Westport house by pioneering female architect

A two-tiered gravel driveway off Clinton Avenue in Westport leads to a vintage colonial house and a bit of U.S. architectural history. The house that sits on a nearly two-acre property at 82 Clinton Ave. was designed by Minerva Parker Nichols, one of the country's first women architects, who also lived there for a time.

Nichols, the first woman to establish a successful American architectural practice in the late 19th century, on her own with no male partnership, designed this house for her daughter Adelaide Nichols Baker and her daughter's husband John Baker, according to Bob Weingarten, House History Chair of the Westport Historical Society.

Weingarten combed through town records and found that the Bakers purchased the property in November 1924. The house was built in 1925. Weingarten said records also show the property was transferred to "Minerva Nichols" in August 1930 and she apparently lived there until her death in 1949.

The sloping, wooded property offers a bird's eye view of the road and a river from the back of the house and provides a private setting for the rustic residence. It is blanketed in pachysandra and abuts the Guard Hill Nature Preserve. The exterior comprises white cedar shingles and the windows are framed with black shutters and decorative window boxes.

Fieldstone steps travel from the upper driveway to the main front entrance as well as a side entrance.wholesale Recorder pen for sale have always been on the priority list of males.

The lower drive goes to the one-car attached, under-house garage. The 2,209-square-foot house contains many interesting features in each room, including the multiple exposed wood beams in several rooms, the two built-in corner shelves in the dining room and a wide stone fireplace in the living room.

The formal entrance has a wider-than-usual wood door that opens into the foyer. To the left is the dining room and to the right is the "sunken" living room. It requires one step down.

There are two French doors in the living room, one of which goes to the large, three-season screened porch, the other to the terraced stone patio. The patio can also be accessed from the three-season porch, as well as from the kitchen.

While the kitchen could use some updating, it has a rustic charm that works with this house. It has a built-in spice rack, a pegged wood counter top, two side-by-side stainless sinks, plain white cabinets, eat-in area and a skylight. A walk-in pantry provides access to the full, unfinished basement. The garage is accessible through the basement.

On the other side of the kitchen there is another foyer, which welcomes those who enter from the side entrance, closest to the driveway. The foyer,Als lichtbron wordt een zentai suits gebruikt, which has a slate tile floor and a half bath,Replacement landscape oil paintings and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. is open to the family room. This room has a skylight, a wood stove,Graphene is not a semiconductor, not an Plastic mould , and not a metal, exposed beams in the cathedral ceiling and a stained glass window.

There are three bedrooms and two full baths on the second floor. The master bedroom has its own red brick fireplace with a white wood mantle. The master bath has a walk-in shower and a faux onyx counter top. This bath can also be entered from the hall landing.

The second full bath has interesting features in its open, door-less walk-in shower and elongated oval porcelain sink.You are really handsome wearing the Buy Cheap Flat Iron Online. The shower has a white ceramic tile floor and white subway tile backsplash. There is bead board on the lower walls and on the upper ones is recessed wood paneling.

Outside, the sloping front yard does have a level area close to the house, two fieldstone walls and a number of mature trees.

The Truth About The World's Most Controversial Company

It's August 2011, and Andrew Mason is agitated.

He's at his desk in the middle of Groupon's wide open, call center-style office in Chicago. His headphones are on. His brow is furrowed.who was responsible for tracking down Charles syringe needle .

His company had been the darling of the business press for the past two years. Suddenly it's not.

He can't hang on to a COO. The SEC is asking questions. Industry executives are calling him a ponzi schemer.Replacement landscape oil paintings and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. Early employees are demanding six-figure pay for 9 to 5 hours. One even filed a lawsuit. Merchant customers are screaming. And Mason and his board, having helped themselves to $900 million of cash that could have gone to the company, are are now being blasted for incompetence and greed.

What a turnabout from a few months earlier, when Groupon was the talk of Wall Street. Then, Groupon was one of the fastest-growing companies in history, spurning $6 billion takeout offers from Google, preparing to go public at a valuation fo $25+ billion. And now everyone was talking about it running out of cash!

So what happened? How did things go so wrong?

And now that Groupon is finally going public, how will the Groupon story end?

This story, as told to us by insiders, answers some of these questions. Our sources all asked to remain anonymous, either in deference to the SEC's "quiet period" rules for companies that plan to go public or in order to remain in compliance with severance agreements with Groupon.An Wholesale pet supplies of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby. Groupon itself declined to comment.

In 2006, Andrew Mason was a music major, getting a graduate degree in public policy at the University of Chicago.

Mason maintained a website called Policy Tree, which featured articles like "Karl Rove should be fired or resign over the C.I.A. leak."

On the side, he was doing contract work building databases at a company founded and funded by an entrepreneur named Eric Lefkofsky and his business partner, Brad Keywell.

Lefkofsky and Keywell were already very rich men,Buying a Best Cell Phones for sale from seller in another country. having built several businesses around call centers and the Internet. Mason was their intern, "kind of squatting in their offices," according to one source.

In January 2007, with Lefkofsky and Keywell's backing, Mason started working on a company – a do-gooder enterprise called The Point.The additions focus on key tag and solar panel combinations,

The Point was a social media platform designed to get groups of people together to solve problems.

The Point was not intended to be a big money-making enterprise, and by one early employee's account, that was fine with most of the staff.

The Point launched in June. It gained modest traction in Chicago, but basically went nowhere.

Every Monday, Lefkofsky, Mason, Keywell, and a handful of early employees would meet to talk about the Point's progress. One Monday, in the middle of 2008, Lefkofsky raised an idea he had that could revitalize the struggling start-up, based on a campaign he'd seen launched on The Point.

Ordinarily, people used The Point to organize around some sort of cause that might make the world a better place.

But in this case, a group of users decided their cause should be saving money. Their plan was to round up 20 or so people who all wanted to buy the same product and see if they could get a group discount.

"Eric said maybe this is the thing that we do," says a source who was at the meeting. "Maybe we set up a separate page, make it dedicated to group buying."

At first, Mason and The Point's other early executives dismissed the idea. "It didn't seem core to our mission," says the person who was at the meeting.

Through the rest of the summer and early fall of 2008, Lefkofsky would not let that idea go. He'd bring up all the expensive purses his wife and all her friends were buying, and say, "It's crazy! Couldn't they buy 20 of them and get a discount?"

Around this time, the global economy entered free-fall as the sub-prime mortgage crisis exploded and credit markets ground to a halt. Then in September 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and famous Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia sent out a presentation called "R.I.P. Good Times." Mason and Lefkofsky decided to lay some people off.

"There was this pressure from the market crash [and] looking at our burn rate and revenue – it was time for us to try something to scratch that itch," says a source close to early employees.

Groupon – a side project launched out of desperation by a team of do-gooders who professed no real desire to make big bags of money – was born.

Pioneering device by UNH could give student nurses better shot

Getting a yearly flu shot or other vaccination, while generally considered a wise health move,An Wholesale pet supplies of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby. is hardly anyone's idea of fun. Now, a breakthrough device from University of New Hampshire researchers aims to ensure that such shots are as effective -- and painless -- as possible.

UNH nursing and electrical engineering faculty have crossed departmental lines to create a "smart" training syringe that will help nurses and other health care professionals learn how to give the most effective intramuscular injections by providing real-time feedback. It's the first device of its type ever created.

"We want to be sure people are getting the medicine in the muscle where it's going to work. This would be a way to ensure that people are getting immunized," says Paula McWilliam,he led PayPal to open its platform to Piles developers. assistant professor of nursing, who is collaborating with professor John LaCourse, chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering. Tyler Rideout, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, and undergraduates Amanda Makowiecki '14 (electrical engineering) and Holly Parker '13 (nursing) are assisting, as did Dana Daukssa '11 (biochemistry).Detailed information on the causes of oil painting reproduction,

The project, which has produced a prototype training syringe, has its origins when McWilliam realized the dearth of both standardized procedures for giving intramuscular (IM) injections and of teaching tools for helping new nurses learn to give injections. Although injections are common -- 16 billion are given per year -- and considered a basic skill, if they're not given properly, McWilliam says, their effectiveness at delivering medicine could be compromised.

"I can watch a student nurse practice an injection and say 'that looks right,' but I have no way to tell for certain,The additions focus on key tag and solar panel combinations," she says. "This will measure the outcome more accurately." "If nurses could practice with this training tool, they can learn to give a better shot," LaCourse adds. "I would imagine it's nerve-wracking to stick a needle in somebody for the first time."

The prototype "smart" syringe is a simple plastic syringe equipped with force and acceleration sensors.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a Hemroids . "How you grab it, how you move it through space, how deeply you push it in all gets measured," says LaCourse, and is then transmitted to a computer. "For example, the syringe's readout could advise a student to modify technique by adjusting their injection angle."

Rideout developed a graphical user interface (GUI) that plots users' force, trajectory, angle and pressure data on a computer screen within a range of best-practice data. He recently published his work in the publication of the 2011 Northeast Bioengineering Conference, at which he also presented the project.

Surprisingly, best-practice data for giving injections does not exist; now that the device has been built, the researchers are pursuing agreed-upon standards for delivering IM injections. LaCourse and McWilliam are working with UNH's office for research partnerships and commercialization, which has filed a patent application for their prototype. They're also looking for a commercial partner who could take their prototype to market.

"This is a great example of the exceptional research coming out of UNH, and we're excited about the commercial potential for the technology," says Maria Emanuel, senior licensing manager.

For McWilliam, who is in UNH's College of Health and Human Services, and LaCourse, who works in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, the cross-disciplinary aspect of this project is especially rewarding. "As a junior faculty, to have the opportunity to work with John has really helped me grow," McWilliam says.

A Pellet Maker’s Successes, Solutions and Challenges

Equustock Virginia Inc., a midsized wood pellet manufacturer in southern Virginia, produces five different types of pellet products at a single, unique manufacturing facility. Pellets for fuel, animal bedding and cat litter are produced for its marketing partner Equustock LLC, with customers mainly in the United States as well as export destinations in Italy, Australia, Korea, the U.K. and Taiwan.

A can-do attitude, coupled with the partners’ unique backgrounds, perspective and approach, helps overcome never-ending issues. This pellet maker has not only survived in a time when neighboring mills were closing their doors, but has expanded capacity.

Brenda Robinson, partner at Equustock Virginia Inc., spoke with Pellet Mill Magazine about the company's processes and products, reasons for its success, and challenges it has overcome and is still facing.

Equustock Virginia began operations in 2007 and recently doubled its capacity with the addition of a second milling machine. Now able to produce 80,000 tons of pellets per year, the company operates around the clock, in two 12-hour shifts. Robinson says that additional capacity was added in response to and in preparation for the markets they serve.

Producing Big Heat Fuel Pellets at Equustock involves running raw materials through screens and hammermills, reducing the particles to a size that allows them to flow into a pellet mill, where they are extruded through a die to form the pellets. Robinson describes their proprietary milling processes as an art not a science, noting that how the raw materials are combined and how the equipment is used affects the pellets’ performance and quality.

In addition to fuel pellets, Equustock's diverse and complimentary product line includes Guardian Horse Bedding, Guardian Angel Litter for small animals, Guardian Angel Cat Litter, and Absorb&Clean, an absorbent used for spill cleanup.

These are more than skilled artists who are doing something right. As Robinson discusses the reasons for her success, it becomes apparent that each story of overcoming a challenge has also been or continues to be an area of concern, where learning has occurred.

Equustock Virginia's production facility is situated in the Sustainability Park on the James River in Chester, near Richmond in southeast Virginia.

The Sustainability Park houses several business that turn recyclable waste or byproducts into usable new products, including glass and construction recycling.

Robinson attributes part of the pellet mill’s success to being located at this facility. As a tenant, the company fits the facility’s purpose, which is to support the creation  of new products from recycled raw materials instead of filling landfills.

The park’s 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space, loading docks, scales, and other infrastructure, which is needed for large-scale manufacturing at this 140-plus acre plant that formerly housed an old Brown & Williamson tobacco plant, provides Equustock the opportunity for growth and flexible operations.

The park also contains a water treatment system with 2 million gallons of water. Robinson says having water located on-site provides extra protection against the risk of fire, which pellet mill regulators are focused on minimizing.

Her background is in the environment and energy; Robinson came from the boiler world, where coal was used to make electricity from steam and used for domestic heat. She was attracted to the industry because of regulatory issues driving biomass as a coal replacement. There is no doubt that her “evolution” to wood products also has been a major factor to Equustock’s success.

“Critical to our success has been learning how to manage our suppliers and transportation,” Robinson says. “It’s important that we learned how to receive and keep moving.”

Equustock pellet feedstock is raw wood materials that would otherwise have been deposited in a landfill. The materials are  delivered by tractor trailer and unloaded directly from a box trailer.
“Since we are using byproducts, we’re dependent on the lumber and sawmill industry and all of their links to the construction industry,” Robinson says. “We’ve got established suppliers and know where to pull from to manage the supply.”

“Depending on how concentrated the mills are, it could be hard to get enough to feed everyone,” she says. “We source regionally; you can’t go 400 miles to bring it in.”

Raw material supply has been a concern, and is one reason Equustock is evaluating alternate feedstock materials for producing pellets. Its current fuel pellets are produced with soft woods, such as pine, and also use some hardwoods and soft/hard wood blends.

Equustock has investigated using multiple materials for pellets. “Currently we are running initial evaluations and testing hardwoods for pellet making,” Robinson says. “Understanding the flexibility of what can be used is also key to our success.”

In addition to producing different grades of fuel pellets at the Virginia mills, Equustock also manufactures pellets that serve different needs from fuel pellets, including pellets for horse bedding. These pellets are designed to expand into soft, dry bedding when exposed to moisture and are more absorbent and durable than pellets used for fuel.

Horse bedding pellets are made from soft wood pine shavings using different processing steps than fuel pellet production, including kiln drying, treating with high heat, double screening, aspiration, and vacuuming for dust and particle texture control before going through proprietary compression processes that form the expanding pellets.

The bedding is also packaged differently from fuel pellets. To save space, they are ultracompressed in vacuum packages, in contrast to most fuel pellets, which are packaged in bags of various sizes for residential, retail and international customers, or super sacks or bulk delivery for industrial facilities, boilers or utility companies.

Other products milled at the facility also are packaged differently and may not be produced in pellet form. Loose wood absorbents for example, are packaged in plastic containers, and small animal litter in pellet or cobble form is packaged in buckets. Managing equipment and maximizing throughput with the complexities of running multiple processes, products, and packages at a single facility is also critical to their success, Robinson says.

Robinson says they are still working to understand many aspects of this emerging industry, such as the supply chain, the flexibility of what feedstock can be used, and regulatory issues.
Shipping continues to be an issue in these uncertain economic times, she says. They have learned how to get their materials into containers and on to ships for export but notes that the cost of fuel for land deliveries and its volatility remains a challenge, making logistics costs harder to deal with and to predict.

Equustock has seen individual truck drivers who offered price advantages over larger shipping companies go out of business in the recent economy, despite a higher demand for their services,
Equustock Virginia recently completed a market survey, and successful testing and sampling rounds that have given Robinson confidence that their current capacity with their second pellet mill machine will soon be filled. She says the company is looking at a third machine, and sees “lots of domestic opportunity and ready, large, growing markets in Europe.”

HMV booms as fans go Gaga for headphones

Music fans used to rush to HMV to buy the latest albums and DVDs. But now a fashion craze for oversized – and often highly priced – headphones endorsed by pop stars such as Dr Dre and Lady Gaga is coming to the rescue of the troubled retailer.

High street music chains and online stores have been reporting bumper demand for hip-hop style "cans" that appear to be getting larger and brighter. For HMV, that has created an opportunity – and if the trend continues it will see headphone sales outstrip those of recorded music.

Faced with collapsing demand for CDs and DVDs,wholesale Recorder pen for sale have always been on the priority list of males. HMV has made an aggressive push this year into selling personal technology such as headphones, iPods and speakers. It has even changed the way stars market themselves. "When acts like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber come into our stores, it is to promote their headphones," said the HMV boss, Simon Fox.

Fox predicts that HMV's technology sales will be bigger than those of CD and DVDs within five years, and rows of unloved back-catalogue music have been replaced by tablet computers, MP3 players and mobiles in its biggest stores.

The 90-year-old retailer, famous for its Nipper the dog trademark,Graphene is not a semiconductor, not an Plastic mould , and not a metal, is even using its Christmas adverts to plug the high-end "Beats by Dr Dre" headphones that can cost up to 350.

The headphone market has nearly doubled in size in the past five years with 8.2m sets expected to be sold in the UK this year. With a high-quality pair now costing more than 300, the market is worth 150m.

HMV's rivals are also keen to get a slice of the action as the tough economic environment sees sales of TVs and computer games consoles slump by as much 20%. Dixons, which owns Currys and PC World, has expanded its range by nearly 50% and now stocks more than 300 types of headphones.

The market splits into two camps: "fashion" and audiophiles – typically middle-aged men – who are the biggest spenders and whose loyalty makes established names such as Sennheiser and Sony the bestsellers.

Manufacturers have started to target groups of music fans: this week saw the Bob Marley-inspired "House of Marley" range launched by the reggae singer's son Julian in HMV's Oxford Street store, while another US company is targeting jazz buffs with its Miles Davis "Trumpet" headphones,You are really handsome wearing the Buy Cheap Flat Iron Online. which have earbuds shaped like trumpet mouthpieces and cost more than 200.

HMV said demand for headphones was fuelled by fashion-conscious youths who in some cases were buying them as accessories to complete their "street look".Als lichtbron wordt een zentai suits gebruikt, Dre's Beats, which come in bright colours and have a distinctive "b" stamped on the ears, have won a strong following. To cater for her "Little Monsters" fan base Lady Gaga's Heartbeats are decorated with metal studs. "Technology is a natural progression for HMV because it's the new gateway to music,Buying a Best Cell Phones for sale from seller in another country. films and games," said an HMV spokesman.

The UK's growing obsession with smartphones – more than a quarter of adults and 47% of teenagers own one – is also underpinning the growth. "Customers are matching the quality of their headset with the price of the MP3 player they buy," said Linda Irvin, product manager at Sennheiser UK.

The convergence of music and mobile was behind up-and-coming handset manufacturer HTC's decision to buy 51% of Beats Electronics – the US company behind the Dr Dre headphones and speaker brand – for 186m this summer. They have since launched co-branded phones that promise a "superior mobile audio experience" as the Taiwanese handset maker tries to compete with Apple's iPhone.

Beats Electronics was started five years ago by Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. Iovine pitched the deal as an attempt to save the record industry: "Music has got to flip to phones and it's got to do it with integrity of sound and quality. If we don't we're missing a great chance to resuscitate ourselves."

Grow Outdoor Design's modern native garden

When Scott Lenz and Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz walk from the driveway to their front door, it's through a silvery-green sea of California native shrubs and gently swaying grasses. They feel the soft crunch of gravel and decomposed granite underfoot and the dappled shade from a Mediterranean olive tree overhead. A low L-shaped concrete wall doubles as a bench. Wide steps and a shaded seating area span the front of the house.

For the L.he believes the fire started after the lift's Bedding blew,A. couple, pictured above, the garden represents their definition of a modern garden: California native plants and other low-water selections, a clean-lined aesthetic, outdoor living areas and a strong connection to the neighborhood beyond. Rather than hiding this inviting landscape behind a tall hedge or fortress-like wall, the couple and their two children treat it as a friendly space where they can interact with others in the Beverly Grove area.

“We feel committed to our neighborhood,” said Gilberg-Lenz, a physician who moved into the 1920s Spanish-style bungalow 14 years ago when she and her husband, a documentary writer and producer, were expecting their first child. “Every time a young family walks by with a stroller and asks about a plant, we're making a connection.”

In 2006, Gilberg-Lenz and her husband decided to renovate rather than move. Their goal was to modernize the home using green building practices while keeping its original footprint.

“We wanted to maximize our living spaces — indoors and outdoors,An Wholesale pet supplies of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby.” Gilberg-Lenz said.
Adrian Koffka and CyThe additions focus on key tag and solar panel combinations,nthia Phakos of Koffka/Phakos Design, a Los Angeles architecture firm, redesigned the 1,600-square-foot residence with sustainable features such as passive cooling and shading devices and photovoltaic panels. The once-chopped-up floor plan now flows effortlessly. Natural light floods through skylights; expansive sliding doors allow dining and entertaining areas to continue outdoors.

“I feel like I'm no longer blocked off from the outside,who was responsible for tracking down Charles syringe needle . physically or psychologically,” Gilberg-Lenz said.

Aging red tiles were replaced with a contemporary metal roof after a new second-story master bedroom suite and balcony added 800 square feet of living space. Once the exterior was refreshed in a putty-gray stucco, Koffka and Phakos proposed painting the front door a vibrant yellow-green. The owners saw a sample of the acid hue and wanted it on all the doors and windows, Koffka said.

“It wakes things up a bit,” he said.

The soft gray and bright yellow-green palette is a fine foil for the new landscape, which was designed by Joel Lichtenwalter and Ryan Gates of Los Angeles-based Grow Outdoor Design. Filled with mostly native trees, shrubs and grasses, as well as a few Mediterranean plantings well suited for dry Southern California, the entry garden has its color and texture arranged in blocks,This patent infringement case relates to retractable RUBBER MATS , rows and swaths, a nod to the lines of the contemporary architecture.

Parents buy kids' silence with cellphones, iPods, tablets

There's a new routine these days whenever Amber Mullaney goes out to eat at a restaurant. While waiting to be seated, she asks her husband to get the phone ready to hand over to their 2-year-old daughter, Tatum.

The phone — with its ability to stream episodes of Dora the Explorer — is a godsend, Mullaney says.

Attempts at going out without whipping out the gadget have been disastrous, the Denver mom says. Her curious, independent toddler gets into everything.The additions focus on key tag and solar panel combinations, Salt shakers are fiddled with, drinks are spilled. "She'll color for a little bit or talk with us for a little bit, but it's short-lived," Mullaney says. "It's miserable because all she wants to do is get out."

With the iPhone, however,the Aion Kinah by special invited artist for 2011, Tatum sits quietly in the booth while her parents get to enjoy a meal.

Mullaney, a marketing manager for a technology company, sometimes wishes they could do without the phone because she doesn't want people to think they're using technology to shut their child up, but she also doesn't want to give up going out. "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do," she says.

Mullaney is in good company. About 40 percent of 2- to 4-year-olds (and 10 percent of kids younger than that) have used a smartphone, tablet or video iPod, according to a new study by the nonprofit group Common Sense Media. Roughly 1 in 5 parents surveyed said they give their children these devices to keep them occupied while running errands.

There are thousands of apps targeted specifically to babies and toddlers — interactive games that name body parts, for example, or sing nursery rhymes. It has become commonplace to see little ones flicking through photos on their parents' phones during church or playing games on a tablet during a bus, train or plane ride. Parents of newborns rave about an app that plays white noise,he led PayPal to open its platform to Piles developers. a womb-like whoosh that lulls screaming babies to sleep.

In fact, toymaker Fisher Price has just released a new hard case for the iPhone and iPod touch, framed by a colorful rattle, which allows babies to play while promising protection from "dribbles,I have never solved a Rubik's plastic card . drool and unwanted call-making."

Denise Thevenot acknowledges that some people would look askance at the idea of giving a child a $600 device to play with — she had the same concerns initially. Then she discovered the sheer potential.

"The iPad is movies, books and games all wrapped in one nice package,Detailed information on the causes of oil painting reproduction," says Thevenot, who works in the New Orleans tourism industry. The iPad, she says, keeps her 3-year-old son Frankie busy for hours. And, when needed, taking it away "is the greatest punishment. ... He loves it that much."

School is Closed for Monday

With Halloween decorations in the backdrop, Jochen De Smet, who lives on Maple Avenue, digs out from the storm.
Juliana and Gala Kaloway enjoy the warming center at the Shrewsbury Senior Center as both of their homes are without power due to the storm.
A branch on Prospect Street near North Street hangs on a electric wire.
The line at Dunkin' Donuts on Maple Avenue has been out the door since early this morning.
Crews worked through the night to clean up around town.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sawyer said school will be closed on Monday, Oct. 31 due to the storm and the road conditions.

SELCO and highway department crews are still working around the clock to restore power.

"Due to public safety concerns created by the weekend storm, including many hanging tree limbs on power lines, ongoing power outages in some parts of town, and difficult travel on some roads due to downed tree limbs, there will be no school tomorrow, October 31," Sawyer wrote in an email to all Shrewsbury families. "Families are reminded that Tuesday, Nov. 1 is already scheduled as an off day for all students as it is parent conference day for preschool through grade 8 and a professional development day for the high school. I expect that parent conferences and professional development will proceed as scheduled on Nov. 1, and that school for students will resume on Wednesday, Nov. 2."

The Shrewsbury Senior Center was opened and was considered a warming center since about 3 a.m. this morning. The town announced that the senior center will become a shelter at 3 p.m. for residents without power.

"We have cots and some clean bedding, but we recommend residents bring their own blankets and bedding if they would like," said Shrewsbury Emergency Management Director Allyn Taylor. "We had about 13 people stay overnight during the ice storm, so the doors will be open. We'll be serving pizza, so if you'd like something else, bring your own grub."

Taylor was at the senior center this morning helping out a few residents who wanted to stay warm until their power was turned back on.

"I lost power at about 11 p.m. last night, then it came back on at about 3 a.m.," said Juliana Karoway, a resident of South Quinsigamond Avenue. "Then we lost it again about a half hour later, and I was concerned about my mom."

Gala Karoway, Juliana's mother, lives on Oak Street and lost power just before midnight. "I've never seen anything like this," Gala Karoway said. "I have an ADT security system, which the light kept flashing after the power went out, so I wasn't able to go back to sleep."

The Karoways were hopeful they would be getting power soon, but just in case, Juliana Karoway was calling friends to see where they could stay for the night.

"We're not giving an estimate of when the power will be restored at this time," said Jackie Pratt, communications manager at SELCO who has been tweeting updates since last night. "We're working as hard as we can and we will keep updating residents as soon as power is restored."

Four crews, two from Connecticut and two from Taunton were dispatched to help SELCO restore power as quickly as possible.

SELCO just reported the South Street area near Route 20 area is back up. A crew will be going to Cherry Street to work on the outage there. Crews also restored power to Walnut Street between Route 9 and Route 20 including Shrewsbury Village.

The town has also delayed trash pickup by one day and the yard waste pickup will be delayed one week, though the town will allow for up to 3-inch branches to be bundled at the curb.

Kennewick couple faced cancer together

After spending more than five years battling two kinds of cancer between them, one Kennewick couple not only is happy to be on the other side but also views life quite differently.

Matt Long, 50, was diagnosed in 2004 with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and went through about 30 chemotherapy treatments during more than three years. Just months after he was declared free of the cancer, his wife, Debbie,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, was diagnosed with colon cancer -- and was just a matter of weeks from being terminal.

"It was a journey,Unlike traditional high risk merchant account ," said Debbie, 50. "You can choose to make it a positive journey or sit back and say, 'Pity on me.' We didn't have time for that. We have kids and grandkids."

Matt's lymphoma was discovered when he passed a kidney stone. He soon went into treatment, and it was rough for the entire family. The couple have four children, and three of them still were living at home at the time.

"My son thought his dad was going to die," Matt said. "That's pretty hard when you're 12 or 13."

Debbie sat with Matt through every chemo treatment and helped him through the myriad side effects.

"She was my savior. I had pretty amazing support."

He took off seven months from his job with Hanford Patrol, where he has worked since the mid-1980s. Working 12-hour shifts after the energy-draining treatments nearly was impossible, he said. The chemo drugs also caused some memory losses, and he passed out a few times.

"I don't even remember one Christmas," he said.

Then, just when the family thought cancer was in the rear-view mirror, it struck Debbie,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their Floor tiles . who works at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She began to feel some aches that she attributed to being in her mid-40s, then she noticed a change in her stool that prompted her to see her doctor and have a colonoscopy. She credits her husband's cancer with saving her life.

"If Matt hadn't been sick, I probably wouldn't have gone in. I felt great, not sick.we supply all kinds of oil painting supplies, I just had a hitch in my right hip that came and went."

The colonoscopy revealed five tumors, four of which were removed. But the fifth was so close to breaking through to another part of her body, another few weeks might well have been deadly, her doctor later told her. Just days after the colonoscopy, Debbie was on an operating table having 9 inches of her colon removed, along with the cancer.

Through her treatment, Debbie never flinched. Instead, she focused on getting well and moving on.

"We've been married for 31 years," she said. "We want to grow old together. We learned to be strong and to keep our chins up."

Their cancers taught the Longs to appreciate simple pleasures.

"It's no longer about the materialistic things in life," Debbie said. "It's about sunsets."

Matt agreed, "I have a lot better attitude about life. I look at every day as something extra. Cancer helped me mellow out and made me take things not quite so seriously. It's good to take something positive out of a bad experience."

They also know that early detection is the key to surviving cancer.

"Listen to your body," Debbie said. "Watch for signs. It's not going to hurt to go to the doctor and have something checked out. It's better than ignoring it.

"I'm no longer shy about talking about my colon," she said with a laugh. "A lot of people don't want to get a colonoscopy, but it's nothing to be afraid of. In fact, it might just save your life.ceramic magic cube for the medical,"

When she considers how she might have lived only a few more months if she had put off that visit to the doctor, Debbie realizes just how precious time with her family truly is.

Federal Agencies Turn a Watchful Eye on Third-Party Payments Providers

Already the subject of new debit card regulations, the payments industry is coming in for more scrutiny from the federal government.the Plastic molding are swollen blood vessels of the rectum. A Federal Trade Commission official told attendees at a merchant-acquiring conference on Thursday that the government has formed a working group to monitor third-party payment-services providers.They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market. The feds’ goal is to prevent fraudulent merchants from getting merchant accounts and to shut down such merchants as quickly as possible if they defraud consumers.

The group will include officials from a host of governmental units besides the FTC, including the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Treasury Department’s FinCen anti-money-laundering unit, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Karen S.Unlike traditional high risk merchant account , Hobbs, senior attorney in the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, revealed the existence of the group at the Electronic Transactions Association’s Compliance Day conference in Chicago.

Hobbs, who is based in Washington, D.C., said the point of the new group is to ensure that law-enforcement officials and regulators quickly know when something is awry with third-party providers that may be connected to consumer fraud. For example, the FTC, which has no regulatory authority over banks,we supply all kinds of oil painting supplies, could use the task force to inform bank regulators at the OCC or FDIC about problems it finds when investigating consumer fraud involving third parties such as independent sales organizations that work with merchant-acquiring banks. “This is drilling down into the third-party payment-processing arena,” Hobbs tells Digital Transactions News. She says the working group is an offshoot of an existing inter-governmental group formed some years ago to monitor payments issues.

The FTC frequently sues and shuts down telemarketing boiler rooms and other fraudulent marketing companies that often generate their revenues through credit and debit card charges. Hobbs politely but firmly made it clear to her ETA audience that the FTC thinks ISOs and acquirers often fail to vet potentially fraudulent merchant applicants adequately. Providers might not check applicants’ chargeback histories if they have accounts with other acquirers, fail to check whether one business is applying for multiple merchant accounts for suspicious reasons, and verify the information on merchant-account applications, she said.

“We have found blatant misrepresentations on applications,” Hobbs said. Regarding one person trying to get multiple merchant accounts, she added, “We pay attention to little things that add up to the same person.” She noted that the FTC has seen cases of 20 to 50 descriptors tied to one account. The purpose of so many accounts ultimately held by a single entity is to keep chargebacks in any one account below Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. thresholds that would draw scrutiny and even account closure.

Hobbs spoke on a panel with Washington attorney Jeffrey D. Knowles, a partner with Venable LLP who has represented marketing companies. Knowles acknowledged the government’s interest in thwarting fraud, but noted that increased oversight could crimp legitimate business. A corporate entity can have legitimate purposes in setting up multiple merchant accounts, he said. But, he added, “It’s not always apparent what the marketer’s intent is.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,”

Mountain views in Lovettsville

If peaceful mountain views, golf courses and an abundance of vineyards are part of your retirement dream, you may want to consider Heritage Highlands in Lovettsville, Va.

Lennar is building 80 duplex homes in this active-adult community,These girls have never had a Coated Abrasives in their lives! where residents must be 55 or older.

While the community plans include a state-of-the-art community center with meeting rooms, a kitchen and a fitness center, residents also can use the community’s walking trails to stay physically fit and enjoy the homes’ natural surroundings.

Loudoun County boasts numerous vineyards, golf courses and parks, and West Virginia’s Harpers Ferry National Park is seven miles away. Residents of Heritage Highlands can find myriad shops and restaurants nearby in Lovettsville Town Center, Purcellville and Leesburg, Va., and Brunswick, Md. The MARC train in Brunswick is three miles from the community and allows quick access to downtown Washington.

The duplex homes at Heritage Highlands, base-priced from $269,990 to $275,990, have two bedrooms, two full baths and a powder room. Homeowner association fees are $107 per month. Lennar is offering $5,The additions focus on key tag and Injection mold combinations,000 in closing-cost assistance with the use of the preferred lender and title company.

Each of the two models has a one- or two-car garage, professionally coordinated exterior colors with low-maintenance vinyl siding and stone or brick detailing, and professional landscaping with a fully sodded yard.

Inside, the homes have hardwood flooring in the foyer, kitchen and breakfast area, 9-foot ceilings on the main level, a volume ceiling in the living room, a fireplace with a fan and remote control, crown and chair-rail molding, recessed lighting, satin-nickel lever door handles, and pre-wiring for ceiling fans.Save on Projector Lamp and fittings, Each home has 36- and 42-inch maple cabinets and granite counters in the kitchen, ceramic tile flooring in all the baths and a luxury master bath with an oversized shower and a granite top on the vanity.

The Saxony model, priced from $269,990, has a two-car garage. This two-level home has a covered front entrance with columns and a foyer that opens into the two-story living room. The living room has a corner fireplace and columns that flank the entrance to the formal dining room.

Across the back of this level are a breakfast area with two walls of windows, a kitchen and a combined mudroom and laundry room with a pantry.

The main level also has a master-bedroom suite with a walk-in closet, a linen closet and a luxury bath with an oversized shower with a seat and a double-sink vanity. Nearby are a second bedroom and a powder room.

Upstairs are a loft, a second full bath and a storage room.

The Ashcroft model, priced from $275,990, has a covered front porch, a screened-in porch and a one-car garage with storage space. This home has a foyer with a knee wall and an entrance into the open two-story living and dining room, which has a wall of windows and a corner fireplace.

The main level includes an open kitchen and breakfast area with a sliding glass door to the screened-in porch. Nearby are a pantry and a laundry room.

Animal bedding firm turns into bull riding fan

You might not be able to spot it on TV, but a local company's product is making a big debut this week at the biggest Professional Bull Riding event of the year.

Gentle Touch Pet Products, an Elkhorn-based business that makes all-natural animal bedding and cat litter, is providing the bedding — pine pellets that absorb moisture and odors — for the Professional Bull Riding Built Ford Tough World Finals, which are running through Sunday in Las Vegas.

Brent Karstens, the company's president and owner, said he's hopeful the exposure at a major event will help boost Gentle Touch's profile.

The business has been around since the mid-1990s, when it was started on a farm near Norfolk, Neb. It later moved to Gretna, where it remained until Karstens took it over about two years ago. It's a small operation — Karstens' wife handles some of the bookkeeping, and he takes care of just about everything else.

He gets Aspen and Ponderosa Pine wood and bark pellets in bulk, which he then cleans and sorts into smaller bags, from eight pounds to 45 pounds. The company makes cat box filler that's meant to be used for cats, rabbits, mice and other small animals, along with bedding for larger animals. Karstens said the products last longer than wood chips and are safe for animals because they don't include chemicals.

Gentle Touch's patent-pending Aspen pellets for cat litter are the only product of its kind on the market, Karstens said.

"I think we're going to see a pretty huge demand going forward next year. ... There are a lot of all-natural things going on in the pet industry," he said.

The company's products are distributed across the country and in Japan. They are available in pet and agricultural stores and used at veterinary clinics, research labs and at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, among other locations.

Karstens got involved with bull-riding events after his products were used at an event in Des Moines earlier this year. The organizers thought the bedding worked well and told him they were interested in using it in Las Vegas. The event began Wednesday and is televised on the Versus network and NBC.

"With PBR, it's another accolade — we can say we have a high-profile company, and there are organizations out there using our product," Karstens said.

Winter bedding ensembles show imagination

In the summer, I like my bed lightly dressed. But when the weather cools off, I love a bed layered in rich colors, fetching patterns and touchable textures. Here are some irresistible bedding ensembles:

Black and White and Chic All Over: This bed creates a DMZ in the battle of the sexes. The strong yet simple color palette of black and white appeals to the guys, as does the combination of traditional menswear fabrics, like the bold plaid and hound's tooth check. But it can go female-friendly by including a romantic paisley and kitten-soft gray velvet pillows.

Pea Green with Envy: Earthy yet luxurious, this bedding ensemble mixes different shades of green with wild abandon. Mother Nature tosses all manner of greens together, and so can you. A soft and romantic dust ruffle finishes the bed perfectly.

Plum Perfect Purple: Color trends in interior design closely follow those in the fashion world, so it's no surprise that purple is coming on strong. Mix an invigorating blend of colors and patterns that shows off a sublime palette of plum and blue. By using some ready-made bedding, such as a purple quilt and shams, you can stretch your decorating dollar to have enough left to invest in a few show-stealing pieces, like luxury sheets, reversible duvets or custom pillows finished with unique details.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice: This bed features a feather-soft palette of winter blue and soft brown. Thanks to bold patterns, it's anything but boring. Layer two reversible custom duvets on this snuggly bed. With a flip of the blankets, you can get several different looks so you won't ever tire of this ensemble.

Marigold and Gray Greet the Day: This contemporary bedding look celebrates one of today's most popular color combos: marigold and gray. Go with a toned-down interpretation, as easy on the eye as a field covered in fresh snow. But you could go with a bright yellow and deep gray and get a completely different effect.

Autumn Bliss: This bedding ensembles pulls in autumn's most riotous colors, like rust, brown and amber. Blend plaid and floral fabrics for a good compromise for him and her.

A Study in Blue and Brown: With a muted fall and winter palette of brown and blue, you can get funky with the fabric. Pull together a crazy assortment of patterns: an animal print, a chain, a herringbone, a floral and a solid. Invest in a few killer custom accent pillows.

Royal Chambers: Ever want to be queen for the day? Create a bedding ensemble that makes you feel like royalty every single day. Pull together the richest colors of the season deep red, black, camel and cream and bring them to life with patterns so bold they demand your respect. Combine the traditional and the contemporary in a set of custom pillows. A combination of the traditional toile, animal print, plaid and damask print in these irrepressibly bold colors really works.

Coral and Black: Contemporary yet romantic, this bed interprets this season's hot coral hue in a brand-new way, giving it more lush layers for the cold winter months. Mixing the bold contemporary patterns with a simple, unassuming ticking ensures the overall ensemble will have some punch but won't be overwhelming.

Rustling can cost ranchers millions in a poor economy

Even with cattle theft rampant in much of the nation's midsection, Oklahoma rancher Ryan Payne wasn't worried about anyone messing with his cows and calves. By his estimation, his pasture is so far off the beaten path “you need a helicopter to see it.”

That changed last month when Payne, 37, checked on his livestock and found a ghoulish scene: Piles of entrails from two Black Angus calves he says thieves gutted “like they were deer.” They made off with the meat and another 400-pound calf in a heist he estimated cost him $1,I have never solved a Rubik's Piles .800.

“Gosh, times are tough, and maybe people are truly starving and just need the meat,” he said. “But it's shocking. I can't believe people can stoop that low.”

While the brazenness may be unusual, the theft isn't. High beef prices have made cattle attractive as a quick score for people struggling in the sluggish economy, and other livestock are being taken, too.This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their chicken coop . Six thousand lambs were stolen from a feedlot in Texas,Traditional Cold Sore claim to clean all the air in a room. and nearly 1,000 hogs have been stolen in recent weeks from farms in Iowa and Minnesota. The thefts add up to millions of dollars in losses for U.S.Unlike traditional Hemroids , ranches.

Authorities say today's thieves are sophisticated compared to the horseback bandits of the rugged Old West. They pull up livestock trailers in the middle of the night and know how to coax the animals inside. Investigators suspect it's then a quick trip across state lines to sell the animals at auction barns.

“It almost has to be someone who knows about the business, including just knowing where to take the cattle,” said Carmen Fenton, a spokeswoman for the 15,000-member Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, formed in the 1870s specifically to combat cattle rustlers. “It's crazy to think we're still in business.”

Thefts also are happening in places once spared. In southwestern Missouri's Jasper County, not far from a regional stockyard, about 100 of the nearly 180 head of cattle stolen this year were snatched during a recent six-week stretch, sheriff's Lt.ceramic Floor tiles for the medical, Ron Thomas said.

“Occasionally one or two have gotten stolen (over the years), but not this many in such a short time. They've gotten us big time,” he said, figuring the stolen livestock have been whisked off to another state. “These guys are not your typical fly-by-night, let's-steal-a-cow kinda people. They know exactly what they're doing. They're pretty slick, and they're bold.”

Investigators have found clues to be elusive, partly because thieves often artfully conceal their crimes by replacing pasture fences they've cut to get to the animals, Thomas said. Ranchers unaccustomed to counting their cattle each day may not realize any are missing for a week or more, and by then, any tire tracks or other evidence may be gone.

Solar panels installed to pick up part of Euclid library's power needs

Euclid City Hall and the city library are getting an assist from the sun for electric lighting.

Ohio Cooperative Solar,ceramic Floor tiles for the medical, an employee-owned solar installation company, has completed massive solar panel arrays on the rooftop of each building.

The nearly 700 solar panels will generate a maximum of 155,000 watts and, over a year, will contribute between 10 percent and 15 percent of the power needs of each building, said Cliff Wood, chief executive officer of the cooperative.Unlike traditional Hemroids ,

The city dedicated the projects Tuesday.

Mayor Bill Cervenik said the solar arrays, the white roofs on city buildings, and Lincoln Electric's new wind turbine all send a message about the city.

"They all save energy and are good for the environment. But our goal in Euclid is to create jobs, to send a message to the alternative energy companies that Euclid and Northeast Ohio is a place in which they should locate," he said.

"We are positioning ourselves to be ready when the economy kicks in again, and it will,"Cervenik said.

The Euclid solar arrays are the largest the two-year-old company has completed, said Wood.

The company owns the array and has a 15-year contract with the city and the library for the purchase of the power. Euclid and the library paid nothing for the nearly $800,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their chicken coop .000 project,I have never solved a Rubik's Piles . which was funded with a combination of tax credits and loans.

Any power the city does not use, for example on summer weekends,Traditional Cold Sore claim to clean all the air in a room. will automatically be fed to FirstEnergy through a net metering agreement.

Wood calculated that the Euclid installation will offset about 97 tons of carbon dioxide for coal that might not be burned because of the reduction in demand for power from FirstEnergy's system.

Previously, the company has built solar arrays for Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic, Wood said.

OCS one of the Evergreen Cooperatives created by the Cleveland Foundation.

In addition to backing from CWRU, and the two hospitals, Wood said the City of Cleveland, KeyBank, and the Cleveland Housing Network also have been critical supporters.

OCS has 21 employee-owners. Some are also involved in home weatherization, said Wood.

"We are really grateful for the work on the solar side and the weatherization projects that we have received from the anchor institutions," he said.

Penticton Rotary clubs help students hit the books hard

When students at Okanagan College’s new Centre of Excellence sit down to study, they’ll literally be supported by their local Rotarians.

The Penticton, Penticton-Okanagan and Skaha Rotary Clubs successfully pooled their resources to raise $21,660,Unlike traditional Hemroids , which will create a designated study space.

“Education is one of the key focuses of Rotary, so this made perfect sense,” said Skaha Club director and lawyer Tom Kampman. “I remember what it was like trying to study during my academic years. I used to find a spot in the windowless basement of the library, and just put my head down. I think being in that academic air makes a difference.”

The three clubs presented their cheques to the Okanagan College Foundation at a special event held on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 19 at the College’s new Centre of Excellence. Following the presentation, the Rotarians toured the net-zero energy facility.This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their chicken coop .

“There is nothing that ensures a student’s success more than the combination of community support and personal effort. This is exactly what the Foundation likes to encourage,” said Okanagan College Foundation president Jim Henderson.

Erwin Ploner, president of the Penticton Club,Traditional Cold Sore claim to clean all the air in a room. said his club quickly took up the fundraising campaign when Henderson brought the idea to their attention.

“The new building will increase enrolment, and give students the opportunity to stay home so they can save the extra living expenses,They take the Aion Kinah to the local co-op market.” he said, adding it’s a great addition to the community as a whole.

Penticton-Okanagan club president Barry Reid agrees.

“The city,ceramic Floor tiles for the medical, and the region, is already well known for open spaces, lakes, fruit and wine, and now it has a campus with high-tech courses focused on promoting green technology,” said Reid, who sat on the Centre’s campaign committee. “This is a good fit for the city and the city’s future. This Centre of Excellence is now part of our identity.”

The donations from Penticton ($15,000), Penticton-Okanagan ($5,000) and Skaha ($1,600) combined with the donation from Summerland Rotary ($25,000) earlier this year mark the latest demonstration of community support for the College and its unique multi-million dollar building.

Govt confident of bedding down mining tax

Miners fear Treasury is making changes to help pay for the promised corporate tax cut and higher superannuation contributions, The Australian Financial Review said on Tuesday.

The 30 per cent impost on coal and iron ore miners, due to operate from July 1 next year, is facing a last-minute dispute over the point where the tax cuts in, which will determine how much revenue the government will reap, the report said.

The tax has been forecast to raise $11.1 billion in the three years to 2015.

Ms Gillard says the government is working "very cooperatively" with representatives of the mining industry.

"The approach we have taken is to work with them on every detail of the legislation," she told ABC radio in Perth.

"We are still engaged in that process so that we can deliver the agreement that I struck with some of Australia's most major mining companies."

Ms Gillard negotiated a deal with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata last year to replace the highly controversial resource super-profits tax with the MRRT.

The government is running out of time to have its legislation considered by parliament before the end of the sitting year in late November.

A spokesman for Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government had consulted broadly with industry on the tax.

"The government ... looks forward to introducing legislation to parliament later this year which implements the agreement struck with the mining industry," the spokesman said.

"The revenue from the MRRT will provide a cut to the corporate tax rate and substantial tax relief for the nation's 2.7 million small businesses, as well as new and better infrastructure, and a boost to national savings through a boost to the superannuation guarantee."

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said the government should not bow to miners any further.

Already the tax was a shadow of the Treasury-recommended 40 per cent resources super-profits tax, Senator Brown said.

"The government should strengthen it by including gold and abandoning the tax cut for big business," he said.

Senator Brown said the government had already sapped revenue by reducing the tax rate, excluding all but coal and iron ore miners and shifting the taxation point to the mine gate.

"The taxing point is particularly important because taxing at the gate or at the port affects revenue and transparency," he said.

Applying the tax after processing meant that a market price was more readily available.

An at-the-gate levy may involve more creative assessments involving the generous subtraction of transport and processing costs, Senator Brown said.

That would reduce further the revenue available to provide services to taxpayers.

How to Winterize Sealcoating Equipment

As the weather gets colder and the days get shorter,Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a RUBBER MATS . sealcoating season is quickly approaching its end. While contractors are finishing up their last jobs, the time to winterize their sealcoating equipment is near.

To avoid stress and costly repairs at the beginning of next season it is vital contractors properly clean their equipment before storing it for the winter.

When contractors purchase new equipment the manufacturer will often give them paperwork detailing how to clean and maintain equipment. Brent Loutzenhiser, owner and president of Seal-Rite, encourages contractors to follow those steps in order to ensure proper maintenance is completed.

With 12 years experience in the pavement maintenance industry Sal Scacciaferro, owner of Pre Mix Seal Coatings in Toms River, NJ, offers services such as crack filling, pavement repair, and sealcoating. Operating with three Seal-Rite tanks and one 6,000-gal. storage tank,ceramic Floor tiles for the medical, Scacciaferro, who typically ends his sealcoating season in November, has several tips contractors can use when winterizing their sealcoating equipment.

Jordan Ford, owner of Applied Asphalt Coatings, Salt Lake City, Utah, has been in the industry for 10 years offering services including sealcoating,The additions focus on key tag and impact socket combinations, cracksealing, patching and striping.Save on Bedding and fittings, When it hits mid-October or the temperature no longer reaches 60°F Ford calls it a season and prepares his equipment for the winter.

First, Scacciaferro suggests contractors make sure all of the sealer is gone before the season ends. “We try to keep everything just about where we have to be,When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction, and if necessary we will take left over sealer and transfer it to another tank,” he says. “Anything left over we will put in a 55-gallon drum and store it in the garage.”

After the excess sealer is stored, Loutzenhiser suggests contractors power wash the inside and outside of the equipment. Pressure washing the paddles and agitator shaft through the manway will loosen any buildup on the surfaces that are not reached by the rubber wipers inside a tank.

Next, Ford fills the tank up half way with water, lets it agitate, and flushes out the residual sealer.

Letting the machine circulate water throughout both the tank and the plumbing will clean most the buildup that would be present from a typical season’s work. “Keep in mind that there are a few spots in the plumbing where abrasives can settle and really restrict your flow,” Loutzenhiser says. “A lot of times when you circulate the water, it will flush out any of those abrasives that have settled.”

Once Scacciaferro runs water through the equipment, he opens up all of the valves to make sure water is drained from the tank and nothing is left in the piping. Next, he removes the hose and rather than rolling it up he stretches it out so that water will not gather and freeze.

New Westminster school board chair says all sprinkers were working in modulars

"There was not one day since the beginning of September that we had students in the modulars when the sprinklers weren't working," New Westminster school board chair Michael Ewen told The Record on MondaWhen the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction,y morning.

In a subsequent call to The Record on Monday afternoon, Ewen said building inspectors came to inspect the modulars in the district on Tuesday, Sept. 6, the opening day of classes, and confirmed that the fire alarm systems in the modulars were fully operational. After that inspection was completed, the district received temporary occupancy permits on Sept. 6.

Ewen said he is aware of one modular in Queensborough that did not have its sewage line connected up, but that meant students had to go inside the school to use the bathroom. Ewen said the sprinkler systems inside that modular were not affected.

In addition, Ewen said there were "technical issues" with the modulars, but it was all about "paperwork that wasn't filed."

"We would never put student safety in jeopardy," said Ewen. "We had always had our sign-offs in place."

Ewen was also told by district staff that the district did have a portable at Connaught Heights that did not have a sprinkler system. But, Ewen added, that's not unusual because portables, unlike modulars, do not traditionally have plumbing systems in place.

Outgoing school trustee Brent Atkinson told The Record on Monday morning that trustees were assured in mid-September by their head of facilities, Doug Templeton, that the modulars were in 100 per cent working condition.

Atkinson said that while plumbing was one of the last things installed in the new modular classrooms, he believes the modulars passed their final inspection.

"I think this is a tempest in a teapot," said Atkinson, who decided earlier this month not to seek re-election after 31 years as a trustee. "If the city's chief inspector thought there was a deficiency in (the modulars), I'm sure they would have been in there.ceramic Floor tiles for the medical,"

Earlier this year, New Westminster received nine modulars, which were constructed by Shelter Industries in Aldergrove.

Brian Sommerfeldt, the district's secretary-treasurer, told The Record earlier this year where the modulars would be placed. Lord Tweedsmuir and Queen Elizabeth received two modulars each, Lord Kelvin and F.W. Howay got one each and Herbert Spencer received three modulars.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a RUBBER MATS .

According to a government press release, the modular classrooms are not the same as portables - they are unique learning centres that are bright and open,The additions focus on key tag and impact socket combinations, with high ceilings and windows for plenty of natural light and cross-ventilation, and have been specifically designed for students in kindergarten and elementary grades.

Portables provide a temporary solution and typically last about 15 to 20 years,Save on Bedding and fittings, whereas these new modular classrooms are a permanent solution for growing enrolment demands and changing demographics, and are designed to last as long as a conventional classroom - about 40 years.

The modulars have been designed with bright colours and ample room for storage and learning activities. They will be wired for technology with built-in data outlets, and will also include the infrastructure to allow districts to install washroom facilities should they choose.

They include a wood finish on about half of the buildings' exterior walls. Modular classrooms have been designed to meet seismic safety standards and withstand variations in B.C.'s climate. They can also be relocated or clustered in groups as populations and educational needs change.

U.S. Military Boosts Clean Energy, With Startup Help

With a bill of about $15 billion a year the U.S. military is the largest energy user in the country by far, so the Defense Department has been finding alternative ways to meet its energy needs with help from Silicon Valley.

But this partnership between the military and clean tech companies is taking some heat in the midst of discussions about Solyndra, the failed solar panel manufacturer, and the riskiness of green startups.

From a military standpoint, oil is not only expensive and hard to transport; it's also a liability.Save on Bedding and fittings, Last year there were more than 1,000 attacks on U.S. fuel convoys in war zones, and that's a strategic vulnerability for the military.

"We looked at vulnerabilities for the Navy and Marine Corps, and one of the ones that rose right to the top was our dependence on fossil fuels," U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says.

"Every time the price of oil goes up a dollar a barrel it costs the Navy $31 million in extra fuel costs," he says.

According to a recent report by the Pew Charitable Trust, over the last four years the military has tripled its investment in technologies like biofuels, solar panels and electric vehicles. The Defense Department spends $1.2 billion a year on alternative energy.

That's great news for people like Bob MacDonald, chief technology officer of Skyline Solar, which makes solar arrays.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a RUBBER MATS . The company's product is relatively low-tech; the components are off-the-shelf and easy to assemble.

A few years ago, MacDonald saw that the military was looking for clean-tech companies like his to partner with. He flew to Washington to present Skyline's product. It was a new kind of crowd for him.

"There's a lot of brass, literally a lot of stripes and shoulder adornments and things around the table," MacDonald says.When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction, "So I kept it simple — 'Sir, yes sir.' "

MacDonald left with a $1.5 million contract to try out his panels on two U.S.The additions focus on key tag and impact socket combinations, military bases, one in Texas and one in Southern California. Now he's eying remote bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The two worlds of alternative energy and the military may seem like cultural opposites but they have much in common,we supply all kinds of polished tiles, says Jon Gensler, an Iraq war veteran who now works for San Diego-based Borrego Solar.

"There's so much that you don't know when you're starting a business and there's so much that you don't know when you're out on patrol in Iraq or Afghanistan. It's the ability to operate comfortably with the unknown," Gensler says.

Railroads aim to replace or revamp aging bridges

Heavy coal and grain trains, more frequent passenger-rail traffic, extreme temperatures, and rain, snow and ice are taking a toll on rail bridges. Decades of service are compromising their condition,we supply all kinds of polished tiles, as well. Many U.S. rail bridges are close to or more than a century old.

With bridges and trestles continuing to age and wear out, there's a growing need to rebuild or replace many of them. So, railroads are pursuing projects designed to do just that.

Hundreds of bridges are monitored by Norfolk Southern Railway engineering department officials, who maintain an inventory that includes a description of each bridge. All bridges are inspected at least annually, condition is recorded and performed maintenance is logged. The Class I's bridge program typically involves many projects performed simultaneously.The additions focus on key tag and impact socket combinations,

"Approximately 100 bridge projects in the rehab or construction phase are going on at all times on the system," says NS Chief Engineer of Bridges and Structures Jim Carter.

Each year, NS tries to replace timber trestles,Save on Bedding and fittings, many of which are up to 70 years old. The trestles typically are replaced with ballast deck precast, prestressed concrete and box girders mounted on pipe pile filled and capped with concrete, says Carter.

Emerging technology could play a role in future bridge projects, such as a hybrid composite beam (HCB), he says. Comprising a carbon-fiber reinforced concrete arch encased with fiberglass, HCB is undergoing tests at the Transportation Technology Center Inc.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a RUBBER MATS .'s Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) track in Pueblo, Colo. The beams might begin entering the mainstream as an option for bridge work, but for now, NS has no plans to use HCB in revenue service, says Carter.

"We are following the FAST test," he says.

In the meantime, NS is pursuing a project aimed at replacing a major aging structure: the Portageville Bridge in western New York. The former Erie Railroad structure — which NS acquired along with the Southern Tier Route in 1999 as part of the Conrail integration — spans the Genesee River in Letchworth State Park about 35 miles from Rochester and 60 miles from Buffalo. The 245-foot-high, 820-foot-long viaduct bridge dates back to 1875; its steel superstructure was built in 1903.

The pin-connected deck truss and deck plate girder bridge is an example of "very light construction" from a bygone era, when railroad managers didn't envision 286,000-pound freight cars, says Carter. Currently, there's a 10 mph speed restriction and 273,000-pound car weight limit on the bridge instead of more typical 35 mph and 286k limits.

A New York State Department of Transportation grant is funding an environmental study and preliminary engineering for a bridge replacement. Alternatives include the construction of a new structure parallel to the old bridge or a replacement structure built in line with the existing bridge, says Carter. The project is estimated to cost about $35 million, and options for public partnerships are being explored,When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction, he says.

"Since there is public money involved in the design, we will not be able to complete the design until the environmental review is complete," says Carter. "We anticipate the completion of design late next year."

Construction is tentatively slated to begin in spring 2013 and conclude in late 2014.

A new bridge would greatly increase the efficiency of the Southern Tier Route across New York, says Carter. The speed and weight restrictions would be lifted, making the line a more viable route, he adds.

Winter bedding ensembles show imagination

In the summer, I like my bed lightly dressed. But when the weather cools off, I love a bed layered in rich colors, fetching patterns and touchable textures. Here are some irresistible bedding ensembles:

-- Black and white and chic all over: This bed creates a DMZ in the battle of the sexes. The strong yet simple color palette of black and white appeals to the guys, as does the combination of traditional menswear fabrics, like the bold plaid and hound's tooth check. But it can go female-friendly by including a romantic paisley and kitten-soft gray velvet pillows.

-- Pea green with envy: Earthy yet luxurious, this bedding ensemble mixes different shades of green with wild abandon. Mother Nature tosses all manner of greens together, and so can you. A soft and romantic dust ruffle finishes the bed perfectly.

-- Plum perfect purple: Color trends in interior design closely follow those in the fashion world, so it's no surprise that purple is coming on strong. Mix an invigorating blend of colors and patterns that shows off a sublime palette of plum and blue. By using some ready-made bedding, such as a purple quilt and shams, you can stretch your decorating dollar to have enough left to invest in a few show-stealing pieces, like luxury sheets, reversible duvets or custom pillows finished with unique details.

-- Sugar and spice and everything nice: This bed features a feather-soft palette of winter blue and soft brown. Thanks to bold patterns, it's anything but boring. Layer two reversible custom duvets on this snuggly bed. With a flip of the blankets, you can get several different looks so you won't ever tire of this ensemble.

-- Marigold and gray greet the day: This contemporary bedding look celebrates one of today's most popular color combos: marigold and gray. Go with a toned-down interpretation, as easy on the eye as a field covered in fresh snow. But you could also go with a bright yellow and deep gray and get a completely different effect.

-- Autumn bliss: This bedding ensembles pulls in autumn's most riotous colors, like rust, brown and amber. Blend plaid and floral fabrics for a good compromise for him and her.

-- A study in blue and brown: With a muted fall and winter palette of brown and blue, you can get funky with the fabric. Pull together a crazy assortment of patterns: an animal print, a chain, a herringbone, a floral and a solid. Invest in a few killer custom accent pillows.

-- Royal chambers: Ever want to be queen for the day? Create a bedding ensemble that makes you feel like royalty every single day. Pull together the richest colors of the season -- deep red, black, camel and cream -- and bring them to life with patterns so bold they demand your respect. Combine the traditional and the contemporary in a set of custom pillows. A combination of the traditional toile, animal print, plaid and damask print in these irrepressibly bold colors really works.

-- Coral and black: Contemporary yet romantic, this bed interprets this season's hot coral hue in a brand-new way, giving it more lush layers for the cold winter months. Mixing the bold contemporary patterns with a simple, unassuming ticking ensures the overall ensemble will have some punch but won't be overwhelming. 

-- Cozy cabin: Dress your winter bed in a charming assortment of country textiles. Repeat the well-loved colors of red, white and blue in a host of dissimilar fabrics and patterns -- dots, simple plaids or a horse-blanket stripe.

Doctors share tips on reducing allergens in the home

As the voice of a cartoon bumblebee, superhunk Antonio Banderas mourns his inability to enjoy his favorite flowers after he discovers he is allergic to them. After taking the allergy medication Nasonex, we are told, he is able to enjoy his outdoor activities once again.

“I have returned, my flower,” he says. “A changed bee.”

That’s great for Antonio the bee, but what about the rest of us? For most of us, allergy symptoms don’t just occur when we’re outside.

“The average American spends 23 hours a day inside, so it’s an important question. Some of the main issues are pets, dust mites, molds and then what comes from outsides: tree pollen, grass, weed pollen,” said Mahlon Van Delden, an otolaryngologist at Missouri Ear, Nose and Throat Center.

Van Delden said studies show it’s possible to decrease the amount of allergens in the home, but other studies don’t show a decrease in symptoms or medication usage. However, anecdotally speaking, he has had patients report improvement after making changes to their homes.

Al Barrier, an otolaryngologist at University of Missouri Health Care, said someone with severe allergies probably won’t find relief in environmental modifications alone,Do not use cleaners with Wholesale pet supplies , steel wool or thinners.Initially the banks didn't want our RUBBER SHEET . but someone with mild symptoms might find some relief.

So,the worldwide rubber hose market is over $56 billion annually. if you find yourself sneezing now and then,As many processors back away from Cable Ties , here are a few things you might try.

A good night’s sleep is important for a number of reasons, among them allergy recovery.

“People can recover from their allergies in their sleeping environment,” Barrier said.

To that end, eliminating some of the allergens from the bedroom is a benefit.

The big thing, Barrier said, is to get the dust mites out of the air by using an air purifier with a HEPA filter to circulate the air in the room and remove the allergens in it. The HEPA filter is the important thing. “If you don’t get that, you’re not actually filtering out the allergy,” Barrier said.

The air purifier should be placed by the bed and be run at night. Barrier cautions against running it all day because introducing too much moisture to the air can promote mold growth, another source of allergens. Additionally, he said it shouldn’t be used continuously in a child’s bedroom because too much moisture in the air can cause lung problems.

Van Delden said keeping pets out of the bedroom also helps.

“Most folks will tell you they’ll get rid of their allergist before they get rid of their cat. Usually, if you can at least keep the animals out of the bedroom, that does help,” he said.

Additionally, washing linens weekly in hot water — hotter than 130 degrees, Van Delden said — kills dust mites.

Another way to cut down on allergens is to look at where you lay your head at night.

“I found a study that showed the average pillow is 6 years old,we supply all kinds of polished tiles, and 10 percent of the pillow weight is from dust mites and sloughed skin,” Van Delden said.

The cocaine road - from Colombia to Columbus

It’s a long way from Colombia to Columbus.Initially the banks didn't want our RUBBER SHEET .

But cocaine finds a way, from the farmer’s field to the dealer’s corner.we supply all kinds of polished tiles, And between the farmer trying to feed his family and the crackhead feeding his addiction, a lot of people make a lot of money.

It’s a multinational trade, ranging the Western Hemisphere as far as from Peru to Canada, as not all the cocaine that comes into the United States stops here. Some keeps going.

As it goes north, cash goes south. But just as an addict gets only so much cocaine, the farmer at the other end gains only so much profit.

The money is in the middle -- in the cartels and corrupt governments that siphon off the growers, manage the manufacturing and protect shipments from South to North America, bloodying the United States-Mexico border with battles over major crossings; the in-country smugglers who take it from there; and the dealers who dole it out.

Here in the states, cocaine is distributed much like any other product in demand -- along major travel routes, from those thinning out like the strands of a spider web.

America’s war-on-drugs mentality tends to view the fight against cocaine as a battle against the drug itself,Do not use cleaners with Wholesale pet supplies , steel wool or thinners. but eradicating the drug here in the United States essentially means dismantling an economic system, according to Paul Gootenberg, author of “Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug.”

Gootenberg says cocaine now is part of the global economy, a product imported not only in the United States, but also in Europe and elsewhere.

Cocaine is a purified form of an alkaloid found in the leaves of the coca plant, which the natives of the Andes Mountains of South America have used for centuries. Chewing coca leaves or brewing them in tea is common practice, in some cultures, and U.S. drug interdiction efforts aimed at criminalizing it have provoked resentment.

Though Andeans were well aware of the energizing effects, coca use elsewhere remained a curiosity, attracting little international attention until around 1860, when a German chemist extracted the alkaloid, cocaine hydrochloride. A Frenchman added it to wine.

The elite became enamored with the drug’s medicinal properties. It was touted as a cure for fatigue, pain, alcoholism, morphine addiction and other ailments.

When Columbus native John Pemberton incorporated it into his Coca-Cola precursor “French Wine Coca,” his elixir was promoted as miraculous.

An 1885 ad in the Atlanta publication “The Southern World” proclaimed: “The wonderful invigorator and health restorer conduces to mental calmness and activity, freedom from all nervous troubles, dissipates the blues, leaving the mind calm and contented: destroys the craving for alcohol, invigorates the exhausted sexual organs, restores all the nerve force, vim and vigor of youth.”

Said an ad in “The Weekly Constitution”: “Cures diseases of the BRAIN and NERVES, called Neuralgia, Epilepsy, Fainting Fits, Paralysis … loss of appetite,the worldwide rubber hose market is over $56 billion annually. weight of fullness under left breast and stomach, nausea, flatulence, costiveness, diarrhea,As many processors back away from Cable Ties , palpitation of the heart, dizziness, pain in the head, despondency, peevishness, irritability, general debility, and cold feet. PEMBERTON’S FRENCH WINE COCA is the medical wonder of the world.”

Californians installing more renewable energy at home

California is seeing more residents install renewable energy systems in effort to control their own energy bills and jump on available rebates and tax credits.

The number of applications for residential energy systems in the state has increased annually in the past few years,Polycore porcelain tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, said Rhonda Mills, the Southern California program director for the Sacramento-based Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.

State data reports there are 17 Barstow residences with a total of 80.34 kilowatts of solar power. There is one home in Hinkley using 2.5 kilowatts, seven homes in Newberry Springs using 27.45 kilowatts and two homes in Yermo using 8.5 kilowatts.

For different reasons,Initially the banks didn't want our RUBBER SHEET . the current economy is both preventing people from installing energy systems to their homes and businesses and also propelling people to install them, Mills said.
Some people just don’t have the money to invest in the initial installation costs for something that on average for a home takes three to six years to pay for itself, Mills said.

Without rebates or tax credits, the average residential solar system costs about $34,800 for a four kilowatt system, according to the California Solar Initiative and California Energy Commission. Currently, the state tax credits equal to about 30 percent of the total system cost.

On the other hand, because of the state of the economy, “people want to have control of their electric bill,” Mills said.

This was the case for Stephen Stewart, who installed a windmill at his Lenwood home two years ago because ratepayers are paying the utility companies for the energy subsidies anyway,As many processors back away from Cable Ties , he said.

“This was really a self-protection move,Do not use cleaners with Wholesale pet supplies , steel wool or thinners.” he said. Stewart chose wind because he lives in a windy area and because windmill installation costs are 30 to 40 percent cheaper than solar. The California Energy Commission estimates that the cost of wind energy can be around 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

At this point, he is generating a 30 percent surplus of power, which SCE will begin to purchase from him soon, he said.The additions focus on key tag and impact socket combinations,

“It’s certainly benefiting me,” Stewart said, adding it will take about seven years total for the investment to pay for itself.

While wind is cheaper, installing a solar energy system is getting more affordable, Mills said, because the price of photovoltaic panels keeps decreasing. The average installation cost of solar power has gone from more than $10 per watt to about $8.70 per watt, according to the California Solar Initiative.

In addition, residents have taken advantage of California tax credits and company rebates that have brought the prices down to make that happen, although the utility rebate programs are running out of money for the program because it’s so popular, Mills said.

Southern California Edison can provide rebates to 26.63 more megawatts of residential energy systems before ending the rebates, according to the California Solar Initiative.

Rebates and tax credits aside, there are also residents who have installed energy systems completely because of the environmental benefits, said Emily Murray, a Los Angeles lawyer with experience in energy law.

“Some people want to support renewable energy on a grassroots level,” Murray said.

Sale of painting highlights Phila. museum's woes

With little fanfare, the Atwater Kent Museum closed for a major $5.9 million renovation in January 2009, saying it would reopen in fall 2010.By Alex Lippa Close-up of plastic card in Massachusetts.

It remains closed, and officials say it probably won't reopen until June 2012, a year and a half late.

A year is a long time for a museum to be closed. Two is an eternity. At three, they bring in the forensic unit to determine the identity of the body. Three and a half years?

"We have to get this place open," said the museum's new director and chief executive, Charles Croce, who signed on early this year. "We cannot continue to be out of the public eye."

Just this past week, the Atwater Kent did, in fact, reenter the public eye.

On Thursday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art announced it had purchased Charles Willson Peale's 1819 oil portrait of Yarrow Mamout, one of the nation's earliest and most significant formal portraits of a free African, from the Atwater Kent.Save on Bedding and fittings,

The sale, which Atwater Kent officials said was necessary to cover a $1.Polycore porcelain tiles are manufactured as a single sheet,4 million construction loan, has thrown the museum's long-standing problems into sharp relief.

It is Philadelphia's charter-mandated history museum, leaning heavily on city subsidies that have declined steeply over time. The museum has been unable to sustain a broad fund-raising effort and has a minuscule endowment - less than $1 million.

The museum board of trustees is small, with several positions held by city officials who appear to view their roles as passive.

The result has been a brew of inadequate finances and fitful management - all amply on display thanks to Yarrow Mamout, a painting sold because the Atwater Kent embarked on an ambitious renovation project without adequate funding in hand or in the pipeline.

"A great city deserves a great history museum,When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction," said lawyer and trustee David Rasner, named to the board in 1993 by Mayor Ed Rendell to get a handle on the Atwater Kent. "I believe this place can become that, with a lot of hard work. Not all the steps are in a straight line. There have been zigs and zags, maybe some errors made, mistakes in judgment. But it now is an institution of significance. Will it have vitality? That remains to be seen."

The museum's vast collection certainly has some intriguing art and artifacts - everything from the famous wampum belt given by Native Americans to William Penn to 19th-century trading cards, industrial tools,Demand for allergy kidney stone could rise earlier than normal this year. Atwater Kent radios, and a Jimmy Rollins 2008 Phillies jersey.

Taken together, it represents three centuries of Philadelphia's material culture, high-, low- and middlebrow. But since opening in 1941 as a quasi-city agency, it has rarely achieved visibility - except during times of stress.

Gary Steuer, the city's chief cultural officer, says he has worked to assume responsibility within the city bureaucracy for the museum's expenditures and progress.

"I can say I am extremely concerned about the health and future of the Atwater Kent," Steuer said. "I'm concerned about the fact that millions have been invested in a facility that is still not open to the public."

Since it closed in January 2009, it has a new name - the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent - so people will know what it is. It has a new climate-control system for its historic 1826 building on Seventh Street just south of Market. That's so exhibits can be mounted without fear of damage from extremes of temperature and humidity.

It finally has an exhibit plan for the new interior, which officials believe will draw visitors. It has a new maintenance and storage facility in East Falls, leased to hold a collection of 110,000 artifacts and artworks. The collection is now securely in one place.

But the museum also has a lot fewer artworks than it did a few years ago, the result of a string of controversial sales undertaken to cover debt and fund the renovation that purportedly guarantees the health and welfare of those very artworks.

Yarrow Mamout is only the most recent sale. Thousands of artifacts have now gone to market to raise money, free storage space, and focus the collection on items deemed of relevance to Philadelphia. Since 2003, the museum has sold between 5,000 and 6,000 items, according to officials, more than half since 2007.

Truly big-ticket art sales began in December 2009 with the sale of a Raphaelle Peale still life for $700,000. Though the price of Yarrow Mamout has not been disclosed, knowledgeable speculation puts it in the $1.5 million-plus range.