Solar panels to help power Kauffman Stadium

It might not make a difference in their home run totals or the speed of their pitches, but the Royals are going to be powered by the sun this year at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals and Kansas City Power & Light on Tuesday announced a solar energy partnership and unveiled what they called the largest in-stadium solar array in Major League Baseball.

A string of 120 solar panels, 60 on each of side of the CrownVision board, have been installed atop the canopy of Kauffman Stadium's Outfield Experience. They will provide part of the electrical energy required to operate the stadium.

"The Royals are committed to making Kauffman Stadium one of the most environmentally-friendly facilities in sports," said Kevin Uhlich, the Royals' senior vice president-business operations. He noted that this partnership meshes with MLB's initiatives on renewable energy.

The solar panels, while unobtrusive in the appearance of the renovated stadium,In a conductor, electric current can flow freely, in an Insulator it cannot. can be seen from every seat and will be on display internationally during the All-Star Game on July 10 at Kauffman.

"It's a great national platform, not only for the Royals, but for KCP&L to show how we're kind of leading the way in managing these green initiatives," Uhlich said.

"This is a great time to put our region on display for the world and there are things that people may not know about the Kansas City region," said Chuck Caisley, KCP&L vice president of marketing and public affairs "and that is we're actually a growing epicenter nationally of advanced energy."

The solar panels face south and toward home plate, but KCP&L officials assured the Royals there would be no glare that might affect the players.Find everything you need to know about Cold Sore including causes,

Fans at games this year at Kauffman can learn more about the panels at an educational kiosk, which will be installed in the Outfield Experience in time for the April 13 home opener against the Cleveland Indians.

"There'll be an interactive display to show the power that's going to be generated from it, so it's going to be educational for the fans as well," Uhlich said. "Baseball has a lot of green initiatives,What are Hemroids? and the other one we're doing this season is paperless ticketing -- we're offering that right now to our season-ticket holders."

The Royals also have been active in recycling at the stadium.

At this point, the solar panels will provide just part of the stadium's needed electrical power.

"They are actually hooked into the stadium and we're working now to quantify exactly how much. We're thinking at this point it'll probably be enough to power the refrigeration for all the beverages in the stadium," Caisley said. "We're working with Aramark to confirm that, but about four to six residential houses or 36,000 kilowatt hours a year is what it'll produce."

New Type of Inverter Could Drive Down the Cost of Solar Power

ArrayPower says that it has invented a “sequenced inverter” design that could cut the cost of solar power by 10%.

For those that don’t know what an inverter is,Manufacturers and exporters of impact socket, don’t worry, it is easy to understand and I will explain it: a typical inverter for a solar-powered home converts the DC power that solar panels generate into 120- and 240-volt AC (alternating current) power, the same as what your power outlet provides. Small solar setups often generate DC at 12 volts, and that 12 volts of DC power is converted into 120 volts of AC power,The reason why most kidney stone form is not known. which is suitable for most household appliances, portable devices chargers,Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. Moderne Technologien und unsere Erfahrung machen aus Ihren Ideen serienreife Produkte. etc.Thank you for visiting our newly improved DIY chicken coop website!

The new inverter setup mentioned above involves equipping each solar panel with a small inverter, instead of connecting all solar panels to one large inverter.

At a cost of one dollar per watt (of electricity generation capacity),Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. commercial-scale solar panel purchases are less than one-third of the cost of the total cost of commercial solar power setups (including installation), which is $3.50 per watt, on average.

Typical solar setups suffer from lower efficiency because of the way the panels are connected, which is in series. A series connection means that electricity flows from one panel, through the other, and then the next, until it reaches the end of the circuit. When one panel is shaded, the power output of the rest of the panels is reduced because the electrical resistance of the shaded panel restricts the flow of electric current to the rest of the panels.

Each of the distributed inverters invented by ArrayPower attach to the back of each panel. They use rectifiers and transistors to boost the solar panels’ DC voltage from 60 volts to the 208 volts used on the grid. An inductor then briefly stores the current, allowing the device to emit discrete pulses of alternating current. The pulses are combined with those from a minimum of three other panels to provide three-phase AC current that is suitable for the electricity grid.

10-foot Hunterdon landscapes aim to comfort

Take a good look at Paul Jennis’ beautiful Hunterdon landscapes on this page, because with any luck you’ll never see the originals. They are in the Emergency Department of Hunterdon Medical Center.

Jennis,Promat solid RUBBER MATS are the softest mats on the market! who lives and paints in Raritan Township, says that four or five years ago Hunterdon Healthcare CEO and President Robert Wise “came to me with this vision for the E.R.” The concept was for four large oil paintings of Hunterdon scenes, each one depicting a different season. The recently completed project is called “A Time to Heal and a Place for all Seasons.”

Wise explains, “Patients and families coming into the Emergency Department are usually upset because their visit is unexpected due to injury or illness. The art in the Emergency Department is not just for decoration, but is being used to create a healing and therapeutic environment for patients.”

Jennis says, “I went all over Hunterdon County and just shot probably a thousand-some-odd photos.… It took awhile just to narrow those photographs down and get exactly what we wanted.

“Because of the theme,Search and purchase original Projector Lamp and bulbs at discounted prices. we wanted to find some interesting spots that would show the winter, summer, spring and fall. We had an idea probably the Red Mill was going to be in thOffers Art Reproductions Fine Art oil painting reproduction,ere” just because it’s so familiar to everyone. That became the springtime picture.

“I knew I was going to go for the icy landscape of Lambertville with the church steeple” for winter, says Jennis. Those two paintings were done and hung right away.

Then other commissions intervened, including painting the official portrait of Gov. Richard Codey, before Jennis and Wise recommitted to completing the four-picture set.
One of them would be of the Readington River Farm.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties,

“There were so many farms I shot, but the fall foliage behind that farm” attracted him. He also liked the fact that it’s a buffalo farm, even though he decided “it would be a distraction” to include any of the bison.

Wise wanted hot-air balloons in one of the pictures, so they became a key element in the summer scene at Spruce Run Reservoir.

He explains the emphasis on the local angle, saying that although Hunterdon Healthcare has expanded its operations into Somerset, Mercer and Warren counties, “Hunterdon Medical Center was built for the residents of Hunterdon County.” So he wanted scenes that “represent the quaint towns, historic landmarks and beautiful scenery of Hunterdon, which are also why many of us enjoy living here.”

Wise helped pick the scenes, but he left it up to Jennis to deal with the oblong format.

“Even though there seems a simplicity of the scenes,” says Jennis, “to fit a three-foot-by-ten-foot format is not easy, to keep it interesting,Accept all major credit cards using the top rated third party payment gateway. to keep it moving. Composition-wise it’s a tough format.”

If the paintings were to be any longer, Jennis would have had another problem. His studio is small and “ten feet pretty much takes me to the doorway.”

The final two paintings were hung recently across from the other two. The four canvases are in the main room of the Emergency Department, high above the activities of staff and patients.

Jennis says he enjoyed collaborating with Wise. “He was great all through the process, very encouraging, very supportive.” The artist likes working with someone who is “for the arts; they understand the complexity, the hard work, the talent, the skills. When I work for that kind of people, it ends up great.”

AG presents proposal to protect tenants of mobile homes

The Iowa Attorney General’s office has introduced a measure to the state Senate designed to protect tenants of mobile-home parks across the state,What causes TMJ pain? including the embattled Regency Mobile Home Park just outside of Iowa City.

It lacks the teeth of last year’s failed proposal,As a leading company in the plastic card printing industry, but Bill Brauch, assistant to Attorney General Tom Miller, said this proposal stands a better chance of passing the Legislature.This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game.

The measure, approved 2-to-1 by a Senate subcommittee on Monday, outlines a set of conditions that would need to be met before a landlord could legitimately terminate or not renew a tenancy, it would require a one-year lease for all mobile-home park tenants, and it would give tenants 14 days — rather than the current three days — to pay rent after receiving a nonpayment notice before they’re evicted.

“We think that this legislation cuts across the board and addresses issues not only at Regency but also other mobile homes that we’ve been made aware of over the years,” said Brauch, also the director of the office’s Consumer Protection Division. “Not just to benefit Regency residents, but also others, and it gives them greater rights.”

Currently, landlords in Iowa don’t have to provide justification for evicting tenants, a departure from 33 other states that require a legitimate reason. The proposal also requires landlords who terminate a lease or deny renewal provide at least 60 days notice, including specific reasoning for the termination. Current law already provides for 60 days written notice, but it does not require justification.

Most mobile-home tenants operate on month-to-month agreements, and Brauch said the year-long leases are necessary because most mobile-home tenants have purchased their mobile homes and rent the space from the mobile-home park. Evicting a mobile-home tenant is akin to evicting a homeowner, and for most of them, moving the unit would be too expensive to be an option, Brauch said.

Mark Patton, executive director of the Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity, said that in some cases, it wouldn’t be possible given the time restraints. A permit is required to move a mobile home.

“The reality is different than a normal tenant; you’ve actually bought this object,” Patton said. “Once it’s parked, the chances of it being moved again are slim to none.”

Some measures of the current proposal are less ambitious than last year’s, and the current one excludes altogether several provisions that the previous bills pushed for. Last year’s legislation would have provided one month to pay an overdue rent before being evicted. It included language that would have required that someone selling a mobile home provide information on debt owed as well as its assessed value. It would have instituted a $500 penalty for a mobile-home retailer that doesn’t obtain a proper title from the county treasurer within 30 days of acquisition.We are professional Plastic mould,

“We decided, rather than try to resurrect it, to go with a shorter version we thought would have a better chance of being enacted,” Brauch said.

Last year’s bills received intense opposition from the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association, which represents mobile-home park owners across the state. Joe Kelly, the group’s executive vice president, already has come out against the new proposal. He could not be reached for comment Monday.

Johnson County supervisor Janelle Rettig, who’s been following the mobile home issue for years,Facts and Cures. Cures for all types of Hemorrhoids. said last year’s bill already wouldn’t have done enough to address the problems at Regency and other mobile-home parks in the state, although she said anything is better than nothing. Rettig said the underlying problem is that the laws are written in mobile-home park owners’ favor, and the tenants don’t have a lot of protections.

Mobile homes built before 1976 — 17 percent of the nearly 3,000 mobile homes in Johnson County — were not constructed to meet current building codes, Patton said. That means many don’t have egress windows in bedrooms, they have aluminum wiring, which has since been banned because it’s a fire hazard, and they’re collecting molds and mildews as a result of particle board floors, he said.

Patton, who said the current legislation is unlikely to pass, estimates that about three-quarters of the mobile park owners in the state are upstanding companies. The rest, like Carbondale, Colo.-based Regency of Iowa Inc., are not.

“Regency has demonstrated that bad players play rough,” he said.

Not clinical, just thinking outside the box

DOCTORS' clinics, particularly those designed for children, can tend to be formulaic. Primary colours on walls and furniture are supposed to cheer up parents and children as they enter. A stack of toys in the corner is the norm.

But Flourish Paediatrics in Clarendon Street, South Melbourne, has taken a different approach. Designed by Molecule,What causes syringe needle pain? the clinic has more of the aesthetic of a Scandinavian spa, one you might find on the edge of a Norwegian wood.

"Our brief wasn't to make the clinic feel like a playground for children and get them hyped up when they see overstuffed toys,'' says architect Jarrod Haberfield of Molecule.

''It was deliberately designed as a calming space, in a place where parents, as well as children, are often distraught."

Haberfield worked closely with the practice's other directors, architects Richard Fleming and Anja de Spa.

Flourish Paediatrics, owned by Dr Liz Hallam, is not your usual string of rooms. Instead, there's a module clad in plywood sitting in the middle of the 40-square-metre space.

Appearing to be carved into these walls are nooks, cupboards and shelves, like an ingenious cubby house. And at the rear of the ''cube'' is a kitchenette.Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of polished tiles online,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.

"The space is quite modest, so we wanted to build as many features into the joinery as possible," says Fleming, opening cupboards to reveal scales, IT server and a fridge. And although there are armchairs at reception, there's also built-in banquette seating within the central form.

"We wanted to create one strong sculptural element in the space," says de Spa.

To ensure the ''sculpture'' was clearly delineated, Molecule pared back the reception area, with a white Corian bench and pale timber lounges and chairs.

While the exterior of the pod is made of plywood, the interior, comprising one room, features white laminate walls and a glass ceiling. And like a piece of fruit that has several layers beneath the skin, there's an interstitial layer of green eco panel sandwiched between the plywood and laminate.

De Spa likens the design to a Jenga Puzzle, where blocks can be pushed back and forth. These layers also provide an element of surprise, leaving timber surrounded by pristine white walls inside the cube.

The core of the design is Dr Hallam's consultation area within the pod. As well as a desk, there's a nook in which toddlers can play. And no, the doctor doesn't have an aversion to a few toys scattered on the floor.

"From the outset, it was important to provide an environment that would calm parents, as well as children,'' Haberfield says. ''Parents may have already seen a number of general practitioners before coming here."

This module approach, although suitable for a clinic, could equally be considered for a small apartment or office, where space is limited.

"This treatment could be developed as a bedroom in a compact apartment," Haberfield says.

Molecule also appreciated the input from Dr Hallam.

"Liz is extremely pragmatic,You can find best china precision Precision injection molds manufacturers from here!'' Haberfield says. ''She's obviously concerned with how her patients feel. But she also knows the importance of being able to wipe things down and provide a level of comfort.''

Some of the plywood furniture and a rug was also designed by Molecule to ensure a seamless result.

"This motif implies growth, something that's at the heart of this clinic," Haberfield says.This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game.

Dash of digital

At first glance, it is natural to assume that Alex McLeod’s imaginative landscapes have been constructed in a studio, painstakingly assembled with tweezers, paint, and sealant. Yet, McLeod needs only a computer and his ideas to pull together the dynamic (and at times haunting) scenes that have come to define him as an artist. Using only technology to create art, McLeod combines his digital prowess with a deep appreciation for nature.

Originally from Scarborough, McLeod studied at OCAD and first began his artistic endeavours with painting. However, he soon adopted a new way to channel his creativity; he remarks that “as soon as I could integrate software, I would. I used digital collages as preparatory works to base my paintings on. Once I got to a preparatory sketch which was refined enough, I could base work on that.” From there, software began playing an increasingly large role in his work.

McLeod’s work explores new depths in the digital medium. The incredible variation in level, colour, shadow, and texture eclipses the capabilities of two-dimensional art. “It allows me to make the work I always wanted to make, and I couldn’t make it painting. It gave me the ability to control every aspect [of the work] so what you see is what I want you to see. There’s no compromise.What are Hemroids?”

As whimsical as McLeod’s pieces appear, none of his work incorporates human figures.Find everything you need to know about Cold Sore including causes, “Without people, viewers [are allowed] to be in control of the landscapes.” He adds that to feature people in his landscapes would inevitably offer markers of geographical whereabouts and historical periods based on their dress, activities, and dwellings. “I try to make each piece devoid of time and place.Thank you for visiting our newly improved DIY chicken coop website! Even if buildings appear familiar, I take them out of a familiar context.”

This ambiguity is aligned with the larger message McLeod wishes to convey. “The work is about the transition between life and death,Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. Moderne Technologien und unsere Erfahrung machen aus Ihren Ideen serienreife Produkte. and how when we die, the nutrients in our body continue in a never-ending cycle of matter. That’s why it doesn’t make sense for the work to appear from the past or as part of the future.”

The optimism in McLeod’s work reflects a positive attitude towards the capabilities of technology. “I’ve definitely got a crush on technology,” he says good-naturedly. “I am such a nerd at heart, and I feel we’re so lucky to live in these times. Knowledge is at our fingertips all the time, and everything is so much easier for us.” Although McLeod’s art has been getting more exposure in recent years and has been displayed from Toronto to New Zealand, he remains modest. “I’m excited when anyone wants to show my work anywhere. It’s a privilege to be participating at all.”

It was the continual snowball effect of recognition that informed McLeod of his growing success. “In a lot of ways it comes down to steps. There isn’t one blockbuster event. With each step your presence grows in a small way.”

McLeod’s most recent undertaking is interactive art that allows viewers to navigate a moving landscape at their own leisure. This new endeavour immerses his audience in a world that they are able to explore and control. “If we have the potential to do this, why wouldn’t we, you know? I want to take advantage of any technology we have at our fingertips. It’s not necessarily to enhance, but just to do it for myself and others, to experience the work in a new way. This is also to inspire others to make work in ways that they thought they shouldn’t or couldn’t before. If anything, it’s to give people a sense of empowerment.” Three-dimensional works or virtual reality exhibits aren’t out of the question either, he explains. “I’d do anything.”

Amidst all the innovation McLeod explores, his inspiration originates from an ancient Iroquois burial mountain nestled between rows of bungalows in a Scarborough community.The reason why most kidney stone form is not known. “The bodies become fuel for the next generation,” McLeod reflects. His interest in biology and natural cycles evidently has the biggest role in creating this em erging method of artistic creation. “It’s like making a circuit board out of bamboo,” McLeod says, laughing in spite of himself.

Homeopathic Treatment for Hemorrhoids

If you suffer from hemorrhoids, you must be looking to get a cure fast get rid of this uncomfortable lump around your rear end area. I have tried Venapro before and remember to keep reading to discover if Venapro is acceptable for you as well as a brief description of the items Venapro is.

Venapro is really a homeopathic kind of medicine coupled with some pills that you will have to consume regularly to stop hemorrhoids. We are all familiar will pill consuming but some are confused from what homeopathic treatments via Venapro are. To pay off thing up, Venapro homeopathic treatments requires you to definitely spray the medicine under your tongue. Homeopathic drugs are non-invasive and prepared from natural plants and minerals.

Venapro works on the few ingredients but which are natural. The ingredients include horse chestnut, arnica, fluoride of lime, St. Mary’s thistle, stone root, witch hazel, muriatic acid, krameria’mapato and 26% alcohol and purified water.

Now to our experience using Venapro. It’s worked for me personally before also to immediate effect too. My hemorrhoid problem has decreased in dimensions after a week of constant using the medicine. We have recommended Venapro to prospects i know personally with hemorrhoids and many types of be successful with Venapro up to now but there is a buddy who couldn’t take Venapro because she was allergic to alcohol, so you also needs to find out if you are allergic to your with the ingredients stated previously. Besides that, Venapro is especially recommended if they should have hemorrhoids and even cure your problem fast.Accept all major credit cards using the top rated third party payment gateway.

Sabrina J is definitely an independent health researcher along with a previous hemorrhoid sufferer. She constantly searches most effective ways for the treatment of body abnormalities such as the article above Venapro review. Visit her website about hemorrhoids for further tips that she has wrote and compiled to be with her visitors.

Are you bothered from the pain, itching and swelling of hemorrhoids but to embarrassed to see anyone? Don’t think you’re alone.

A lot of people experience the agonizing pain of hemorrhoids without moaning. Exactly the looked at anyone understanding their condition is humiliating enough a smaller amount needing to go to the doctor and go through the embarrassing hemorrhoid examinations.

As opposed to seeking treatment, some people have a tendency to ignore their hemorrhoids that is a huge mistake. Ignoring them is achievable if it is a mild case of hemorrhoids but in the future and the severity, pain and irritation increases, hemorrhoids can be a pretty hard condition to disregard.

You can find hemorrhoid creams that could be purchased otc offering relief temporarily to hemorrhoids.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET,My advice on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. However, they may not be meant to heal the situation on the source,Search and purchase original Projector Lamp and bulbs at discounted prices. simply to provide relief in the moment.

One proven hemorrhoid cure which can be found over the counter is Venapro. Venapro functions by curing the hemorrhoid from the inside.

Venapro is an all natural homeopathic combination of herbs which have been come up with determined by their healing properties to address off hemorrhoids on the source. One of the primary ingredients in Venapro is horse chestnut that’s instrumental at targeting rectal swelling and pain.

Venapro helps many users feel respite from their hemorrhoids inside first few times of use. It has been successful at completely curing hemorrhoids for most in a matter of months.In a conductor, electric current can flow freely, in an Insulator it cannot.

Offices get priority over classrooms

Last July, well before school was ready to start, teachers and administrators at Carencro Heights Elementary School got together on a Saturday to paint their building and restripe the school's parking lot.

Requests had been sent to have the work done, but it was never completed. Incoming Principal Nancy Cech decided the only way to get it done was for the staff to do it themselves.

At the same time, a flurry of requests — nearly 150 in all —were being sent to the system's maintenance staff for work at the Vermilion Conference Center, a former elementary school on Gauthier Road that serves as overflow office space for the growing central office staff as well as a meeting facility. According to public records requested by The Advertiser, in the past six months the facility received a $74,000 makeover, including fresh painting, parking lot striping and more than $50,000 in new lighting.

How maintenance money is being doled out is particularly crucial at a time when the schools are in vital need of improvement. The School Board felt so strongly that repairs could wait no longer that in October it asked voters to approve a large property tax increase, a measure that was soundly defeated, in part because of concerns about past financial decisions by the board and administration.

Now educators such as Cech and board members unaware of the VCC funding are left wondering how a facility that doesn't serve students could jump to the head of the line.

The requests for work at VCC were sent from Ken Douet, who has become something of a lightning rod in local education circles. Douet has a longstanding relationship with former schools superintendent Burnell Lemoine and Lawrence Lilly, deputy superintendent for human resources and operations, the man who recommends how maintenance money is allocated.

Douet was principal of N.P. Moss Middle School before that school was closed last year. Lemoine recommended Douet be appointed principal at the system's Early College Academy, a highly sought-after position, without giving others a chance to apply. The appointment became contentious, however, and ultimately the position went to someone else. Douet was then appointed to the VCC as a staff development specialist, a position he has held for six months. Because he is still under his principal's contract, Douet has retained his annual $84,835 salary, higher than the specialist position would normally pay.

Douet initially refused a request from a reporter for an interview, demanding instead that questions be emailed to him. He did not reply to any of the questions submitted, including one that asked if he felt it was fair that his facility had received work ahead of schools. Instead, he told the Advertiser he would forward the questions to Lilly. Not until Friday, after a last-chance call was placed to him for comment,What causes TMJ pain? did Douet relent.

When asked if his friendship with Lemoine influenced the processing of work orders for VCC after his arrival, Douet said he simply went through work orders that had been submitted but not completed over the past five or six years.

"I have a certain bulldog in me," Douet said. "It always annoyed me that you would submit a work order, then they would sit on crap for a year. Then when you submitted another work order, they would say it was a duplicate request.

"Maybe it isn't about my relationship with Burnell,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oil painting reproduction, or his relationship with me," Douet said of the sudden attention at VCC.Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. "It just sounds like someone needs to stir the muck."

Lilly said he was "shocked" that anyone would think he played favorites in assigning maintenance priorities, but did say his priorities were in line with those of his boss, Lemoine.

"Every superintendent I've worked for, I was loyal to them," Lilly said. "It has nothing to do with friendship. We have a new superintendent and I will be loyal to him.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. I've had many immediate supervisors, and I've been loyal."

Board member Mark Cockerham said he sought answers from Lilly after being approached by the newspaper. Cockerham said Lilly told him about a safety issue with a fallen light fixture and said that the main problem with the building was that the roof was old, leaking and causing mold and other issues throughout the building.

Whatever the reason, it's clear Douet's presence has been key to getting improvements made.

"If things get fixed, then there is an article in the paper saying Ken Douet is getting preferential treatment," Douet said. "If nothing happens, then the article says I am just sitting here drawing a check."

For the most part, details about the repairs and actual operations at the VCC are hazy, even for those who deal closely with the school system.

"I don't know much about it, but I can tell you, it's a very good question," said Pat Cooper, who is in the midst of assuming the role of Lafayette Parish School System superintendent.

Cockerham said he had only heard bits and pieces about the recent work at VCC. "I don't know that much about what's going on over there. They have not updated us on anything, but there are so many other issues that have been going on," Cockerham said Wednesday.

"I've been to some things over there before, but I've never been able to get a straight answer about what goes on there. But in truth, I've never really asked those questions."

Meanwhile, former state representative and former school board member Rickey Hardy said he was disheartened at the idea of an emphasis being placed on a facility other than schools.

"Certainly, you would focus on facilities where you have students. Adults can basically fend for themselves," Hardy said. "You can use gymnasiums and other facilities for meetings or other events. Whatever they use the conference center for, that's fine, but that's such a small issue when you have schools that are in deplorable condition."

According to Lilly, the center is used for technology maintenance services, professional staff development such as teacher training, testing, instruction and assessment and health and wellness. Because of a lack of space at the LPSS' central office complex, some personnel also have office space at VCC. It also houses a parish-wide media system.

Over the past few years, the building has been used for a variety of public purposes, including school registration, informational sessions and homeless outreach programs. Like schools and other public facilities, outside entities can also use space at the VCC for meetings, provided that they meet school system policies.

Lafayette Parish School Board member Mark Babineaux said the facility has been used for staff conference, committee meetings and at least one legislative breakfast.

"There are a number of programs that are there also," he said.Manufacturers and exporters of impact socket, "It's not just a conference facility, but they have a staff there and different programs that are there. It's a multi-use facility."

The maintenance of the school system's infrastructure is a burning issue both for the current and previous administrations. Cooper has already begun looking at the master plan that was associated with the tax proposal that parish voters rejected last fall.

As a model project, there are plans to make major renovations at Northside High School, which Cooper visited Friday and said has several serious problems, including non-working air conditioning units and mold in some ceiling tiles — two issues that have been addressed at VCC.

"One of the things we have to determine is how do we keep students and teachers in safe environments in light of the bond issue not passing. It's making us re-examine every way we do the business of maintaining, preparing and renovating equipment and schools," Cooper said.

If the Northside model is successful, Cooper said, he hopes it not only provides a better environment for students and teachers, but shows Lafayette Parish residents that the school system can successfully manage its money to make necessary repairs.

"Right now, we are just addressing Northside. It's the pilot project and we're going to do what we can to renovate it and make it habitable for kids," Cooper said.

A few tips on dental do’s and don’ts

The biggest reason for delaying dental care is cost, according to a Consumer Reports survey that asked readers to describe the dental health and cosmetic treatments they received in the last five years.

Cost was cited as a barrier by 43 percent of readers who delayed care. The survey also reveals that only a third of readers are brushing and flossing when they should, and that some patients might be paying for treatments they don’t need.

Some examples of potentially unnecessary treatments are teeth whitening, amalgam-filling replacement, unnecessary restorations, precautionary removal of wisdom teeth, X-rays and surgery for TMJ disorder.

Seventeen percent of respondents who had a dental procedure for health reasons said they delayed it, notes the report. Even readers with insurance put off a treatment they needed; 23 percent did so because insurance wouldn’t cover the procedure, and 24 percent because they had already used up the maximum that their insurance plan would cover for the year. According to Consumer Reports, there are several ways consumers can keep costs down or get by without insurance:

Shop around and bargain. Look up typical insurance rates in your area at FairHealth- Consumer.org and HealthCareBlueBook.com, then ask providers to accept that amount, or less,VulcanMold is a Injection mold and injection molding manufacturer in china. as a cash payment.As a leading company in the plastic card printing industry,

Consider free and low-cost clinics and health centers. Some community health centers offer dental care with fees based on the ability to pay. Consumers should call their local health department to find one nearby.We are passionate about polished tiles. Be prepared to encounter waiting lists in some locations.

Look into dental and dental-hygienist schools. Consumers who are willing to be treated by supervised students can avail themselves of schools that offer free or discounted care to the public.

Investigate dental discount plans. For an annual membership fee of around $50 to $100, one can get access to a network of dentists who have agreed to discounted rates. But CR recommends that consumers watch out for pricey add-ons and extra procedures they don’t need.

The report notes that having dental insurance is better than not having it, especially if an individual’s insurance is job-based. But don’t expect free or nearly free care. CR’s survey found that of the 71 percent of respondents who had dental insurance, 90 percent received some sort of coverage, but only 46 percent said it covered more than half of the cost.

Do brush and floss. Recent research suggests that poor dental health can affect a lot more than your smile.Facts and Cures. Cures for all types of Hemorrhoids. The plaque-causing bacteria on your teeth and gums, for example, could enter your bloodstream and clog arteries.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties, Good oral hygiene can prevent these problems.

Don’t fear pain. The most painful of the procedures CR asked about turned out to be tooth extraction, which makes sense because having a tooth pulled leaves you with a healing wound. Even so, only 6 percent of the respondents said the pain was severe. For mild pain after a tooth extraction or other procedure, an over-the-counter pain medication usually does the trick after the local anesthetic wears off. For severe pain, your dentist might prescribe a narcotic such as codeine.

Do deal with anxiety. If you fear the dentist, your best strategy is to keep up with your regular cleaning and home hygiene so you don’t have to go as often. If you need a cavity filled or root-canal surgery, tell your dentist and his assistants that you’re an anxious patient so they can give you choices to deal with pain and discomfort. An anti-anxiety drug might be an option, although it’s best to use it sparingly.

Variety show at new Sasha Jo’s in Pulaski

A cold winter’s night found the WDT Reviewing Team in the middle of downtown Pulaski at one of its newer eateries, Sasha Jo’s.

Named after the owner’s two daughters, Sasha Jo’s opened in October. Strangely, there is no sign on the exterior of the restaurant, except the word “restaurant” with their phone number below it.

Inside, a sign requested us to “Please wait to be seated.” We waited … and waited … until finally a frazzled waitress appeared and invited us to seat ourselves. No problem finding a table since there was only one in the entire place occupied.

Much of the appealing interior looks the same as its previous incarnation, Margarita’s. There are oak booths and benches with ceramic tile accents along with sombreros and other Mexican hodgepodge hanging on the walls.

Julie, the only waitress working that evening, welcomed us and took our drink orders. As we looked over the menu, three warm, buttered breadsticks arrived at the table, delivered by a cook from the kitchen.

A quick glance at the cosmopolitan menu left us puzzled. Burritos or enchiladas, chicken Parmesan sandwich or lasagna, ribs or wings, an Aloha burger or a peanut butter bacon burger.

Yep, dive into a peanut butter bacon burger and kick that cholesterol up a few notches. I know your mouth’s watering, but more on that later.

We decided to share two appetizers and settled on loaded potato skins ($6.99) and deep-fried pickles ($5.99)

The potatoes were large russets, hollowed out and filled with crumbled bacon,You can find best china precision Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! big cuts of green onion and a sprinkled with some cheddar. These were so-so.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, The potato could have been cooked a bit more (raw on the bottom) and the toppings were sparse (isn’t that the reason you order potato skins in the first place — for the toppings?). Thank goodness for sour cream.

Ah, deep-fried pickles. A generous portion of hand batter-dipped dill slices were served with a side of cool ranch dressing. Even though the coating was a little soggy, the pickles were nonetheless tasty. For some at the table, this was the culinary highlight of the evening.

Now that the only other occupied table had vacated the building, our waitress was beginning to calm down a little.

Our dinners were a cross-sampling of the offerings at Sasha Jo’s. Presentation of all the dishes was very simple, kinda just food-on-a-plate.

After what seemed like forever, our dinners arrived, delivered by some new faces from the kitchen.

Chicken enchiladas ($9.99) consisted of small chunks of chicken, sweet and hot peppers, black olives and corn wrapped in two flour tortillas and smothered in a cooked down spicy red-colored chili pepper sauce. Nice crunch from the canned corn.

It could have used some sour cream or salsa or guacamole.

The enchiladas were pretty burnt on the bottom. They came with a pleasant side dish of Mexican rice with a blob of refried beans in the middle and a sprinkle of shredded Monterey jack cheese on top.

Lasagna ($8.99) left quite a bit to be desired, from the charred pasta on the bottom to the lackluster filling to the mysterious orange color in the red sauce on top. The sauce had the taste and consistency of Chef Boyardee.

Hey, where were the meat and cheese? Overall, a disaster from the kitchen.

Chicken legs were on super-special for $1 each. How can you pass up a deal like that?

We ordered five.

Lucky we did.Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online, They were compete leg and thigh pieces, unusually small — about the size of your fist. Must have come from Bantam chickens. Or mutant chickens.We are passionate about polished tiles.

They were nicely done on a char broiler and had a healthy slathering of tangy, smoky barbecue sauce. Pretty good, until I got to a bonus wing/breast combo on the plate. One bite told me there was a problem here — it tasted spoiled, as if it had spent too long in the back of the cooler — so I quietly and politely reached for my paper napkin to dispose of the evidence.

A bare bones side salad ($1.99) appeared to have been hastily assembled — torn, wet iceberg lettuce with a plastic container of ranch dressing plopped on top.

I saved the weirdest thing for last — the aforementioned peanut butter bacon burger.FIRMAR is a Malaysia Injection Moulding Manufacturer and Plastic Injections Components Manufacturer,

It was a generous-sized burger topped with bacon, a leaf of lettuce and a slice of tomato. Peanut butter was slathered on the top half of the plain supermarket hamburger bun. There was a smear of bright orange something-or-other in there too that we guessed was melted processed cheese.

Wait — I got it! The mysterious orange color on top of the lasagna was melted orange American cheese!!!

Back to the train wreck: Who in their right mind would put peanut butter on a burger with bacon? And more importantly, why? We said several times, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” YUCK!

The menu promised complimentary vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream for dessert, but our check came before we could ask. Probably just as well. There was a two-for-one deal on appetizers and entrees the night we were there, so the total tab came to $30.56 before tip.

Honestly, it felt like someone rifled through the fridge and reheated some leftovers.

This was a downright disappointing dinner.

Once she relaxed and got into her rhythm, Julie was a very sincere and functional waitress. She has the patience of a saint, dealing with that rowdy table that gave her a hard time and having to serve that strange, poorly prepared food .

The big squeeze

Some banks and credit unions levy surcharges and fees on low-income people who receive federal cash aid on state-issued plastic debit cards. In fact, the Electronic Benefit Transfer surcharge paid by welfare recipients totaled a whopping $2 million a month statewide last September, said Kevin Aslanian with the Coalition of California Welfare Right Organization in Sacramento.

The surcharges range from $1.50 to $3 for each transaction.

For example, Bank of America charges CalWORKs recipients in California $3 per transaction for accessing their funds at an ATM. Mechanics Bank, on the other hand, does not charge EBT recipients a user surcharge for an ATM transaction. Likewise, numerous credit unions are surcharge-free for EBT cardholders, including the Sacramento Credit Union, USE Credit Union and Yolo Federal Credit Union.

To be eligible for CalWORKs, recipients must be at 50 percent of the official poverty level ($18,530 a year for a household of three persons), according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Some California households that receive CalWORKs via EBT cards also receive food aid on them through the CalFresh program (formerly federal food stamps)—aid from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that is not subject to bank surcharges.

In the bigger picture, the surcharge issue points to the failure of government aid for poor people to keep pace with inflation.

For instance in 1985, a three-member household received $587 in federal assistance via Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the predecessor to CalWORKs. Today, the maximum CalWORKs aid for that same household is $638. Adjusting for inflation though, $587 in 1985 has the same buying power as $1,They become pathological or Piles when swollen or inflamed.As a leading company in the plastic card printing industry,234 in 2011, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Thus, the current dollar amount of CalWORKs aid per month goes less than half as far as it did a quarter-century ago for basic commodities such as bread, gas and milk, said Aslanian. Jessica Bartholow, a legislative advocate with the Western Center on Law and Poverty in Sacramento, agrees.

“When a mother tells you that paying a surcharge to use her EBT card hurts her family, that’s real,” she said.

A little more than a decade ago, the state of California began the process of shifting cash and food aid recipients to EBT cards so as to save costs on printing and processing checks and food stamps, according to Bartholow. Also, EBT cars are more secure and less prone to fraud and theft.

But the change opened the gate for bank surcharges.

Today in California, ACS State & Local Solutions Inc. is a Xerox company that handles the electronic transfer of federal aid in cash and food to CalWORKs and holds the state contract until 2014. Under existing law, ACS can charge CalWORKs recipients a fee of 85 cents for an EBT cash activity beginning with the fourth transaction during a one-month period.

Asked to state the dollar amount per transaction fee that ACS charges banks that levy EBT surcharges on CalWORKs recipients, the California Bankers Association declined to reply. At the state Capitol, the CBA, California Credit Union League and California Independent Bankers successfully opposed Assembly Bill 756—a measure by Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell that would have waived EBT bank surcharges for CalWORKs recipients.

Given the quick defeat of this bill in a health- and human-services subcommittee, advocates for those who receive cash aid on EBT cards have decided to take a different approach.

“We knew that if we introduced such a bill in the state Legislature that the banks would kill it again,” said Bartholow of the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

Thus, a state Department of Social Services working group has began meeting to address the EBT bank surcharge issue. “It’s good that the state DSS is helping to try and solve this problem,” she said.

9 bedrooms in McLean’s exclusive Reserve

While McLean may be known as an enclave for wealthy homeowners who enjoy leafy residential neighborhoods as well as proximity to downtown Washington, few of McLean’s residences compare to the luxury of the homes in the community known as the Reserve.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds,

The custom-designed manor homes in the Reserve are prized for their privacy as well as their location within quick commuting distance of the District and Tysons Corner.

Even among the exceptional homes in the Reserve, the estate at 896 Alvermar Ridge Drive stands out for its elegance and the privacy of its 1.4-acre lot, which rests at the end of a cul-de-sac. Built by Georgetown Design Group in 2004, this 13,245-square-foot residence is on the market for $4,775,000.

A paving-stone front drive leads to a motor court of paved stone at the front of the house,FIRMAR is a Malaysia Injection Moulding Manufacturer and Plastic Injections Components Manufacturer, which has a stone walkway leading to a grand two-story entrance framed by Corinthian columns. The landscaped grounds include multiple levels of flagstone terraces, including a large heated swimming pool with an infinity-edge hot tub,We are passionate about polished tiles. an outdoor kitchen and seating area, plus a loggia accessed through multiple sets of French doors.

At the home’s main entrance, the wood-and-leaded-glass double front doors include sidelights and are topped with a dramatic oversized Palladian window. These doors open into a grand reception hall with 20-foot ceilings, marble flooring with onyx accents, custom-designed molding, a powder room, a walk-in closet and a sweeping double staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade. Columns define the entrance from the reception hall into the formal living room, which has a 20-foot ceiling, marble floors and multiple French doors leading to a terrace.

On either side of the reception hall, double pocket doors open into the office and the formal dining room. The dining room features a tray ceiling, oak flooring, a bay window, built-in display shelves and a butler’s pantry with a wine cooler. The office has oak flooring, a tray ceiling, a gas fireplace with a marble hearth and surround, custom-designed bookcases, a bay window, and a set of double doors that opens to reveal a custom-designed built-in desk.

One wing of this level includes a breakfast area, center-island kitchen, sitting and family room, all wrapped in floor-to-ceiling windows. The kitchen, breakfast and sitting areas have ceramic tile flooring, and the island has a breakfast bar and a granite top.

The kitchen has top-of-the-line appliances, including double dishwashers, double ovens, a six-burner range, a microwave oven, a convection oven and a warming drawer.Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online, A second refrigerator and freezer are in the adjacent pantry and mudroom.You can find best china precision Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! The family room has hardwood flooring, a built-in bookcase and cabinets, and a gas fireplace.

Nearby are entrances to the three-car garage and a hall with a second powder room, multiple closets and stairs to the upper and lower level.

The master-suite wing, entered through double doors off the reception hall, includes a sitting area with a breakfast bar, a spiral staircase to the lower-level gym and a three-sided gas fireplace shared with the bedroom. The bedroom has a sitting area with a deep bay window and French doors to the terrace, and the suite also includes three walk-in closets. The luxurious master bath has a marble-and-onyx floor, a glass-enclosed multihead shower, a marble soaking tub and two water closets.

The upper level has a second master suite with a walk-in closet and luxury bath with a glass shower and a soaking tub. The third and fourth bedrooms share a connecting bath, and the third bedroom has a bay window. The fifth bedroom has a private full bath and a bay window, and the sixth bedroom has a built-in bookcase and a private full bath. The seventh and eighth bedrooms share a connecting full bath, and each has a built-in desk. A laundry room completes this level.

The finished lower level includes a family room with French doors to the loggia, two recreation rooms wrapped in windows, a full kitchen with a breakfast bar, a second laundry room, a home theater with two levels of stadium seating, a wine cellar that holds 2,100 bottles and a ninth bedroom with a private full bath. The private gym includes an exercise room with a bay window and a spalike bath with a full-size steam room and a walk-in rain shower.

Maradona overcomes surgery to put on show

"If Messi could surpass me one day, I will be very glad," said Maradona through a translator. "He is really now the world's best soccer player. If he surpasses me in the future, it will be a good thing for Argentine soccer. Besides me, if Messi could rise to such heights,MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, it We are passionate about polished tiles.will do good for the development of soccer in our country."

The 24-year-old Messi, who just won the Ballon d'Or award for the third time, seems to have many of Maradona's attributes, but he has failed to translate them to the international stage for his county.

However, for Maradona, that is just a matter of time.

"There are good players in the Argentina national team and they have also strived to win the World Cup several times," said Maradona, who coached the national team from 2008-2010.

"Argentina has been away from (winning) the World Cup for a long time, and I hope they will win it back again. All the players deserve to win it,Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online, but not those officials of the Argentina soccer association."

Since last June, Maradona has been coaching Dubai club Al-Wasl. He said his experiences on and off the field have benefited his coaching.

"The unconventional and uninhibited way of living was a part of my life. I have experienced it, so I won't be like that now," he said. "That's why I know what kind of players are good and what are bad when I coach a team. I will develop those good things that I've done and avoid repeating the bad things. That's where my coaching experience comes from. I don't learn them from a book, but from my own experience. I hope to bring it to my players to help them grow up."

To fulfill a sponsorship commitment, Maradona came to Shanghai on Tuesday for a charity event held by Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot, despite kidney-stone surgery in Dubai on Monday.

Maradona raised one million yuan ($158,425) to support the children's aid program in China on Tuesday. While acting as an ambassador of the brand, he also displayed his passing and shooting skills to several Chinese children at the Bund in Shanghai.

"I'm satisfied with my performance today," he said after the event. "I will have a good rest after it and take pills on time. I hope I can recover soon.FIRMAR is a Malaysia Injection Moulding Manufacturer and Plastic Injections Components Manufacturer,"

While coaching an Asian club, Maradona is also paying close attention to soccer in China and he disclosed some Chinese clubs had contacted him about coaching them.

"I'm very interested in the development of Chinese soccer, and some Chinese clubs invited me to coach here," Maradona said. "But I had an agreement with the Dubai club first and I had to keep the promise. If the Chinese clubs contact me first, I would have liked to coach here."

He also noticed several players from Argentina,You can find best china precision Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! such as Luciano Olguin and Dario Conca, have joined Chinese Super League clubs in recent years.

"Bringing in high-quality players should benefit the development of Chinese soccer," he said.

"China is a country with such a great population, so I am very curious that such a big country cannot build a strong soccer team. The officials should think carefully about it and set up a team with a strong desire to win, which is the key point. The team should be confident and look forward to going further and further."

Physical therapists make recovery fun

Some might imagine a room with balls of many sizes and colors, long rubber bands hanging from walls, machines beeping, men and women peddling on bikes and even mats perfect for a mid-day nap as a grown-up's daycare center, but in fact this also describes a typical physical therapy office.

The 87th Medical Group Physical Therapy staff offer a healing hand to active-duty servicemembers who are experiencing pain or discomfort from head to toe.

"Our goal at the physical therapy office is to return servicemembers to duty, combat ready in a proficient manner while healing and educating them," said Maj. Melissa Durham, 87th MDG Physical Therapy flight commander from south jersey.

The 14 physical therapy staff members perform rehabilitative therapy using more than $300,000 worth of equipment. The equipment ranges from machines that use electric currents to stimulate a patient's muscles to something as simple as a pencil, which can be used to work out knots in muscles.

Before starting physical therapy or chiropractic sessions, a servicemember must first get an appointment with his or her primary care manager to receive a referral unless they go through the acute care clinic.

The physical therapy office added the acute care clinic in March 2011 to treat servicemembers who have recently been injured. Patients are evaluated immediately and set up with a physical therapy plan the day they check in with the office.

Physical therapists at the acute care clinic can diagnose and begin treating a patient within 24 to 48 hours of the injury.

"We recommend that a patient comes to us sooner rather than later with an injury," said Deanna Bryant, 87th MDG physical therapist from Pemberton Township, N.J. "I have noticed a much higher success rate among patients who come to us immediately after an injury occurs, rather than a patient who waits five months."

Patients who go through their PCM instead of the acute care clinic will receive the same care, but it will take a little longer for them to start physical therapy.

"Our job is to evaluate the patient, to determine what exactly the problem is and how we can fix it in the least amount of time, while still educating the member," said Cynthia Casey, 87th MDG physical therapist from Wayne, Penn. "I love being able to provide each patient with one-on-one care and ultimately relieve pain through physical therapy."

The hands-on care begins once the evaluation is complete and the patient is given a physical therapy plan.

"I have received care here for more than one injury and recently received surgery on my knee.A Coated Abrasives is an abrasive grain bonded to a flexible substrate using adhesives." said Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Stark,Get information on Air purifier from the unbiased, 3rd Battalion Small Arms Readiness Group senior weapons instructor with the Regional Training Center East. "I walked in here with a boot on my leg asking if I could schedule an appointment. I was then immediately evaluated and given a physical therapy plan. These therapists are bar-none phenomenal."

Persi Borlongan, a physical therapist from Jackson, N.J., and Joy Hoffman, a physical therapist assistant from Cherry Hill, N.The magic cube is an ultra-portable,J., work with servicemembers either going through mobilization training or demobilization phases.

"The most common injuries I treat are for lower back discomfort and pain," said Borlongan. "We treat the servicemembers so they can return to training with little or no hindrance to the mission."

The staff also includes 12 other physical therapists and assistants who will tend to patients who are not categorized in the mobilization or demobilization phases.

"Since the stand-up of the joint base, our patient care numbers have increased significantly, requiring our office staff to treat more patients," said Durham. "Even though our office currently is experiencing a higher operations tempo than usual, we are still managing to bring in individual awards. I am very proud of the hard work they do inside and outside of this office."

The physical therapy team also provides chiropractic services. Chiropractic services can be used to treat pain or discomfort anywhere in the body. Tools such as: electric stimulation, hot and cold therapy, soft-tissue manipulation, exercise and stretches are used to adjust the spine and other bone and connective-tissue areas.

"I perform a thorough evaluation of the patient's condition and then base the treatment on the individual diagnosis," said John Rothmyer, 87th MDG chiropractor from Charleston, S.C. "The primary goal is to provide safe, effective and conservative patient-centered care of neuromusculoskeletal issues affecting active-duty personnel."

A patient may receive both physical therapy and chiropractic services simultaneously to reduce pain as fast as possible.

"Once a patient has received weeks of care, it is my job to re-evaluate him or her to track progress and determine the next course of action," said Bryant.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, "If the patient is showing little or no progress I will change the physical therapy plan, but if he or she is improving, I will then determine how much more care we need to provide before returning him or her to duty. I love being able to give back to the men and women who serve our country."

Even though injuries are not something to hope for, the physical therapy office can make recovering an enjoyable experience. Whether they use heat, cold packs or electric currents to stimulate your muscles,Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online, patients are sure to leave the office better then when they came in.

School stirs up interest in science

Science fair projects are a rite of passage for many elementary school students here.

Butterfield Elementary School in the Marana school district marked the beginning of the science fair season last week with Science Day.

"This is the kickoff for our science fair. This is to motivate our kids to prepare for the science fair coming up in February,A Coated Abrasives is an abrasive grain bonded to a flexible substrate using adhesives.Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online," sixth-grade teacher Tim Curtis said at the Jan. 12 event.

Butterfield has hosted some form of a Science Day for at least the last 10 years, Curtis said.

"This is a great way to get kids excited about science," he said.

Presenters from the University of Arizona, Raytheon, Honeywell, the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association, Northwest Fire/Rescue District and the International Wildlife Museum shared their expertise with the Butterfield student body.

Groups of students took turns listening to four different 30-minute presentations.

The Honeywell presentation featured a friction lesson aboard a hovercraft.

Employees from Honeywell brought two of the vehicles to Science Day.

"It was really, really fun because you can spin in circles," fourth-grader Zaaron Santa Cruz said.

Raytheon financial analyst Gregg Gilbert shared long-division and other math tips with the students, but he really impressed a group of sixth-graders with his mastery of a Rubik's cube, which he can solve in about two minutes, 20 seconds.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds,

Gilbert told the students he applies the scientific process to the cube by observing the 3-D puzzle, recording his moves and manipulating the cube.

He first solved the puzzle some 32 years ago in his sleep, he told the students.

"It is possible. My brain said 'try this next.' That's how I solved the Rubik's cube," he said.

Students said what they take from Science Day helps them in school and with their science fair projects.

"We learn a lot about math, and about wildlife and what lives in Arizona," sixth-grader Anthony Ostrowski said of Science Day.

He added: "We found out a really good way to solve multiplication programs.The magic cube is an ultra-portable,"

Butterfield's Science Fair is scheduled for Feb. 9. Projects are required of fifth- and sixth-graders,Get information on Air purifier from the unbiased, but any student can submit a project. Winning projects go on to the Southern Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

Fifth-grader Parker Franco has already picked a project, but what he learns at Science Day still will be useful.

"It helps me learn more and figure out how to solve problems better," he said.

Science fair projects are new to sixth-grader Ahlicia Delgado.

"I'm excited about the science fair because I've never actually been in a science fair," she said. "Science is my best subject. I get to express what I like. It's like giving a biography of yourself in a scientific way."

Glass blowing class teaches art, business and charity

The amber-colored glass came out of the fire looking just like the tall drinking glass it was supposed to be, but when the students broke off the taper that was holding it, the bottom of the glass broke with it.

"You actually learn more from the pieces that break than you do from the pieces that make it," said Alyssa Karr, a Hastings College junior from Juniata taking Designing with Glass class during the college's J-term.

Tom Kreager, professor of art who is teaching the class,Offering high risk and offshore merchant account with credit card processing services. agreed.

"They don't always work out," he said, noting that producing glass items takes practice. "It's just like practicing the piano, or anything else. You just have to do it over and over and over."

The interim schedule class, which runs Jan. 3 through Jan. 24, has 12 students broken into two teams.

By the end of the class, each team will have produced about 95 pieces. Although that averages 15 pieces per student, no piece of art is done, start to finish, by just one student.

"The whole team works on them together," Kreager said, explaining that part of the team will start the process, gathering a "bubble" of glowing glass and forming the basic shape. The first person rolls the glass, maybe adding the color,Smooth-On is your source for Mold Making and casting materials including silicone rubber and urethane rubber, and forms the neckline before handing it off the other half of the team to finish the product, then they switch, so all members get experience. "They have to design together beforehand and then they need to be consistent with the design throughout."

The process resembles an assembly line, Kreager said, adding that the whole process may only take 10 minutes but it really is multiplied times six people working. But he said faster is not necessarily better.

"I don't want them rushing through. Even though you can make them pretty quickly, I want these guys to take their time and do it right," he said. "It's better to have a good piece than a bunch of bad pieces quickly."

From bowls to colored glasses - like the one of Karr's that didn't quite make it - to decorative sculptures, the students will learn to make it all.

This week they were learning to use molds to make shapes, which Karr said made the process quicker but also in some ways harder. The mold was part of her downfall with the glass that broke.

"They were too thin on the bottom, so they cracked," she said, adding that when blowing the glass by hand,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, she said often has the opposite problem, not getting the bottom thin enough. "(With a mold) you can't watch to see how thin you are getting."

Kreager said the class was not only about producing quality glass pieces but being able to make multiple similar works and be able to market them.

"They had to research to find out how much it cost to build a glass studio, then they had to start coming up with designs," Kreager said.

Besides experimenting with glass, the students said they have been learning a lot from their guest artist, Paul Lockwood. Lockwood, an alumni of Hastings College, owns Piece Unique glass studio in Colorado.

"He makes his living from making glass," Kreager said, adding that Lockwood has been explaining what it takes to produce items for a studio as well as techniques he uses.

Karr, wearing a T-shirt boasting her Roundhouse Glass team's motto, "We kick glass," explained that being able make something beautiful once isn't enough. One of their assignments is to sculpt 15 similar pieces.

"You don't want someone to see this (sculpture) and say ‘I want that,' and then you can't make it the same," she said. "It takes a lot of skill to make each piece look the same."

Kreager said the class was able to practice producing similar saleable items and give back to the community at the same time. The teams' first project was to create glass bowls to donate to Hastings' Open Table fundraising event.

"The first project was also a service project," Kreager said, adding each team had to make one for every student in the class and then donate 20 bowls.

The Hastings Open Table program,A Coated Abrasives is an abrasive grain bonded to a flexible substrate using adhesives. run by Catholic Social Services, distributes sack lunches to those in need of a meal. Meg Steward-Magee, who is on the Open Table board, said the number of lunches it provides has greatly increased since it started in 2004.

On April 19, it will hold its Empty Bowl event raising money for the program. Tickets will be sold for a soup supper night and each ticket holder will be able to choose an etched glass bowl, handmade by Kreager's class.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about the fundraiser or purchase a ticket can call 402-463-2112.

Karr said she was grateful for the extra practice. She said she had taken a semester of glass previously and although she enjoyed it, she didn't feel like she had gotten really proficient at the craft.

"I really didn't have a skill built up," she said then laughed. "I could make stuff but it didn't look that good."

A requirement for the glass course was completion of at least one semester of glass experience, but Kreager said a couple students who had no experience talked him into allowing them in the class.

One such student was Caleb Kuhfahl, a freshman from Wahoo.

"I've just always liked art and this is a cool way to do art," he said, adding that the class is a lot like he expected.

"I expected it to be hard, and it is," he said with a laugh.

Kreager said Kuhfahl is somewhat typical of his students during J-term as he is not an art student. Kuhfahl said he is currently undecided on a major but is leaning towards construction management.

"I would say the majority of the majors are not art majors," Kreager said, adding that some have art minors and all are creative minded and want do something different.

He said glass can be a great equalizer among majors because it doesn't require any one skill needed in other majors.

"There is nothing else in the world that prepares you to do any of the movements in glass," Kreager said of turning the pipe, carrying it and blowing the glass.Tru-Form Plastics is a one-stop shop for plastic Injection Molding, "It doesn't relate to any sports or really anything."

He said he has known students whose one experience with creating with glass changes the direction of their studies.

"People get very passionate about glass. They either love it or they hate it," Kreager said. "If they love it, they just want to keep doing it. If they take it their freshman year, they do it all four years they are here. They may still graduate in biology or English, but often they will have an art minor."

Polymer Injection Molding Receives US Patent For Decorative Overmolded Gunstocks

Overmolding typically is used to enhance synthetic stocks by molding a soft, rubberlike material to areas of a gunstock that are gripped by shooters. Overmolding also is used to decorate stocks with contrasting colors and textures.

Overmolded gunstocks are a staple of the higher-end, value-added, synthetic gunstock market. They add value in both form and function . Typically, overmolding material is applied directly to a synthetic stock surface. Applying overmolding to a decorated gunstock has proven to be extremely difficult and costly and has not been practiced widely. As a result, the value-added, overmolded stock market has been dominated by black, grey,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, tan or other basic, out-of-the-mold colors.

Polymer’s patented technology changes all that. Overmolding can be applied readily over camo-dipped stocks to produce the ultimate value-added synthetic stock.

According to Polymer Injection Molding President, Jim Ryan, “We’ve been overmolding plastic parts for years.Tru-Form Plastics is a one-stop shop for plastic Injection Molding, Razor, toothbrush, pen and screwdriver companies all use it to add value. It was a natural for gun manufacturers to get into adding value through overmolding. We did our first overmolded stock for a gun manufacturer over ten years ago. It wasn’t long before everybody wanted to camo and overmold the same stock. That proved to be easier said than done. Masking the overmolded part makes a horrible mess and overmolding directly over camo (without our process) has big adhesion problems. We experimented for a long time before coming up with a process that worked.A Coated Abrasives is an abrasive grain bonded to a flexible substrate using adhesives. We overmold over camo day-in and day-out without any problem. It looks great and holds up as well as direct overmolding applications”.

Craig Dougherty, Polymer’s Director of Marketing echoed Ryan’s comments. “The ultimate added value is to decorate with camo and overmold the grip areas with a complementary color. We’ve done a lot of basic black over camo but overmolded tan, grey and green grips really punch it up. Now that our technology is protected, we expect to be doing more variations for our valued customers”.

Polymer is no stranger to adding value to molded gunstocks. It is licensed to apply camo through a dip process and its proprietary ArmorSoft satin protective finish is revolutionizing the non-decorated synthetic stock market. In addition, its breakthroughs in recoil-pad materials and designs are allowing gun companies to enhance perceived value of their products.Offering high risk and offshore merchant account with credit card processing services.

As Ryan states “We are not content to simply be molders. We are innovators. Our mission is to save our customers money and valuable time by molding and finishing stocks in as little time as possible. Our industry leading “Mold it, Dip it and Ship it” program is proof positive of how increased efficiencies on our part mean increased profits for our gun company partners”.

In addition to producing gunstocks, recoil pads and other gun components,Smooth-On is your source for Mold Making and casting materials including silicone rubber and urethane rubber, Polymer Injection Molding produces a range of high quality parts for the defense industry.

Located in Monson MA, Polymer Injection Molding is a Division of Polymer Corporation of Rockland MA. Polymer Corporation specializes in molding, casting and machining precision plastic parts for a variety of industries with demanding applications.

PlayStation Vita

Sony is clearly going after the hardcore with its PlayStation Vita. Everything about it is designed to bring the experience of home console gaming into a portable.

Its ambition to please hardcore gamers is perhaps most evident in the presence of its two analogue thumbsticks. Proper thumbsticks,A Coated Abrasives is an abrasive grain bonded to a flexible substrate using adhesives. too - not the ghastly nub that blighted the PSP.

While a lot smaller than the sticks on a PS3 controller, they're no less accurate. They're also a lighter touch - very little effort is needed to move them and they're very sensitive. Just don't try pushing down on them, because there's no L3 or R3 like on the PS3's DualShock controller.

The D-pad and the traditional set of four PlayStation buttons are considerably smaller than the PSP's controls, but they're still comfortable to use. There's plenty of space between them, and they have a solid, clicky feel.

Buttons that were below the screen on the PSP have moved. The PS button is now on the left, and Start and Select are to the right of the screen, just below the thumbsticks. They sit flush with the flat front of the Vita, so there's little chance of accidental presses during frantic gaming.

The shoulder buttons are the familiarly wobbly clear plastic from the PSP. The only differences are that they're slightly greyer and have been rounded off to fit the 'super oval' shape.

In a style reminiscent of some smartphones, the flat face of the Vita is surrounded by a metallic ribbon. In the bottom corners this forms eyelets, presumably for attaching straps.

Along the top of the unit are the circular volume buttons, which wouldn't look out of place on an iPhone, and a similarly sturdy power button. Between these, a pair of port covers pull out and spring about in a way that PSP owners will recognise.Tru-Form Plastics is a one-stop shop for plastic Injection Molding, One hides a slot for the new Vita game cards, and the other hides a cleverly named Accessory Port.

The new charging and connection port is on the bottom in the centre, just next to a headphone jack. Just behind these are the mic and another bendy port cover securing the memory card.

Hewn from a single piece of flat, shiny plastic, the Vita is dominated by its 5-inch screen. All of its wondrous OLED 960x544 pixels are clear, bright, sharp, and pop with colour,Offering high risk and offshore merchant account with credit card processing services. even under bright lights.

It's still no match for direct sunlight, however, so you'll probably want to find some shade on a sunny day.Smooth-On is your source for Mold Making and casting materials including silicone rubber and urethane rubber,

One slight concern is the position of the stereo speakers, just next to the thumbsticks. When playing, idle thumbs occasionally come to rest over the speakers, blocking the sound.

Most of the rear is taken up by the touch panel, which is decorated with rows of tiny circles, squares, triangles, and crosses. The touch panel is almost too sensitive, requiring only a feather-light touch to activate it. It's also able to discern between light and heavy taps.

Large textured dimples rather near the left and right edges seem to suggest that fingers should be placed there, but even small hands are likely to find it more natural to stretch out onto the touch panel.

Sony has cut no corners on the inside, miraculously cramming in a quad-core ARM Cortex processor. That's one more core than an Xbox 360. And the 512MB RAM is twice that of the PS3. This extra power brings features like cross-game chat and full access to the menu, settings, and other applications without your having to quit your game.

It's also more than enough to keep fast-paced racers speeding along smoothly, characters looking handsome, and to create lighting and other visual effects usually preserved for the big screen.

The rechargeable, and unremoveable, 2100mAh battery is advertised as lasting four to six hours depending on conditions. In a real-world test,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, we played Uncharted: Golden Abyss from a full charge and the Vita shut itself down four hours and 17 minutes later. Not too shabby, although brightness was at the lowest setting and all of the wireless functions were switched off. A full charge takes around an hour and a half.

Another unique Sony experience is finding that your new console has no internal memory. Most games won't even load without a memory card installed, so picking one up is compulsory.

Fortunately, after just a few weeks on sale in Japan even big-name retailers have dropped the prices of these proprietary cards by ten per cent or more. We wouldn't be surprised if the Vita memory cards hit UK shores at more palatable price points.

Young Art Experiments

Minutes before the Documenta 2 exhibition launch on 15 January at the Viennoise hotel, the artists were still running around, putting the finishing touches to their artwork and setting up their individual rooms. Paintbrushes were scattered on the floor blending in with the cracked tiles. The artwork stood out against the crumbling walls.

The downtown hotel, and venue for the event, is rundown but charmingly so. The shabby surroundings work as a hospitable home for the varied artwork. It became quite entertaining to stroll from room to room, pretending that you are part of a treasure hunt or a ghost story, listening to people chatter about the pieces whilst exploring the space at your own pace.

This unusual and temporary gallery now hosts artwork by more than 20 up-and-coming artists, who are determined to paint in the face of the political turmoil and resulting challenges to the art scene.

The first Cairo Documenta, in 2010, featured Ahmed Bassiouny, a 33-year-old artist and musician who died during the January 25 Revolution. This group of aspiring artists were determined to pay tribute to their late friend and fellow artist with a second series of the Documenta exhibition.

Documenta 2 features a group of Egypt’s most dedicated young artists from fresh graduates to established painters. It showcases their works in different styles including video, installation,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, painting and computer graphics. Most of the work on display tackles current events with a conceptual and contemporary twist.As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile,

Hany Rashed,We are professional Plastic mould, a celebrated artist whose solo show is currently on at Tache Art Gallery, exhibits a series of large paintings that take up the width of one of the walls in the hotel. The canvases are covered in white paint, which creates a smoky effect resembling the overflow of tear gas in Tahrir during the clashes between protesters and Egypt's security forces last November.

In one of the Viennoise’s rooms,Tru-Form Plastics is a one-stop shop for plastic Injection Molding, Ahmed El-Shaer has set a computer screen featuring a game where a man shoots camels as participants press the space bar, referencing the infamous Battle of The Camel that took place on 2 February during the 18 days. In another room, Hossam El-Sawah recreates board games by mixing elements of contemporary pop and political culture.

Playing around with contemporary images,FIRMAR is a Malaysia Injection Moulding Manufacturer and Plastic Injections Components Manufacturer, these young artists create works that are wittingly satirical and creative.

The exhibition is run and funded by the artists, meaning the Cairo Documenta 2 does not have a curator making the show more fluid and loosely themed. The Viennoise was offered to the artists for free. The artists then pooled their resources together to paint and prepare the venue in time for the exhibition.

The Documenta 2 artwork on the flaky walls in this tattered hotel is far from refined. Some pieces are barely complete, however, they are not lacking in conceptual refinement and candid expression. As you peer into the Viennoise rooms, you are pleasantly surprised by the diversity of styles.

Blast It! A fresh start for just about anything

Everything from vintage metal toys and wooden chairs to bathroom tiles and car parts are being scoured clean at a Victoria doityourself sandblasting company.

Customers pay $1 per minute to blast their items, or $1.35 per minute for a staffer to do the work at Blast It!, located in the Hillside industrial area at 2639 Turner St.

It's easy. An item is placed inside a self-contained cabinet. Once the door is locked, a customer standing outside the cabinet slips his or her hands into heavy duty gloves which run into the interior.Get information on Air purifier from the unbiased, Turn on the control with your foot,A Coated Abrasives is an abrasive grain bonded to a flexible substrate using adhesives. point the nozzle of the wand at the item and the blasting starts.

While the air pressure from the machine can be felt, it is simple to aim the nozzle at an object to blast off the rust or paint.

Staff help customers decide the best blasting material, which include garnet sand, a fine red sparkling grit collected from beaches in India; glass beads with the consistency of a powder; or tiny,Alfa plast mould is Plastic moulds Manufacturer and plastics Mould Exporters in India since 1992, sharpedged walnut shells.We are passionate about polished tiles.

Ross van Adrichem, who co-owns the business with wife Carol, holds up a piece of metal blasted in part with walnut shells, leaving a dull finish. "All it takes off is paint. It is not strong enough to damage the metal," he says.

Glass beads left a sparkled surface while the more-abrasive garnet sand created a coarse finish.

Ross came up with the business idea while working on one of his collector cars at home, wishing he had a more powerful blasting system.

Blast It! has four blasting cabinets able to hold items measuring to within 1.2 metres by 0.9 metres. Turntables can be inserted into cabinets to make it easier to blast heavier objects. Extensions of 0.6 metres and 0.9 metres can be added for longer projects.

"Each cabinet has its own pressure so you can adjust it lower or higher depending on what you are cleaning and what you want for the end surface," Carol said.

About 90 per cent of the blasting media is recycled to be used again. Tall filters capture dust.

So far, about 80 per cent of their business is with car enthusiasts. "You get to be the boss of it. You know how you want the finish to look," Carol said.

Customers have cleaned such items as bike frames, kitchen cabinets, radiators, ladders from recreational vehicles, hatches on sailboats and metal hardware from old houses. One man finds old toy metal trucks, blasts and repaints them for his son.

Carol has used adhesives to create designs on glass items and said stencils can be used as well. She picked up an wooden chair for $8 and blasted the paint off in 20 to 25 minutes, leaving the bare wood ready for painting.

Blast It! is marking its first year in business on Saturday, Jan. 28, with an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.You can find best china precision Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! Regular hours are Tuesday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nathan Johnston, manager, is there during the week, and Ross and Carol are in on Saturday. The business offers tours on Sundays to organizations such as car clubs.

Canadian-born Myrna Nystrom relishes U.S.

The reason Myrna Nystrom came to Worthington was pretty simple.

“I fell in love,” she said.

Talking from inside her classroom at Worthington High School, Nystrom told the tale of how she wound up in the southwest Minnesota community.

“I was up at Bethel College getting my college education and I met a fellow who was going to the University and fell in love,” she said.

Nystrom and her husband, Chuck, have lived in town ever since, with Myrna teaching in the communication arts department, specifically ninth-grade English composition and English literature.

“I was always interested in reading,” Myrna said. “As I went through school,You can find best china precision Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! that seemed to be the class I connected most directly to. I think I’ve always been a teacher. In church and community, 4-H and things like this, there was always an element in me where I was always trying to give information.”

Born and raised in Canada, Myrna came to the United States to attend college in the fall of 1971.

“I did already have a college degree when I came down here,” she explained. “Here I was coming for my second degree, so it was in my early 20s.

“Our church had a connection with the same church conference Bethel was in. I had applied to a few others. But Bethel seemed to have what I wanted as far as getting my teaching degree.”

Myrna was born in a small town in Alberta and lived there until she left for Bethel.

“Sometimes I’m surprised I decided to do it,” she said. “I’m not usually a risk taker. As I look back at it, it might have been a little bit of a risk, I don’t know. One of the things that surprises me, in a way, was the school I went to. It was a small school — none of the graduates had left Alberta, except for me, for a couple of decades. I’m surprised that I’m the one that left.”

For Myrna, the transition into the United States was relatively easy.

“I think because the communities are really quite similar,” she explained. “Ours was Scandinavian,Get information on Air purifier from the unbiased, German and British. A lot of the things that they brought over as far as heritage were pretty similar. The attitudes towards things were pretty similar.

“Another thing that made it very similar is that I went from a strong family connection there to Chuck’s family, which is a really strong family. I kind of moved into another family, which really helped.”

Myrna grew up on a farm in Alberta, and is now deeply imbedded into the farming community.

“It’s almost interesting that I ended up on a farm,” she said. “As I was growing up, I saw the hard work involved in a farm. I thought, ‘I’m not going to farm.’ Certainly, I really love the farm. That was just a lazy teenager’s attitude.”

A Canadian farm wasn’t quite the same than what it is in the U.S.

“The farming was a little bit different there, maybe like it was 30 years earlier,” she said. “The farms there almost all had cattle and hogs and chickens and hay and short grain. There were no soybeans or corn. There is now,Alfa plast mould is Plastic moulds Manufacturer and plastics Mould Exporters in India since 1992, but then there wasn’t.”

Myrna isn’t an American citizen,We are passionate about polished tiles. but has a deep-rooted love for the country.

“I really do love the United States,” she said. “My kids even notice, they say how much it bothers me when people disrespect the American flag or the pledge or something. I think, ‘You have no idea what a wonderful country you live in.’ I really do feel that. It’s a marvelous country, and so is Canada.”

Myrna has lived in Worthington since 1973, and has been teaching for many years.

“Because I had my green card — which throughout the years has been white and pink and blue, never green — it wasn’t difficult at all,” she said of getting a teaching job. “I had the education and the licenses and the card that said I could work.”

She took time off when her children were younger — Myrna has three children and one grandchild — but came back to work in the early ’90s.

Her daughter, Joanne, lives in Bangladesh, where she teaches English literature at the Asian University for Women. Joanne has a 3 1/2- old-son, Kelyn.

“When she was getting her doctorate, she started looking for jobs,” Myrna said. “Her husband noticed this one posting. She’s always been interested in women being able to kind of be leaders for their families and specifically be educated for their children. He thought this position sounded wonderful for her. He’s more adventurous than she is. But she thought, ‘OK, I’ll try,’ and she got the position.”

Mryna’s son, Keith, lives in the Twin Cities, where he is a musician and a deep-tissue massage therapist.

Her daughter, Valerie, recently moved to Akron,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game. Iowa, with her husband, who is also a teacher.

Myrna’s mother still lives in Alberta, and her brother is on the family farm. She has a sister who lives in Calgary and another in Portland.

She travels back to Canada at least once a year.

“They claim I have an accent, which they say I have here,” Myrna said. “I think it would be pretty similar to anybody coming back here if they had been gone a while. There are changes in buildings and in businesses. When you go back, you notice some of the difference. Of course, I notice how big hockey is.”

Myrna explained how Friday and Saturday are hockey nights in Canada.

“Every Friday night you would go to the local hockey rink and watch a hockey game,” she said. “It could be high school kids, but usually it would be young adults, local and non-professional. Saturday night, you would get your popcorn and watch the professional teams on TV. Hockey night in Canada is Saturday night.”

As an immigrant to the U.S., Myrna has been able to live the American dream.

“When this community talks about immigrants, they wouldn’t pick me out in a lineup and say, ‘That’s an immigrant,’” she said. “I hope I’m kind of example to the students here that immigrants are all ages and sizes and colors. We don’t fit any particular stereotype, I don’t think.”

Now, as someone who molds young minds, Myrna encourages her students to dream big — just like she did years ago.

“I wish more students would dream bigger,” she said. “That’s one thing I would like to instill on them. You can just dream really big, even from Worthington.”

While she will always be Canadian at heart, there is no doubt Myrna has a fondness for the United States.