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2018 OSF Donors Thank You Letter
OSF Admin
Friday, 08 February 2019 / Published in Posts
Dear 2018 OSF Donors,
On behalf of the OSF board and staff, I also want to personally thank you for your generous support in 2018, and share with you a few of the highlights that you made possible with your donations. 2018 OSF highlights include the following:
Podcast Downloads/Views: The OSF obtained 6.6 million podcast downloads/views in 2018 (compared with 6.2 million in 2017). This is particularly stunning to me, since Libsyn (our MP3 host) changed the way it counted downloads for 2018, estimating that it would reduce download counts by as much as 30%. In short, we had a phenomenal year of growth in terms of podcast listenership and viewership, and it is amazing to me that for as successful as we have been historically, we are still in "growth mode" and are now reaching hundreds of thousands of people each year. THANK YOU, DEAR DONORS FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE!
YouTube/Facebook Live Views and Watch Time: We dramatically increased our presence on both YouTube and Facebook live in 2018, with 2.4 million video views in 2018, totaling a whopping 39.2 million minutes viewed of Mormon Stories Podcast video content. This represents a 139% increase of Facebook Live video views, and a 27.3% increase in YouTube video views.
Podcast Episodes: 375 OSF podcast episodes were delivered across our active podcasts: Mormon Stories, Mormon Matters , A Thoughtful Faith, and Mormon Mental Health (vs. 343 in 2017). This included Mormon Stories Podcast surpassing the 1,000th episode mark! All of our OSF podcasts delivered amazing content this year. In case you missed them, some of the most popular OSF podcast episodes of 2018 were:
Mormon Stories (John Dehlin)
Joseph Smith's First Vision, and How the Church and Its Apologists Mislead (featuring Sandra Tanner)
Roger Hendrix: How a CES Director, Mormon Mission President, and Deseret Trust Company Trustee Lost his Testimony (Part 1, Part 2)
Dr. Bart Ehrman, New Testament Scholar
Tara Westover, Author of "Educated" (Part 1, Part 2)
Tova Mirvis: Losing Faith and Mixed-Faith Marriage as an Orthodox Jew (Part 1,Part 2)
Steven Hassan: What the Mormon Church can Learn from Cults to Do/Be Better
Remembering the Swedish Rescue, From Those Who Attended
Family Ties: Doug, Laurie, Julie, and Jerry's Mormon Faith Crisis/Transition
The Excommunication of Bishop Sam Young
The Excommunication of Bishop Bill Reel (Part 1, Part 2)
Mormon Matters (Dan Wotherspoon)
An Open-Hearted Wrestle with Temples, Tithing, and Other Church and Personal Priorities
Featuring Laurie Lee Hall and Jim Smithson
"Revelation" and "The Will of the Lord": Changing Rhetoric and its Effects in Today's Mormonism (Featuring Mark Crego and Jack Naneek)
Exclusivism (Featuring Jennifer Finlayson-Fife and Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen)
A Thoughtful Faith (Gina Colvin)
Taking the Mormons to Court: Defending Sexual Abuse Victims against the LDS Church: Tim Kosnoff
Serving Up Children to Pedophiles: The LDS Church and the West Virginia Michael Jensen Sex Abuse Case: Tom and Juliette
The Sins of Brigham: The granddaughters of Brigham's wives speak out: Jacobs, Jensen & Chamberlain
Mormon Mental Health (Natasha Helfer Parker)
Prior Bishop Speaks to how Church Addresses Sexual Abuse Cases
Women's Anatomy of Arousal: Secret Maps to Buried Pleasure with Sheri Winston
Why the Church Holds the Positions it Does on Gay Marriage
Faith Crisis Support Events: Several successful, life-changing faith crisis/transition workshops were held across the U.S. in 2018, including St. George, Sacramento, Idaho Falls, Houston, Portland, Park City, Boise, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and the Bahamas. We were also extra-grateful to extend our events reach to Switzerland and Sweden in 2018, providing much needed support to our European listeners and supporters.
OSF Sexual Harassment Policy Implemented: We were very happy to hire a professional human resources consultant in 2018 to design and implement a Sexual Harassment policy for the OSF, which can be located here.
Web Site Renovations: With your support we renovated the look and feel of the http://mormonstories.org web site. One feature we're particularly proud of is our "Top 25 Most Popular/Important Episodes" page, which allows new listeners/viewers to get up to speed quickly on some of our most important episodes.
Mormon Stories 2018 Billboard Campaign: For the first time in history, we were able to generate enough financial support to launch a billboard campaign along I-15 in downtown Salt Lake City for Mormon Stories Podcast. This campaign resulted in an 18% increase in new visitors to mormonstories.org over the previous year (same time period), and my web administrator attributes this increase largely to the successful billboard campaign. So thank you!
Media Recognition: We were thrilled to have our work featured in the HBO Documentary "Believer," which was featured at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2018.
Staff and Board Changes:
We were saddened to lose OSF staff members Amy Grubbs, Tim Coray, and Sharon Price in 2018. We are incredibly grateful for their contributions to the OSF in 2018. Additional details about the restructuring can be found here.
We are also deeply grateful to Lee Stowell, Roger McOmber, and Craig Woodfield who transitioned off of the OSF Board this year after several years of dedicated service. We are incredibly thankful for all they have done to make the OSF what it is today.
Current OSF board members are as follows: Jeremy Macdonald, Kim Turner, Nadine Hansen, and Steve Holbrook, with Craig Woodfield remaining advisor to the board as head of the Finance Committee. For any board questions, please email: openstoriesboard@gmail.com.
We remain deeply grateful to OSF Staff member Cody Layton for his continued support as podcast producer (video/audio production) for Mormon Stories Podcast. Cody does amazing work.
2019 Initiatives: As always, we are super excited for what lies ahead. In addition to many new OSF podcast episodes in 2019, we are excited to announce the following:
Examining Mormon Truth Claims Initiative: Recently, a set of essays were donated to the Mormon Stories web site to provide text-based historical information regarding central Mormon truth claims. These essays were designed to tell the story of various Mormon Truth Claims in a way that many hoped the LDS Church's "Gospel Topics Essays" would have. Some of the topics covered in this project include:
Joseph Smith's Participation in Folk Magic and Treasure Digging
A Deep Dive into Book of Mormon Origins
The Priesthood Restoration
The First Vision
The Book of Abraham, and
PolygamyWith your support, our plan for 2019 is to begin conducting in-depth podcast interviews with Mormon scholars around these (and other) historical issues, enhance these essays, and continue our billboard campaign along the I-15 corridor to promote our coverage of these issues. We have already kicked off this initiative with groundbreaking interviews with scholars Dan Vogel (Folk Magic/Treasure Digging,Book of Mormon), John Hamer (Folk Magic/Treasure Digging, Book of Mormon), and Kathleen Melanakos.
Expanded Billboard Campaign: The monthly cost for running a billboard in its current location is $5,800/month. We have already raised $21,420 for this initiative in 2019 (which will carry us at least through March, 2019), and are hoping to raise the remainder to allow this campaign to continue for the full year. If you are interested in donating to this project, you can do so here. Please know that 100% of donations to the billboard campaign will go directly to fund the billboards.
In conclusion, we want to thank you so sincerely for all you have done to help us fulfill the OSF mission: "To promote understanding, healing, growth, and community for people experiencing or impacted by religious transition." We continue to consider this work to be sacred.
I would love to have breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a phone chat with as many of you as I can in 2019 to thank you for your ongoing support – so please reach out if and when you have time and/or are in the Salt Lake City area. Also, if you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or suggestions for me, our podcasts, or for the OSF, I hope that you will not hesitate to reach out at: staff@openstoriesfoundation.org. There is little that I love more professionally than interacting with you, our amazing donors.
We look forward to a fantastic 2019 and beyond. Please stay tuned for more good things!
John Dehlin and the OSF Board of Directors
11-27-2018 Statement from the Open Stories Foundation Board of Directors
Tuesday, 27 November 2018 / Published in Posts
The Board of the Open Stories Foundation presents this document to answer questions about recent changes to our structure and strategy with the Foundation.
Current Open Stories Foundation Board: At present, the Open Stories Foundation Board is comprised of: Jeremy Macdonald, Kim Turner, Nadine Hansen, and Steve Holbrook. Roger McOmber recently stepped down from the OSF and we express gratitude to him for his many years of service. Craig Woodfield, after years of service on the Board, and more recently as, Board Chairman, has stepped down. We are pleased to announce that he will continue to serve on our Financial Committee. Craig has our deepest appreciation for the years of service to the OSF. Jeremy Macdonald is now serving as Interim Chairman.
Statement of Fiduciary Responsibility*: It is the Board's responsibility to ensure that the Open Stories Foundation operates with financial integrity and in accordance with its values. The financial activities are overseen by an independent public accounting firm: Allred Jackson.* Annual results will continue to be reported in the annual reports.
Note: The OSF has changed its accounting firm to Shaw & Co since the release of this document.
Financial Oversight and Transparency: The Open Stories Foundation Board provides strong oversight over OSF finances while providing donors with financial transparency of OSF operations. The Board's finance committee requires processes and controls for approvals and reviews performance monthly. These processes and controls include, but are not limited to, the following:
Utilize a qualified, professional accountant to keep the books and records of the foundation.
Engage a reputable and qualified independent CPA firm to ensure tax returns are prepared correctly and filed on time.
Ensure each OSF disbursement is recorded by the OSF accountant and reviewed by the Director of Operations (or other designated OSF staff member).
Ensure employee expenses are reviewed by someone other than the employee incurring the expenses.
Closely monitor employee and podcaster compensation, ensuring amounts paid are consistent with compensation levels approved by the Board.
Establish executive compensation levels by the OSF Board.
Implement an annual budget process where the annual budget is reviewed and approved by the Board and budget to actual results are regularly reported to the Board of Directors.
Require the firm's independent accounting firm to perform regular review procedures over every OSF disbursement and report the results of these procedures directly to the Finance Committee.
Ensure other key accounting policies and controls are implemented (donor account and bank reconciliations etc) as needed to ensure the financial information reported to donors and included in regulatory tax filings are accurate.
Publish, at least annually, key financial information, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, to OSFs donors. This information includes all executive director compensation for the year, donations and other revenues for each major OSF activity (podcasts, events etc), cash balances and other key balance sheet and revenue and expense information. This information will be provided directly to donors as requested and also available on the OSF website https://www.openstoriesfoundation.org/finances/.
Provide a forum for donors to ask questions and request additional information about OSF finances. Donors can email these questions or requests to the Board's email address at openstoriesboard@gmail.com.
Sexual Harassment Policy*: The Open Stories Foundation Sexual Harassment Policy can be found here.* Claims of sexual harassment can be sent to the Incident Response Team at irtteamosf@gmail.com. The Incident Response Team will investigate all issues and maintain the confidentiality of the submitter. If any person violates the Sexual Harassment Policy they will be subject to corrective action. To date, the Board reports that the OSF is a harassment free workplace and no allegations of sexual harassment have been sustained.
* Note: The OSF Sexual Harassment Policy has been updated since this document was released.
Conflict of Interest*: The Open Stories Foundation requires past and future Directors and Officers to adhere to its Conflict of Interest Policy*. This policy protects the interests of OSF when OSF enters into transactions or arrangements that might benefit the private interest of an officer or director of OSF. Furthermore, the policy requires disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest, and the board determines if it is indeed a conflict of interest.
Podcasters are contractors to the OSF and are not restricted by the OSF to do other for-profit activities. Podcasters may mention their for-profit activities so long as they also state that the activity mentioned is for-profit and not affiliated with OSF. They are not allowed to mention details of the activities, such as dates, locations, or pricing; and must direct listeners to visit a non-OSF location for further information.
Executive Director and Podcaster Compensation: All Executive Director and podcaster compensation is required to be approved on an annual basis by the OSF Board of Directors. Currently, no podcaster or OSF employee (including the Executive Director) is a member of the OSF Board of Directors. If a podcaster or OSF employee joins the Board in the future they would be excluded from this approval process.
Executive Director Compensation to date: Key considerations in determining the appropriate level of Executive Director compensation include the following:
Financial performance of the Foundation, operating budget and available cash flow.
Job requirements and performance.
Market value of the Executive Director to the organization.
Prior to 2017, the overriding factor in the determination of the Executive Directors' compensation was the foundation's cash flow. While the other factors likely warranted higher compensation level during this time period, the Board capped Executive Director compensation at a lower amount based on budget and cash flow limitations.
Beginning in 2017, after a sustained period of strong operating performance and positive cash flows, the Board concluded that the Foundation could sustain higher levels of Executive Director Compensation. As a result, increased compensation was approved in 2017 consistent with the Boards determination of the Executive Directors performance and value to the organization. The growth and strong financial performance of Mormon Stories Podcast, which is hosted by the Executive Director was also a primary factor considered by the Board to warrant increased compensation. Mormon Stories podcast has historically generated the vast majority of the Foundations donations and has subsidized the other OSF sponsored podcasts and activities.
In 2018, the Board changed the Executive Director's compensation method from a standard salary plus bonus structure to a structure more aligned each major role performed by the Executive Director. Under this new structure, his compensation includes the following components.
A salary for this role as Executive Director (fixed at $75,000).
A fixed fee paid for each event he leads for OSF. This fee is consistent with the fees paid to other professionals who participate in these events. The number of events is limited to those approved by the Board, which provides an effective cap on the event compensation. [at the time of this decision, OSF was doing events, as of this announcement, however, the OSF is no longer doing events]
Variable compensation for hosting Mormon Stories Podcast equal to 75% of any contributions received directly for the Mormon Stories podcast, subject to a maximum compensation amount established by the Board. No compensation is received by the Executive Director for donations made to OSF or podcasts other than Mormon Stories.
A discretionary bonus as determined by the Board based on his performance as Executive Director.
In setting this compensation level, the Board intentionally established caps on event and podcast related compensation to ensure that total compensation didn't exceed a pre-determined budgeted amount for the year. As a result, Executive Director compensation is expected to be approximately $200,000 in 2018.
Changes in Staff at the OSF: As various plans were presented for sustaining both the mission, growth and goals of the OSF, staff changes were implemented to simplify and financially strengthen the foundation. We extend our deepest appreciation to our former office staff and the excellent work Tim Coray, Sharon Price, led by Amy Grubbs, contributed to the health and growth of the OSF.
Donor Feedback: The OSF Board welcomes any questions or concerns from donors. Please direct emails to: openstoriesboard@gmail.com.
Jeremy Macdonald
Nadine Hansen
Steve Holbrook
* Updated 10/17/2019 to incorporate new accounting firm name, new sexual harassment policy, and new conflict of interest policy – to avoid confusion, and to be fully transparent. The previous full version of this document can be found here.
Monday, 29 October 2018 / Published in Posts
The mission of the Open Stories Foundation (OSF) is to promote understanding, healing, growth, and community for people experiencing or impacted by religious transition. To continue achieving that mission the OSF has undergone a self-evaluation of its services, and the organizational structure needed to deliver those services. The purpose of the evaluation process was to ensure that the OSF was creating the most value from the donations received. The OSF Board ran this process of self-evaluation, with inputs from staff, including John Dehlin and the Director of Operations. The criteria were to make sure that: 1) the mission was best fulfilled, 2) the management model was sustainable, and 3) that the organization was financially solvent. The board unanimously approved the changes from the self-evaluation.
The changes can be summarized by:
The elimination of the events program (OSF-sponsored workshop and retreats),
A change in our podcaster compensation model, and
An evaluation of our board structure.
Workshops/Retreats. Since 2015, the OSF has supported an events program (workshops and retreats) for people affected by religious transition. While it has been successful enough financially to cover the cost of the staff supporting it, it is not a core service to the OSF and the board has decided to eliminate it. Going forward, OSF podcasters will be free to host their own events; they will be responsible for ensuring that their events are high quality and financially sustainable. Since the OSF does not need the staff to support the events program any longer, these staff positions have been eliminated. The Board would like to officially thank Tim Coray and Sharon Price who have performed this labor with love. This change also significantly reduces the amount of support required from the Director of Operations. The Board is still working on defining the responsibilities of the the Director of Operations role going forward.
Without the salary costs of events staff and management, the overhead of the OSF is minimized and financially viable. The OSF will continue to employ a part-time operations person and a part-time video/audio editor.
Podcaster Compensation. Podcasters are contractors to the OSF, and the Board has approved a new, simplified compensation model for podcasters that will align podcaster incentives to create the best content regularly, and to help to ensure financial sustainability of the OSF. The plan for 2019 is for all podcasters to receive 75% of the revenue designated for their specific podcast by donors, up to a cap of $200,000/year. Donations can be made through the respective podcast website(s), or to the OSF where checks can be designated to the specific podcaster. Ultimately, this model has the potential to increase the benefits to people experiencing religious transitions.
With regards to John's compensation, he is serving as interim director of OSF until a new director is hired. He will continue to receive a salary as interim director, and will also be compensated as a podcaster. His total compensation for 2018 is not expected to exceed $200,000.
Board Organization: OSF Board roles are intended to last two years, and several board members have been serving much longer than that. Roger McOmber was ready to transition off the board after three years of service, but agreed to stay on and help with the evaluation process. Now that the evaluation is complete, so is Roger's service. Craig Woodfield also has three years of board service and has transitioned out of this role and will continue as finance committee chair. The remaining board members would like to express our gratitude for their service and examples. Their guidance has helped grow the OSF and show us the way.
The OSF board will determine how many board members are required to support the foundation after this transition. It is possible that fewer board members will be needed, and we will make updates as any changes occur. It is worth noting that John had previously been a board member and voluntarily stepped down from this position earlier in the year, allowing for greater board independence, and allowing him more time to focus on his podcast and his individual endeavors. John's exact, if any, involvement with the board going forward will be part of the Board's ongoing evaluation process.
Conflict of Interest Policy: OSF is a non-profit and will promote understanding, healing, growth, and community for people by enabling its podcasters to have greater impact. The OSF will not invest time or resources into any for-profit endeavors of its own or of its podcasters.
* Note: The updated OSF Conflict of Interest Policy can be found here.
Going Forward: OSF will fulfill its mission by focusing on all its podcasters. We hope to help our podcasters increase the quality of their content thereby increasing the number of people that they are helping. Transitions like this are always bittersweet and saying goodbye to friends and employees is difficult. We are very grateful especially for Amy Grubbs who managed staff and operations full-time for the last two years. Her vision and efforts have helped thousands of people.
Please reach out to the board at openstoriesboard@gmail.com for additional questions. Please also look forward to our year end report for more information.
Board Secretary Jeremy Macdonald on behalf of the Board of the Open Stories Foundation including:
Craig Woodfield
Steve Holbrook.
PDF Version of Board Statement
* Updated 10/17/2019 to include new Conflict of Interest statement, to avoid confusion, and to provide full transparency.
Statement from OSF Board on Finances
Saturday, 20 May 2017 / Published in Uncategorized
The Open Stories Foundation (OSF) would like to make an official statement regarding its financial policies and procedures.
The mission of the OSF is to promote understanding, healing, growth, and community for people experiencing or impacted by religious transition.
The OSF has always striven to be open in our communications, ethical in our treatment, and responsive to fair and equal compensation for all of our vendors, podcasters, and OSF employees.
Our commitment to financial transparency will never change, as it is core to who we are as an organization. The OSF has released its annual financial statements every year since its inception. We work closely with our tax firm and accountant to provide an accurate and legal report each year and will continue to do so as a 501(c)3 organization. As soon as our financial statements are made available to us by our accountants, they are immediately placed online. We have acted in this way since the beginning, and it will never change.
John Dehlin's compensation has been set by the OSF Board of Directors, and is based on feedback from an independent HR consultant, his education and experience, his set of responsibilities as CEO, and his tenure and performance leading the organization. John's base salary is currently set at $82,500 plus basic benefits (e.g., health insurance), and John is eligible for a board-approved annual performance bonus.
Our contracted podcasters are paid in an equitable and sustainable way. Additional statements of support offered by our podcasters are provided below.
For those who have specific concerns, we have a direct email that our OSF Board of Directors can access. A board member will respond to all questions via phone or email. They can be reached at openstoriesboard@gmail.com.
Finally, the OSF Board of Directors, podcasters, and employees respect and support John Dehlin and his efforts to continue the mission of the Open Stories Foundation.
Craig Woodfield, CPA, Board Member, Finance Committee Chair
On behalf of,
OSF Board of Directors
John Dehlin, OSF CEO
Amy Grubbs, OSF Director of Operations
Cody Layton, OSF Project Manager
Statement from Gina Colvin: A Thoughtful Faith Podcast Host
"I love that I get to talk to some brilliant and wonderful human beings who make such a difference in my life and in the life of hundreds of thousands of other people all over the world.
I love that I get to set the creative direction on the A Thoughtful Faith Podcast and that I get to mix things up, try new things, and interview who I like, with only minimal editorial oversight.
I'm grateful that there are people out there who value ATF enough that they donate so that I can be remunerated for my time. But I also love that it is free content and that people with limited means can also listen guilt-free.
With respect to my work with the Open Stories Foundation and John Dehlin – that is my business. But needless to say, I'm pretty intuitive and I don't draw water from dry wells. If I thought that this wasn't a decent gig with decent people then I wouldn't be doing it."
Statement from Natasha Helfer Parker: Mormon Mental Health Podcast Host
"I have been working with the OSF (even before it was formally organized) for about 7 years. And my experience with the OSF and John have been primarily positive. Like any organization and any personal relationships, there will be disagreements and growing opportunities. I have disagreed and bantered with John plenty over the years like any two professionals working together would – and we have been able to resolve and problem solve successfully and often.
Most of the work people have done has been on a volunteer basis. And as a podcaster myself, I signed on full well knowing that it was going to help me more from a marketing opportunity than being paid per hour spent (that was never part of what I negotiated). Which has been the case.
And financial transparency has always been present and a primary goal of the OSF (I was a board member for several years)."
Statement from Dan Wotherspoon: Mormon Matters Podcast Host
"I'm contracted with Open Stories and have always been treated fairly, and I've been impressed with its financial transparency. I've never heard of work not being paid for.
Like NPR, Open Stories podcasts don't charge anything to listen to, and don't host paid advertising. Like NPR, the podcasts rely on the support of donors who value the content. The model change at the end of 2016 was created with absolute fairness in mind, with monies being paid out per episode download. That way it is blind to gender discrimination. There is fairness to a podcast like mine, which I've been hosting for 6 1/2 years, as I have a back catalog of now more than 375 episodes that people still discover and download. Those just starting out must expect their audience (downloads) to grow over time, but there is still a guaranteed minimum amount paid for all active podcasts under the umbrella. I'm really pleased with the board of directors and the forward movement of the Open Stories Foundation. There are a lot of things in the works that I'm pleased to be part of."


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Michigan State basketball vs. Purdue: Scouting report, prediction
Chris Solari
EAST LANSING — Aaron Henry knew what to expect when Michigan State basketball visited Purdue last year.
Then again, he admits, he had no idea how intense Mackey Arena would be.
"When I came in there last year, I knew it was gonna be the loudest gym I ever played in," the Indianapolis native said Thursday. "We came in there as a ranked team last year, and it was a game they circled."
The Spartans lost, 73-63, despite a furious comeback from 23 points down, and had its 13-game win streak snapped. This time, No. 8 MSU enter on an eight-game streak as they visit the Boilermakers at noon Sunday (CBS).
Here is a look at what to expect between first-place MSU (13-3, 5-0 Big Ten) and Purdue (9-7, 2-3).
Update:MSU's walking wounded list grows; Xavier Tillman, Kyle Ahrens ailing
The Spartans are coming out of a stretch of five straight home games. They are 2-0 in true road games this season, a 76-73 win at Seton Hall in front of a raucous crowd, and 77-72 at Northwestern in front of an MSU-friendly crowd. They also beat Oakland at Little Caesars Arena, technically a road game but also with more Spartan fans in the stands.
That won't be the case at Mackey, as hostile a venue as it comes when MSU visits. None of the current Spartans have ever won there as they have lost three in a row in West Lafayette, Indiana, their last win coming Feb. 20, 2014.
"It's always gonna be a physical game, that's just how they play. Mentally, you gotta be ready to bump and bang and make things happen," MSU senior Cassius Winston said. "We know what it takes to win on the road. This is one of the toughest places to win on the road. … We know it's gonna be crazy. It's gonna be us against the world over there, and we have to go in there and try and shut stuff down."
The trip to Purdue begins a stretch in which MSU plays three of its next four and six of its next nine away from Breslin Center.
"Defense travels, but we played Northwestern and we did have a big road win against Seton Hall in a hostile environment," MSU coach Tom Izzo said. "I mean, at least our guys know what it's like but it's not going to be like anything like it's going to be down in Mackey."
Analysis:Xavier Tillman starts it for MSU, Cassius Winston finishes Minnesota
Need for more
Winston and junior forward Xavier Tillman have been on a post-New Year tear for the Spartans.
In the past three games, Winston has scored 26.7 points a game while shooting 50%, with seven assists and 3.3 rebounds. Tillman is averaging 19.3 points on 60% shooting, adding 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, five blocks and 1.7 steals in wins over Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.
But Izzo has said all season the Spartans need their Big Three to shine. Henry is the third.
The 6-foot-6 swingman made 3-of-9 shots for seven points with three rebounds in Thursday's 74-58 win over Minnesota. However, he set a career high with seven assists, as Winston and Tillman combined for 46 points.
In five Big Ten games, Henry is averaging 7.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, shooting 30.4% from the field and 17.6% from 3-point range.
"I'm just trying to play off (Winston and Tillman) and just keep maintaining," Henry said. "For me, it's just finding out where to pick my spots and where to score and where not to, when to pass and when not to. And I'm figuring it out.
"They're playing at such a high level, I'm like, 'Y'all go ahead. I'll play off y'all.' "
More:As Michigan State doubles down on accountability, the wins start coming
Award:Cassius Winston named Naismith player of the week
Purdue update
Purdue has been up and down this season after the departure of Carsen Edwards.
Coach Matt Painter's Boilermakers have lost two straight, a 63-37 thumping last Sunday at Illinois and a hard-fought 84-78 double-overtime loss Thursday night at Michigan. They also lost on the road at Nebraska on Dec. 15, but their two Big Ten wins have been at home – over Northwestern and Minnesota – and they also beat No. 18 Virginia at Mackey.
Purdue is shooting 35.6% from the field and 26.3% from 3-point range in Big Ten play.
"Matt's teams play hard all the time," Izzo said. "They have struggled to shoot the ball away from home for some reason."
Trevion Williams – a 6-9, 270-pound forward from Dearborn Henry Ford Academy – leads the Boilermakers with 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds. He is coming off a 36-point, 20-rebound game against Michigan.
"The night Trevion Williams had is unbelievable," Izzo said. "You know, like I said when I watched early, I mean he was going against (Jon)Teske, who's big, and Trevion just did an unbelievable job, so that's going to be a test for us, a big test."
Matt Haarms is questionable with an apparent hip injury suffered Thursday. The 7-3 junior center is averaging 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. Two other Boilermakers are scoring in double figures: 6-4 guard Eric Hunter (10.9) and 6-3 guard Jahaad Proctor (10.7).
Winston is working on checking off goals, and winning at Mackey Arena is one of them. Expect him to be a force down the stretch and help the Spartans end the slide at Purdue. Pick: Michigan State 67, Purdue 63
Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Library

Browse through thousands of lessons.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The difficulties that each Pauline church faced, in the early Christianity, remind us of the challenges that our churches face even today. In these two communities, we see both struggles over authority and teaching from within and social pressures for conformity from without. Upon Paul's return to the region of Galatia, one of the most apparent sources of conflict stemmed from the considerable differences in the teaching of the gospel that has arisen from the teachings of other missionaries to the area. These men, thought to have been from the church in Jerusalem, sought to encourage adherence to traditional Jewish customs to a population of pagan converts to Christianity.
More specifically, these people of Galatia had not grown up with Jewish law, but came to Christianity through the word of the Gospel. In being told that they now also had to follow Jewish law, they might begin to question both the teaching of Paul as well as their own salvation. Even though Paul quickly affirms that he speaks the truth of the gospel through revelation (Gal 1:12), he also finds it imperative to assert that his mission had received the approval of the "pillars" of the church. This was indeed a concern for Paul, for if the people questioned his teaching authority then his desire to spread the gospel might also become ineffective.
Why then was there inconsistency in the message now being heard in the gospel spread by the new missionaries to the area?
In Galatians 2:11 we learn of an open disagreement by Paul with Peter's decision to withdraw from eating with Gentiles because they are uncircumcised. One explanation offered by Galatians is seen in a group from James, who may have persuaded Peter to stop the practice, perhaps out of fear from the circumcised Jews in the area. Likewise, if Peter was eating with Gentiles, then perhaps there was a concern that the gospel message would not be listened to as readily by the Jewish population. However, Peter's model of separation from the gentiles is being followed by other Jewish Christians, and missionaries. In spreading the gospel, the question becomes whether to preach only to a Jewish population, and if so, is there also a true need to adhere to traditional laws and customs of Jewish law.
Likewise within our church today, do we preach only to those who are like minded like us, or do we understand the broad intention for the gospel?
Paul seems quick to remind Peter that the gospel was not intended strictly for a Jewish audience but for everyone. For Paul, it isn't a matter of whether or not laws have been needed in the past, but if they interfere with the true message of the gospel in the present then they should be done away with. Paul reminds the Galatians, that their salvation came through faith, having been born of the Spirit through Christ, and not through adherence to Jewish law. To do otherwise, is risking the premise of their salvation through Jesus.
In Thessalonica, in an area of Greece whereby there were a plurality of religions, Paul through Timothy learns of the church facing opposition primarily from their fellow citizens (1Thess 2:14). While he feels it necessary to remind them of their conversion, he also strengthens them with words of comfort, prayers, and praise. Obviously, Paul understands their struggle having faced it not only from the gentiles but also from the Jews . However, in calling them to remain steadfast he also emphasizes the need to be "gentle" in their approach, as he was, in growing the church. Paul also realizes the difficulty in establishing and maintaining a church that is distant and encircled by those that live amorally.
Therefore, Paul calls the Thessalonians to holiness, to resist the "tempter", and continue to follow the Christian moral path. Even if they had followed the guideline for Christian living, they were to "do so even more". Furthermore, he encourages them to come together as a Church to help one another in charity and thereby avoiding potential business entanglements which might compromise their commitment to Christ. Likewise, Paul recognizes that many within the early church are anxious and expectant for Christ's return and are concerned for those who have died before the second coming. Paul offers consolation that they too will be raised, but to be alert and ready, keeping true to the way of Christ for the day of parousia. He understood that living in a state of expectation is difficult, and it's all too easy to let standards down when the day doesn't come in a timely manner. Moreover, Paul wanted the Thessalonians to see that they had strength in each other, despite his absence, and the world around them.
Within the church of Galatia, Paul understood that the message of the Gospel was what needed to be emphasized, encouraged and affirmed. In the renewed spirit of evangelization occurring presently, we like Paul, are calling those Catholics home that have felt estranged or left the faith. In doing so, we are pressed to live true to the heart of the gospel to be that persuasive "gentle" call, rather than promoting division. In Paul's message to the Thessalonians, he encourages the Church to find support in one another in enduring the trials that life and the communities around them present. With an ever growing homeless problem, drugs, alcohol, and terse home situations and we can quickly understand Paul's message to the Thessalonians in the world around us. We need a to be a community of faith that is able to be both present and responsive to a continually changing economic, racial and socially diverse people.
With every passing year, in every byline and relationship encountered,the awareness of the world and our place in it reveals one constant- humanity's profound desire for happiness and need for love. The difference in each life is just how we seek happiness and where we believe that we have found it. In my youth I relished in the art of winning a good debate, evidenced in the ground of gaining one more in support of a cause and perceiving each incidence as a battle won. What has become more clear is that the goal of our Christian life cannot consist only in these small victories, or simply out of prideful motivation or righteous indignation but from a true desire for peace.
Take a glimpse even at our daily interactions with our family or colleagues, to work for peace may at times place us at the front lines of contentiousness and disagreement. Make no mistake, not everyone is readily interested in the real work of peace. Why on earth not? For a variety of reasons, there are many who either cannot see how their happiness is connected to a greater plan or to a community beyond themselves. And yet, this path isn't about solely convincing the other the error of their ways, but walking with and slowly discerning how to lead and witness to a greater truth. It is often imperfect and messy, as we are imperfect in understanding and discerning how best to move ourselves. Yet, if we invite God to be the principal mover and seek to take the back seat to the Holy Spirit then we begin to see the hope in the way ahead.
For me, this is perhaps the most difficult realization of the day-to-day endeavor towards peace. Steps taken to find common ground, sincere overtures at reconciliation albeit concessions and acceptance of one another fall back into familiar patterns. There are honestly times we might wonder why we try at all. Yet, this isn't anything new to humanity or even to the early Christian communities. Inclinations to division, personality preference and disagreements over direction has beset us since the beginning of time. Truth is we may not ever witness the efforts of our labors in our lifetime. And still, each day presents a gifted opportunity to offer a smile, a touch of mercy, a word of kindness – an imparting of a moment of grace to someone who has a great need for peace.
May this moment be an invitation to discover peace and place within you a desire to cultivate and extend this peace to all that you encounter in your day.


Hi I'm maricar from Philippines now I'm work in Saudi Riyadh as a nanny finished my contract June 2019, I finished my bachelor degree as a elementary teacher.. I have 2 years experienced in teaching. I reached students I teach them how to read and write. I teach grade 3 and 4 students in one room. If we discussed about my experience so many. I worked as a saleslady,maid,to finished my studying in college. I have 2 kids 1 son he is 14 yrs.old and my daughter 9 years old. I worked her in Saudi to help also my family. Specially also my self to be an independent.


If you've been reading and following my Instagram you know all about my love for Burberry make up. It's a new found love, but one that I'm proudly sharing. Well, if you need last minute stocking stuffer ideas that'll wow the woman in your life, Burberry has a beautiful Festive Collection and I thought you should know.
The collection has everything from Burberry Kisses, beautiful shimmer palattes, nail polish and lovely eye shadows. Seeing as I'm obsessed with the Burberry Velvet lipstick, I thought I'd test out the two featured festive colours: Military Red and Festive Gold. Military Red is actually the most perfect red. It's not too blue, not too pink and stays on all day. Just like my other Burberry tones, it goes on like butter and leaves your lips silky and moisturized. The Festive Gold through me for a loop. Gold sparkly lipstick? I dunno about this.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought I'd look like a sparkly disco ball, but instead, the shimmer is subtle and the lipstick goes on almost sheer. It's actually a nice shade to wear in the daytime, or with a smoky eye at night. Perfect for New Year's Eve.
The Burberry Festive Collection is available at select Hudson Bay stores and Sephora in Mississauga.


When we heard that Tedeschi Trucks Band would be playing the House Of Blues, we started salivating, knowing that this would be a heaping helping of wonderful sound. I guess a lot of people thought so, because both nights sold out quickly and resale tickets were hard to come by. We resold an extra we had, and it went in a matter of minutes.
Met Sarah at the HOB restaurant after cruising around the block and not finding a legal space (there were plenty of illegal ones), and ending up in the same old lot at the corner of Van Ness. Sarah was able to get perhaps the last table in the restaurant and it was already a madhouse two hours before the Friday show, December 12th. We got food and beer somehow, then got in what was already a long line for the people who had gotten entrees (and so early admission) at 6:45 or so ... the line for real admission was already almost up to Brookline Ave.
They let us in right at 7 and we were able to grab our customary place to the left of the stage ... and another beer/cider. The HOB filled up really quickly and we were all totally pumped, some more juiced than others but what the hell, it was Friday night!
Soulive opened and really blew me away with some excellent blues-funk. The band is drums, guitar, and keys, and they played a loud, spacey, bluesy, colorful set of instrumentals, including a riff on McCartney's Eleanor Rigby. I was hanging on their every note and the crowd was too for their first number or so, then started gabbing and by the end of their set was almost as loud as they were. Such is the fate for opening acts at HOB.
Then they changed the set to the traditional Tedeschi Trucks setup, and soon Derek, Susan, and the guys came out and proceeded to exceed my expectations.
I'd never seen Derek from so close and he was riveting, displaying mastery of technique and inspiration from both hands, particularly his right, He played the top string-and-a-half with his thumb and the rest with his fingers, striking and caressing and plucking them like he was defusing a bomb or holding hands with a child or giving the other driver a few hand signals. A musician can exude mastery of his instrument, and his mastery was comparable to what I'd seen from Garcia.
The first four songs just blew the crowd away and we were putty in their hands after that. Idle Wind was another highlight for me, and then they reconfigured for a couple of acoustic songs, starting with Derek doing acoustic slide and Susan wailing away on a fantastic arrangement of Lamps Trimmed and Burning.
No Anyday (I'd love to hear them do that again), but they covered Keep On Growing and the place was rocking so hard it was threatening to burst at the seams for that. Short break before the encore, and then they brought out the Soulive guys for the second encore. They were delighted, as were we!
Took a while for the place to empty out and we just mellowed a bit, being Friday night. Then a convoluted ride home as Storrow Drive was jammed and we reversed direction. Great night!
I've said it before and I'll say it again, going to see Dark Star Orchestra is wonderful fun! We've been to see them every time they've come to the Northeast over the past few years and this time they were playing in the big old Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Saturday December 6th.
We met Scott and Michelle at a just-opened bar in Lowell on a rainy evening after the first place we tried to meet was found to be packed. Things were going on in Lowell that night (Riverhawks game?), and it was bustling. After a quick burger we took off for the Auditorium, only to find that our print-at-home tickets had to be exchanged at the box office for "real" tickets instead of actually letting us in the door. They need to join the 21st century.
Only missed the first few bars of the opening song though by the time we got in the third-full hall: "Well, well, well, you can never tell." They had taken all the seats from the floor, which was not what I'd been expecting. But this meant that Dave and I could sidle up towards the stage (especially since the place was just beginning to fill up), while the three shorter people were content to stand behind the few rows of mezzanine seats.
The downstairs part of the Auditorium was filled by this point, and the balcony (that they opened at some point) was about half full. Their bathrooms weren't quite as funky as at the Capitol Theater, but were not modern! There was some speculation as to the show in the men's room and at the beer line, though several people I talked to called From the Heart Of Me, "France." Donna gets no respect from some people, even though Lisa had done a fine job with her best song.
Skip was playing that loping bass style from the late 70s, RobE was frailing away at the rhythm guitar like his life depended on it, and Jeff was almost literally exploding above everything when it came time to take the lead. RobK and Dino were pounding the drums in incredible synchronization; they might have been my favorite part of the show except for RobB, who was just a delight. He stuck to the electric piano, but played it with such panache and color it's hard to believe that even on a good night, that the 1978/79 Keith could have come close.
This was great stuff, such fun! Dave and I were back on the floor for the second set after visiting with the others at the break, and we got up to the fifth row or so from the stage, right in front of Skip (they were lined up with Jeff, RobE, Lisa, Skip, and RobB from left to right, true to that time period).
There'd been some pot-smoking on the floor during the first set, but the second set was just amazing. It seemed like everyone around me had a pipe or pocket vaporizer out and the smoke almost obscured the stage a few times. And all of this indoors! Pretty extraordinary … and the most extraordinary thing about it was that I wasn't knocked out by being around it.
The finished up with a crackling Good Lovin' in the disco style, then came out soon for the encore. RobB revealed to us in that the show was New Haven Coliseum, 1979-01-17, and RobE added a personal note, that he was there and it was a rescheduling of one originally scheduled for the previous Fall which had been cancelled because of Garcia having pneumonia … Dave had gotten the right month! They then finished up with the proper encore, Casey Jones, and a filler of Sisters and Brothers (which the Dead never did, though the Garcia Band had of course).
What a rocking good time and what a great mellow song to send us off into the night!
They actually had two shows scheduled for Sunday and we would have loved to see both (Miss Tess and Lake Street Dive were closing), but we had to get back to work the next morning after a long Thanksgiving weekend and so had only gotten tickets for the Sunday afternoon show ... but this was not a bad lineup itself, to say the least!
We hung around the Quality Inn until they gently kicked us out at about 11:00, and then meandered into downtown Northampton, where we got a fine parking spot across from the theater on a sunny Sunday and proceeded to wander around a bit. We edged past a line of young adults waiting for a seat at the Green Beans ... and noticed that one of the groups was Aoife, Brittany, Greg, and a manager from Crooked Still. I did not disturb them, though Brittany and Greg looked fine about being recognized (Aoife was busy texting).
Had a fine lunch at the Toasted Owl, and then made it back to the theater right on time to see ... Twisted Pine again! They set up on their plank of plywood and only did one song for us this time, but they are really good. I asked Jim's wife at the merch table (Jim Olsen is the guru of Signature Sounds and was complimented by all the bands, as he should be) how they managed to sign them right under the noses of Compass Records (who sponsored Freshgrass)?
OK, first up was a band Sarah and I have seen many times and have an unreasoned devotion to, Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem. They're all oozing talent, they're really mellow and eclectic, they play whatever they want and don't make a big deal of it, and they produce excellent music. Mark Erelli joined them on lap steel. They did their usual set, with Rani's new song about dropping her son off at school, a few sing-alongs, and then closed with I Want To Be Ready When Love Comes Back To Me. This just cannot be beat.
Next up was the Sacred Shakers, and this was a very entertaining set too. As I'm sure you know, the band consists of Eilen's 4-piece band and 4 other pieces: Daniel Kellar on fiddle, Greg Glassman on guitar and vocals, Daniel Fram on guitar and vocals, and Eric Royer on banjo. One of the amusing things about their set was that they cover the gamut from light gospel to heavy gospel, and some of the artsy-fartsy types who were in attendance because this was an arts thing in Northampton were a bit confused by all this ... weren't they going to play something about peace and love rather than just Old Testament stories? Luckily, they did not! Eilen continued to move the bar up and up, as she had started to the night before, and she was just shimmying with gospel soul. Jerry was not bad either, ripping off some great dark rock and roll leads between Royer's and Kellar's bluegrass parts. And Jason Beek was marvelous on vocals.
Next up was the pièce de résistance, a Crooked Still reunion. This world-class band had broken up for the individuals to pursue various projects back in 2012, and they'd been very successful. We'd seen Aiofe O'Donovan play at Freshgrass, as well as seen fiddler Brittany Haas in her incredible trio with Kowert and Tice, and seen banjoist Greg Liszt leading his band at GRF, the Deadly Gentlemen. But with the addition of Tristan Claridge on cello and Corey DiMario on double-bass they are so far over the top with talent it's incredible. They did songs from throughout their career as well, including a funky Come On In My Kitchen, a note-perfect cover of Gillian's Orphan Girl, a beyond-soulful Look On and Cry, and a beautiful My Captain. They closed with The Golden Vanity and then came back out with the crowd and led us all in Shady Grove.
Whoah!!! What a (short and sweet) 24 hours of music it had been, and we only had a few hours of driving in the sudden late-November dark before we were back home. Can't wait for the 25th!
Years ago I started noticing that I liked everything released on the new label Signature Sounds, and I started seeking out their stuff. I remember one year going to the Signature Sounds tent at the Boston Folk Festival and asking them whom they'd just signed that I should hear. They said, "Well, we've just signed a woman named Eilen Jewell."
And so when we heard at the Green River Festival this year that they'd be having a set of 20th anniversary concerts (we'd been to their 10th in the Somerville Theater), we were psyched. We got tickets to two of the 4 shows, even though they were on Thanksgiving weekend, and arranged to stay in a hotel near Northampton in between. Then Thanksgiving came and went and we headed out there on a beautiful late Fall Saturday, November 29th.
Went this way and that and checked into our hotel in Hadley, then found a quick Applebee's (the Comfort Inn didn't have the game!) and watched the Revolution beat the Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference final. That was done, and so we headed across the river into Northampton, found a parking place on the street, and then strolled over to the Academy of Music, a sweet old hall where Harry Houdini once entertained the crowds.
Zoe Muth was up first and had a new guitar player and new bassist. Pretty much all of her set was from her World of Strangers record, including the bittersweet Mama Needs a Margarita and the sublimely mellow Waltz Of the Wayward Wind. Her guitarist tried to rock out a bit and I guess she's trying to be a bit of a show-person, but she's as down home as ever and as great. For pure musicianship, this was possibly the best we'd seen her.
Next was the Sweetback Sisters and they were on fire as well. Ryan Hommel opened on pedal steel and I wished he'd done a few more numbers on it. Emily was being her hyper self and was dominant, quite a good night for her. Zara knocked us over with a torch song, but it was Emily and their usual sly sense of humor that thrilled us. And their costumes were just awful.
Barnstar! was up next and possibly put on the best show of the night. They're a super-group of local bluegrass, including Mark Erelli, Taylor Amerding, and Jake Amerding, and they just filled the hall with powerful harmony. We'd seen them at the GRF this past summer, and they were easily twice as good this time, they just nailed it.
It was break-time next and they dropped the ornate purple curtain, and we settled down for a bit. BUT ... then they set up a plywood plank or something over the orchestra pit and Twisted Pine came out! We'd seen this band of Berklee students at Freshgrass over the summer, and they are mightily impressive. They squeezed in a 4-song set at the break on Saturday and showed that a) all 5 of them can balance around one mike on a piece of plywood better than you'd expect and b) they just keep getting better and better.
Break over, Heather Maloney came out and played a fantastic set herself, mostly solo but also with some of the other artists joining her at times. Of course the highlight was her take on Joni's Woodstock, which you have to hear if you haven't. She keeps getting better too, and switched between three very different-sounding acoustic guitars and a whole layer of filters. Very technical and very entertaining stuff.
Winterpills was up next and they're just not at the same level as these other bands. I took a stroll around during their set and bought a few CDs.
The final act was Eilen Jewell and she was a delight. We'd last seen her back in February, when she was very pregnant and just playing one quick gig before retiring to Idaho to be a mother for a while. Now she's ready to go back on the road, and the rest of her band is very ready too. They played a flat opener and then Sea Of Tears, which is one of my favorites of theirs, and which Eilen didn't rip the way she has in the past. But then she stepped to the mike and apologized!!! I guess she thought herself that she'd been not that hot, and she said, "My mind is on a little face with a pacifier in it and probably a very wet diaper by now." How sweet of her to apologize, and any parent could sympathize. Then she got her act together and played a great set, delightfully getting better and better as the night went along.
They have a new studio record (as well as a new live one that I picked up at the merch table) which will be released in the Spring. But they only played one song from it and for the rest cruised through all of her catalog, including several songs from her first, Boundary County. I guess I've seen them better, but they're still getting back together and it was really great to see them. They called everybody back out for their encore and did a Hank Williams hymn.
Quite a show! Back to the car on a cold Fall night with the dregs of a Thanksgiving snowstorm piled up all around us, and then back to the hotel not too late.


These beautiful teal, pink and yellow neon earrings have a slight sparkle in the neon glitter, they are so bright and fun they would make great summer earrings! They are layers of neon glitter in small glass tubes. I packed the glitter down tight so they won't get shaken up and mixed together.
Silver plated tops are glued to the top of the tubes and they are suspended from silver plated earring wires. Each earring, top to bottom, measures about 2 inches.
Interested in something that will make more of a statement?
Looking for different glitter colors/layers? Do you want one of these as a necklace? Don't see exactly what you are looking for?
Click the "Request Custom Order" button to the left and let me know what I can make especially for you or a loved one. I'd be happy to work with you to customize a piece to your preferences! I have masses of glitter to make anything you are looking for because I also make nail polish.


Japan Society's five-film, five-month, five-director tribute to writer, critic, scholar, curator, and filmmaker Donald Richie, who died on February 19, 2013, at the age of eighty-eight, comes to a close on the one-year anniversary of his passing in appropriate fashion, with a screening of Hirokazu Kore-eda's second narrative feature, After Life, Kore-eda's eminently thoughtful film about two of his recurring themes: death and memory. Every Monday, the deceased arrive at a way station where they have three days to decide on a single memory they can bring with them into heaven. Once chosen, the memory is re-created on film, and the person goes on to the next step of his or her journey, to be replaced by a new batch of souls. The way station is staffed by guides, including Takashi Mochizuki (Arata), Shiori Satonaka (Erika Oda), and Satoru Kawashima (Susumu Terajima), whose job it is to interview the new arrivals and help them select a memory and then bring it to life on-screen. Some want to take with them an idyllic moment from childhood, others a remembrance of a lost love, but a few are either unable to or refuse to come up with one, which challenges the staff. Twenty-one-year-old Yūsuke Iseya declares, "I have no intention of choosing. None," while seventy-year-old Ichiro Watanabe (Taketoshi Naito) is having difficulty deciding on the exact moment, reevaluating and reflecting on the life he led. (Ichiro's wife is played by Kyōko Kagawa, who has also appeared in films by Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, and Kenji Mizoguchi, three seminal directors whose work was previously shown in the Japan Society series.) As the week continues, the guides look back on their lives as well, sharing intimate details, one of which leads to an emotional finale.


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Hui's fancy master thesis Project in DTU

This project is aimed to research on cloud resource utilization optimization.

This project is focusing on taking the advantages of Openstack Framework to create a cloud environment.

It heavily rely on Openstack Ceilometer Components to collect the meters of resources. and then proper algorithm is devised to optimize the cloud


All I can say is that the absence of posts on this site is testimony to the rapidity of this year's growing season. We had a very warm spring with dry weather – watering, watering, watering. Thankfully, we now have our own water source on the platform and a super long hose. We've tried very hard to keep to our own harvested rain water, but the water butts ran out in May this year, and rain fall has been unpredictable. And carrying full watering cans to all our garden spaces is a real challenge with quite a few back injuries in the group. The hose has been a blessing.
This entry was posted in Communications, Community and tagged London Road Station on 29/08/2017 by srraadmin.
A developer who wants to squeeze four homes onto old railway allotments has been told that he must still move slow worms thought to live on the site – and warned he could be breaking the law by clearing it.
Brighton Housing Developments, owned by Swiss-based John and Nicola Panteli-Blackburn, bought the site to the rear of the Open House pub in Springfield Road late last year.
It came with planning permission for a terrace of four houses – but that runs out today (14 March), with the developer stuck between not being able to start official development because of the slow worms, and the planning permission expiring unless he does.
Just before Christmas, the developer applied to get a condition to relocate the reptiles removed on the basis that a wildlife survey had found no slow worms.
This year, the site has been aggressively cleared, and the developer's agents say this has been done on the assumption that no reptiles are living there.
But the county ecologist pointed out that the survey had been done at the wrong time of year when slow worms would have been hard to spot and may even be hibernating.
And the council has now rejected the attempt to clear the condition and says the relocation exercise must still take place – and warns that clearance of the site could be a criminal offence.
This entry was posted in Community, Planning and tagged Environment, London Road Station on 15/03/2017 by srraadmin.
A very comprehensive summary of the current situation can be found here.
Many thanks to the Round Hill Society for the research and background.
This entry was posted in Communications, Planning and tagged Environment, London Road Station, Open Spaces, Round Hill Society on 04/02/2017 by srraadmin.
The disused allotments between the railway line and the Open House and several adjoining houses are in process of being cleared of trees preparatory to the building of four houses, the wall separating the land from the station bridge has also been partially demolished for access.
The land was recently sold at auction with planning permission, which had been renewed after lapsing.
Our local councillors, Julie Cattell and Leo Littman, have been in touch with the council to investigate whether the pre-commencement conditions have been complied with.
The site has legitimate planning permission and the breach of the wall is not a planning matter but an issue between the owner of the wall and the developer.
Concerned residents can contact Julie Cattell, who has regular meetings with the head of planning and team leaders, at julie.cattell@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
SRRA provides a forum where residents can come together to work collaboratively over local concerns. Our next meeting is on Saturday 21st January at 10 am at the One Church.
This entry was posted in Community, Planning and tagged Julie Cattell, Leo Littman, London Road Station, Planning on 20/12/2016 by srraadmin.
There's been a lot of renewal work going on at London Rd Station during November, helped by the dry(ish) weather. The wet weather in the first part of the year really did for our raised beds. Already in May, we realised the corner posts of our central beds were rotting. The rot got progressively worse until we had to tie the old scaffolding planks together with leads and bang in a couple of temporary boards to retain the long shady bed against the wall.
Given that these were our first raised beds, constructed from used scaffolding boards back in 2011, it's not surprising they were collapsing. The key detail we discovered later when we constructed the fruit tree beds along the south facing wall: make sure you line the beds with pond liner or equivalent to keep the moisture from the wood.
This entry was posted in Communications, Community and tagged London Road Station on 04/12/2016 by srraadmin.
Autumn – don't prune, paint!
Autumn has arrived, lots of yellow and gold leaves on the trees and the station forecourt is littered with dried dead leaves. It's been unusually dry. We had rain last Tuesday (of course, on our workday, but it led to comfy conversations in the conservatory on plans for 2017).
This entry was posted in Communications, Community and tagged London Road Station on 31/10/2016 by srraadmin.


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Asia Offshore Energy Conference
Intercontinental hotel, Bali, Indonesia
Price payment and Venue
Opening date for registration: August 2019
UTC-08:00 SINGAPORECountdown to Conference.
Join our fashion world and rise to a new challenge
Conference News shows
Registration for the 10th AOEC 2019
is open.
Registration events
Enquiry photo shoots
Speak to us! We would love to
hear from you
Iain Anderson
Iain started his career as a marine claims adjuster in the London market handling hull, cargo, war, construction and loss of hire amongst many heads of claim.
Alongside the insurance issues, Iain also specialises in marine casualty response – salvage, collisions, groundings, etc. His focus on offshore energy risks – WELCAR, COW, OEE/EED problems surround both coverage and subrogation. In the PRI and trade credit sector Iain also works with the Asia market to assist in coverage and recovery issues and to help the market raise its regional profile.
Martin Brocklehurst
Lloyd Warwick International
A graduate in Naval Architecture and Shipping Management, Martin has worked in the insurance Industry for over 20 years and for the last 15 years has been based in Singapore.
He has acquired a detailed knowledge of the current market practice with regard to the distribution of risk within major construction contracts and has substantial working experience with joint venture companies and large corporations.
Jonathan Bruce
HFW
Qualified in England and Wales, Jonathan is based in London where he specialises in energy/property and marine insurance, where he has a global practice, having recently acted in energy losses in Latin America, North Sea, Africa, Middle East, India and Australia. He acts in coverage and subrogation claims across all onshore and offshore energy loss types and often extends in to the powergen, windfarm, mining, and industrial sectors.
Recommended in both Chambers and Legal 500 for insurance claims, the 2019 Chambers guide describes him as "outstanding", and "an excellent tactician and strategist in terms of driving litigation proceedings towards a successful conclusion", referring to his "stellar track record".
Aman Dhillon
Tigermar
Aman graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of London in 2004, before joining JLT's marine team in London working predominantly with clients across Asia. In 2011 he was appointed Regional Director of JLT's marine business in Asia and was instrumental in the establishment and growth of that business. In 2015 he became a Company Director at Tigermar, a specialist marine, oil and gas broker, headquartered in Singapore.
Aman's key areas of expertise are marine and upstream construction risks and the offshore contractor industry, where he provides insurance solutions utilizing both standard energy and marine wordings but also developing bespoke hybrid forms. His expertise, contacts and relationships transcend both the marine and offshore energy markets, where he believes that that the nature and characteristics of a risk should determine where and how it is placed, rather than the cookie-cutter solutions that are often applied.
John Donald
Axis Capital
John graduated from Exeter University with an Engineering degree before spending the next 20 years in Investment Banking, both in the Far East and Europe. Having left Investment Banking in 2004, he bought a Scotch Whisky company, which he successfully sold in 2008. For the next 10 years, John ran his own risk consultancy, advising on geopolitical and cyber risk, before joining Axis as a Cyber Adviser in 2019
Whilst being the author of two books (Catataxis: When more of the same is different and Bolt from the Blue: Navigating the new world of corporate crises), for 5 consecutive years John received the Institutional Investor award for No.1 ranking in Asian Equity Research.
André Gaylard
André is an experienced executive who held Chief Financial Officer positions in listed New Zealand companies for ten years before joining Genesis Energy in January 2017. André is General Manager for Kupe and Wholesale Finance and is responsible for maximising the value and financial performance of the Kupe oil and gas field. He also is responsible for providing strategic commercial and financial advice to optimise the financial performance of the Wholesale business segment - a portfolio that delivers Genesis Energy $1.5 billion in revenue and $300 million in EBITDAF.
AqualisBraemar
John is the Asia Pacific Regional Managing Director for the Adjusting unit of AqualisBraemar. With over 13 years' experience within the civil engineering and construction industry in both Europe and Asia where he gained his core professional qualifications as both a Chartered Quantity Surveyor (Cost Engineer) and Arbitrator, John has been involved in both sides of construction contracting fence.
Located in Singapore since 1995, John migrated to the Adjusting fraternity in 2001, where his core skills were a natural fit. John has gained substantial experience handling major energy losses globally, involving both upstream and downstream assets, with a focus on CAR and Ops claims.
Joseph Hassett
Marsh JLT Specialty
Joe started his Insurance career as an average adjuster before moving into energy loss adjusting. After emigrating to Australia, Joe moved to broking where he works on Upstream and Downstream Operational Energy accounts, before relocating to Singapore in a regional role. Prior to joining Marsh, Joe was regional director for an energy loss adjusting firm.
With over 28 years' Insurance industry experience, Joe currently works within the Energy Practice in Marsh, Singapore. Joe manages a number of accounts within the Upstream and Downstream portfolio and has significant experience working with Owners, and understands their upstream operational and construction insurance, claims and risk management requirements.
Omar Kassim
Spent his last 14 years in risk management & claim within PETRONAS Insurance. Prior to that, he was in the refinery business as process engineer and technologist for Crude Distillation, Hydrogen Processing and Hydrocracker Units in PETRONAS Refining Company in Melaka, Malaysia. Currently, he is one of the Senior Managers of Energas, the captive insurance company of PETRONAS and also assume the position as Head of PETRONAS Insurance Risk Management & Claim.
Alex is an upstream energy broker at Aon in Singapore, where he has been based since 2017. With responsibility within the energy special risk team for managing and servicing operational and construction risks for E&P clients across the region.
Prior to moving to Singapore, Alex started his career with Willis London in 2012 where he predominantly focused on working for Russian oil and gas companies.
Diana Leng
KS Drilling
Ms Leng is Chief Financial Officer and oversees group finance & treasury, mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance related activities. She has extensive experience in the development and implementation of business strategies, corporate planning, banking and finance. Prior to this she was the Director of Treasury of KS Energy Ltd. Before joining the Group, Ms Leng held various banking positions with ING Group internationally. She holds a Master of Business Administration (with Distinction) from Maastricht University.
Ryan Mansom
Ryan began his career 26 years ago with a general insurer in Perth, serving in a number of roles before moving into the broking arena with one of the internationals. His six years there included working on a variety of major accounts, including domestic upstream and contractors as well as global inwards. Ryan spent his final two years seconded into their London office, working on North American and Asia Pacific business. Returning from London, Ryan focused on a variety of both Energy companies and contractors.
Joining Gallagher in 2011, his purpose was developing the Gallagher brand and servicing an expanding book of business across the Energy sector. In 2014, Ryan was made the National Practice Leader - Oil and Gas, Australia and New Zealand and continues to carry this role today, seeking to develop new solutions for the changing face of the industry
Trudie Moeller
Capital Consulting International
Trudie is a Chartered Surveyor with over 19 years' experience in project management and cost consultancy in the construction industry, where she has advised a diverse range of clients in both Europe and Asia. Her focus has be on delivery, strategic issues, risk mitigation and cost management for every aspect of a projects cradle to grave life-cycle.
Moving to Asia and joining CCi in 2016 to strengthen the Asia Pacific region, Trudie has successfully transitioned from her pure 'hard hat wearing' construction practice to specialise in the analysis of time element claims for the insurance and reinsurance markets. This transition has provided an experience across many insurance market sectors that are affected and benefit from such a technical insight, including power/energy, downstream oil and gas, building, infrastructure, mining, and ports.
Jasper Neuteboom
Jasper Neuteboom, Vice President Insurance for BW Offshore Ltd (BWO) and BW Energy Ltd (BWE), is responsible for the insurance and risk programmes of the BWO fleet of FPSO's (floating production storage and offloading units) and BWE's oilfields in Gabon, Brazil and Namibia.
Jasper graduated with an LLM in International and European Law from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, with noted specialisation in admiralty. After completing his law studies, he obtained hands-on project experience in oil & gas and construction in Singapore, China and Belgium and started his professional career in the admiralty department of Allen & Gledhill, Singapore's largest law firm where he predominantly worked on wet work and construction matters.
Jasper has worked for BW Offshore for over 11 years now and has headed the insurance department for the past 7.5 years with an on-the-floor approach, working closely with stakeholders internally and externally. At his initiative, BWO pioneered the first construction-all-risks cover under the Nordic Plan, which eventually became Chapter 18, and has initiated other new lines of cover in order to address the unique risks and requirements in the BWO & BWE projects and operations.
Netrsuda Pokkasorn
PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP)
Ms. Netrsuda Pokkasorn is from Thailand and has earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Chulalongkorn University and a Master's degree in Economics from University of Missouri, Columbia. She started her career at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) as an assistant researcher working on several projects designed to support the Seventh National Economic and Social Development Plan.
Since 1991, she has been working with PTTEP in the Finance and Accounting Group. Her years in the company have involved extensive experience in various functions, including PTTEP IPO stock issuance, financial modeling & projection, and the insurance discipline. Currently, she has advanced to the position of Vice President of the PTTEP Insurance Department and is in charge of the company's overall insurance strategy and its implementation.
Reyhan Rasyid
Reyhan joined Gallagher in November 2015 as an Energy Divisional Director in the Singapore office having previously worked at a major Lloyd's broker in London within their International Upstream team. He specialises in the placing and servicing of Upstream and Downstream Energy risks emanating from South-East Asia and has had experience in managing insurance programmes for a wide spectrum of clients across the sector, from National Oil Companies, international E&P operators, to drilling and EPC contractors. Working closely with the London team, Reyhan is responsible for marketing placements into the Asian market and for the day-to-day servicing of Gallagher's clients in the region.
Duncan J Ross
The NRG Group
After qualifying as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Duncan moved from onshore building into the oil and gas industry. Working within the contracts and commercial management aspects of the fabrication and engineering of offshore facilities and subsea construction, Duncan has exposure across Europe and Asia.
Since 1997, Duncan has focused on the drilling aspects of the industry including well management and associated well integrity areas of the business with operators across the globe. This diversity has provided a broad knowledge of the industry as a whole, from inception to completion of offshore assets and their overall development.
Giri Shankar
With a Bachelor of Physics from Madras University and a Masters In Administrative Management, as well as a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India, Nagarajan Giri Shankar (Giri) joined New India Assurance Co Ltd in 1981 as Trainee Officer in the Hull and Energy Department. In this role, Giri worked on several projects with international Brokers such as Sedgwicks and Bowrings. In recognition of his ongoing development, Giri was posted to the Mauritius Branch of New India for six years, following which he moved to Jubilee Insurance Co Ltd as General Manager for three.
On his return to India in 1997, Giri joined K M Dastur Reinsurance Brokers (Facultative Division) where he was responsible for the growth of Energy, Marine Hull and Cargo / Casualty and Credit. Giri is a regular speaker in the region, and spoke at the Conference in 2013. He has recently graduated with an LL.B from University of Mumbai and recently resigned from K M Dastur to pursue other interests.
Nicholas Sykes
Nick is a Partner in Clyde & Co. Having arrived in Singapore in 2010, Nick has built a regional energy practice and provides the local market with educational seminars on a regular basis.
Nick's practice is built on assisting both local and global stakeholders operating across the Asia-Pacific region with policy coverage and subrogation issues. This includes traditional upstream projects and, increasingly, the regional expansion in the offshore wind farm sector. Experienced in both CAR and Operational claims, Nick has a keen interest in the emerging risk of cyber security in this sector and parametric contract solutions.
AXA XL
Simon is the Upstream Energy Underwriter at AXA XL and underwrites a regional portfolio of Operational and Construction risks. He started his career with AXA XL's Energy team in London in 2004 with a focus on the Marine and Energy Liability portfolios. In 2011 Simon moved to Singapore to underwrite the Upstream Energy portfolio.
Simon graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2001 and is also ACII qualified.
Xinying Tok
Xinying Tok has over 12 years' experience working in banking, consulting and sustainability, where she has focused on issues around Green Finance, Sustainable Cities and Clean Transportation. Prior to joining ARE, Xinying had previously worked at DBS Bank in roles ranging from risk management, equity research and structured financing as well as in the philanthropic sector developing climate change mitigation.
In 2017, she was a Fellow at the Climate Strategies Accelerator run by Packard Foundation, Oak Foundation and Good Energies Fund, focused on greening Southeast Asia's freight industry. She has conducted training on Green Freight & Logistics for Asian government representatives and was a speaker at the China Youth Climate Action Network's annual conference.
Son Vu
PTSC
Son has an extensive background in marine engineering, with over 12 years managing EPCIC projects, installing offshore structures and ancillary subsea equipment offshore Vietnam for PTSC. Son has primarily focused in the fabrication, transportation & installation of PTSC's FSO/FPSO fleet, covering all phases of the build from concept to FEED through to offshore in-field installation execution.
Despite sound engineering practices, rules & regulations and the many layers of in-house quality checking and 3rd party verification within the offshore contracting industry, incidents still occur. Son has experienced this for himself and provides a client's view on the challenges faced surrounding such incidents and the necessary immediate response and subsequent in-situ rectification work, all whilst trying to ensure the safe operation of a live production environment in order to minimise, if not mitigate any interruption to operations.
AGCS
With a BEng(Hons) degree in Mining Engineering, Dave has over 20 years' of energy experience. Dave started his career as a Project Engineer with exposure to drilling, well abandonment and construction projects in Europe and West Africa. Having joined the adjusting fraternity with Mathews Daniel In 2001, Dave adjusted a variety energy claims including control of well, offshore construction and onshore operation losses. Moving over to a claims underwriting seat in 2007, (Xchanging Claims Services and then Lloyd's syndicate Torus), where he managed upstream and downstream energy first party claims, including offshore / onshore energy, power generation, property, construction, mining and political risk.
Since 2014 Dave has been the Global Head of Energy Claims for Allianz, a member of the AGCS Chief Claims Office team, where he has oversight and responsibility of all significant Allianz Energy claims globally. He is also a committee member of the London market Joint Energy Claims Working Group (JECWG) and the LMA Energy Claims Group, LMA Onshore Energy Business Panel.


text:
Klis: D.J. Williams learns that even Harvey…
Klis: D.J. Williams learns that even Harvey Steinberg can't win them all
By Mike Klis | The Denver Post
August 18, 2012 at 2:13 p.m.
Overlooked in the guilty verdicts of Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams was the biggest story of the week.
The great Harvey Steinberg lost a court case.
This is an attorney who 11 years ago got Broncos star linebacker Bill Romanowski and his wife, Julie, cleared of 12 combined charges of illegally obtaining a diet drug even though there were allegedly thousands of pills prescribed and two of his friends involved in the operation were convicted.
Steinberg is an attorney who convinced an Atlanta jury during training camp of 2009 that former Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall was innocent of battery chargers even though the prosecution had presented into evidence seven photographs of the victim's bruise marks from the alleged incident.
Steinberg once convinced a Douglas County jury to acquit Perrish Cox on two rape charges even though DNA tests proved the former Broncos cornerback had impregnated the accuser on the night in question.
Steinberg is so adept at his craft, he once got former Broncos running back and known pot smoker Travis Henry off on a failed drug test by using the old, second-hand smoke defense — in an NFL courtroom, no less. This was Harvey's most impressive win because in the NFL legal system, where commissioner Roger Goodell serves as prosecuting attorney, judge and jury, all cases are stacked against the defendants.
Just ask Sean Payton, Jonathan Vilma and the New Orleans Saints.
After Steinberg cleared Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil from suspicion of assault without formal charges even getting filed this month, it appeared the Denver-based attorney was indestructible in the court of law.
Privately, Steinberg knows there is no such thing. He has lost cases before because, contrary to his spotless, high-profile résumé before D.J., he does not take cases to pad his record.
"I am not afraid to lose a case," Steinberg said. "When you're afraid to lose a case, you don't do your job. I believe that we have to keep the system honest and that everyone charged with a crime is treated fairly and honestly within that system. That includes a thorough investigation and that the police play by the rules."
If Steinberg were afraid to lose, he never would have taken the Cox or Marshall case. Still, Steinberg doesn't easily accept defeat and the Williams verdict bothered him.
A master in the presentation of reasonable doubt, Steinberg had communicated the possible effects that football injuries may have had in Williams' poor roadside sobriety test performance, and how the linebacker simply didn't realize his headlights were off because they have always automatically turned on. That is until the valet turned them off.
"I was hopeful that based on the evidence presented that the jury would acquit him of the alcohol-related offenses," Steinberg said.
But the six-person Denver County Court jury couldn't get past the two policemen who essentially testified Williams was bombed.
The question now is: What do the Broncos do about D.J.? Goodell is certain to expand Williams' six-game suspension to at least eight.
The Broncos could keep Williams as an insurance policy against injury to his replacements. He is a talented player, and not even a team with Peyton Manning can win without talent elsewhere.
But by doing so the Broncos can never again claim character and accountability are held in high regard without people rolling their eyes and busting a gut laughing.
D.J. Williams is a case where seemingly no one — not even Harvey Steinberg — can win.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055, mklis@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/ mikeklis
Mike Klis | Former Broncos reporter
Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998, before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.
Follow Mike Klis	@mikeklis


I got playing around with one of my sunset shots and ended up with what I call a Cloud Wave.
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Thats an awesome shot, if I was able I'd make it my desktop wallpaper. Brillant !
Hi Jas, Thanks for the nice comment :) I'm glad you liked my photoshop fun. I had no idea what I was doing LOL..
You certainly made this look super cool, I love the effects and the colours as well.
That is such a cool cloud. The colors are amazing. Where did you take this photograph?
Hi Beverly, Thanks very much, I'm glad you liked my modified cloud shot.
Hi Brian, Thanks for your nice comment on my cloud wave photo. I don't play around with effect very much and lucked out with this one.
That's a really cool cloud!
Thanks very much Janice, Alandra, Carol, and Anne for all your very kind comments. I'm really glad you all liked my photo.
Wonderful!!! Beautiful! I love it.
agreeing with the other comments, Alan, it's very impressive, like it very much!
VERY cool, Alan. Nicely done. Thanks for the idea. I just hope to get time to try something like this.
Hi Marsha, Thanks very much! I'm glad you liked my photo shopped cloud photo..
I missed seeing this earlier. Wow! Stunning picture.
Well done, Alan - this is certainly impressive. You did some terrific editing here.
Nice editing Alan. It does look like a wave. I like the original too.
I love the colors and it certainly looks like a wave. Neat effect.
Great job,a very unusual effect.


text:
GOED Board Approves Grants to Help Eight Rural Businesses
Utah investment in rural projects
_May 19, 2016
The Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) Board of Directors last week approved eight rural Utah businesses for Rural Fast Track grants.
This marks the largest number of rural companies to advance in a single board meeting. The eight projects are expected to create up to 84 new jobs paying between 110 and 125 percent of the counties' average wages.
"One of our goals is to grow and support Utah businesses in both rural and urban communities," said Val Hale, GOED executive director. "We use programs like Rural Fast Track to maintain the entrepreneurial spirit in communities statewide, and these eight fast-growing companies are a great example."
The projects also represent a record level of private investment. In aggregate, more than $300,000 in post-performance grant funding will be matched by $1.9 million in private investment.
"The private sector is making important investments in rural Utah," said Linda Gillmor, director of the Office of Rural Development. "GOED provides post-performance incentives to support rural economic growth, but we see true success with investment like this. The five-to-one matching ratio is remarkable."
Rural Fast Track grants are post-performance matching funds available to small businesses in qualifying Utah counties. Aimed at creating high-paying jobs, this program provides an efficient way for rural companies to purchase necessary equipment, create new positions or reach other goals to grow their business. To learn how to apply, visit business.utah.gov/programs/rural/.
Read below about each of the eight approved projects.
Gunnison, Sanpete County: Applied Composite Technology (ACT) Aerospace designs and manufactures parts for the aerospace industry with a prime focus on advanced composite structures. The $50,000 grant is for purchasing equipment and expanding/altering facilities to meet the needs of new helicopter and aircraft contracts they have secured. The company expects to create 15 new full time positions paying at least 110 percent of the county average wage, 20 new full-time positions paying at least 115 percent and 10 new full-time positions paying at least 125 percent of the county average wage. In total, they will create 45 new full-time positions. The company's investment is estimated at $160,140.
Ephraim, Sanpete County: Diamond S Manufacturing designs and manufactures custom, handmade snowmobiles and snowmobile parts, specializing in titanium mufflers. They also build titanium bicycles. The $50,000 grant is for purchasing a water jet cutting machine to increase production, streamline processes, expand into new markets, and offer water jet cutting services to other local businesses. The company expects to create one new full time position paying at least 110 percent of the county average wage. The company's investment is estimated at $146,320.
Pleasant, Sanpete County: Far West Construction specializes in the design, manufacturing and assembling of prefabricated homes and barns. They specialize in wood panelizing framing techniques, CAD design, engineering and onsite construction. The $50,000 grant is constructing a manufacturing facility to increase production capabilities and bring more design and engineering operations in house. The company expects to create three new full time positions paying at least 110 percent of the county average wage, two new full-time positions paying at least 115 percent and one new full time position paying 125 percent. The company's investment is estimated at $294,905.
North Logan, Cache County: Ophir-Spiricon, LLC, manufactures laser measuring and calibration instruments and sells them globally. The $33,000 grant is for an expansion project to convert empty warehouse space into manufacturing, R&D, and office space. The company expects to hire 26 new full time positions, with six being paid at least 110 percent of the county average wage, 12 at 115 percent and eight at 125 percent. The company's investment is estimated at $679,140.
Hyrum, Cache County: Bywater Products provides cabinets and millwork for local homes and commercial projects as well as supplies other wood shops with cabinets and millwork components. The $50,000 grant is purchasing equipment used to offer new services and product lines, as well as to streamline the manufacturing process. The company expects to create three new full time positions, with two being paid at least 110 percent of the county average wage and one being paid 115 percent. The company's investment is estimated at $136,517.
Helper, Carbon County: Waste and Water Logistics handles a variety of waste disposal services, including portable toilets, septic tank pumping, sewer inspection, roll off dumpsters, drain cleaning, video pipe locating, and septic system repair and installation. The $50,000 grant is for purchasing equipment used to expand the services they offer, including a main line sewer camera that can be used to inspect industrial and municipal lines. The company expects to create one new full time position being paid at least 110 percent of the county average wage. The company's investment is estimated at $154,169.
Green River, Emery County: High Desert Excavation provides site preparation and remediation services for residential, commercial and industrial construction projects. They also own and operate a concrete batch plant, sand and gravel pits, demolish transports, provide trenching, and pipe laying services. The $50,000 grant is for constructing a new facility to house a shop and maintenance area as well as office space for day-to-day operations. The company expects to create one new full time position paying at least 115 percent of the county average wage. The company's investment is estimated at $145,792.
Delta, Millard County: Dutson Supply Company manufactures and sells ready-mix concrete to construction companies and contracts around central Utah. The $25,000 grant is for purchasing a service vehicle that will enable the company to go on-site to repair their disabled trucks and have all the necessary tools on-hand. The company expects to create one new full time position being paid at least 110 percent of the county average wage. The company's investment is estimated at $109,664.
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