colours and clever use of space.The quality of the units and fittings offered by Herringbone is excellent.Leroy and Gary were meticulous in fitting the kitchen and their workmanship was of the highest quality.William remained closely involved during each phase of the work and visited frequently from initial design to post-completetion. Our kitchen has been transformed. During daytime it is bright and fresh and in the evening it is warm and cosy.It has become the hub of the house where we and our friends enjoy spending time.We recommend Herringbone to anyone considering a new kitchen."
Our bespoke kitchens are all made in Kent. By using Herringbone Kitchens you are supporting local master craftsmen, fitters and designers living in Kent.
Our master craftsmen make each piece of furniture using traditional techniques and modern machinery. Our skilled fitters have worked together and throughout the south east over the last 30 years.We are happy that we are ensuring these techniques continue to be used throughout Kent.
At Herringbone Kitchens we believe the ingredient to long lasting kitchens is from considered materials that have been well cared for.
Our timbers are sourced from well managed, responsible forests where the cycle of clearing and replanting has been continuous for many generations.
We care about the sustainability of our forest for future generations.
Our team understand how fortunate we are to have warm homes. That is why as a company we are proud to support the local charity, Catching Lives. Catching Lives supports vulnerable homeless people in our community in Canterbury.
Every kitchen we sell provides enough funding to operate the winter shelter for 1 day, this includes providing meals, support and a warm place to stay for the night.
We conduct a thorough process from start to finish when designing and installing bespoke kitchen designs.
Our team of expert joiners and carpenters will create your bespoke kitchen in a workshop in Kent, which will take approximately 8 weeks. Our team of fitters can then install your new kitchen as quickly as possible with minimal disruption to you and your home.
Our kitchens are viewable online, but we would recommend visiting our premises, where you will be able to see all our concepts. You can easily access our dedicated kitchen studio in Kent – we're located in Canterbury, just a 30 minute drive away from the coast.
When you drop in to Herringbone Kitchens, a kitchen designer will be on hand to advise and answer any questions you may have about your new bespoke kitchen.
Please contact our kitchen designers today to arrange a visit and find out more!


Studio photographer Lex McColl discusses how jewellers can capture customers with stunning smartphone images.
The rapid uptake of social media by consumers has given jewellery retailers the opportunity to create their own virtual shop window that can attract sales from anywhere in the world. Importantly, even if a store doesn't have an e-commerce site, it can still use the internet to drive sales by encouraging locally-based customers to visit its physical location.
Social media platforms that thrive on images, like Pinterest and Instagram, can be used to great advantage alongside a website and Facebook page, provided any images are strong enough to captivate customers.
If the budget doesn't stretch far enough to hire a professional photographer, try following these tips to take images that will still appeal to jewellery-seeking consumers.
Download the Camera+ app for iPhones or the Camera FV 5 app for android phones.
Experiment with the app to get a good grasp of its functionality before taking any final photos.
Ensure any smartphone used in the shoot has a healthy battery charge and is set to airplane mode to avoid any unexpected interruptions. Also make sure auto lock is set to "off".
Set the image resolution to the maximum possible.
Switch off the camera's flash – never use it for jewellery photography.
Get some low-cost light sources to remove shadows and make those items really sparkle. Something like a Jansjö light at Ikea is ideal, so grab two or three.
Don't mix light sources (daylight and artificial light).
Always use the timer on the camera to avoid any knocks or vibrations when releasing the shutter.


text:
Ann Arbor mechanic accused of racism, homophobia, apologizes
By Erika Erickson
The foul-mouthed mechanic featured on FOX 2 several times this year is having a change of heart. He called us again saying he wanted to go on camera and apologize to everyone he's offended.
FOX 2's Erika Erickson was there when he stood arm in arm with a friend who says he is really not a bad guy.
FOX 2: "What do you want to say to people?"
"I want to apologize to the entire community and I don't want to be reduced to such type of thinking ever again," said Whitney Passino.
Known as a bigot, racist, sexist and also called a liar and a thief - Ann Arbor mechanic Whitney Passino admitted to all he's done Thursday.
"I'm regretful, I'm apologetic and I'm sorry for anyone who I've hurt or offended," he said.
Dozens of complaints coming from the gay community and the African-American community after Passino is accused of using homophobic slurs and calling black people "primates."
His former auto shop landlord called him dangerous, accusing Passino of ripping people off and even filing a lawsuit against him.
FOX2: "What do you say to her?"
"I'm sorry for hurting her company," Passino said. "I do believe her reputation got damaged."
FOX 2 confronted Passino twice, with Passino using the name Jim Small, claiming his Yelp account had been hacked.
FOX 2: "Did you lie to me?"
Passino: "Yeah. I'm sorry."
But Passino's Ann Arbor roommate Loretta Cannon says she is a proud, gay, black woman and was shocked to learn of her friend's behavior.
"Being who I am, representing the communities I do represent, to stand by someone after they've said stuff like this - it challenges me as an individual, as a person," Cannon said.
Cannon says when she confronted Passino he admitted to being embarrassed and ashamed.
"He has to address it," she said. "You just can't let it fester because people are angry, people are hurt. And somebody could get hurt."
FOX 2: "Do you feel like an apology at this point is good enough?"
"It's sincere I can tell you that," Passino said. "And if there's more I can do to help people, I'm willing to do that also."
Passino says he's hoping to move forward and learn from this.
FOX 2: "We're going to hold you to that."
Passino: "I hope so - it's worth it to me to be a good person."
But whether his apologies are accepted, remains to be seen.
"If I can try to forgive him and find it in my heart to forgive him," Cannon said. "I would ask the community to do the same."
West Bloomfield residents want township to keep grow house owners from posing as medical caregivers
Police: 1 of 2 trucks ran red light in crash that killed driver, daughter


This video was produced by Hangar 30's exceptional team of filmmakers on behalf of the National Defense University Foundation. It was showcased at the 2014 American Patriot Award Gala honoring The National Guard.
Hangar 30 had the honor of creating a micro-website dedicated to the annual American Patriot Award (APA), presented by NDUF to exceptional leaders who dedicate their lives to enhancing human security and global stability.


text:
Home/College Football/LSU Issues Troubling Health Update Ahead Of Bowl Game
LSU Issues Troubling Health Update Ahead Of Bowl Game
Carlos GarciaDecember 26, 2019
LSU's Ed 'Coach O' Orgeron Responds To Les Miles Situation
LSU issued a troubling health update ahead of its bowl game.
With the College Football Playoff scheduled to kick off on Saturday, the last thing any of the four programs involved want to do is worry about injuries.
Unfortunately, injuries are a part of the game, and they can go a long way in swinging momentum from one side to another.
While LSU has been widely regarded as the favorite heading into Saturday's outing versus Oklahoma, one potential roadblock has arisen.
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is dealing with a hamstring injury and is currently questionable for this weekend's big showdown.
While the Tigers' aerial attack featuring Joe Burrows has stolen most of the headlines this season, Edwards-Helaire has also been a huge part of the team's offensive attack.
So far this year Edwards-Helaire has recorded 1,290 yards and 16 scores on the ground. Beyond that, he ha also recorded 399 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
According to LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, all signs point to Edwards-Helaire to play in some capacity on Saturday.
The team's head coach, Ed Orgeron, offered a similar sentiment on Thursday when pressed on his star running back's status.
"Yeah, he hasn't practice yet. He may practice a little bit (Thursday) we're not sure yet if he is going to practice," Orgeron said.
"He's questionable for the game. I do believe that there's any shot of him being cleared to play medically, the trainer's and doctors say that he can play, I think he's going to try. I don't know what's gonna happen."
Still, Orgeron was careful to urge caution.
"He ran a little bit yesterday, ran straight ahead. Medically, hopefully, he is cleared today to practice. I don't know if he will," the head coach noted.
"It would be the first day that he would, he may try today, I'm not sure. It's going to be a game-time situation. Knowing Clyde, if he can play, he's going to try. "Do I expect him to try and play? Yes. How much he can play, I don't know."
Regardless of whether Edwards-Helaire plays or not, he clearly will not be at 100 percent. That means the onus will fall on Burrow to continue to play at a Heisman level if LSU wants to secure a spot in the National Championship Game.
Related: LSU Star Has Strong Message For Oklahoma
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.


Oh, Octomom. Didn't turn out the way you expected, huh? Huge piles of sqealing infants make huge piles of stinky poop, for one thing. Help Nadia Suleiman feed her multiple bundles of joy, because she clearly can't!


August is the warmest and clearest summer month in Los Angeles. If you visit then, you're likely to have cloudless, sunny skies with little chance of rain or fog, but it may be pretty hot, depending on what part of the city you visit.
August is a busy month for Los Angeles area attractions. The theme parks are bursting with visitors, and the beaches are packed. The most popular summer events sell out weeks or months ahead, making advance planning essential.
For a metropolitan area as large and geographically diverse as L.A., average temperatures can be deceiving. Near the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, the average high in August is 70 degrees, but at Universal Studios just 18 miles away, the average high is 94 degrees.
It's cooler near the beach in L.A. than you might expect. Pack a mid-weight jacket if you plan to spend the evening near the water. With so much sunshine to enjoy, don't forget to pack your sunglasses and sunscreen.
Short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and lightweight pants are fine otherwise. You can get away with running around pretty casually in a t-shirt and shorts, but some locals might dress more fashionably.
Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, but in some years, Labor Day weekend begins in August. To get some ideas on what you can do over the long weekend, check out Ideas for Labor Day Fun in California. Or here are some other annual events in August to check out.
Pageant of the Masters and Festival of the Arts: This annual event in Laguna Beach is hard to describe, but most people who go are glad they did. In short, people get dressed up and made up to look like scenes from famous paintings. It's quite a spectacular thing to see.
International Surf Festival: The surf festival is held in four cities along the coast south of LAX Airport: Torrance, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Manhattan Beach. Competitions include bodysurfing, a lifeguard championship, and a beach volleyball tournament.
Watch the Grunion Run: From about March through August, you can catch the annual grunion run where thousands of tiny, silver-colored fish spawn on the sand at night. At some Los Angeles beaches, "Grunion Greeters" are on hand to explain what's happening.
Summer's warm days and balmy nights are perfect for fun evening activities. You can go to a movie outdoors, see a play, go to a concert, or opt for some of L.A.'s more unusual summer night activities.
With the weather clear and bright and temperatures warmer, August is a good month to check out some of Los Angeles' best beaches.
In L.A., you can see whales nearly year round: gray whales in winter and blue whales during the summer months. Find the best places and times to see them in the guides to Los Angeles whale watching and Orange County whale watching.
Beaches in Los Angeles are susceptible to "red tides" when red-colored algae grow and color the water. Find out everything you need to know about red tides.
Once in a while, the phenomenon called June Gloom extends into late summer, turning August into "Fogust," as locals call it. There's nothing you can do to prevent that, but you can be prepared with an alternate destination in case that sunny day at the beach isn't going to happen.


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