Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand called Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson Monday afternoon to apologize for insinuating in a radio interview that the Lakers had called – unprompted – to ask permission for Johnson to speak with Sixers forward Ben Simmons, league sources told ESPN.
In the interview with 97.5 The Fanatic on Monday morning, Brand said, "Rob Pelinka called me and said that Ben wanted to talk to Hall of Famers after the season, Magic was on the list.
The Lakers issued a statement later Monday that read: "To clarify, last November the 76ers sent an email to the Lakers asking if Ben Simmons would be able to speak with Magic Johnson about his Hall of Fame playing career. Fter receiving the email request from the 76ers, Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka contacted 76ers General Manager Elton Brand and informed him that Magic could only do so if the 76ers gave him pre-written approval.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN on Monday, "The league office is looking into whether any contact took place between Ben Simmons and the Los Angeles Lakers that violated NBA rules."
"I have a great relationship with Ben and [his agent] Rich [Paul] and we expect him to be a Sixer for a long time," Brand told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. "He has taken interest in chatting with some of the game's all- time greats and we're supportive.
1; end of story. "


I wouldn't have thought to put these two things together, would you?
Another break from the glamour and swing, in a type of program you've not seen here yet.
Don't have a date for Saturday night? Well, you do now!
Let's take a break from the usual laughter and "jitterbugging" and listen to something different.
Here's another program meant to recruit folks into the United States Armed Services, this time the Air Force.
These are a couple of rare shows, and we're especially lucky to have them survive.
Here's another show from the United States Marine Corps, featuring one vocalist you've heard before, and one you're going to hear more from later.
This show is not in the collection of Goldin, listed as unavailable in OTRR and not for sale at OTR vendors.
We are back from many distractions and ready to offer you two more shows in really great sound.
This is fine show, that will get you dancing or marching, depending on your inclination.


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Middle east reality check
By Roger Cohen
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton grabbed headlines with an invitation to Iran to attend a conference on Afghanistan, but the significant Middle Eastern news last week came from Britain. It has "reconsidered" its position on Hezbollah and will open a direct channel to the militant group in Lebanon.
Roger Cohen
Britain aligned itself with the U.S. position on Hezbollah, but has now seen its error. Bill Marston, a Foreign Office spokesman, told Al Jazeera: "Hezbollah is a political phenomenon and part and parcel of the national fabric in Lebanon. We have to admit this."
Hallelujah.
Precisely the same thing could be said of Hamas in Gaza. It is a political phenomenon, part of the national fabric there.
One difference is that Hezbollah is in the Lebanese national unity government, whereas Hamas won the free and fair January 2006 elections to the Legislative Council of the Palestinian Authority, only to discover Middle Eastern democracy is only democracy if it produces the right result.
The United States should follow the British example. It should initiate diplomatic contacts with the political wing of Hezbollah. The Obama administration should also look carefully at how to reach moderate Hamas elements and engineer a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation.
A rapprochement between the two wings of the Palestinian movement was briefly achieved at Mecca in 2007. The best form of payback from America's expensive and authoritarian allies — Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan — would be help in reconciling Gaza Palestinians loyal to Hamas with West Bank Palestinians loyal to the more moderate Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas.
Resolve is not the most conspicuous characteristic of those three allies. But Obama must push them to help. As long as Palestinians are divided, peace efforts will flounder.
With respect to Hamas, the West has bound itself to three conditions for any contact: Hamas must recognize Israel, forswear terrorism and accept previous Palestinian commitments. This was reiterated by Clinton on her first Mideast swing.
The 1988 Hamas Charter is vile, but I think it's wrong to get hung up on the prior recognition of Israel issue. Perhaps Hamas is sincere in its calls for Israel's disappearance — although it has offered a decades-long truce — but then it's also possible that Israel in reality has no desire to see a Palestinian state.
One view of Israel's continued expansion of settlements, Gaza blockade, West Bank walling-in and wanton recourse to high-tech force would be that it's designed precisely to bludgeon, undermine and humiliate the Palestinian people until their dreams of statehood and dignity evaporate.
The argument over recognition is in the end a form of evasion designed to perpetuate the conflict.
Israel, from the time of Ben Gurion, built its state by creating facts on the ground, not through semantics. Many of its leaders, including Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, have been on wondrous political odysseys from absolutist rejection of division of the land to acceptance of a two-state solution. Yet they try to paint Hamas as irrevocably absolutist. Why should Arabs be any less pragmatic than Jews?
Of course it's desirable that Hamas recognize Israel before negotiations. But is it essential? No. What is essential is that it renounces violence, in tandem with Israel, and the inculcation of hatred that feeds the violence.
Speaking of violence, it's worth recalling what Israel did in Gaza in response to sporadic Hamas rockets. It killed upward of 1,300 people, many of them women and children; caused damage estimated at $1.9 billion; and destroyed thousands of Gaza homes. It continues a radicalizing blockade on 1.5 million people squeezed into a narrow strip of land.
At this vast human, material and moral price, Israel achieved almost nothing beyond damage to its image throughout the world. Israel has the right to hit back when attacked, but any response should be proportional and governed by sober political calculation. The Gaza war was a travesty; I have never previously felt so shamed by Israel's actions.
No wonder Hamas and Hezbollah are seen throughout the Arab world as legitimate resistance movements.
It's time to look at them again and adopt the new British view that contact can encourage Hezbollah "to move away from violence and play a constructive, democratic and peaceful role."
The British step is a breakthrough. By contrast, Clinton's invitation to Iran is of little significance.
There are two schools within the Obama administration on Iran: the incremental and the bold. The former favors little steps like inviting Iran to help with Afghanistan; the latter realizes that nothing will shift until Obama convinces Tehran that he's changing strategy rather than tactics.
That requires Obama to tell Iran, as a start, that he does not seek regime change and recognizes the country's critical role as a regional power. Carrots and sticks — the current approach — will lead to the same dead end as Hamas and Hezbollah denial.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


No more weekend nature commutes for Josh - he's living there!
Josh was driving hours to spend every weekend at his beloved west central Minnesota cabin. Then one day the light went on: why not live and work where he loved to play? Read about Josh!
Did you know that west central Minnesota is a haven for horse lovers? Michelle loves horses and her farm background not only helps with horses, it helped with her amazing job building boats in New York Mills! She and others are also helping support women in manufacturing. Learn why!
Andrea and Aaron Reynolds are close to family, love their jobs and are thrilled to live in a classic old home in Fergus Falls. It seems like fate played a hand to bring them home.


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Versailles, Claire. "Gilles Potvin". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 04 March 2015, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/gilles-potvin. Accessed 20 January 2022.
Versailles, C. (2015). Gilles Potvin. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/gilles-potvin
Versailles, Claire. "Gilles Potvin." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published December 17, 2007; Last Edited March 04, 2015.
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Gilles Potvin
Article by Claire Versailles
Updated by Andrew Mcintosh
Published Online December 17, 2007
Last Edited March 4, 2015
Joseph Edmond Gilles Potvin, CM, MSRC, critic, editor, producer, administrator, consultant, impresario (born 23 October 1923 in Montréal, QC; died 4 September 2000 in Montréal).
Gilles Potvin, undated. Image: Library and Archives Canada/1981-262 NPC.
Joseph Edmond Gilles Potvin, CM, MSRC, critic, editor, producer, administrator, consultant, impresario (born 23 October 1923 in Montréal, QC; died 4 September 2000 in Montréal). One of Canada's leading music authorities, Gilles Potvin was once deemed "the guardian and champion of Québec's musical legacy." He worked throughout his life as a writer and editor on the subject of music, most notably for the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada and its French-language edition. He also enjoyed a 42-year-career at the CBC, where he was a record librarian, producer, special consultant and the head of music production for Radio-Canada International. He was a Member of the Order of Canada and the Royal Society of Canada, and received the Prix de Musique Calixa-Lavallée and the Canadian Music Council Medal.
From 1940 to 1948, Potvin studied music in Montréal with Armand Renaud (theory, solfège), Agostino Salvetti, Jules Dubois, Jean Belland (cello), Oscar O'Brien (harmony) and Rodolphe Mathieu (analysis). In 1946, Potvin began writing reviews for newspapers and periodicals such as Le Quartier latin, Notre Temps, Le Passe-Temps and L'Autorité. He also worked as a journalist with the daily Le Canada (1946–48), and as a publicist for the Casavant Society and the Georges-Armand Robert concert agency (1947–48).
In 1949, he began contributing to the MontréalGazette. He was the Montréal correspondent for Musical America, Opera Canada and Opera (London); he also contributed to Châtelaine and the Journal musical canadien of the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada (JMC), among other publications. After working in 1961 as a critic for the daily Le Nouveau Journal, he served as regular music critic for the Montréal dailies Le Devoir (1961–66; 1973–85) and La Presse (1966–70). He was managing editor of The Canada Music Book (1970–76) and wrote numerous program notes for the Montréal Symphony Orchestra (MSO), the Pro Musica Society and the Opéra du Québec. He also published a history of the MSO for its 50th anniversary in 1984.
Potvin was managing editor of the Canada Music Book (1970–76). He contributed as a writer to Thirty-four Biographies, Contemporary Canadian Composers, Sohlmans Musiklexikon and The New Grove. In 1970, he began conducting research into the life and career of Emma Albani. He became a leading authority on her work and published an annotated translation of her autobiography, Forty Years of Song, under the title Mémoires d'Emma Albani (1972).
Potvin is perhaps best remembered for his work as co-editor (with Helmut Kallmann and Kenneth Winters) of the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (1981 and 1992 eds.); he wrote or co-wrote close to 300 articles for the encyclopedia and was specifically in charge of the French-language edition, Encyclopédie de la musique au Canada (1983 and 1993 eds.).
CBC Career
In 1948, Potvin joined the CBC and over the years worked as a record librarian (1948–50), a public relations officer and editor of La Semaine à Radio-Canada (1950–53), a producer, most notably of the radio program Premières (1954–57) and the TV program Concerts pour la jeunesse (1957–58), and director of the auditions and casting department (1962–65).
He worked for the Canada Council briefly as head of the music section in early 1966, but in June that year he was appointed head of music production with CBC International Services (renamed Radio-Canada International in 1972; see Music at the CBC). From 1971 to 1990 he served as special consultant for recorded music programs at the CBC. He initiated numerous RCI projects, including the LPs Colas et Colinette (1967) and The MSO (1967), the series Jeunesses musicales 20 Canada (1969) and the complete works of François Couperin performed by Kenneth Gilbert (1970–71). Potvin also produced two LPs — Chantal Juillet (1977) and Harry Somers: Piano Music (1978) — that earned the Canadian Music Council's Grand prix du disque award in 1978 and 1979 respectively.
From 1966 to 1972, Potvin was the CBC delegate to the sessions of the International Rostrum of Composers at the UNESCO Centre in Paris. He was also the chief editor of the RCI's Anthology of Canadian Music (1978–90).
Potvin was active as an impresario for more than two decades. He presented a Québec tour by André Mathieu in 1944–45 and was associated with the Musical Arts Series (1951–53). He presented recitals by Walter Gieseking in Canada and New York (1952–55) and, together with Froncoys Bernier, recitals by Wilhelm Kempff (1961–64). He also presented the pianists Solomon and Ross Pratt, the organist Fernando Germani and the Montréal String Quartet.
Potvin was one of the founders of Minute Opera and its administrator from 1949 to 1953. He spent the 1953–54 season in Europe, having received a scholarship from the Québec government; he worked in various theatres and festivals including in Aix-en-Provence, and was a correspondent for the Montréal Gazette. On his return he was appointed instructor for the McGill Opera Studio (now Opera McGill), where he staged Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in 1957.
Music Consultant
At the request of the Canada Council, Potvin acted as consultant for the study entitled An Assessment of the Impact of Selected Large Performing Companies upon the Canadian Economy (1974). Also in 1974, he was a member of the task force headed by Jean-Paul Jeannotte on the state of symphonic music, opera and dance in Québec. He was a member of the task force on the National Arts Centre and contributed to its report in 1986, as well as a member of the jury for the first Glenn Gould Prize in 1986. In 1990, he was appointed member of the consulting committee on the Performing Arts Museum created by the Ministry of Communications Canada.
Organizations and Honours
Potvin was a member of the board of the Canadian Music Council (1968–77) and national president of the JMC (1976–80). In 1982, the Canadian Music Council awarded him a special prize for the publication of the first edition of the EMC, and in 1987 it conferred on him its medal. He was a founding member of the Canadian Musical Heritage Society and was named an honorary member of the Canadian Music Centre in 1990.
His work as editor of EMC earned him much recognition, including the 1998 Award of Merit from the Association for Canadian Studies. Following Potvin's death, his fellow EMC editor Kenneth Winters wrote in the Globe and Mail that Potvin "was, first and foremost, the guardian and champion of Québec's musical legacy."
In 1960, Potvin married the soprano Micheline Tessier. Renowned organist Hubert Bédard was his first cousin. Potvin donated his papers to the Université de Montréal in 1997.
Grand prix du disque (Chantal Juillet), Canadian Music Council (1978)
Grand prix du disque (Harry Somers: Piano Music), Canadian Music Council (1979)
Prix de Musique Calixa-Lavallée, St-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montréal(1983)
Member, Order of Canada (1984)
Member, Royal Society of Canada (1984)
Canadian Music Council Medal, Canadian Music Council (1987)
Award of Merit, Association for Canadian Studies (1998)
Writings by Gilles Potvin
"Clermont Pépin fait honneur à la jeune musique canadienne," Passe-Temps (June 1946).
"La jeune musique canadienne: Jean Papineau-Couture, compositeur," P-T (November 1946).
"Alexander Brott compositeur," P-T (May 1947).
Gilles Potvin and Maryvonne Kendergi, eds., Aspects de la musique au Canada (1970).
"Emma Albani," Opera (April 1972).
"Albani," Perspectives, 15 April 1972.
"Albani — ma vie," Maclean's, December 1972.
"Éviola Gauthier: il y a 50 ans, elle fit découvrir Gershwin aux Américains," Perspectives, 27 October 1973.
"Symphony Orchestras and Opera in Canada" and "Jeunesses musicales du Canada," Arts and Culture (1976).
"A Short History of Opera in Canada," Mcan 44 (Fall 1980).
OSM: The First Fifty Years (1984).
"La Musica italiana in Canada," trans. A. Teodorani, Il Veltro, Rivista della civiltà italiana vol. 29 (May–August 1985).
"Les Canadiens au secours d'Emma Albani," Présentation à la Société royale du Canada 40 (1985–86).
"Radio-Canada International: The Voice of Canada After Forty Years," Hello Out There!, eds. John Beckwith and Dorith R. Cooper (1988).
A version of this entry originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada.
Monique Laurence and Josephte Clément, "Entrevue avec M. Gilles Potvin," Coups d'archet (November 1961).
Jean Royer, "L'Encyclopédie de la musique au Canada," Le Devoir, 9 April 1983.
Gwynneth Evans, "Canadian Studies Awards for Two Close Associates of the National Library," National Library News (October 1998).
M.-T. Lefebvre, ed., "Hommage à Gilles Potvin — Mélanges sur la musique vocale," Les Cahiers de la Société québécoise de recherche en musique (June 2000).
Ken Winters, "The Music Man of Québec," Globe and Mail, 8 September 2000.
Marie Thérèse Lefebvre, ed., "Hommage à Gilles Potvin," Cahiers de la Société québécoise de recherche en musique vol 4, no 1 (2000).
Marc-Adélard Tremblay
Helen Mussallem
Raymond Collishaw


Calling all future CSC members! The Collaborative School Committee is a vital group that helps keep parents, staff, and community connected when making decisions and tracking student growth. The CSC provides input on school-wide decisions, helps develop the school budget, and provides a community perspective for staff members. If you are interested in being a part of CSC next year, click here to fill out the application form. For more information on the CSC, visit the Steele CSC page.


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Race & Reckoning
D.C., Md. & Va.
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Content from The Kennedy Center
How the REACH was designed with community in mind
By WP BrandStudio
When the Kennedy Center set out to create a 21st-century expansion of its iconic performing arts venue, design presented both a challenge and an opportunity. The new complex would complement the existing, grand building and house new and approachable spaces to accommodate a diverse community.
"People want places to gather. With the REACH, we're creating new opportunities for visitors of all ages and interests to engage with the nation's cultural center", said Ellery Brown, senior vice president of operations for the Kennedy Center.
This was the guiding principle behind the development of the REACH, designed by renowned architect Steven Holl as a complement to the original Kennedy Center (which was designed by another famed architect, Edward Durell Stone.) The expansion will be more than just a venue; when it opens in September, it will offer opportunities for artists and visitors to gather and feel part of the creative process. Together with the original building, its expansive grounds will let visitors curate their own experiences and expand what's possible at the Kennedy Center, whether that means taking a creative workshop, watching artists rehearse or relaxing outdoors after a world-class performance.
Designed to bring people together
Walking into the REACH feels at once awe-inspiring and accessible. There are soaring ceilings, dramatic angles and light pouring in through large windows. But the open layout isn't overwhelming—it offers a comforting sense of the spaces within. Having a panoramic view of the outdoors is pleasing on a biological level, according to Dak Kopec, associate professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It relates back to our desire to have "prospect refuge," or the ability to see our surroundings from a single safe area.
"With the heavy use of the indoor-outdoor connections, you're capitalizing on that prospect," he said.
Many of the features inside the REACH offer opportunities for enrichment, as well; cozy alcoves nestled in the building's curved corridors allow for post-show discussions, and windowed rehearsal studios invite visitors to peek into the creative process. When audiences are offered this level of engagement, it can inform their ability to process what they've seen. According to Alan S. Brown and Rebecca Ratzkin, authors of the report "Making Sense of Audience Engagement," conversation following a show or performance is critical to a viewer's experience and overall understanding of the art they've consumed. The REACH's active, engaging features, including the ability to mix a custom music track in the Moonshot Studio, tap directly into this post-processing time and allow people to reflect on the REACH's more passive artistic experience, such as watching a performance.
The space's design makes it possible for visitors to interact with artists, and also allows them to quietly take in nature and the building's incredible architecture.
"That's what we're excited about," Brown said. "[The REACH] carefully translates the grandeur of the 20th century into a more active, personal space for the 21st century."
How to build a transformative community space at a legacy institution
While arts education has always been central to the Kennedy Center's mission, the REACH now brings learning out into the open in collaborative settings. The floor-to-ceiling windows of the Moonshot Studio, for instance, give passersby a glimpse of students and summer campers at work. They might be learning about the science of sound after attending a National Symphony Orchestra performance, or they could be talking directly with resident artists in the halls.
And as a public space that's free to visit year-round, the design benefits of the REACH extend to those who may not have a ticket to attend a show, too; the building's outdoor video wall offers a gathering space to watch movies as well as performances happening live inside the building. The River Pavilion and café offer space for free open mic nights and casual performances. And public art, open lawns and quiet alcoves give visitors a reason to stop by simply to experience the space. This, according to Kopec, could be transformative for the community, as the space is redefining the kinds of experiences that can be had at the Kennedy Center—creating chances to experience art in both formal and informal settings.
"I don't have to wear a tuxedo to [visit the Kennedy Center,] but I could still see an opera," Kopec said.
By fostering relaxed, sociable experiences for visitors, the REACH is speaking directly to what many people want to get out of a performing arts center in this day and age. According to a study from Jonathan Gross and Stephanie Pitts of the University of Sheffield entitled "Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts," the "camaraderie" and social opportunity that surrounds a performance are now large reasons modern audiences choose to attend in the first place.
Whether visitors are searching for a classic, velvet-seated show or relaxed night watching the sunset and a film on the Center's video wall, with the addition of the REACH, there's something for everyone at the Kennedy Center.
"The design of the REACH will allow so many new and different ways to connect audiences with the artistic experience," Brown said. "We're not actually building a theater; we're building a creative commons."
Learn more about the REACH, a 21st-century arts center where the performing arts are inclusive, accessible and interactive.
How the Kennedy Center's new expansion is making the arts accessible for an entire community
How the REACH makes the public a partner in the creative process


Health financial aspects is characterized as the financial aspects connected on the savvy examination of medicinal services. It is the least complex courses that amid which this will be earned as by coordinating the medicinal services administrations and the repayment technique consistently. The treatments, be it antiquated or imaginative ones, should be skilfully focused to improve the clinical results also as enhance the tending costs. The primary focus of medicinal services frameworks over the globe is on diminishing the value of wellbeing administrations per individual. Advances in therapeutic innovation and better reliance on medicinal gadgets has made it basic for those inside the restorative gadgets has made it basic for those in the medicinal gadgets industry to bring wellbeing financial aspects into genuine thought.
Health Economics Congress 2019 means to unite experts from each corner who share a pledge to diminish the worldwide weight with the subject "Value in conveyance and financing of health administrations and human services crosswise over life cycle" expecting in excess of 350 social insurance experts, working in and past Health Economics to share encounters and best practices through welcomed keynote, entire addresses, symposium, workshops, welcomed sessions and notices covering a scope of points and critical issues which influence all of us from the exploration to the useful executions. We trust and expect Health Economics 2019 subject to rouse various research roads, and anticipate talking about thoughts, discoveries and cooperative energies, in this International Academic Forum.
Demonstrate information of the jobs and restrictions of business sectors and impetuses in wellbeing frame works.
Distinguish between the different styles of monetary investigation and demonstrate a comprehension of advantages and disadvantages of the different methodologies.
Critically audit distributed financial assessments of wellbeing advancements; Demonstrate a comprehension of the strategies used to familiarize the two expenses and advantages in the investigation of human services.
Federal medical coverage was accommodating the senior, incapacitated and end organizes renal sickness for Hospitalization, Ambulatory consideration, Prescription medications.
Federal protection was given to 57 million beneficiaries to $540 billion. This was 15 percent of the government spending plan and 3.0 percent of GDP.
Learn and talk about key news and difficulties with senior level speakers.
With introductions, board talks, gathering discourses, and workshops, we cover each subject start to finish, from worldwide large scale issues to methodologies to strategic issues.
Individual healing facility office is profited as this encourages them of the clinic and see what administrations are required by the clients of the doctor's facility and the way will they be subsidized.
Pharmaceutical and medical coverage organizations will be profited as this may encourage in understanding the interest and give differed wellbeing and protection items and assess the financial feasibility of the equivalent for the organization.
Copenhagen is the sprawling capital of Denmark sits on the coastal islands of Zealand and Amager. It's one of the greenest cities in the world, with plans to be carbon neutral by 2025. Over the past decade, Copenhagen has cut its emissions by nearly a third through the use of wind and solar power, as well as heating systems that recycle waste material. An offshore wind farm, visible to most visitors who fly into Copenhagen, currently supplies the city with 4 percent of its energy. The water around Copenhagen Harbor is so clean, you can actually swim in it. Fifteen years ago officials decided to clean up its waterways, and now there are several swimming holes right in the center of town. Try doing that in New York City. Most of Copenhagen research and development centres are concentrated in Denmark. Denmark is no. 2 in the EU and no. 8 in the world as IMD World Competitiveness Center announced its 2015 competitiveness ranking of 61 economies.
The economy of Denmark is a modern market economy with comfortable living standards, a high level of government servicesand transfers, and a high dependence on foreign trade. The economy is dominated by the service sector with 80% of all jobs, whereas about 11% of all employees work in manufacturing and 2% in agriculture. Nominal gross national income per capita was the tenth-highest in the world at $55,220 in 2017. Correcting for purchasing power, per capita income was Int$52,390 or 16th-highest globally. Income distribution is relatively equal, but inequality has increased somewhat during the last decades, however, due to both a larger spread in gross incomes and various economic policy measures. In 2017 Denmark had the seventh-lowest Gini coefficient (a measure of economic inequality) of the 28 European Union countries. With 5,789,957 inhabitants (1 July 2018), Denmark has the 39th largest national economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and 60th largest in the world measured by purchasing power parity (PPP).
Healthcare costs will continue to grow, in some cases much faster than the growth in healthcare expenditure. As a result, simply by increasing the funding, but without the much-needed reforms, no improvements will be ensured, including improved accessibility and higher quality of services. The operating costs of healthcare providers include, without limitation (based on sample entities from various segments): personnel costs (~52% of costs), costs of outsourced services, including patient meals (~24% of costs), costs of materials (~18% of costs), costs of infrastructure depreciation (~4% of costs), overhead and administrative costs (~2% of costs) and other costs, not quantified at present, e.g. costs of debt servicing. Virtually all these costs seem to be on the increase, based on an in-depth analysis. Personnel costs especially, which is reasonable as salaries in Polish healthcare are definitely lower than in other countries. On the other hand, this document indicates a number of structural changes aimed at improving the use of funds from the National Health Fund, infrastructure, and human resources, including specialists so that they perform tasks to which they are designated and fully use their competence. The need for changes is not only about the desire to cut costs, but, most of all, to make better use of resources, which are starting to be in short supply in Denmark (this goes mostly for doctors of certain specialties as well as nurses. The growing role of data processing is an area of healthcare that the world is headed towards, and Denmark will not escape it either. The purpose is to implement mechanisms to enable the most detailed planning possible at the entity level, measuring performance (both clinical and economic) and rewarding the best entities, for example with additional funding. Another significant need is to develop effective mechanisms to incite badly performing entities to take corrective measures. This means implementing pro-efficiency mechanisms in the healthcare system, similar to those in place in commercial companies, but following clear principles and under the supervision of competent authorities. Denmark is not a homogeneous country in terms of salary level or the costs of outsourced services, so there's a need to develop standard indicators and relevant adjustment mechanisms (e.g. labour costs for nurses vary across the various regions of the country). Such indicators could involve the following groups: the state of the current infrastructure and future needs (quality, surface area, standard, available and missing equipment) patient satisfaction with the facility (according to differing criteria), therapeutic effectiveness or clinical indicators, and many more. As a result, a methodology would be developed that rewards good practices, by way of the so called Overall Efficiency Indicator (OEC).
The higher the indicator, the more funding entities would receive, while a lower indicator would mean less funding. Separate restructuring programmes and funds could be initiated to support weaker entities in achieving at least mid-market results.
Health Economics aims to produce students with the new ideas and quantitative skills necessary to face the twenty first Century challenges in the health sector like ever increasing health care costs, population aging and fast advances in medical technology.


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Hiking in the Grands Causses
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The wine presses and the rock tombs in Savignac
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A large half-day hiking loop that leads you around one of the seven hills surrounding Saint-Affrique and gives you the opportunity to explore, through the undergrowth and clearings, the ancient remains of an early human settlement.
The caroligian press in Savignac which is hollowed out of the rock in the form of an escutcheon, the Cazotte old wine press and the six rock tombs in the Puech Capel woodland are the highlights of this long hiking circuit. You will enjoy some splendid views over Saint- Affrique, the Caylus rock and the village of Vabres l'abbaye during the course of a mostly shady hike.
From the Pastoralia car park, walk back to the road and cross it, then take the small lane opposite that runs along the left side of the equestrian centre.
At the intersection, take a path that runs alongside a small house. You leave this path very quickly to take a narrow track to the right which runs between two trees. Walk alongside the brook for approximately 350 m, then take a hairpin bend to the left and walk uphill through the oak grove.
Climb over the fence by the cattle grid. Keep walking up the slope through the undergrowth, follow the markings. When you reach the second trail, go to the right for a few metres and climb a small bank. Follow the markings up to a fence, climb over it next to the cattle grid.
Follow the trail to the right. At the water reservoir, follow the path to the left and ascend to the intersection.
Take the path to the left that follows the contour line and leads to the Cazotte winepress. Enjoy the views over Saint-Affrique and Vabres l'Abbaye, the remains of the wine press which displays two carved faces on the southern façade (walk around the rock on the left). From the winepress, walk uphill, go across a clearing until you join a wide trail. Take that trail to the left for a few metres, then take the rising stony path to the right until you reach the edge of the woodland.
Walk along the small field on the left-hand side, carry on for 200 m on a trail following the edge of the field, and then turn right onto a path running between two fields (follow the fence line). At the end of the field, take a left onto the trail that leads to the edge of the Puech-Capel wood where a signposted track gives access to a necropolis with six rock tombs (walk there and back).
Walk back to the trail on the left up to an intersection with another trail, then go down to the left for about 50 m.
Take the descending logging trail to the left along to a curve. From there, head onto the path opposite and follow the markings that pass the remains of old dwellings and leads to the beautiful wine press in Savignac. The path gently slopes down to the road.
Take this road to the left for approximately 1 km. Before the hamlet of Savignac, follow a trail to the left that overlooks the village.
After about 500 m, leave the trail and take a path that runs to the right and goes over a slab (be cautious!). Notice the few remains of an ancient watering system. Follow the markings on the path up to the agricultural college. Keep walking along the contour line until you reach the fence, climb over the fence by the cattle grid. Reconnect with the path you took when starting the hike and retrace your steps back to the car park.
Source: The Cardabelles Association
Departure : Pastoralia carpark in Saint-Affrique
Arrival : Pastoralia carpark in Saint-Affrique
Towns crossed : Saint-Affrique
Altimetric profile
Information desks
Avenue de Lauras, 12250 Roquefort/Soulzon
http://www.roquefort-tourisme.fr/
contact@roquefort-tourisme.fr
Situated in the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park, the cheese village of Roquefort stretches on the hillside over the famous scree of the Combalou Rock, in southern Larzac. The village is at an elevation of 630 m and has 700 inhabitants.
OPENING PERIODS:
The Tourist Office is open all year round:
In July and August, Monday to Saturday: 9.30 to 18.30, Sunday: 10.00 to 17.00.
April, May, June, September, October; Monday to Saturday: 9.30 to 12.15 & 13.00 to 17.30, closed on Sunday.
January, February, November, December; Monday to Friday: 9.30 to 12.15 & 13.00 to 17.00, closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Travel by bus or train: http://www.mobimipy.fr/
Carpooling : BlaBlaCar, Rézo Pouce, Covoiturage-libre, Idvroom, LaRoueVerte, Roulez malin
Access and parking
First go to Saint-Affrique which is situated on the RD 999 road linking Millau with Albi. At the traffic light intersection towards Albi, turn to the right in the direction of Les Cazes.
Pastoralia carpark in Saint-Affrique
Las Cardabelleshttp://lascardabelas.com/
If you have found an error on this page or if you have noticed any problems during your hike, please report them to us here:
Close by
The peacefulness of the setting with its panoramic view and traditional building style full of character will enchant you.
Situated 1 km from Vabres lAbbaye and 5km from St-Affrique, set in a hamlet comprising 6 rentals.
Fully equipped: Internet, swimming pool, petanque strip, hiking trail.
Single family traditional stone built detached houses, charming and full of character.
Large rental at ground level with living room, bedroom and shower room accessible for people who are mobility impaired.
Single family traditional, stone built, detached houses that are charming and full of character.
A large and fully equipped kitchen which can accommodate up to 25 persons is at your disposal during your stay.
The peacefulness of the setting with its panoramic view and traditional building style full of character will enchant you. This place is perfect for families and groups
« Trekking experience »
Equestrian and multi sports weekly stays taking place in a rural environment within an eco-hamlet and a diversified agricultural exploitation that combines multiple cropping, meat and cattle breeding and an equestrian farm.
A maximum of 6 participants will be accommodated to ensure a family, eco-friendly
and a participative stay.
Accommodation in tents (mattress supplied), permanent kitchen, shower and dry toilet.
Equi-Ploof stays: Every morning: equestrian learning sessions during which you will make acquaintance with the horse (lungeing, ethological equitation, horse riding, horse-acrobatics and more). Every afternoon: water activities (swimming pool, pedalo, water games and more).
Multi-Sport stays: Each day will be dedicated to a different sport (horse-riding, treetop adventure, canoeing, paddle, swimming pool, circus arts and more).
We offer you several horse trekking trips in the heart of Aveyron, within the Grands Causses Natural Park.
Enjoy a great horseback ride across the wide-open spaces of the Larzac plateau, land of the Templars, towards the Raspes du Tarn, or the Rougiers contrasting lands…
These magnificent and varied landscapes will make these horse trekking trips unforgettable experiences. Two to five day trekkings with the night spent bivouacking or in a gite according to your desires.
-Trekking "Between Causse and Rougier" (2 days)
-Trekking "Towards the Raspes du Tarn" (3 days)
- Trekking "Summer Trekking" (2 days)
-Trekking "Larzac, land of the Templars" (5 days)
The peacefulness of the setting with its panoramic view and traditional building style full of character will enchant you. This place is perfect for families and groups.Situated 1 km from Vabres lAbbaye and 5km from St-Affrique, set in a hamlet comprising 6 rentals.
The distinctive interior decor and the wood burning stove give this rental a very welcoming atmosphere.
5 rooms from 16 to 35 m2. Table d'hôtes with regional cooking and garden vegetables in season.
The Gite is a converted farm house full of character near to Saint-Affrique and Vabres. Distinguished buiding comprising a large living space 90 m2 + 2 bedrooms. To the exterior a large garden, porch, barbecue, tables and chairs for outside dining, impressive view over the mountains and surrounding countryside. Possibility to savour local specialities, home-grown vegetables and homemade products.
Municipal caravan park
THE MUNICIPAL EQUESTRIAN CENTRE ST-AFFRIQUE
You will find high quality infrastructure comprising two 40m x 20m indoor riding rings, two 80m x 40m outdoor jumping arenas. Horses suitable for every level of rider are available, and all lessons are supervised by 2 instructors and 5 monitors. During school vacation period the equestrian centre provides training courses from beginners to experienced riders. Short rides and long treks are also organized during July and August by the Rial leisure center.
All the supervisory staff are qualified instructors.
Vabres L'Abbaye digital stroll
Through these two routes, visitors will circulate through the municipality to discover its history. No less than ten stages make up the walk in the centre of the village: gardens at Pont Neuf passing through the Cathedral and many other places and monuments to discover. They will also discover the hamlets thanks to the work of the students of the École Jean de La Fontaine. These digital routes, enriched with photos, video or audio, are a playful and participatory way to discover our beloved village.
Download the Guidido application from the App Store or from Google Play, open the application and look for the Vabres l'Abbaye tour. Off you go! Have a nice walk!
Parc naturel régional des Grands Causses
71 bd. de l'Ayrolle


text:
Birth centres are a safe option even when transfer is involved
Are birth centres safe?
In a word, yes. And another study has confirmed that birth centres – or freestanding midwifery units – are a safe and reasonable option for mothers and babies and that women who use them are less likely to have a caesarean section, even if transfer is involved (Monk et al 2017).
Australian researchers carried out a descriptive study to compare the maternal and neonatal birth outcomes of two different groups of women. They compared the outcomes of 256 women who planned to give birth at freestanding midwifery units but who transferred to a tertiary maternity unit with 3157 low-risk women who planned to give birth in a tertiary maternity unit.
This is an important study because, although we have lots of research showing that out-of-hospital birth is safe and may be better than hospital birth in some dimensions for healthy women and babies, the rates of transfer from these units to tertiary care is quite high in some areas, and we don't have much data about how the outcomes of the women and babies who transfer compare to those who booked in tertiary care in the first place. In this study, 168 (65.6%) of the women who were transferred did so during the antenatal period, 65 (25.4%) transferred during the intrapartum period and 18 (7.0%) transferred during the postnatal period. Timing of transfer was unknown for 5 women (2.0%).
The results of the study showed that proportionally fewer of the women who were originally planing to birth in the freestanding midwifery unit experienced a caesarean section than in the group of women who planned to birth at the tertiary unit – 16.1% versus 24.8% respectively.
Other outcomes were comparable between both groups and, although larger studies of various designs are needed to further expand our understanding of this area, the authors conclude that their results support the provision of care in freestanding, midwifery units as an alternative to tertiary maternity units for women who have low risk pregnancies at the time of booking (Monk et al 2017).
If you'd like to stay up-to-date with birth-related research and thinking, make sure you're subscribed to our free newsletter list, which means you'll get Sara's monthly Birth Information Update.
And if you're a midwife or other birth worker who enjoys unpacking research, seeing what's behind the headlines and sharing wisdom with like-minded others, come and join Sara and colleagues from all over the world in one of our online courses!
Monk AR, Grigg CP, Foureur M et al (2017). Freestanding midwifery units: Maternal and neonatal outcomes following transfer. Midwifery, In Press, Accepted Manuscript. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2017.01.006
Background: The viability of freestanding midwifery units in Australia is restricted, due to concerns over their safety, particularly for women and babies who, require transfer.
Aim: To compare the maternal and neonatal birth outcomes of women who planned, to give birth at freestanding midwifery units and subsequently, transferred to a tertiary maternity unit to the maternal and neonatal, outcomes of a low-risk cohort of women who planned to give birth in, tertiary maternity unit.
Methods: A descriptive study compared two groups of women with low-risk singleton, pregnancies who were less than 28 weeks pregnant at booking: women who, planned to give birth at a freestanding midwifery unit (n=494) who, transferred to a tertiary maternity unit during the antenatal, intrapartum or postnatal periods (n=260) and women who planned to give, birth at a tertiary maternity unit (n=3,157). Primary outcomes were mode, of birth, Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes and admission to, special care nursery or neonatal intensive care.
Key Findings: The proportion of women who experienced a caesarean section was lower, among the freestanding midwifery unit women who transferred during the, intrapartum/postnatal period compared to women in the tertiary maternity, unit group (16.1% versus 24.8% respectively). Other outcomes were, comparable between the cohorts. Rates of primary outcomes in relation to, stage of transfer varied when stratified by parity.
Discussion: These descriptive results support the provision of care in freestanding, midwifery units as an alternative to tertiary maternity units for women, with low risk pregnancies at the time of booking. A larger study, powered, to determine statistical significance of any differences in outcomes, is, required.
photo credit: judy_and_ed naomi's garden: a baby quilt for a new baby. via photopin (license)
Tags: birth centres hospital birth place of birth research research updates
← Eight ways of promoting active birth through bedlessness…
Questioning induction of labour in older women – part 2 →
1 comment for "Birth centres are a safe option even when transfer is involved"


This is a 18-character string variable.
PERSONID is an identification variable constructed by IPUMS using the reference ID variable (REFID) from the public use files. The original variable identifying individuals uniquely across samples is composed of alpha-numerics, whereas PERSONID used an algorithm to create unique numeric values for each individual. Each digit was expanded to 2 digits. Numeric digits were given a leading zero. For example, the digit 2 would be converted to 02. Letters would be converted by the ordinal of the letter plus ten. For example, A would be converted to 11, B to 12, C to 13 and so on. It is possible to identify individuals in different survey years within the same decade.
IPUMS-SESTAT has set PERSONID as a character string for statistical packages to more easily read in the values.
Users should note that some respondents are interviewed over time, allowing the possibility for longitudinal data analysis. Please see our User Note on Longitudinal Data.


QuikStaff integrity testing is the smart choice for employers who must quickly and easily filter through candidates in the staffing industries, or for companies who hire their general labor and light industrial staff directly.
Faster than a background check and more reliable than a biological drug test, QuikStaff will also have an overwhelmingly positive impact on your turnover and workers' compensation costs.
Top Talent builds on the powerful QuikStaff assessment, and is designed specifically for use with online applications.
In addition to identifying counterproductive behaviors and delivering benefits such as decreased workers' compensation costs and increased retention, integrity testing in the workplace with Top Talent will provide you feedback on a candidate's work ethic, risk behaviors, conflict avoidance, and moral behaviors. And once you've used these powerful insights to identify the strongest candidates, Top Talent provides you with scientifically designed behavioral interview questions.
This means that in addition to important information about workers' compensation fraud and counterproductive behaviors like drug use and theft, you will be afforded deeper insight into the workplace behaviors you seek in a reliable, productive employee.
Integrity Plus also offers a retention scale to help you identify those applicants who are most likely to stay with you long term. Once you've identified your strongest candidates, we continue to support you through our scientifically designed behavioral interview questions and our candidate status tool.
The people who interact with your customers affect the strength of your brand so finding just the right person to fill those customer-facing positions can be challenging. iServe builds on the power of our flagship assessment, QuikStaff, while also measuring the customer service aptitude of your candidates.
In addition to the workers' compensation fraud and counterproductive behavior admittances that QuikStaff elicits from your applicants, iServe addresses a key issue faced by the retail, hospitality and food service industries: turnover. By utilizing our retention scale, you'll be able to measure the likelihood a candidate will remain with you if you hire them.
Choose iServe and go beyond skills and experience – discover which candidates will personally connect with your guests, and gain insight with our behavioral interview questions tailored to a customer service environment.


text:
President Barack Obama shoots hoops with his personal aide, Reggie Love, at the White House basketball court, Jan. 18, 2010. Pete Souza/White House
Obama's basketball jones connected him to hoopheads everywhere
Will Trump get rid of the White House basketball court?
Up Next From Culture
By Mike Wise	@MikeWiseguy
He hadn't played full-court basketball in months, maybe a year, and most everyone who ran with him over the past eight years was expecting his shot, if not his 55-year-old ligaments, to be caked with rust. But rituals are rituals, and President Barack Obama would keep this one on his last election day in office.
At 8 a.m., he gathered some of the usual, creaky-kneed suspects at the old gym at Fort McNair in Southwest Washington: former Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Art Jackson, who runs local basketball programs; former NBA executive John Rice – all Ivy League stars from the last millennium.
Youth, as always, would be served by Reggie Love, the president's former body man and a national champion from the 2001 Duke team, and his thirtysomething crew.
The president's first shot went in that day. Then another. And another. They were mostly silky southpaw jumpers from a few steps left of the key, by a man who goes harder to his left on the court than Bernie Sanders and Michael Moore off it. All net, all morning.
"He was on fire," Love recalled when we spoke Sunday, admitting that the old heads won. "He hadn't played in a while, but he kept making them."
And, just like that, it was over.
The last game.
Before midnight it was clear the executive branch would change parties. And the first president to have two stanchions and a full-length basketball court installed at the White House would be giving up the rock to Donald Trump. Lord knows whether he can shoot – or even wants to.
"What is going to become of the basketball court at the White House? Good question," Love said.
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Wherever you lie on the political spectrum, anyone who lives for the game – who sees in it the connective fibers of racial and cultural unity achieved by giving yourself to the good of the group – will be nostalgic about the Baller-in-Chief.
There was something about the first black president playing a predominantly black man's game. Obama was every hoop junkie's president, repping all that was good and right about Naismith's game.
Oh, and using his power as the leader of the free world to put together his own fantasy birthday game was every hoop lifer's dream.
Who among us – especially those who never played competitively past high school – wouldn't use our executive privilege to summon living legends such as Bill Russell and Earvin "Magic" Johnson for our 49th birthday celebration, the way the president did in August 2010? He brought in contemporary stars, such as LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose and future WNBA star Maya Moore. He threw in Alonzo Mourning, Shane Battier, Chauncey Billups, Etan Thomas and Derek Fisher for good measure. Kobe Bryant watched from the stands. The game was played at Fort McNair in Washington before a wowed crowd of wounded veterans and youngsters in a White House mentoring program.
Obama played everywhere – Hawaii, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, during a campaign stop, Camp David. He required 12 sutures in his lip in 2010 when he took an elbow to the face. He co-opted a March Madness term for his own NCAA tournament picks (Barack-a-tology).
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He used the White House court for not just photo-ops, but for a sanctuary – like the time he brought more than a half-dozen kids from his My Brother's Keeper initiative to shoot hoops and talk about life. "He had a much nicer game than I thought," said Noah McQueen, whom Obama helped mentor. "When we were out there, it didn't feel like we were playing with the president. It felt like he was one of us."
L.Z. Granderson made a strong case last summer in The Undefeated that the renaissance of social conscience among athletes may have been directly triggered by Obama's last eight years – that, essentially, having a president who looked and thought like them politically emboldened African-American athletes to speak out like they haven't since the 1960s and early 1970s.
"[Obama] is very approachable, he knows and loves the game … plus he's a brother," longtime basketball agent Bill Duffy said. "There's a level of trust there because they have similar experiences. I would like to think the guys who have felt comfortable using their platform to bring awareness to things will keep doing so, but to be politically active, you have to do more than just bring awareness. You have to get involved and I'm not sure if the players will do that once President Obama is gone."
"There was a common love, a common language spoken," Duncan said of the relationship between Obama and NBA players. "It was a brotherhood, where you could blend race and hoops. Conversations would move from hoops to social issues and sports became what we all hope to become – that bridge to a better world. They could see the bigger sense of what's important here."
After Love finished his tenure at the White House and enrolled at Wharton Business School, he remembers receiving a text from Obama one afternoon, and thinking it was urgent. Instead, Obama had decided to coach his youngest daughter's middle-school team and the president wanted him to design some plays they could run.
Obama even chatted up washed-up small forwards who, like him, had played high school ball in Hawaii.
I first met Obama in 2009, five days before his first inauguration, when he was visiting The Washington Post, where I worked at the time. When he stuck out his hand, I mentioned that I once played against the center on his state championship team, Dan Hale, in a summer league game. "We just played with Dan two days ago!" he said, and we chatted for a minute before Love handed me his card and said to call him regarding a possible pickup game.
Which I did. Twenty-eight times over, oh, eight years. (Actually, it was just a handful of times. It feels like a lot more when you're bothering the commander-in-chief for a run.)
But I did talk briefly with the president at four basketball games he attended in his first four years, walking past the Secret Service to do the whole pull-in hug thing and act like I was one of the fellas.
Obama was always gracious and good-natured, even when I told him at a Duke-Georgetown game, "You know, us poor public-school kids from Campbell High in Ewa Beach should really one day play with you private privileged Punahou kids in Honolulu [the prestigious school Obama attended], just so the world can be one."
Looking back, I wish I had asked him if Hawaii's ethnic melting pot had made him see the world like me, if he remembered this cat on the University of Hawaii's Fab Five team named Jerome Freeman or this skywalking star from Moanalua High named Sam Johnson, who once rejected my shot into the school band.
There are more important issues as inauguration day draws near. Still … the ball-playing president – what a novelty.
Trump and KellyAnne Conway, counselor to the president-elect, didn't return messages from The Undefeated regarding the future of the White House basketball court. Perhaps there are some things more important to this country's future right now than ball, like the possibility that millions of Americans could lose their health insurance. Or that any second now, Russian hackers could seize control of your Apple watch and your Sonicare toothbrush.
But the departure of the Baller-In-Chief is a moment worth marking – just as the future of the court he put in is.
"I guarantee you he'll dig up Michelle's garden," the president told the Tom Joyner Show just before the election. "You think I'm joking?"
"No — and your basketball court, too!" radio host Joyner said, until the president talked over him, going on about Trump promising to undo everything Obama.
Love said his "assumption is [the court] stays there."
"I don't know how many changes [Trump] will make, since he'll be in New York so much. But maybe the court is not that well-maintained anymore."
When I visited the White House on Jan. 12, several staffers said they assumed it would revert to being a tennis court, which is how George H.W. Bush used the space.
Either way, we are unlikely to see another president so intimately connected to the game anytime soon.
"The one memory that still stands out for me is 2012, playing that [election] day in Chicago," Duncan said. "Mitt Romney was trailing in the polls, but it wasn't a shoo-in at all. I was panicked. I finally asked him, 'How do you feel?' And I'll never forget his response: 'I've got two great girls, a wonderful wife and everybody is healthy. I'm good.'
"Literally the weight of the world was on his shoulders and he was in absolute peace – his values and priorities extraordinary clear. The court was always the one place where he could be a normal human being."
Love may have summed up the president's influence through the game best: "My most impressionable times in life came with a guy named Barack Hussein Obama, who not only had a great love for the game of basketball, but also showed me how to appreciate life, how to be hungry for information, how to be empathetic, how to put yourself in someone else's shoes – qualities you need in the game of basketball. That attitude and those principles – in the game and life – he exemplified it."
Mike Wise is a former senior writer and columnist at The Undefeated. Barack Obama once got to meet him.
This Story Tagged: Barack Obama Basketball


June 16, marks the birthdate of Marga Faulstich. She was a German glass chemist. She bags in the title of a developer of about three hundred different kinds of eye lenses. Her glory does not end only up to eye lens developer; she is also entitled with forty different patents.
She spent more than four decades of her life serving at the Scott Glass Company. Besides, just calling her an employee of Scott Glass Company, you can say that she was the first woman employee to be recruited there.
Marga is reckoned for her SF64 lightweight lens. This SF64 lightweight lens was discovered in the year 1973. For her incredible contribution towards the invention of this lens, Marga Faulstich received an award of about IR 100. It was American Industrial Research Council who felicitated her with this glorifying award.
Marga laid down the foundation of her career in chemistry as a graduate assistant for a manufacturing firm. This firm specialized in the production of optical lenses. Her research contributions were used in manufacturing of sunglasses, glass facades, and the anti-reflective glasses. As Rome was never built in a single day, same was the case with Marga. She faced every common struggle a researcher's faces but overcame those with her sheer dedication. After decades of practice, Marga finally established herself as a full-fledged researcher. With her extremely hard-working ability, she propelled in the field of glass chemistry. Her research vibes did not limit her to only the area of glass chemistry. She also created a melting pot. This melting pot developed by Marga Faulstich could withstand the high temperatures.
She retired in the year 1979 after dedicating about four decades towards her research. Later she continued her contributions in shaping the budding researchers by addressing at the conferences and lectures. Unfortunately, we lost this great personality on February 01, 1998 at the age of eighty-two years.
Today on account of her 103rd birthday, Google embraces her valuable contributions with an animated Doodle. The doodle illustrates the glass lenses, and other laboratory equipment encircling Marga Faulstich. Sophia Martineck is the brain behind today's doodle of Marga Faulstich. Another doodle features a hard-sketch of Marga Faulstich in a research lab trying on the optical lenses herself.
Though Marga Faulstich is no longer present today, her incredible contributions will be alive in the upcoming decades too.
Next articleIs It The Time To Rewrite The Textbooks With The Updated Theory Of Photosynthesis?


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A reason a day to teach CPR in Schools
May 5, 2014 September 13, 2019 cristinew
Beginning today, American Heart Association "So Many Reasons" campaign illustrates the critical need to learn CPR
Kevin Foord of Suffern is one of the 22 reasons the American Heart Association wants the state Legislature to pass the CPR in Schools bill this year. Starting today, Monday, May 5, with 22 legislative session days remaining, the American Heart Association launches its "So Many Reasons" campaign. Each day, the American Heart Association will share a real story of a New Yorker impacted by sudden cardiac arrest.
"I had a sudden cardiac arrest when I was just 49 years old," said Foord. "My daughter had learned CPR as a teenager, and saved me. It wasn't a miracle, it was CPR. Since then, I have walked her down the aisle and become a grandfather twice over. I'm one of the lucky ones. We need to pass this bill so that those who suffer sudden cardiac arrest don't miss out on the important – and the everyday – events of life."
Foord is the first reason of the campaign which will continue each and every legislative day until the CPR in Schools legislation is passed. Lawmakers will receive a one-page document with a photo of someone saved by CPR, someone lost to sudden cardiac arrest, or someone who lost a loved one to sudden cardiac arrest. A rally is planned for June 3 with the unveiling of a survivors' gallery and a mass CPR demonstration at the Legislative Office building.
"CPR is a lifesaving solution," said Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, D-Long Beach. "As a former police officer, school administrator and lifeguard, I know firsthand that we need bystander CPR to save lives. Many people are alive today because individuals trained in CPR — including youth and adults who received that training in school — gave someone CPR until EMTs arrived. I'm committed to passing the CPR in Schools bill so that we can create a generation in which New Yorkers are prepared to save lives."
"Schools prepare students with essential life skills, and CPR skills are among the most critical lifesaving skills that make our communities safer, year after year, said Sen. Mark Grisanti, R-Buffalo. "It's time to add New York to the growing list of states that have passed this legislation. I'm honored to sponsor the CPR schools legislation in the New York State Senate and I am proud to work in partnership with the American Heart Association and families in western New York to help make this bill become a law."
"Every year, 424,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital," said Dan Moran, chair of the American Heart Association's New York State Advocacy Committee. "Would you know what to do if someone collapsed in front of you? Teaching CPR in schools will save lives. When I meet people who were dead, really, with sudden cardiac arrest, and I hear everything they've done since being saved, you see that the CPR in Schools bill isn't just a bill – it's life."
An updated version of the CPR in Schools legislation (A9298/S7096) has recently been introduced and is currently in the Education Committees in both houses.
American Stroke Association urges everyone to learn F.A.S.T during American Stroke Awareness Month
Today's reason to teach CPR in Schools: Emily Adamczak
Check out the @BuffaloBills' favorite workout! To see more moves like these and get your #kids moving like their favorite #NFL teams, visit https://t.co/1aSkUhvH3q. #GetMoving #PLAY60 @American_Heart @NFL #BillsMafia https://t.co/XBk9QErrt9
Congratulations to Chris McKenna, president & CEO of CAP COM FCU, the No. 2 fundraiser in the 2020 Men Go Red for Women campaign. The campaign raised $53,006. Thanks also to @CAP_COM_FCU for sponsoring!. Join us for the 2021 campaign! Contact Sharon.Horton @heart.org. #GoRed518 https://t.co/7vcvkimQim


text:
package com.thinkgem.jeesite.modules.hmrtgroupcase.web;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;

import org.apache.shiro.authz.annotation.RequiresPermissions;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ModelAttribute;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.support.RedirectAttributes;

import com.thinkgem.jeesite.common.config.Global;
import com.thinkgem.jeesite.common.persistence.Page;
import com.thinkgem.jeesite.common.web.BaseController;
import com.thinkgem.jeesite.common.utils.StringUtils;
import com.thinkgem.jeesite.modules.hmrtgroupcase.entity.HmrtGroupCase;
import com.thinkgem.jeesite.modules.hmrtgroupcase.service.HmrtGroupCaseService;

/**
 * 群聊对应病例Controller
 * @author zhuhb
 * @version 2016-06-30
 */
@Controller
@RequestMapping(value = "${adminPath}/hmrtgroupcase/hmrtGroupCase")
public class HmrtGroupCaseController extends BaseController {

	@Autowired
	private HmrtGroupCaseService hmrtGroupCaseService;

	@ModelAttribute
	public HmrtGroupCase get(@RequestParam(required=false) String id) {
		HmrtGroupCase entity = null;
		if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(id)){
			entity = hmrtGroupCaseService.get(id);
		}
		if (entity == null){
			entity = new HmrtGroupCase();
		}
		return entity;
	}

	@RequiresPermissions("hmrtgroupcase:hmrtGroupCase:view")
	@RequestMapping(value = {"list", ""})
	public String list(HmrtGroupCase hmrtGroupCase, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Model model) {
		Page<HmrtGroupCase> page = hmrtGroupCaseService.findPage(new Page<HmrtGroupCase>(request, response), hmrtGroupCase);
		model.addAttribute("page", page);
		return "modules/hmrtgroupcase/hmrtGroupCaseList";
	}

	@RequiresPermissions("hmrtgroupcase:hmrtGroupCase:view")
	@RequestMapping(value = "form")
	public String form(HmrtGroupCase hmrtGroupCase, Model model) {
		model.addAttribute("hmrtGroupCase", hmrtGroupCase);
		return "modules/hmrtgroupcase/hmrtGroupCaseForm";
	}

	@RequiresPermissions("hmrtgroupcase:hmrtGroupCase:edit")
	@RequestMapping(value = "save")
	public String save(HmrtGroupCase hmrtGroupCase, Model model, RedirectAttributes redirectAttributes) {
		if (!beanValidator(model, hmrtGroupCase)){
			return form(hmrtGroupCase, model);
		}
		hmrtGroupCaseService.save(hmrtGroupCase);
		addMessage(redirectAttributes, "保存群聊对应病例操作成功");
		return "redirect:"+Global.getAdminPath()+"/hmrtgroupcase/hmrtGroupCase/?repage";
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	@RequiresPermissions("hmrtgroupcase:hmrtGroupCase:edit")
	@RequestMapping(value = "delete")
	public String delete(HmrtGroupCase hmrtGroupCase, RedirectAttributes redirectAttributes) {
		hmrtGroupCaseService.delete(hmrtGroupCase);
		addMessage(redirectAttributes, "删除群聊对应病例操作成功");
		return "redirect:"+Global.getAdminPath()+"/hmrtgroupcase/hmrtGroupCase/?repage";
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Posts Tagged 'Pima County'
Pima County pursues new protected open spaces
Posted on: January 26th, 2023 by Kathleen Kennedy
Late last year, Pima County announced a slate of new protected open space acquisitions they are pursuing with the $2 million allocated for the acquisition of conservation land in the County's 2022-2023 budget. The open space parcels include:
A set of parcels next to the wildlife crossing over the CAP canal in Avra Valley;
A set of private inholdings on the M-Diamond Ranch in the San Pedro River valley; and
A small inholding on the Buckelew Farm in Avra Valley.
Want to learn more about these parcels? Head over to this Pima County memo that includes more details about each open space acquisition and maps of the parcels adjacent to the CAP canal wildlife crossing.
All of these new open space acquisitions are part of Pima County's continued implementation of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.
The latest on I-11: Lawsuit sees its first day in court
On Wednesday, January 25, 2023, U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker heard arguments on the federal government's motion to dismiss a portion of our challenge to Interstate 11 filed in April 2022 in collaboration with the Center for Biological Diversity, Tucson Audubon Society, and Friends of Ironwood Forest. Big thanks to the 30 Coalition supporters that showed up to support us at the hearing.
According to a press release about the hearing, "The lawsuit says the agency failed to consider other transportation alternatives, such as rail, and sidestepped the required environmental review before approving the 280-mile-long highway between Nogales and Wickenburg. The planned interstate's west option would plow through desert wildlands in rural Avra Valley and between Saguaro National Park and Ironwood National Monument. It would disturb hundreds of archaeological and cultural sites and spread invasive buffelgrass known to fuel wildfires."
You can learn more at at a KVOA4 story that aired after the hearing and a KGUN 9 story that aired before the hearing. We will update you when we learn more about a timeline for Judge Hinderaker's decision on the case.
Whatever his decision, we remain grateful for your support as we continue advocating against the West Option for Interstate 11 and for a connected and restored Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona for all.
Want to learn about the history of Interstate 11 and ways to get involved today? Head over to our comprehensive set of webpages (also found at the top of this page under the "Our Work" tab), including a history of the planning process, a thorough list of media articles, maps, and more.
The first Tortolita BioBlitz was a huge success!
Posted on: December 19th, 2022 by Kathleen Kennedy
On Saturday November 19th, 46 participants made almost 700 observations of over 135 species!
The first Tortolita Preserve BioBlitz was a huge success! What a great way to share and explore this amazing open space!
We held seven small group outings during the BioBlitz, and all the participants enjoyed getting a chance to explore with guides from Arizona Master Naturalists, Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, and Tortolita Alliance. One of the guided walks headed by CSDP's Jessica Moreno focused on identifying animals by scat and tracks. Species identified included Grey Fox, Mule Deer, Bobcat, Coyote, and even the tiny and industrious Kangaroo Rat! Another walk conducted by Jennie McFarland from Tucson Audubon Society and Steven Prager from Audubon Southwest yielded a list of fifteen species including a Ruby-crowned Kinglet; the first time this species has been documented here on E-Bird. Another highlight was the identification of Gregg's Nightblooming Cereus happily existing in the understory of a Palo Verde.
In addition to the outings, many people worked hard collecting observations on their own. We had several people visiting the Tortolita Preserve for the first time and others new to iNaturalist making a big contribution to the success of the event. Identifying observations made by others is another area in which our group really contributed. We had people making identifications during the BioBlitz. This is such an important part of the outreach component of iNaturalist, so a big thanks to people who worked on identifications!
Check out the project:
Tortolita Preserve Fall BioBlitz · iNaturalist
Jessica Moreno leads a dawn wildlife track and sign survey for the Tortolita Preserve BioBlitz to a group of BioBlitzers. Sunrise really lights up those tracks! It was a cold start, but warmed up quickly.
Kit Fox: CSDP Photographs Another First
Posted on: December 9th, 2022 by Kathleen Kennedy
By Jessica Moreno, Conservation Science Director
It's late morning in early May when my phone buzzes with a text message from my friend and long-time Desert Monitor Josh Skattum. It's a black and white photo from our "UTA" camera in the Tucson-Tortolita Mountain corridor, a blurry ghost of a fox with large, pointed ears and a small animal in its mouth, trotting swiftly through a moonless desert night. "Kit fox?," Josh types. It looks plausible… I promise to look at it more closely and confirm.
The desert kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) has exaggerated features and could easily be included in a sci-fi wildlife field guide, fitting comfortably among the illustrations of banthas, sandworms, or tribbles. They are tiny canines, just 3.5 to 6 pounds, the weight of a full-grown Chihuahua. That small package comes with oversized 3- to 4-inch-long ears that helps dissipate the heat, a fluffy tail that nearly doubles its body length, and fur packed between their toes creating custom-made sand shoes.
Their soft sandy-colored coats are sometimes trimmed in bright rusty orange as if their edges were dyed by the desert sunset. In the moonlight, you might only glimpse pale fur and a black-tipped tail that doesn't sport the signature bold black stripe found on the more commonly seen gray fox. But the kit fox's delicate pointy face, bright eyes, and overlarge ears give them the same playful and mischievous countenance.
Several more nocturnal photos later, and I am more confident in my ID. Josh even documents a likely burrow site. Just to be doubly sure (and for fun), I ask for the help of Raynor Vandeven, a talented photographer who builds his own custom-made camera traps to produce incredible wildlife images. He sets out to see if he can get a more photographic image for us – with almost instant success.
These photos are the first time a kit fox has triggered one of the wildlife cameras we use to monitor the movement patterns of animals that use Pima County's wildlife corridors. These areas tend to be the most threatened by roads and development – and also exactly the kind of low desert habitat that is preferred by kit foxes. And here they are, fulfilling their special role in the Sonoran Desert ecosystem as mesocarnivores.
A mesocarnivore is a small to mid-sized mammal that eats mostly meat (50 – 75% of their diet) but also eats other things – fruits, plants, fungi, insects – and is therefore an omnivore. Ecologically, they serve a role similar to the fewer-in-number large carnivores, like mountain lions, with some differences, such as spreading seeds that help plant dispersal, influencing disease dynamics, and being able to drive community structure (the types and number of species that live in a place and how they interact with one another). The disappearance of mesocarnivores on the landscape, both in abundance and diversity of species, is a canary in the mine for ecological health.
For their part, kit foxes primarily eat cottontail rabbits and rodents like kangaroo rats for their meat course. Very rarely they will eat the jackrabbits that complete with them for size. They will also eat carrion, birds, lizards, insects, quail eggs, saguaro fruit, prickly pear fruit, and mesquite beans. When food is plentiful, they might cache their meals by burying them, squirrel-like, and marking the spot with pee – a fox's version of the office refrigerator lunchbox post-it note: My Lunch. Do Not Eat.
Kit foxes are solitary hunters and are often seen alone but are part of small family groups of parents and their young. Mates form a monogamous, permanent bond and both parents care for a single litter of 5 to 7 kits, or pups, that are born blind in March and April and remain in their cool den, with its keyhole-shaped entrance, until the monsoon arrives in June or July.
They can find food and mates, raise young, and disperse surprisingly long distances to new habitats – despite the challenges of mange caused by rodenticides, canine distemper and rabies, and the very pressing concerns of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and wildlife-vehicle collisions. Time will tell if rising temperatures and other threats prove too much, or are averted too late, for a species that has been with us since the Great Ice Age and survived the extinction of the larger Pleistocene megafauna.
Photo by Raynor Vandeven
Today these tiny, playful desert den dwellers are considered vulnerable in Arizona but do not have any protected status. Their distribution is extensive throughout the Great Basin, Sonoran, and Mojave deserts, but populations have generally been declining by 10-30% across their range, according to data collected on NatureServe. A fox to watch.
Our nocturnal kit foxes continue to bless the desert night with their yips, barks, and chuckles. Tonight, I allow myself to imagine that they sometimes gaze up at the stars, above the haze of nearby city lights and horizon of creosote, stars that for untold generations have been their only constant. The chuckle in the dark desert night I hear sounds like an echo of Josh's laugh.
Kit fox habitat (in bright green), in eastern Pima County, along with two of our wildlife linkage study areas in the Tucson-Tortolita Mountains wildlife linkage and the Catalina-Tortolita Mountains wildlife linkage.
Join us in removing old fencing and improving wildlife connectivity in Avra Valley!
Posted on: March 7th, 2022 by Kathleen Kennedy
Join us this week to remove old fencing and improve wildlife connectivity between the Tucson Mountains and the Tohono O'odham Nation!
This past December, over 65 volunteers came together one morning to remove three miles of old fencing, including three tons of fence posts and wire fencing, from an area in Avra Valley west of the Tucson Mountains. Removing this fencing is important to improve the critical wildlife linkage areas between Tucson Mountain Park, Saguaro National Park, Ironwood Forest National Monument, and the Tohono O'odham Nation. And now this collaborative project is moving forward with another opportunity to pitch in and remove even more fencing!
When: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – March 10, 11, and 12
Time: 8am-12pm, 12pm lunch (will be provided), Afternoon flexible
Where: Avra Valley area near Three Points (more detailed instructions on exactly where to meet will be sent out to volunteers after they sign up)
What to bring: Water bottle, work gloves, sturdy shoes, sun hat, etc. (again, more details to follow)
How to sign up: Head over to this GoogleForm to sign up
According to Don Swann, a biologist at Saguaro National Park, "Many studies have shown that barbed wire fences can stop large animals, change their movement patterns, and keep them away from water and food sources they need to survive. Animals can also be killed trying to jump over a barbed wire fence if they become entangled and are not able to free themselves."
You can sign up for one, two, or all three days! All you need to do is sign up through our online form.
To see a slideshow and learn more about the December 2021 event and what's in store for the March 2022 event, head over to this recent blog post on our website.
Questions? Feel free to reach out to CSDP Executive Director Carolyn Campbell at Carolyn.Campbell@sonorandesert.org or leave a voicemail at (520) 388-9925 and we'll get back with you ASAP.
SR86 Wildlife Bridges move to siting and design phase
Posted on: February 17th, 2022 by Kathleen Kennedy
In January 2022, a group of people from Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Department of Transportation, the Tohono O'odham Nation, and the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection conducted a scouting field trip to finalize the locations of two new wildlife bridges on SR86 near Kitt Peak. These bridges will complement two existing wildlife underpasses built nearby in 2013-2014. During the trip, the attendees also visited the underpasses and associated wildlife fencing and were able to identify ongoing maintenance tasks so these underpasses continue providing a safe crossing location for wildlife for many years to come.
The SR86 wildlife bridges will be built to attract local bighorn sheep and other wildlife so they can safely cross between the Baboquivari Mountains to the south and mountain ranges to the north. The Regional Transportation Authority is funding these crossings, under a plan approved by voters in 2006 from $45 million allocated for wildlife linkage infrastructure projects.
Check out some photos of the field trip below.
Avra Valley Fence Removal Volunteer Day a Big Success!
On December 11, 2021, a group of local organizations and state/federal agencies came together to celebrate National Public Lands Day by holding a Fence Removal Volunteer Day in Avra Valley. It was a wonderfully cool day with volunteers in high spirits to accomplish something tangible and positive for wildlife.
A few fun stats from this great event:
Over 65 volunteers, a group from the American Conservation Experience (ACE) program, and staff from Arizona Game and Fish Department and the National Park Service joined together for the project.
3 miles of fence were removed from the landscape in one morning.
3 tons of metal, including fence posts and wire fencing, were hauled away.
This is a fantastic start to improving the permeability of the landscape for wildlife movement between the Tucson Mountains, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Pima County open space lands, and more. And a big thanks to the Coalition volunteers that came out and volunteered their time – we are so thankful for you.
This is the first of a few Fence Removal Volunteer Days – we plan to hold one to two more this winter and spring so keep your eye out for more details. We'd love to have you join in on the next event!
Thank you to all the organizations that helped make this event possible, including Friends of Ironwood Forest, Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, Saguaro National Park/National Park Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, American Conservation Experience, Pima County, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Mule Deer Foundation.
Photos below are courtesy Carolyn Campbell and Lee Pagni.
Updates from the El Rio Riparian Preserve
Posted on: July 24th, 2020 by Kathleen Kennedy
By Janine Spencer-Glasson, Friends of El Rio Preserve
The Santa Cruz River serves as an important resource for migrating birds in the southwestern United States. Migrating birds depend upon riparian habitat more than any other type of habitat in Arizona. There are several links along the chain of stopovers for migrating birds on the Santa Cruz River. One of them is the El Rio Preserve in Marana. To date, over 240 species of birds have been identified at the Preserve (go to ebird.org and search in Hotspots for El Rio Open Space Preserve to view the complete list of birds).
El Rio Preserve is a 104-acre property located along the western bank of the Santa Cruz River. The site has a long history of human use; it is located at the northern end of the Los Morteros Archaeological site and was occupied from approximately 850-1,300 AD. In the 1960's, a gravel pit was created there to provide material to build Interstate-10. Later, it was used as a disc golf course. In addition to the Preserve's role in providing bird habitat, the Preserve also serves as a link between the Tortolita Mountains and the Tucson Mountains, allowing wildlife to access water and move about.
West Lake of the El Rio Preserve in May 2019. Photo By Janine Spencer-Glasson.
This site has flooded periodically over the years, and water tends to remain ponded for six months or more, with periods where it is completely dry. This has created intermittent habitat for birds that need a site with surface water. Throughout this time, birders knew the spot as the "Coachline Gravel Pit." Occasionally some interesting avian species would appear, including blue grosbeak, grey hawk, peregrine falcon, white-faced ibis, osprey, belted kingfisher, Bell's vireo, Inca dove, and hooded orioles, to name a few.
An Indigo Bunting at the El Rio Preserve. Photo by Andrew Core.
During a major rainstorm in 2014, the soil berm was breached between the gravel pit and the Santa Cruz River, and water filled the property almost completely, creating a beautiful lake and much buzz among people familiar with the area. Rare birds showed up, like the white-fronted goose, a white pelican, and plenty of ducks. Birders flocked to see the new lake's avian inhabitants, and the parking area often hosted out-of-state vehicles. This prompted the Town of Marana to take a new look at what was now called the El Rio Preserve.
There were many problems at the Preserve, however. During storm events, invasive weed seeds and huge patches of trash would flow in and settle in the basin. Mosquitoes would breed where water remained under spots of dense vegetation. Much planning and work was needed to create a riparian site that would be an amenity to the neighborhood, while maintaining a natural state for birds, wildlife, and nature-lovers.
Improvements at El Rio Preserve have been a collaborative effort. The Town of Marana dedicated funding for design and implementation of riparian restoration. The Arizona State Forestry Department researched the area and wrote a comprehensive Forestry Management Plan that focuses on invasive species. Pima County and Marana extended the Loop Trail and constructed a parking lot with a ramada. Marana worked with a University of Arizona student, Alex Stoicof, to create a community survey, which identified riparian restoration as the top priority for the Preserve. She then designed a preliminary landscape plan. Marana has constructed a viewing deck, a water fountain, toilet, and interpretive signs, and planted native landscaping
Environmental education is an important element of the El Rio Preserve. Michael Bogan, Professor at the University of Arizona, has led a damselfly and dragonfly viewing and provided information and photos for an interpretive sign at the Preserve. The Town is coordinating with the Marana Unified School District and classes of students have toured the site and focused on science relevant to their studies. Boy Scouts have volunteered, putting up bee boards and bird boxes for kestrels and brown-crested flycatchers.
Birders at the El Rio Preserve. Photo by Andrew Core.
Tucson Audubon Society supplied plants and members helped plant a pollinator garden at the entrance to the Preserve. Bat Conservation International provided agaves and helped volunteers plant them. This spring, the pollinator garden was in full bloom, with butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees enjoying the gaillardia, penstemon, native salvias, desert marigolds, and other flowers.
The pollinator garden at the El Rio Preserve in Spring 2020. Photo by Janine Spencer-Glasson.
The Friends of El Rio Preserve group has been formed to include neighbors and a diverse group of members from other environmental organizations. Friends of El Rio Preserve's mission is "to promote wildlife habitat and connectivity in this beautiful, diverse natural area, so residents of all ages and interests can enjoy this urban oasis," and we have planted pollinators, helped with weeding, and provided input on design elements and on interpretive signs. If you would like to learn more about Friends of El Rio Preserve, you can find us on Facebook or Instagram. You can become a Friend if you are willing to roll up your sleeves, join the team, and make a vital contribution to enhancing and protecting El Rio Preserve; contact Kathy at matproject@msn.com or Janine at janines07@comcast.net.
It has been wonderful to see so many organizations and volunteers work to create a beautiful spot for people and birds!
Currently, more improvements are underway. Pima County Flood Control is in the early stages of constructing bank protection which will cost nearly $1.9 M (nesting bird and archaeological surveys have been completed prior to ground disturbance). The bank protection is designed to allow overflow connectivity with the Santa Cruz River during large rain events. Bank protection should be completed by this fall. There is currently no water flowing into the Preserve while bank protection is being constructed.
This fall, Marana will construct a connection to purchase water from the Cortaro-Marana Irrigation District and create a permanent pond approximately 5 acres in size. The Town is currently in the process of building an island to provide a safe place for birds to wade and rest once the pond is filled. The Friends of El Rio Preserve looks forward to assisting with pole planting native trees such as cottonwoods and willows and seeding other native annuals and perennials on the island.
Come visit El Rio Preserve once construction work is completed – you will be surprised at this lush natural site in the heart of the Sonoran Desert.
Raccoon tracks at the El Rio Preserve. Photo by Janine Spencer-Glasson.
Pima County releases 2019 Annual Report on Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan
Posted on: May 26th, 2020 by Kathleen Kennedy
In March 2020, Pima County released its fourth annual report on its Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSCP). The full report can be found on the Pima County website HERE. According to the Executive Summary, six Pima County capital improvement projects and 52 private development projects were "covered" by the MSCP in 2019. While these projects cumulatively had 196.8 acres of impact to the habitat of vulnerable wildlife species, the MSCP required 767.7 acres of mitigation to offset these impacts.
Some other highlights from the report include:
The Regional Flood Control District reported that 94.5% of applicants avoided impacting regulated riparian habitat.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved several land-use policies that promote reuse or infill instead of sprawl.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a plan for augmenting populations of covered species on our mitigation lands, and another for managing properties along the San Pedro River.
A new population of Gila topminnow was established in a stream on the County's M Diamond Ranch.
During 2019, the portfolio of potential mitigation lands increased by approximately 250 acres.
Pima County staff, contractors, and volunteers mechanically removed or chemically treated approximately 1,470 acres of buffelgrass on County preserve lands.
Office of Sustainability and Conservation staff made 623 separate observations on Covered Species; these were reported to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
County staff developed comprehensive monitoring protocols for seven monitoring elements, including upland habitat, water resources, landscape pattern change, invasive aquatic and plant species, off-highway vehicles, and climate.
County staff in partnership with Tucson Audubon Society and the National Park Service established an additional 21 long-term vegetation and soils monitoring plots on County preserve lands.
The latest monitoring data from the Oracle Road wildlife crossings!
Posted on: April 22nd, 2020 by Kathleen Kennedy
Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) just released the latest and greatest monitoring data from the Oracle Road wildlife overpass and underpass. This represents FOUR FULL YEARS of monitoring these wildlife crossings since construction finished in March 2016.
Some notable data and results include:
26 different species have been observed using the crossings, including 11 species at the overpass and 25 species at the underpass.
Over 10,000 wildlife crossings have been documented by AGFD cameras – 10,843 to be exact. These crossings are fairly evenly split between both structures, with 5,490 crossings at the overpass and 5,353 at the underpass.
Over 98% of the crossings are by four species: mule deer, javelina, bobcat, and coyote.
Total crossings at each structure have increased year upon year since construction finished. This means each year more and more wildlife are using these wildlife crossings.
For more results, you can read the full monitoring report HERE.
To learn more about why these crossings were built, how they were funded, and more, head over to the following webpages:
Oracle Road Wildlife Crossings Overview
Oracle Road Wildlife Crossings: Frequently Asked Questions
Mule deer on the Oracle Road wildlife bridge in March 2020. Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department.
A mule deer uses the Oracle Road wildlife underpass in April 2020. Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department.