North Notts pile pressure on Mansfield

RAMPANT North Notts produced a dominant display to claim the bragging rights against struggling local rivals Mansfield with an easy 5-0 win.

The result further piles the pressure on relegation-threatened Mansfield and boosts North Notts’ own promotion chances in a match which saw the teams facing each other for the first time in a league match this century.

But, from the outset, it was clear North Notts would have too much for Mansfield,If so, you may have a cube puzzle . with William Butler looking back to his best following recent hamstring problems and defensive midfielder Matthew Cooper also standing out.which applies to the first offshore merchant account only,

Mansfield, who may be relegated for the third time in three seasons, had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping them in the contest during the early exchanges as North Notts piled on the early pressure with a series of short corners.

But there was only so much he could do and the breakthrough finally came from a penalty stroke after a goalmouth scramble.A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company.

With the Mansfield players contesting the decision with the umpire,Enecsys Limited, supplier of reliable solar Air purifier systems, William Butler took his time, then coolly stepped up and netted to give the home side the lead.

With the score 1-0 at half-time North Notts manager Faulkner urged his side to stick to their game of fast free flowing hockey.

And it paid dividends as the home side started the second half where they had left off with Singleton, Smith and Jarvis dominating the midfield.

The forwards were also causing havoc with Barton rolling back the years.

But it was the most surprising of heroes for North Notts when little Anil Chutte ghosted into the Mansfield ‘D’ to pick up the scraps from a Butler strike.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.

Chute took two strikes at the Mansfield keeper before taking the ball for a third time and flicking it over the despairing keeper.

It was obvious this was now a game for the taking. And Notts did just that with William Butler’s superior fitness and skills leaving the Mansfield team chasing shadows. Another penalty stroke from Butler made the score 3-0 and then 10 minutes of sublime pass and move hockey showing the gulf in class.

Two more goals came after fine work from Matt Smith and Jason Barton with Butler the finishing architect.

Notts even found time in the last two minutes to substitute their hero right-back Chutte, who left the pitch to rapturous applause.

Next week sees Notts travel to Nottingham for a tough last game before Christmas against a skilful Sikh Union side.

North Wales dad and son killed by fumes in caravan tragedy

A GRANDFATHER and his son died from inhaling poisonous fumes before flames from a caravan fire engulfed them.

Robert Taylor, 57, and his son Andrew 26, from Flintshire, died in a blaze sparked when an electrical cable supplying a heater, fridge and transformer overheated, an inquest heard.A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company.

Mr Taylor senior’s wife Denise,Enecsys Limited, supplier of reliable solar Air purifier systems, 50, told how she and two other caravanners plucked her granddaughter Emmy Taylor, aged two, to safety seconds before the caravan exploded.

Loft insulator Andrew,which applies to the first offshore merchant account only, one of her four children, died after he went into the caravan to try to rescue his niece and father. Emmy was passed through a window. But the two men died when they were overcome by fumes.

Denise, of Royal Drive, Flint, said the four family members had gone to stay at Sunny Sands caravan park in Talybont, near Barmouth on Friday June 11. Denise was woken at about 11.15pm by her “frantically screaming” son, who was sleeping alone in the awning.

She said: “I ran to the front. As soon as I opened the door I could just see flames in front of me and my son shouting: ‘Mum. Mum. Get out.’ My son obviously went into the caravan for his dad and niece.”

Denise shouted for help and two men helped her pull Emmy, whose hair was on fire, through a window. Paramedic Denise added: “I don’t know where I got the strength. I managed to get her out, but not very far, when the caravan exploded. There was a big bang. At that point I knew my son and husband were in it.”

Emmy suffered 65% burns to her body and is recovering after treatment at Alder Hey children’s hospital, Liverpool. Denise said: “She’s doing remarkably well. She’s got a long way to go. She’s a fighter.”

Fire investigator Darren Jones said: “The generation of heat brought it to a flashpoint.If so, you may have a cube puzzle .”

The heat inside the awning and caravan had got to such a high temperature it ignited. He added: “The coiled cable assisted the transformer overheating.”

Mr Jones said there was a smoke detector inside the caravan but it had no batteries. Pathologist Dr Tony Caslin said both men had died of smoke inhalation before being engulfed by flames.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.

Recording a verdict of accidental death at Dolgellau yesterday, North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said: “The warning to others is that cables should be un-wound and not left around in a coil. The other message is smoke detectors can and often do save lives.”

Afterwards, a family statement read out by Andrew’s twin sister Sarah said: “Together they were two peas in a pod. They both loved family, the pub and football. Most of all they loved family and friends.

“Dad was the world’s best. He was honest, helpful, caring and he brought the four of us up to be the same friendly type of people. He loved everyone and being among people. His love for our family was total. He adored his grandchildren and spent hours teaching them his very high standards.”

Denise described Rob as “the very best thing that ever happened to her”. She added: “He was a fantastic husband, father, grandfather and friend.”

Sarah said Andrew’s smile “lit up the world”. The family also wanted to say “a massive thank you to the good people of Flint” for their support.

The Canaletto of the European Courts, Palazzo Sarcinelli, Conegliano

In the summer of 1749, Canaletto placed an announcement in the Daily Advertiser in London which invited “any Gentleman that will be pleased to come to his house to see a picture done by him being a view of St James’s Park”.

Behind the notice lay the need to prove his identity to a doubtful English public.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners. For the great Venetian view painter – whose real name was Antonio Canal – was being threatened by a young pretender, his nephew and former apprentice Bernardo Bellotto, who had taken to signing himself “Bernardo Bellotto detto [known as] Canaletto”.

The confusion has never really ceased. The Venetian scenes painted while Bellotto was still apprenticed to his uncle cause most trouble owing to his habit, as his 18th-century biographer and champion Guarienti put it, of “imitating [Canaletto] with study and assiduousness”.

Concentrating on paintings made by Bellotto after he had left Venice for Germany, Austria and Poland, this show largely avoids controversy. Instead, it is an opportunity to witness the transformation of northern Europe into a lost sibling of La Serenissima – still true to itself yet made subliminally new by theatrical light and exaggerated perspectives.

By the time Bellotto was born in 1722, peace with the Turks in 1699 had put an end to Venice’s imperial ambitions. Instead she was a city where decadent carnival celebrations and elaborate civic ceremonies meant style eclipsed substance. A proliferation of theatres attracted avant-garde scenographers – including Bernardo Canal, grandfather of Bellotto and father of Canaletto – whose skill in the craft of illusion inspired Venice’s painters to follow suit.

With Grand Tourists demanding souvenirs of their experience, Venice was in the grip of an ecstasy of images. As well as oil-painted views and capricci – fantasy landscapes of classical ruins in pastoral settings – a boom in copperplate engravings allowed the less wealthy to possess their own record of the Republic.

This show’s opening gallery is devoted to etchings by Canaletto and his peers,A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company. including Antonio Visentini, a professional engraver whose reproductions of Canaletto’s paintings were crucial to the diffusion of La Serenissima’s profile beyond her borders.

With a sunlit day on the Grand Canal conjured in monochrome – chiaroscuro ripples on the canal, a splash of white on the belly of the bridge – one can see why Visentini’s recreation of Canaletto’s “Rialto Bridge with the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi” would have been the next best thing to an original in oil. Given their skill, it seems churlish to lament the genre’s lack of colour. Yet it is hard not to hurry on to view the paintings whose brilliant chromatism captures Venice at her most picturesque.

From Luca Carlevarijs, the father of this genre, a 1721-23 painting of St Mark’s from the bay – topographically correct down to each arch and flagpole yet pallid in colour and execution – fails to prepare one for “La Piazzetta towards the Basilica of the Salute”. A gossipy drama of tradesmen, nobles and gondoliers captured in deliquescent brushstrokes by a 24-year-old Canaletto, it enjoys the unashamed painterliness that made the master’s early years among his finest.

Similar characteristics mean that the authorship of “The Rio dei Mendicanti and Scuola di San Marco”, given here to Bellotto in 1741, is still disputed by some scholars. Whoever is responsible, it is wonderful: the simple contrast of the midnight-blue rio and sunlit scuola complicated by the pewter gleam of gondola prows and a slab of shadow falling across the honeyed stonework. Lively, fluid figures – clambering on boats, loitering in the square – possess a human verity absent in orthodox view painting.

In 1747 Bellotto,Enecsys Limited, supplier of reliable solar Air purifier systems, no longer in Canaletto’s employ, was called to the Saxon court in Dresden, a city enamoured of all things Venetian. Not only had it welcomed her architects, sculptors, painters and scenographers – the Venetian Pietro Guarienti, responsible for Bellotto’s invitation,which applies to the first offshore merchant account only, was director of the Royal Gallery – but the banks of the Elbe had also been rebuilt with palaces inspired by those on the Grand Canal. Executed to accompany paintings – none here, sadly – Bellotto’s series of 14 engravings, 10 of which are on display, captured the city’s new Baroque profile for posterity,If so, you may have a cube puzzle . much as Visentini had done for Venice.

The highlight here, however, are three splendid view paintings of Pirna, a small city 20km away on the banks of the Elbe which had strategic importance for the Saxon state. Freed from the geometry of an urban panorama, Bellotto reveals a gift for landscape and genre painting. In “Pirna from the Right Bank of the Elbe” (1754-56), for example, he sets the crisp profile of the town, with its gabled roofs and angular hilltop fortress, in contrast to a pastoral scene, complete with fishermen and hay wagon, on the other side of the river.

Middlefield Business Owner Helps With Extreme Makeover

Susan Deane, owner of Sweet Surroundings LLC, a custom home decorating business in Middlefield recently got a first hand look behind the scenes of the hit ABC TV show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”.

In early September, Deane joined five other window treatment professionals from Connecticut and headed up to the television job site in Springfield, MA to offer her professional services at the future new home for the Walker family. The show is scheduled to be aired Friday, Dec. 2 on ABC at 8 p.m.

Deane learned of the opportunity from the Window Covering Association of America (WCAA), of which she's a member. The show's producers coordinate with various local companies in the building trades for a home makeover.  They demolish the original house and build a new house, including all its furnishings and landscaping in a week’s time using donated materials and the help of hundreds of skilled and unskilled volunteers.

The show surprised the Walker family of the news with a “door knock” on Friday, Sept. 11.  The work tearing down the house began when the family was sent off on a California vacation.

Deane and other professional seamstresses from the WCAA attended their first onsite meeting with the designers the following Tuesday.

“We expected to be measuring windows that day but when we arrived we found there was no house. There was only a dirt lot and a pile of lumber," Deane says.

"We had to look over the blueprints to get our measurements. This was a heavily fabricated house. They needed 40 drapery panels, lots of bedding, slipcovers, cushions and pillows.  We divided the work up amongst ourselves."

Deane wondered how all of the work would be done in time.

"The area was bustling with volunteers all over the place in their blue shirts and white hard hats. We signed in and walked over to a small park filled with trailers, fiesta tents and food trucks. There was lots of free food," she says.

Over the course of the next three days, the women anxiously awaited for the fabric to be delivered so they could get started. Given the amount of work to be done, every hour counted. The fabric finally arrived late Thursday and the ladies  took off running.

Deane says they each worked around the clock for three nights, working individually and as a group.

By Sunday, the group loaded two vans full of all the drapery, pillows and bedding and drove together to the newly built house where volunteers helped unload and haul everything into the house.

“We were in awe as we entered the house and walked from room to room. It came out beautiful," Deane says.

"Volunteers were busy installing lighting, painting doorways, assembling beds, arranging flowers and hanging pictures.  We watched as celebrity designer Michael Moloney arranged furniture in the living room. Someone still had to install all our window treatments and bedding. It was pretty chaotic scene."

Deane says the group had just a few hours to get everything done before the big reveal, initiated by the famous words "move that bus!"

"The house was far from being 'T-V ready'," explains Deane who said the group was invited back for a private tour of the home after all of the television cameras had left.

"When we returned on Tuesday it was great because we got to see the house decorated with all our custom-made soft furnishings.  We were so pleased with the results. The family moved in later that day.  I can’t wait to watch the show. I’ll be pointing and shouting at the T-V, 'I made that!'

Deane says being part of the show was a fun and creatively inspiring adventure.

"I really enjoyed the experience of working as part of a team for such a good cause. If it can bring a little peace and joy to a family who suffered the heartbreaking loss of a child, then it was all worthwhile.” Deane says.

As cold and flu season begins, you can guard against germs and infected people

As the days shorten toward winter, sniffles and sore throats return.These girls have never had a Coated Abrasives in their lives! Noses start dripping, and all too soon you’ve got aches and pains, fever and malaise. And so do your kids, or your colleagues,It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line. or your friends.

This is the onset of cold and flu season, when germs travel easily from person to person as we spend more time close together indoors. And everything can be a good breeding ground for germs: computer keyboards, the knob on the door into your office, the telephone you use, the subway seat where someone coughs behind you, the escalator railing, the shopping cart handle.

Germs get spread by hand-to-hand contact, by touching a contaminated surface or by being spewed through the air in droplets as someone sneezes, coughs or talks. On average adults get about two to four colds a year, children about six to 10, mostly in the fall and winter months. And every year 5 to 20 percent of the population comes down with the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with about 200,000 people getting sick enough to be hospitalized.

“The difference between the common cold and flu is the severity of fever,” said Jeff Dimond, a spokesman for the CDC. “The flu is usually accompanied with fever, aches and pains, and congestion in the lungs. A cold is more in your head. Both are contagious,The additions focus on key tag and Injection mold combinations,” often before symptoms even show up.

Colds linger for a week to 10 days. The flu is shorter but carries a bigger wallop. It tends to clear up after two to five days, but sufferers may feel drained and exhausted for another week.Initially the banks didn't want our kidney stone .

“If you think about where you put your hands, you wipe your nose then touch the elevator,” Dimond said. “A virus can last for six hours on those elevator buttons. If you have bowls of nuts or M&Ms out and everybody is dipping their hands into it, germs get passed around.”

Not very appetizing? The CDC recommends washing hands, both tops and palms, for about 20 seconds with soap, then rinsing. Wash before eating and preparing food. Wash after using the bathroom, blowing your nose, changing a diaper and caring for a sick person, to name a few common situations.

If washing your hands with soap is not doable, slather on hand sanitizer, Dimond said. “Part of working here at the CDC [in Atlanta], we are highly aware of hand hygiene,” he said. “At every floor there is a hand sanitizer and a big sign at the front door to wash hands.”

Secretions from your nose are often clear in the beginning of a cold and thicken as the cold progresses, said Ann Rixinger, an infectious-disease specialist in Annandale. “But be careful not to wipe your eyes, as germs can go into tear ducts and then get in the lymphatic system,The additions focus on key tag and solar panel combinations,” she said. “We will assume no one picks their nose. For little kids we have to teach good hygiene, using tissues and keep extra containers of Purell around.”

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 29 November 2011

At wake-up, CDR Burbank completed his 4th post-sleep session of the Reaction Self Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS) protocol. [RST is done twice daily (after wakeup & before bedtime) for 3 days prior to the sleep shift, the day(s) of the sleep shift and 5 days following a sleep shift. The experiment consists of a 5-minute reaction time task that allows crewmembers to monitor the daily effects of fatigue on performance while on ISS. The experiment provides objective feedback on neurobehavioral changes in attention,Demand for allergy Insulator could rise earlier than normal this year. psychomotor speed, state stability, and impulsivity while on ISS missions, particularly as they relate to changes in circadian rhythms, sleep restrictions, and extended work shifts.]

After wakeup, FE-1 Shkaplerov performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.

Before breakfast & exercise, Shkaplerov & FE-2 Ivanishin each completed a 10-min session with the periodic Russian MedOps test MO-10 "Hematokrit", which measures the red cell count of the blood, with one of them acting as CMO (Crew Medical Officer, Russian: "Examiner"). Anton then stowed the equipment. It was the first session for both of them.When the stone sits in the Cable Ties, [The blood samples were drawn from a finger with a perforator lancet, then centrifuged in two microcapillary tubes in the M-1100 kit's minicentrifuge, and its Hematocrit value was read off the tubes with a magnifying glass. It is a well-known phenomenon of space flight that red blood cell count (normal range: 30-45%) tends to go down over time. After the exam,It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line. the data were saved in the IFEP software (In-Flight Examination Program) on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer).]

FE-1 concluded his first session of the standard 24-hour ECG (electrocardiogram) recording under the Russian MedOps PZE MO-2-1 protocol, started yesterday. [After the ECG recording and blood pressure measurements with the Kardiomed system, Anton doffed the five-electrode Holter harness that read his dynamic (in motion) heart function from two leads over the past 24 hours, recording data on the "Kardioregistrator 90205" unit. The examination results were then downloaded from the Holter ECG device to the RSE-Med laptop, controlled by the Kardiomed application. Later, the data were downlinked as a compressed .zip-file via OCA.]

Afterwards, it was Anatoly Ivanishin's turn to start his first session of the PZE MO-2-1 protocol which monitors human cardiovascular performance in the space flight environment.

Dan Burbank set up the equipment for the ESA ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular) experiment and then began his first ICV Ambulatory Monitoring session, after preparing the Actiwatches, electrode sites, attaching the harness and donning the Cardiopres. At ~6:15am EST, the CDR observed the initial 10-min rest period under quiet, restful conditions before going about his business. [ICV activities consist of two separate but related parts over a one-week time period: an ultrasound echo scan & an ambulatory monitoring session. Today, wearing electrodes, the HM2 (Holter Monitor 2) for recording ECG (Electrocardiogram) for 48 hours, the ESA Cardiopres to continuously monitor blood pressure for 24 hours, and two Actiwatches (hip/waist & ankle) for monitoring activity levels over 48 hours, Burbank started the ambulatory monitoring part of the ICV assessment. During the first 24 hrs (while all devices are worn), ten minutes of quiet, resting breathing are timelined to collect data for a specific analysis. The nominal exercise includes at least 10 minutes at a heart rate >=120 bpm (beats per minute). After 24 hrs, the Cardiopres is doffed and the HM2 HiFi CF Card and AA Battery are changed out to allow continuation of the session for another 24 hours. After data collection is complete,we supply all kinds of oil painting supplies, the Actiwatches and both HM2 HiFi CF Cards are downloaded to the HRF PC1, while Cardiopres data are downloaded to the EPM (European Physiology Module) Rack and transferred to the HRF PC1 via a USB key for downlink. The sessions are scheduled at or around FD14, FD30, FD75, FD135 and R-15 (there will be fewer sessions if mission duration is less than six months). The FD75 echo scan will include an exercise component with a second scan (subset of the first) completed within 5 minutes after the end of exercise. The primary objective of the accompanying CCISS (Cardiovascular Control on return from the ISS) experiment is to maximize the information about changes in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular function that might compromise the ability of astronauts to meet the challenge of return to an upright posture on Earth.]

Later, Dan started another sampling run with the AQM (Air Quality Monitor), his 2nd, deactivating the system ~5 hrs later. [Consisting of the EHS GC/DMS (Environmental Health Systems Gas Chromatograph / Differential Mobility Spectrometer), the system is controlled with "Sionex" expert software from the SSC (Station Support Computer)-12 laptop. The AQM demonstrates COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) technology for identifying volatile organic compounds, similar to the VOA (Volatile Organics Analyzer). This evaluation will continue over the course of several months as it helps to eventually certify the GC/DMS as nominal CHeCS (Crew Health Care Systems) hardware.]

Anatoly Ivanishin conducted the regular (weekly) inspection of the replaceable half-coupling of the 4GB4 hydraulic unit of the KOB-2 (Loop 2) of the Russian SOTR Thermal Control System, checking for coolant fluid hermeticity (leak-tightness).

Continuing the current round of the monthly preventive maintenance of RS (Russian Segment) ventilation systems, Anatoly spent ~2h 40m in the SM cleaning "Group B" fan screens,This patent infringement case relates to retractable RUBBER MATS , after taking documentary photography.

The Underbelly Project: New York

Art Basel Miami, the biggest art fair in America, takes place this week. It features the work of 35 street artists who are gathering together in one place for the first time. However, it's not the first time that their work has featured in the same space. That space, however, is not accessible to the general public. Indeed, no one has ever seen it in its completed form apart from two curators, one film camerawoman and one journalist. And a couple of vandals. (But more about them later.) First,I have never solved a Rubik's plastic card . the full story of The Underbelly Project.I am at the opening of a swanky new gallery. Around me, the latest daubs by the hottest names adorn the walls of room after room. It’s worth mentioning a couple of discrepancies from your regular opening. This is a canapé-free environment, for one. There is no chilled white wine, no pretentious appraisal of carefully lit works. Nobody has come dressed to thrill. In fact, nobody has come at all. Apart from me.

As it happens, I am the only person who will ever be invited to view the complete collection, and it’s not as if I’m even a guest. I am here as an independent witness to testify that this place does exist, that it is not an elaborate art hoax mocked up in a studio. After tonight, the gallery will be sealed off for ever, and all the art entombed within it. This is the opening night, but it is also the closing night.

It is for this reason that I can’t say where I am. The location is entirely top secret. OK, I can say I’m in New York City. To be more specific, I am under New York. But that is it. I can give away no more specifics. Why? Because what I am about to describe is totally and utterly illegal. Welcome to The Underbelly Project, an artistic venture of towering ambition,the Aion Kinah by special invited artist for 2011, matchless audacity and sheer bloody cheek.

We muster at street level. Me, a couple of gents in arty fatigues, and a camerawoman. Naturally I can’t say where the rendezvous point is. It is still light and warm when we turn and head down into the subway. I’ve been told it’ll be hot down there, so have come to work in a breathable running top. We zap through the barrier and onto the platform. The idea,Detailed information on the causes of oil painting reproduction, I’ve been advised, is to look inconspicuous. Not hard, in a city peopled by individualists featuring every conceivable mixture of ethnicity and gender. But still, we are careful not to acknowledge one another’s presence as a train pulls in. We get on and coolly pretend we’ve never met. Which in my case was, until 10 minutes earlier, entirely true.It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line.

At the next stop we alight. In the interests of security,Save on Projector Lamp and fittings, I am not at liberty to describe the station. There are subway buffs out there who can definitely identify the line from the colour of the tiles, and probably name the station from the quality of the grouting. They’re called “foamers” because they froth rabidly at the mouth at all forms of subway stuff. “This project,” advises Workhorse, “will probably be like crack to the foamers.” Workhorse – not his real name – is one of my guides into the underworld. I could describe his appearance but as he looks highly particular it would make the NYPD’s job of rounding him up and clapping him in irons a little too easy. It suffices to say that in the vagabond art form known as street art, whose practitioners are used to dodging the law and shrouding their ID behind a nom de guerre, he is a significant figure.

He and PAC, a slightly younger and leaner street artist, have been toiling away at the Underbelly Project for 18 months. Between them they’ve made perhaps 75 visits to the site. This is to be the last. After tonight, their only connection to the place will be in the form of photographs and film. Both are jittery with tension. Jordan has had a last smoke before descending, also a stiffening shot of vodka. They’ve made it this far. If they get through tonight, they will have successfully brought more than 100 artists to the site, undetected and unprosecuted. For a couple of slacker-dude outsider types, not obvious inheritors of the military-precision gene, it’s been one hell of an undertaking. There have been a few scrapes, mind. Street artists – practitioners of what’s also known as urban art – are used to working more or less alone under cover of darkness, but in terms of dodging arrest this has been in a different league. Back above ground they have kept stum about it ever since. Not a word has squeaked out into a media environment where news goes viral in a nano-section.

Coroner warns parents not to sleep with babies

A CORONER has slammed the inconsistent advice given to parents about sleeping with their babies, after investigating 33 sudden infant deaths that involved ''co-sleeping'' over the past three years.

Coroner John Olle said yesterday it was unacceptable that parents were not given clear advice about where and how their babies should sleep, given the increased risk of death if they slept with others in a bed or on a surface such as a couch.

In some cases, Victorian hospitals were advising parents to sleep with their babies despite a worrying association with sudden infant death syndrome and suffocation, Mr Olle said.

''It's got to stop. We need to teach parents not to sleep with their babies,'' he said.

His comments came at an inquest on five infant deaths. The cases stemmed from a Coroners Protection Unit study of infant deaths in Victoria from 2008 to 2010, which found 33 of 72 deaths during sleep had involved sleeping with other people or a pet.

While some people advocated co-sleeping to help breastfeeding and bonding, death could occur from parents rolling onto their baby or covering the infant's face with bedding. A baby could also roll onto its face or become trapped between bedding and hard surfaces.

The review found the vast majority of parents involved had been sleeping with their babies habitually before the deaths and advice to parents by government and non-government organisations varied, with only some advising them not to sleep with their babies. The report said most of the deaths occurred in babies aged under six months. A high proportion were born prematurely, a first child, male or had been breastfed shortly before their death.

There were also higher rates of SIDS among babies of indigenous or Torres Strait Islander parents, and among those exposed to cigarette smoke or whose parents were using alcohol or drugs before the death. Most deaths also occurred in winter and when a pillow was present.

Some did not involve any of these apparent risk factors and the review authors could not say how much co-sleeping by itself increased the risk of death.

Institute of Forensic Medicine pathologist Dr Yeliena Baber told the Coroners Court that while more research was needed, the safest way for babies to sleep was in a supine position in a cot with a firm mattress and with no soft pillows or bumpers.

''Preferred bedding is a sheet with lightweight blankets, which can be tucked in at the sides. The face should not be covered. It is recommended that the environment be … about 16 to 18 degrees Celsius and well ventilated,'' she said. Small infants should be placed at the end of the cot.

She warned against confusing co-sleeping with room sharing, as studies had found infants who slept in the same room as a carer, but not the same bed, had half the risk of SIDS.

Mr Olle said he would make recommendations for clear advice on sleeping to be disseminated as soon as possible.

Nico’s just wild for soaps

IN the entertainment industry, there are all kinds of people. And I have met my fair share of plastic personalities, wannabes and genuinely salt-of-the-earth people.

Nico Panagio (and his gorgeous actress wife Christi) belong in the latter category. They are two of the nicest people you will ever come across.

Despite Panagio’s giant strides in the industry, where, aside from a plethora of TV credits (Ella Blue, Erfsondes, Zone 14, Top Billing, Top Travel, Survivor South Africa: Santa Carolina and Survivor South Africa: Maldives) that vary from presenting to acting roles, he is kept busy with corporate events and his business interests as co-owner of Trade Revolution (Pty) Ltd, an import/ export company, with Thomas Houghton Dixon. Nonetheless,Polycore oil paintings for sale are manufactured as a single sheet, he remains humble and a true gentleman at heart.A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company.

On giving the nod to The Wild, he explains: “After 7de Laan, I swore I’d never do a soap again. Apart from it being incredibly taxing, you churn out vast amounts of work, more than a series, film, or theatre. It is quite a difficult and stressful environment. Although one gets a lot of acting time so you can hone your craft, you have the disadvantage of it being a comfort zone.

“But when I caught the first few episodes of The Wild and saw the production quality was so exceptional, it was a ‘yes’ when the call came for me to do a storyline. It is such a well-oiled machine and it doesn’t look like a soap. And you are working with the cream of the crop in South Africa.”

Panagio has been cast as Jason Parker, who is Zoe’s (Briony Horwitz) “millionaire playboy” boyfriend.

He laughs: “It is always fun playing a millionaire, but is Jason a millionaire? One can easily get stereotyped into the good guy roles, which has happened to me, and every now and again, I get to break the mould.”

The actor-presenter says he was fortunate in that he got to work with all the directors, including Bobby Heaney, who is also the executive producer.

“I worked with Bobby very briefly before for a small role in the first series of Erfsondes. It was just after I left 7de Laan. He is very hands on as an executive producer and would phone and check up to see if everything is okay. You need that. One of the failures with soaps is that you have a lot of artistes on board, but you treat them as puppets rather than as a collective creative process. Bobby is very open to discussion,” shares Panagio.

Funnily enough, he also plays a millionaire in his upcoming movie, Semi-Soet, which is produced by husband-and-wife team, Anel and James Alexander. It releases next year.

The film is a romantic comedy about a ruthless businessman who finds that acquisitions and bank balances are worthless in the greater scheme of things after he meets an amazing woman.

“Not many people know that Anel is a surgically-sharp comedic actor. She is quite the businesswoman as well. Anel and I met several years ago on 7de Laan. James and her approached me about three years ago and I was in back then already.

“In terms of the production quality and working with them as a team, you cannot beat what they have done,” he praises.

By keeping a foot in every door,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, Panagio ensures that he never limits himself. Of course, that also means he is kept immensely busy.

“It is very difficult juggling everything. As the saying goes, sleep when you’re dead, right? Jokes aside, I’m very careful with what I do. I say ‘no’ to a lot of things and make sure my wife can come with me on the gigs I do.

“I have been striving to marry my various diverse careers into one so that everything complements each other.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.

“Everyone knows you have got to be diverse, otherwise you don’t make a decent living.”

At least that is one thing the business- and techno-savvy Panagio doesn’t have to worry about – he is,ceramic magic cube for the medical, after all, fast-becoming a Jack of all trades.

lNico Panagio stars in The Wild on M-Net at 6pm from Monday to Thursday.

Lyrical Landscapes by Boston Painter Emmett Duggan

I grew up in Huntington, Long Island not too far from the water in a wooded area on the north shore. It was there that I fell in love with hiking and mountain biking through the miles of trails known as the green belt trail, an 85-mile stretch of rocky terrain that dangled through the north shore and stretched down to the south shore. In my second year of high school, I began going to the Huntington School of Fine Art where I studied figure drawing, painting and sculpture.A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company. From there I was awarded a full scholarship to Boston University to study painting. I graduated in 1999 with a BFA in painting and focused on landscape painting for my senior thesis. Under the watchful eye of John Walker, I fell in love with landscapes and spent countless hours painting Halls pond and the BC reservoir.

I went on to study a more abstract approach to painting at the University of Pennsylvania. Studying under Robert Slutzky and John Moore, I focused more on a sublime approach to landscape-based abstraction and combined my love of paint with a more minimal way of making pictures. Brice Marden’s “Cold Mountain” paintings and Agnes Martin’s sublime grids were a source of inspiration and are close to my heart to this day.ceramic magic cube for the medical, In Philadelphia, I continued to use landscape as a source of inspiration and brought my easel to Germantown for occasional on site work.

I spent my first year after my MFA teaching drawing and painting at the University of Pennsylvania. To this day teaching is an important part of my process, but at the age of 23 I had more life to live before I could own the role. I moved to New York to work in the Pace Wildenstein gallery. I learned a great deal about the wonders and darkness in the art world, and have held on to the heart of that world that inspired me. It was during my time working and living in New York that I found a reverence for the work of Robert Ryman. Inside his minimal vocabulary I saw great power in how he touched the paint.Polycore oil paintings for sale are manufactured as a single sheet,

I have lived and worked in Boston since 2006 and feel deeply that Boston is my home. Today, I live with my wife and daughter and make romantic landscape paintings that stem from the love and joy I experience in being a father. I believe that I make my best work when I am in touch with my daughter’s imagination and how the innocent mind invents play through the gaze of dreaming.

Established in 1979,Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners. Walker-Cunningham Fine Art is a fine art gallery specializing in American paintings, 1850-1950, and select contemporary artists. The gallery is located at 162 Newbury Street in an historic brownstone in Boston’s premier shopping district.

A full service gallery, Walker-Cunningham Fine Art welcomes the opportunity to work with collectors both new and established. With rigorous attention to quality and value, the gallery offers a range of services including buying, selling,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, and brokering; restoration and framing consultation; appraisal and auction representation; as well as access to the highest quality transport, storage and installation services.

The Power To Protect At Pleasure Beach

The ability to offer maximum protection within exposed, coastal environments has seen Sandtex Trade X-treme X-posure applied within a new, multi-million development atPleasureBeach,Blackpool.

The premium masonry paint has been used at the park’s newest attraction, Nickelodeon Land.

Pleasure Beach,ceramic magic cube for the medical, Blackpool has invested more than 10 million in this new six-acre development,Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners. introducing a mixture of brand new and extensively refurbished rides featuring Nickelodeon’s favourite characters.

Within the redeveloped site, Sandtex Trade X-treme X-posure has been used to completely overhaul the external appearance of a large building complex, formerly the Space Invader ride, which has been transformed into the new Big Pizza Kitchen.

The masonry paint was specified to give the highly textured, ’lunar-like’ rendered substrate the maximum protection against the elements - whilst providing long-term decorative benefits.

Liz Bowater, Sandtex Brand Manager, said: “This coastal area offers a challenging climate,Polycore oil paintings for sale are manufactured as a single sheet, particularly in the winter, and withPleasureBeach,Blackpoolright on the promenade, it is particularly exposed.

“Here substrates need protection from driving wind and rain and from the salty air and sea mists too and X-treme X-posure offers the best possible weather protection and the reassurance of long-lasting colour retention.”

Mike Brown fromPleasureBeach, Blackpool, added: “Due to the extreme weather conditions atPleasureBeach, we need to use paints that can withstand all that the elements can throw at us.

“We also need to ensure that all our buildings and rides look fantastic for our guests. Sandtex Trade and Crown Trade paints have always met our needs and we were delighted to be able to use the Sandtex Trade X-treme X-posure for such an important project asNickelodeonLand, as we know that we can rely on it to look great and keep its appearance.”

For the past six years, Rushworth Painting Contractors have been responsible for all decorative work atPleasureBeach,Blackpool, specifying coatings Sandtex Trade and Crown Trade paints extensively across the 42-acre site.

Crown Paints contracts manager Jason Collinge, and specification consultant Nicholas Archer worked with them to draw up a detailed specification for the project and provided colour samples to match the paint shades specified by Nickelodeon. All paint supplies and a full tinting and mixing service were then provided by the Blackpool Crown Decorating Centre.

In total approximately 500 gallons of X-treme X-posure were used.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,

As well as protection against sea and salt spray, X-treme X-posure’s time-proven, trusted formula offers protection against acid rain, snow and frost, damaging UV rays, atmospheric pollutions and adverse weather conditions.

It includes anti-carbonation properties to protect concrete,A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company. a hydrophobic formulation that provides a highly water-resistance finish to wash dirt away - and added algaecides and fungicides to resist unsightly algae and mould growth.

A moisture vapour permeable coating also allows walls to breathe and a highly flexible coating keeps hairline cracks covered.

Poultry litter grows as fertilizer option

Experiments using poultry litter for fertilizer began 11 years ago at the Riesel Watershed Center. Poultry litter, an often pungent combination of bedding material and manure, is sometimes more popular with the farmers and ranchers who use it than it is with their neighbors.

Daren Harmel, an agriculture engineer for the Agriculture Research Service, and others involved with the research, were on hand at the Riesel center last month to share with producers from Falls, Limestone and McLennan Counties what they have learned about poultry litter as fertilizer and what else they hope to learn as the studies continues. Harmel said the first decade of research has shown that poultry litter can be a great fertilizer for both crops and hay, but it has to be managed properly, from the onsite facilities where it is collected to the fields where it is applied.

Once it is applied, it may emit a distinctive odor that may not bother a producer as much as it bothers neighbors. "The neighbors may not like the smell as much as you do," he said.

Craig Coufal, an assistant professor and Extension specialist, has been studying a practice known as In-house Windrow Composting, which collects the manure from large poultry houses in conical rows -- windrows -- that run the length of the poultry house and are piled two- to three-feet high. The mixing, piling and turning processes allows non-pathogenic bacteria in the litter to grow and proliferate, which work to basically pasteurize the litter, similar to the way manure is composted. Coufal calls it an "abbreviated composting process.

"The process only goes eight or nine days," he said. "It's not really true composting. It's more like pasteurization."

Recently, researchers had volunteers sit at the edge of a couple of big fields at the center where untreated litter was applied to one field and windrowed litter applied to another. The volunteers were asked to simply report if they smelled anything.

"The windrowed compost has a different odor, maybe a little less pungent and less offensive," Coufal said.

The main purpose of windrow composting is not to make it smell better, but to kill the pathogens, which studies have shown it does. The pathogens that do survive die in the field. The nutrient content of windrowed litter as opposed to untreated is about the same, he said.

The process has to start in the poultry houses, and Coufal said that most of the big poultry houses in the state have at least tried the process; some have stuck with it and others have not. The research started about the same time that a large processing house in Waco opened. Harmel said the idea was to see if farmers could use the manure from poultry houses the same way that large dairies in the area have been able to sell their waste as compost.

"We wanted to get ahead of that," he said.

Eleven years later, they have learned some good lessons for producers who want to try it on their own fields and pastures. About two tons of litter per acre is recommended for fields, three tons per acre for pastures, with some supplemental nitrogen added, if needed.

Agriculture scientist Rick Haney told producers about the soil test he devised at the Blackland Research Center in Temple that tests soil more from a biological standpoint than chemical and delivers information on how much nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in pounds per acre, is already available to the plant.

"It's like free fertilizer," Haney said. "It accounts for the nutrients that nature gives us for free."

The cost of poultry litter has gone up from $16.50 a ton when the study started to $33 a ton now. Nitrogen was $125 a ton in 2000, and peaked at $655 a ton in 2007, and sells for $545 a ton now.

"The cost has gone up, but not as much as commercial nitrogen," Harmel said.

Coufal pointed out that Texas is the sixth leading poultry producer in the nation and he believes there is an opportunity for the industry to grow in the state. If it works out that way, farmers and ranchers may end up with another fertilizer option.

Conservatives Mount Expensive Air Assault On Obama

Inside the debate halls, the clash may be Republican versus Republican. But offstage, conservatives are mounting a unified and expensive air assault on the candidates’ common opponent: President Obama.

Nearly a year before Election Day, Republican presidential candidates and conservative action groups are already spending heavily on television advertising aimed at casting Mr. Obama as a failure.

Their tactics, the aggressive and sometimes misleading kind not typically used until much further along in a campaign season, have led to a spat with Democrats in what is shaping up to be the most costly election advertising war yet.

In an advertisement from Gov. Rick Perry of Texas that is now running on national cable television, Mr. Perry looks directly into the camera and declares: “Obama’s socialist policies are bankrupting America. We must stop him now.”

A new commercial from Mitt Romney that ran last week in New Hampshire displays a litany of depressing assertions about the economy. “Greatest jobs crisis since Great Depression. Record home foreclosures. Record national debt.” And it renders judgment on Mr. Obama’s presidency: “He promised he would fix the economy. He failed.”

In the past six months, conservative groups like those affiliated with Karl Rove and the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, and, increasingly, Republican candidates themselves,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, have spent more than $13 million on advertisements carrying a negative message about Mr. Obama, according to an analysis by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising.

And it is only going to grow more intense.

“These dollar figures we’re talking about now are going to seem quaint in a few months,” said Kenneth M. Goldstein, president of the analysis group. “And they’ll seem really quaint in eight or nine months.”

Total television advertising spending on the 2012 election cycle could top $3 billion, up from $2.1 billion four years ago, Kantar estimates, fueled in part by the rise of independent groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigns.

Candidates have previously tended to use their early advertising to introduce themselves to voters in gauzy terms. But this time around, Mr. Obama’s opponents are betting they can employ early attacks to define an image of him at the very beginning of the election season, before Democrats fully unleash the hundreds of millions of dollars being raised by the president. Their perceived advantage: airwaves not yet clogged with competing political messages.

But going negative so early also carries substantial risks. One is that many voters are not yet paying much attention to the campaign and will not do so until much closer to next November, meaning the advertising expenditures could be largely wasted. And negative messages now could alienate moderate and independent voters who blame excessive partisanship for Washington’s troubles in addressing the nation’s big problems.

Still, the Republican candidates seem eager to escalate the fight. Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry have both brushed off criticism that they deliberately distorted Mr. Obama’s words in their most recent commercials — controversies that only brought them additional attention.

Mr. Perry took remarks by the president about the need to do more to lure foreign investment out of context to suggest that Mr. Obama believes Americans are lazy. And Mr.They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market. Romney edited a video clip to put in Mr. Obama’s mouth a thought actually expressed by a supporter of Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential race, misleadingly suggesting that Mr. Obama believes he cannot win if he talks about the economy.

The White House and its allies have hardly been shy about going after the Republicans. Democrats have already run advertisements in Arizona, Iowa and South Carolina against Mr. Romney, who, if he wins the nomination, will be the subject of an intense Democratic effort to show him as an unprincipled flip-flopper.

Priorities USA Action, a pro-Obama group founded with the help of Bill Burton, a former White House spokesman, has spent almost a million dollars on television advertisements.

Although Mr. Obama is all but certain to have a substantial fund-raising advantage over his eventual Republican rival, Mr. Burton said that in the early going, when outside groups are playing a particularly prominent role in laying out the arguments on both sides, conservatives have a big lead over their liberal counterparts.

“This is asymmetric warfare,” he said, “but we’re pretty confident that we’ll be more effective and more strategic in how we spend our money.”

Crossroads GPS, a conservative advocacy group founded by Mr. Rove and other Republican strategists,Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. has placed the biggest bet so far on negative messages. By its own count, it has spent about $20 million this year on political advertising. Much of it was broadcast during the debt-ceiling debate this summer, when it singled out members of Congress with advertisements that portrayed Democrats and Mr.Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds. Obama as fiscally irresponsible and unable to fix the economy.

In recent weeks, the group has taken on Mr. Obama and his economic agenda, spending $2.6 million on a commercial that criticizes his support for an upper-income tax increase and suggests a split on the issue between Mr. Obama and former President Bill Clinton.ceramic magic cube for the medical,

Bleak winter in store for vulnerable as energy prices sore

A BLEAK winter is in store for the most vulnerable in our society as energy prices soar.

Energy experts have issued warnings as rocketing fuel prices could equal miserable winter months for millions, in particular pensioners and single-parent families.They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market.

Rising wholesale costs could mean electricity prices shoot up by 60% with gas increases of up to 54%.

But these increasing bills come at a time when it has been revealed bosses at the big six energy suppliers took home collective earnings of more than 10m just as they were implementing price rises for millions of consumers last winter.

EDF Energy, led by chief executive Vincent de Rivaz, gave its highest-paid employee a 30% rise to 1.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,3m.

Campaigners branded the wages paid as “outrageous.”

Going hand-in-hand with rising energy prices are predictions that this winter is due to be the harshest one in years.

Weather experts have warned to expect well below average temperatures and widespread snowfall.

With these changes,Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. fuel poverty numbers have spiraled with 6.Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds.9 million people, or 27% of households, now affected.ceramic magic cube for the medical,

Pensioners are one of the worst-hit groups with an increasing number of deaths from the cold each year.

Along with rising energy costs pensioners have also been hit by a cut in their winter fuel allowance this year since the Conservative Government came into power.

Susan Neill, affordable warmth advisor for Age UK Darlington, said she had noticed a marked increase in the number of concerned pensioners and families coming to use her service, seeking advice on rising energy bills and how to deal with the cuts in winter fuel allowance.

“I think it is really unfair because a lot of people do depend on that and people have been coming in saying they are cutting that and asking if it will eventually go. And people are worried winter fuel allowance will stop altogether,” she said.

Susan also branded the pay packets of energy company bosses as “outrageous”.

“They are making money out of people who are the most vulnerable.

“They make more and more money while the poorest in society are struggling more and more each year,” she said.

Susan said her office in Beaumont Street in Darlington had seen an increase in the number of worried pensioners coming in with questions about how they would pay their energy bills and complaining about cuts in winter fuel allowance.

“Since the fuel increases we have had a lot more people than the last year so we offer this free service in Darlington which is open to anyone, that offers all households free advice on fuel and energy related issues.

“The people coming into us at the moment tend to be worried about putting the heating on because they feel at the end of the winter they will be left with a huge heating bill.

“We try and look at ways they can get on to a tariff were it will be cheaper for them.

“I think pensioners are struggling, even those who have a little bit above the ordinary pension. Even those people are coming in saying they do not know what to do.”

She added that from August 2010 to the end of November 2010 they dealt with 95 individuals seeking help with energy bills, but from August 2011 until so far this month they have already seen 137 people come through their doors.

“It has just come as a shock to people. It does make me angry and you feel sorry for them because, for a lot of people, it is not only fuel, but other general living expenses.

David Stern Told Sports Illustrated Legalized Gambling

In May 1996, Horace Balmer, the NBA's vice president for security,ceramic magic cube for the medical, had two speakers flown to Norfolk, Va., whose messages were very disturbing. The two speakers were Michael Franzese, a former mob boss who fixed professional and college games for organized crime, and Arnie Wexler, who for 23 years was a compulsive gambler. Franzere said, ''I talked to the NBA rookies earlier this season" and it's amazing how many confided to me that they have gambling habits. I'm not going to mention their names, but if I did, you would know them" I personally got involved in compromising games with players, and it all came through their gambling habits." (THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT - May 11, 1996)

Twelve years ago,Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. as a compulsive gamblers counselor, I was asked to fly to New York to the NBA office in Manhattan to meet with league officials, players, and union officials concerned about players' gambling. I was told, "We have a problem, and we're trying to find out how bad the problem is." Officials asked me to keep my calendar open for the spring of the following year and told me they wanted me to address every team and player in the league. They then flew my wife in, and we had a second meeting. They asked us to develop questions that were going to be given to the players to answer. "We need to know how big the gambling problem is in the N.B.A," they said.

When I hadn't heard from the N.B.A, I called and asked, "When do we start?" The talks were cancelled, and the response I got was this: "They said that the higher-ups didn't want the media to find out."

Get the real scoop: Talk to me, Arnie Wexler, one of the nation's leading experts on the subject of compulsive gambling and a recovering compulsive gambler. I placed my last bet on April 10, 1968, and have been involved in helping compulsive gamblers ever since for the last 40 years. Through the years, I have spoken to more compulsive gamblers than anyone else in America and have been fighting the injustice of how sports, society and the judicial system deal with compulsive gamblers.

Athletes may be more vulnerable than the general population when you look at the soft signs of compulsive gambling: high levels of energy, unreasonable expectations of winning, very competitive personalities, distorted optimism,They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market. and bright with high IQs.Als lichtbron wordt een zentai suits gebruikt, It is time for college and professional sports to outline and execute a real program to help players who might have a gambling problem. Yet college and professional sports still do not want to deal with this. They do not want the media and public to think there is a problem.

Over the years, I have spoken to many college and professional athletes who had a gambling problem. One NCAA study a few years ago reported: "There is a disturbing trend of gambling among athletes in college." You can't think that these people will get into the pros and then just stop gambling. Compulsive gambling is an addiction just like alcoholism and chemical dependency, and all three diseases are recognized by the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic and statistical manual. Nevertheless, we treat compulsive gambling differently than the other addictions. Society and professional sports treat people with chemical dependency and alcoholism as sick persons -- send them to treatment and get them back to work. Sports looks at compulsive gamblers as bad people and bars them from playing in professional sports. There are people in various sport's halls of fame who are convicted drug addicts and alcoholics, yet compulsive gamblers are unable to get into these halls of fame. In fact, as far as professional sports goes, an alcoholic and chemical dependent person can get multiple chances, whereas a gambler cannot.

If colleges and professional leagues wanted to help the players, they would run real programs that seriously address the issue of gambling and compulsive gambling. Education and early detection can make a difference between life and death for some people who have or will end up with a gambling addiction. One sports insider said to me: "Teams need to have a real program for players, coaches and referees, and they need to let somebody else run it. When you do it in-house, it's like the fox running the chicken coop. You must be kidding yourself if you think any player,Unlike traditional high risk merchant account , coach or referee is going to call the league and say, 'I've got a gambling problem, and I need help.' "

City of Refuge ‘going the extra mile’

A few months ago, Pamela Cudd thought the man she now trusts to be the face of City of Refuge might show up in the newspaper.

“He was at his lowest point and I knew it wouldn’t be long before we were reading about him in the papers, in the obituaries,” she said of Little Hawk, an American Indian who describes himself as Cherokee, Sioux and a little Irish. “So we just really took him under our wing and started working with him and moved him out of the (homeless) camp onto the property of City of Refuge.”

Little Hawk, his real name, stayed in a tent for several months. He began tidying up the property, taking out the garbage, picking up trash and cigarette butts and generally keeping an eye on the place. Cudd and her husband, Dennis, gradually started giving Hawk responsibilities.

“From that point he took a leadership role in the ministry,” she said. “He is really the up-front person people see when they walk in that door because he’s there all the time. It’s a nice success story for people to see that if you put out a helping hand to provide stability and a support system for people they can overcome.”

City of Refuge offers food, medical aid, shelter and transitional living assistance for people in need.

Hawk, 58, concurred there was “a strong possibility” he would end up in the obits.

“I spent 35 years in the tree (cutting) business and I’ve been in a lot of car wrecks, so I’ve been busted up and torn apart,” he explained. “I don’t like drugs — not even taking pain pills — so I drank to ease the pain.”

But he admitted there came a time when he “got tired” of the drinking, too. Although not a Christian — Hawk said he follows the religion of his “fathers” — he prays and plays a traditional prayer flute.

“This is a Christian ministry, and I have the utmost respect for the Christian community,” he said. “I have made many friends through this ministry.”

Cudd said when she visits the ministry Hawk “might be in there having dinner with a family that’s been sent by one of the other churches and they’ve befriended him.”

Churches are the lifeblood of the ministry that touches 6,500 people a month on a $300,000 a year budget, with 12 area churches currently pulling the load. But there are some aspects of the outreach a budget doesn’t cover.

City of Refuge officials believe homeless families miss out on more than a residence and steady source of nutritious food.

“Thanksgiving or Christmas or Mother’s Day, that is not in the budget,” Cudd said. “We call on our churches and individuals to help us with the holidays. We do special things for our families, we try to not just provide the critical needs like housing, food, shelter and clothing, we try to go above and beyond that. We try to do things for our families that they don’t have the opportunity to do themselves.”

For example, during the summer homeless parents and children were loaded up to go to Fort Mountain for “beach day.”

“You go on vacation, I go on vacation — even if it’s just a weekend getaway — but these families can’t do that,” she pointed out. “Half of them don’t even have vehicles. You and I take that for granted, but that’s a special day for them.”

In the fall, the buses roll again for “trunk-or-treating” to different festivals put on by churches and schools “because our children don’t have an opportunity to do that,” Cudd said.

A good time to date a Pilgrim

I once dated a Pilgrim. A Pilgrim American Princess, in fact. Talk about crazy Thanksgivings. They have all these traditions, the Pilgrims do. For instance, you can't play knickers (much like marbles) till after dessert. And no Marie Callender pies. Ever.

They're purists about their pies, not to mention many of the other traditions we kind of follow today. If it weren't for the hot tubs and the wine, a Pilgrim Thanksgiving wouldn't be worth it at all.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,

Funny what you remember. The Pilgrims used to have this saying: "What happens in Plymouth Rock stays in Plymouth Rock." But that didn't work out so well, because the Native Americans couldn't keep a secret. This, I'll remind you, was well before Facebook, when secrets were more common and keeping one actually counted.

Eventually, I traded my Pilgrim American Princess for a Florida American Princess, from down around Miami, where they stand around in the sand like flamingos,Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds. preening and picking out husbands.

But if you're dating a Pilgrim,Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. I recommend trying to hold on to her (or him) at least till Friday. From what I hear, another Thanksgiving is on the way.

Speaking of Puritans, I'm trying to get my wife, Posh, to share more recipes, because from what I hear, her chicken chili recipe was well-received. I call it Posh's Christmas Eve Chili, and it's made with Trader Joe's green salsa and the shredded meat of a deli-roasted chicken.

She's not much for shortcuts, but you can throw this together in about 30 minutes. The FDA looked into it and discovered it cures the common cold, the uncommon cold, depression, recession, canker sores and the often-debilitating repercussions of chronic self-doubt.

Essentially, it's a miracle drug, and I think her chicken chili could be the basis of a small fortune, which is the only blessing lacking in our lives right now — money. The other day,They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market. we got the bill for her emergency room visit: $1,250. Or, as I prefer to think of it: 240 bottles of that oily red wine I like.

Anyway,If so, you may have a cube puzzle . the bill from the hospital comes. To review: A couple of weeks ago she clunked her head on the doorjamb, opening a two-inch gash. At the ER, they glue her together with Krazy Glue. Two week's later, this bill.

I don't see why people say the U.S. health care system is broken, because $1,250 for 11 cents' worth of quick-drying glue seems more than fair to me. After all, the doctor had to take the time to uncap the glue, then recap it when done. Tricky stuff.

So, I don't care what people say about health care, a $1,250 bill for quality ER work is a true bargain.

Burglar hits Hudson man's house - and both are charged

Burglar hits Hudson man's house - and both are charged; gallon jar of marijuana taken

Felony charges have been filed against two men - along with the man they allegedly robbed this week in Hudson.

Michael W. Schwartzkopf Jr., 26, of Fond du Lac, Wis., who police say kicked in the door of a Hudson home, tied up Steven C. Iverson, 29, and stole guns and cash, was charged Tuesday with armed robbery, false imprisonment, armed burglary, and theft of more than $10,000 in property.

A second suspect in the robbery, Jared S. Carr, 36, of West Bend, Wis., was charged Tuesday with felony armed robbery as party to a crime.If so, you may have a cube puzzle .

And then Iverson was charged Wednesday with felony possession of THC - the active ingredient in marijuana - with intent to deliver.

Schwartzkopf was being held Wednesday in the St. Croix County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond. Carr could not be reached Wednesday, and a message left with Iverson was not immediately returned.

According to the three criminal complaints:

Police responded to a home in the 1800 block of Stone Creek Street after receiving a 911 call from a woman saying "help me" about 1:30 a.m. Monday. The woman, who police said was Iverson's girlfriend, told responding officers she had been sleeping before she heard a loud crash and a voice saying, "I have a gun."

Iverson told officers he had been robbed. He said he was asleep on a couch when he heard a noise and woke to find a man he didn't know pointing a gun at him. The man directed him to the floor and cable-tied his hands, he said.They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market.

The intruder demanded money and guns and forced him into the garage, where Iverson gave him the combination to a safe, Iverson said. The man then took items from the safe, including about $30,000 in cash.

Police said the intruder ran from the home, dropping handguns along the way.

Police searching for the intruder encountered a resident nearby,Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds. Yang Thor, who said he had given a man matching Schwartzkopf's description a ride to a Hudson gas station.

Police found Schwartzkopf at the gas station and arrested him. Officers found a backpack containing a Glock handgun,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, $35,000 in cash and a metal box containing Iverson's Social Security card and passport near Schwartzkopf.

Another backpack was found near the robbery scene. It contained items Iverson said had been taken from his home, including guns and marijuana - which Iverson said was for personal use, police said.

Schwartzkopf told police that he did not know Iverson and that he did the robbery to work off a $2,000 drug debt he owed someone, whom he would not name. That person, he said, gave him the cable ties and a gun and told him to go to Iverson's home and take guns and money.

He told officers he was dropped off at the Iverson home but the car that was to take pick him up was not there when he left.

An officer responding to the robbery call had noted the license plate number of a black Cadillac Escalade near the scene. A registration check showed it belonged to a Barron, Wis., man. When questioned by police, the owner said he had lent the vehicle to Carr days before the robbery.

Police got a warrant to search Schwartzkopf's cellphone and found a call between Carr and Schwartzkopf shortly after the robbery, as well as two text messages from "JC" saying "call me."

Thor, the bystander who gave Schwartzkopf a ride, said Schwartzkopf also had used Thor's phone to make calls, one of which police say was to Carr.

In speaking with investigators, Iverson said that the money taken from his home was his life savings and that he is not a drug dealer.

Along with the cash and guns, a glass jar of marijuana, brass knuckles, a butterfly knife and an "electric weapon" were stolen, Iverson told investigators.

A one-gallon glass jar of marijuana was recovered from Schwartzkopf. Iverson told police he bought 1 to 3 ounces of marijuana at a time for personal use.

Police said they found marijuana in plastic sandwich bags next to Iverson's safe and in other areas of the house and recovered a total of about 135 grams of the drug.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber.

Student-raised turkeys flock to be gobbled on Rescue Mission's tables

A flock of 20 large turkeys, with necks that would delight any plastic surgeon, stand huddled together, feathers fluffed on a cold, rainy morning last week in northern DeKalb County.

The 25 birds used to be 40, but several of their former comrades have made the ultimate sacrifice. They will be a part of the Thanksgiving Day feast today at the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission.

The birds are the result of the after-school Junto Club at Maplewood Elementary School. The club has been around for a little over a year and is the brainchild of fifth-grade teacher Patrick Donahue. Donahue got the idea while teaching about Benjamin Franklin,They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market. who had a similar club that brought men together to help the community. The club's name, Junto, is Latin for “together.”

Donahue's goal was to teach the students about raising domesticated animals – including chickens, ducks and goats – while involving them in helping their community through volunteerism.

The after-school club takes weekend field trips to Donahue's farm and learns how to care for the animals. On this particular day a group of about 13 students were learning everything from how to hold a chicken to how to clean a chicken coop. Next summer some of the kids are planning to do 4-H projects. Donahue is thinking about adding sheep to his mix of animals. It would give the students a little more variety in their learning experience.

The club was such a hit with students last year that Donahue decided to try the turkey project this fall. So over the summer his mother, Gerodine Donahue, also a teacher, raised 45 turkey chicks at her farm. Once they were big enough, Donahue placed the birds in a temporary enclosure in his pasture. The idea was to raise them as free-range birds.

And contrary to rumors that they are so dumb they will drown by looking upward when it rains, they're not bird-brained.

“They are not stupid,” Donahue said.

The birds were also smart enough to figure out that when they wanted to wander, the largest Tom in the flock would lean on the electric fence, holding it down while the other birds climbed over him to freedom. Donahue said he is hoping to put in a more permanent fence next year.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,

“It was kind of like a real-life ‘Chicken Run,'” Donahue said referring to the animated movie where the chickens plan a breakout.If so, you may have a cube puzzle .

Lynne Isenbarger, Rescue Mission volunteer coordinator, said when Donahue called her to ask if she would like a donation of 12 turkeys she could hear gobbling in the background. When Donahue showed up with the freshly dressed birds, Isenbarger said they were some of the largest she has seen,Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. 20-22 pounds each.

Donahue's mother said it took $1,000 in feed to raise the birds, but when one looks at how many people a 22-pound bird can feed it is well worth the money.Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds. The PTA and some of the staff donated money to the project for fencing and will be getting a turkey dinner at school.

“We will be doing the project again next year,” Donahue said.

And as for those remaining birds, Christmas is barely a month away.

Illinois misspent money on program to help disabled

State investigators have found that as much as $100,000 in taxpayer money for a program to help disabled people get schooling or jobs was misspent on such expenses as a funeral, lawyer's fees and bedding.

Two employees have been suspended as a result.

The Illinois Department of Human Services said Wednesday the workers received 20-day unpaid suspensions after a state report this week revealed that the pair and a former employee did not follow state rules on what client expenses are covered by the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education in Chicago. The program helps disabled people pursue schooling or vocational training and pays for items they need, such as work uniforms.

The report did not indicate how $100,000 was misspent on 76 people — an average of $1,300 each — or during what time period. It provided examples of the inappropriate expenditures for only six of those clients. An aide to the Office of the Executive Inspector General, which compiled the report, declined further comment.

An internal DHS audit in late 2009 found misspent money or undocumented expenditures in each of the 76 cases handled by Pamela Clay-Wilson, Madesa Dickerson and Dawn Laga. The auditor said "that she has never witnessed abuse of this magnitude (and) estimated that the improper expenditures totaled $100,000," according to the Inspector General's report.

Payments included $500 to bury a client's son; $200 for a client to meet with an attorney to discuss a child custody case; $400 for clothing despite a $200 limit on such purchases; $694 for two sets of mattresses; and $600 for orthopedic shoes for a client who didn't need them.

More than $32 million was available to support 44,000 clients in the program statewide in the 2010 fiscal year, Human Services spokeswoman Januari Smith said.

Clay-Wilson and Laga were suspended and received additional training on state rules, while Dickerson left her job in November 2010, according to Smith and state records.

Dickerson approved the expenses, Clay-Wilson reviewed them without correction, and Laga processed the paperwork, according to the report.

Dickerson told authorities in an August 2010 interview that Clay-Wilson wanted to better advertise the program's services and recruited clients, many of whom had greater needs than traditionally was the case. The mattresses, for example, went to a client and her children who were sleeping on a floor. She said most of her clients were homeless.

In a response to the report, Clay-Wilson said she was trying to open the program to more disabled minorities who enter it "more dependent on services from social services agencies than white customers."

"This office only tried to provide the services necessary for the customers to become successfully employed," she wrote in the response. "The error was in failure to document the reason many of the services issued were necessary."

Clay-Wilson, who according to other state records makes $81,900 a year, is out of the office this week. She did not immediately return a message and did not answer a home phone.

Laga, who makes $49,000, referred questions to Clay-Wilson, saying, "I follow the rules." She told investigators she questioned some spending, but Clay-Wilson told her to complete the paperwork, an assertion Clay-Wilson denied.

State records indicate Dickerson, who earned $74,900, left her position in November 2010. She did not return a message left at a number listed at her address.

Illinois misspent money on program to help disabled

State investigators have found that as much as $100,000 in taxpayer money for a program to help disabled people get schooling or jobs was misspent on such expenses as a funeral, lawyer's fees and bedding.

Two employees have been suspended as a result.

The Illinois Department of Human Services said Wednesday the workers received 20-day unpaid suspensions after a state report this week revealed that the pair and a former employee did not follow state rules on what client expenses are covered by the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education in Chicago. The program helps disabled people pursue schooling or vocational training and pays for items they need, such as work uniforms.

The report did not indicate how $100,000 was misspent on 76 people — an average of $1,300 each — or during what time period. It provided examples of the inappropriate expenditures for only six of those clients. An aide to the Office of the Executive Inspector General, which compiled the report, declined further comment.

An internal DHS audit in late 2009 found misspent money or undocumented expenditures in each of the 76 cases handled by Pamela Clay-Wilson, Madesa Dickerson and Dawn Laga. The auditor said "that she has never witnessed abuse of this magnitude (and) estimated that the improper expenditures totaled $100,000," according to the Inspector General's report.

Payments included $500 to bury a client's son; $200 for a client to meet with an attorney to discuss a child custody case; $400 for clothing despite a $200 limit on such purchases; $694 for two sets of mattresses; and $600 for orthopedic shoes for a client who didn't need them.

More than $32 million was available to support 44,000 clients in the program statewide in the 2010 fiscal year, Human Services spokeswoman Januari Smith said.

Clay-Wilson and Laga were suspended and received additional training on state rules, while Dickerson left her job in November 2010, according to Smith and state records.

Dickerson approved the expenses, Clay-Wilson reviewed them without correction, and Laga processed the paperwork, according to the report.

Dickerson told authorities in an August 2010 interview that Clay-Wilson wanted to better advertise the program's services and recruited clients, many of whom had greater needs than traditionally was the case. The mattresses, for example, went to a client and her children who were sleeping on a floor. She said most of her clients were homeless.

In a response to the report, Clay-Wilson said she was trying to open the program to more disabled minorities who enter it "more dependent on services from social services agencies than white customers."

"This office only tried to provide the services necessary for the customers to become successfully employed," she wrote in the response. "The error was in failure to document the reason many of the services issued were necessary."

Clay-Wilson, who according to other state records makes $81,900 a year, is out of the office this week. She did not immediately return a message and did not answer a home phone.

Laga, who makes $49,000, referred questions to Clay-Wilson, saying, "I follow the rules." She told investigators she questioned some spending, but Clay-Wilson told her to complete the paperwork, an assertion Clay-Wilson denied.

State records indicate Dickerson, who earned $74,900, left her position in November 2010. She did not return a message left at a number listed at her address.

City of Sturgis prepares for winter months

Just as quickly as it came, fall has gone, ushering in winter, leaving behind piles of snow and slick roads.

The city of Sturgis has 40 miles of roads that they are responsible for plowing after a snow storm and the time to plow will usually vary on the type of snow it is.

"When we get those heavy ones it gets harder to plow because of the depth," Streets Superintendent Randy Nohava said.

The city had their first dose of snow last weekend when Sturgis received over six inches of snow. According to Nohava, the plowing process went smoothly and they had no hang ups. The first round of crews started plowing at 6 a.m. and they had finished by 3 p.m.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,

In the event of a snow storm, city crews will begin by plowing the main collector streets, which include Lazelle, Harmon, Ballpark, Sherman, Douglas, Nellie and Whitewood Service Road. Once those roads are clear, they will move to the school routes, as well as other major-minor collector streets. Residential streets are cleared as soon as possible.

All of the snow that is hauled away is piled up behind Lynn's DakotaMart, west of their parking lot.

"We've gotten into winters where it's gotten fuller and fuller," Nohava said. "We have loaders push it up into big piles to keep it piling.If so, you may have a cube puzzle ."

When there is no more room at Lynn's to pile the snow,Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners. snow will be dumped at the rodeo grounds, though Nohava said the rodeo grounds are not ideal for dumping snow because it is all grass and dirt and it is hard to get the equipment in there.

"Lynn's has been really good in letting us dump over there," Nohava said.

Nohava said the best thing for people to do when it starts snowing is to remove their cars from the streets so it is easier to plow. People whose cars are parked on a snow route must have their cars removed from the street when the National Weather Service forecasts for four inches or more of snow within 24 hours. Vehicles not removed from the street will either be ticketed or towed by the police department.

"It really helps because when the operators don't have a lot of cars to weave in and out they can do double time and get it done," Nohava said. If there are no cars on the roads, crews are able to plow the entire street up to the curb.Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds.

There have been requests to have the city stop plowing in driveways, but Nohava said that is not possible because if they were to clear out each driveway, it could take multiple days to clean the streets. Instead, after they have made a sweep of the town, they will go back in the following days to clear out the areas of snow that had accumulated around parked cars or driveways.

"If people can get vehicles off the street then we can go down some streets and there are hardly any cars there and it's wide open," Nohava said.This page contains information about molds, "Once we go by, people can park on the street."

A full list and map of the main collector routes can be found on the city's website, as well as a list of residents willing to help with snow shoveling throughout town.

Is It Worth A Turkey?

Turkey and I go way back. I was born in America but raised in England, where every year my parents would stage a classic Thanksgiving celebration. The feast usually drew more Brits than Americans but the turkey was always there, barely fitting into the oven.

Turkey is native to the Americas but has long been the bird of choice at Christmas time in England, so my mom never had trouble finding a big bird. No doubt what we ate was the broad-breasted white that is ubiquitous on tables across the U.S.

This year's holiday was different. I had recently moved to Minnesota to begin a documentary series on socially responsible -- and adventurous -- eating. In Minnesota, I found that turkey is, apparently, the new pigeon -- thanks to a wildlife repopulation program.If so, you may have a cube puzzle . I'd seen them on the side of the road, scared them into the woods and heard their signature gobble in the distance.

Given the apparent abundance of birds now inhabiting my home state, I figured it was time to wrangle one on my own. So, with the game conditions intact, I tried my hand at bow hunting. And for the first time, squirrels were the only creatures I saw. Since wild turkey was clearly not in the cards, I decided to buy an heirloom turkey from a local farm.

Mike and Linda Noble run a small organic Animal Farm in southern Minnesota (farmonwheels.net), where they raise a variety of animals, with the turkey as the bourgeoisie. They switched from conventional to organic farming 15 years ago after their son came down with e-coli poisoning and Linda got dioxin poisoning. Illness and the financial crash in the 80s forced the family to change directions dramatically. They haven't looked back.

Mike explained the genetic process by which the broad-breasted white -- the bird that has become synonymous with Thanksgiving -- was developed. Four different birds were bred to eventually yield small white-meat turkeys, which consumers were demanding. As consumer tastes changed,Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners. and as turkey processors sought more white meat to meet the growing demand at the deli counter, more and more farmers began to raise increasingly bigger-breasted birds. By 1965,Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds. the broad-breasted white was king.

But there were none on Mike's land. Instead, he had several varieties of heritage turkeys as well as a few wild ones.

Linda caught a heritage bird for me and explained the best way to kill it: a sharp knife to the jugular. I took home a beautiful live bronze turkey in a computer box.

My cousin Tim and I welcomed him to his new digs -- our chicken coop, already home to three ducks and five chickens. This new living situation proved itself to be very amiable for all parties as the ducks were afraid of the turkey, the turkey was afraid of the chickens and the chickens were afraid of the ducks; this circle of fear meant no attacks by any birds.

The neighborhood kids came by to meet the turkey, my housemates wanted to name it, and as I became more attached to the big guy, I began dreading the approach of Thanksgiving. I may have even shed a tear as I made a brine.

By my turkey's last day we had formed a bond, even though I had purposely not named him. I fed him everyday,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, and watched him endure the cold and interact with the other fowl; he seemed proud and strong. That perception was strengthened when I took him to Barton Open School, a nearby elementary school, to show the students. The turkey set a fine example; he never once tried to peck at the children, even after they admitted to being excited at eating his brethren. He treated newly proclaimed vegetarians and the poking omnivores the same, with great dignity. The more the children asked me "Are you gonna eat him?" the more unsure I became. I even considered prolonging our departure from the school as I knew that when we left Barton, it would be time to do the deed.

Dinner would be at my grandma's house, and plenty of family was in town. I encouraged them to watch and help with the slaughter. Those who came to take part were my three cousins, ages 11, 14 and 16; my 88-year-old grandma; her neighbors who are also in their 80s; my 29-year-old brother and my aunt, who is 45. A diverse age range with a diverse set of reactions.

I often eat meat without a thought to the animal that was born,This page contains information about molds, raised and killed. I have butchered whole animals, and even then it seems a bit detached. As I prepared to hang the turkey from a tree in my grandma's backyard, the disconnect between my food and that life disappeared. Eating meat suddenly became less important. I was about to kill a beautiful creature because of a food tradition, because meat is tasty.

E. Africa's first solar-panel plant supports Kenya's clean energy push

Africa may be a continent blessed with large amounts of sunshine, but for most of its rural inhabitants, once the day ends,If so, you may have a cube puzzle . so does the light. Families spend their evenings in the dark or turn to polluting oil lamps, simply because they have no access to electricity.

In Naivasha, a town 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Haijo Kuper is trying to change that.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,

Netherlands-born Kuper is managing director of Ubbink East Africa, the first solar-panel manufacturing plant in East Africa. The firm, which recently began operating in Naivasha, is a joint venture between Dutch company Ubbink, which works on energy efficiency and solar power, and Kenya’s Chloride Exide, which produces solar and power back-up equipment and batteries.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.

As with many African countries, Kenya’s progress in expanding its national power grid has been slow, in part because of the expense.

Solar power has long been viewed as part of the solution – but,This page contains information about molds, here too, cost has been an obstacle. The equipment that converts the sun’s free energy into electric power requires an investment that is still out of reach for the more than one-third of Africans who live on less than two dollars a day.Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds.

The Kenyan government - concerned about power shortages and the effects of climate change - has moved to spur growth in the renewable energy sector with a feed-in tariff that pays producers a set rate for electricity they want to sell. It has also mandated the use of solar power in new-build homes, as well as cutting taxes on imports of solar-power materials and equipment.

The East African nation has one of the highest rates of solar panel systems installed per capita in the world, and uptake of solar panels is outpacing connections to the traditional electrical grid.

The price of solar energy systems has dropped 75 percent in the past decade, while demand has gone up 15 percent a year over the same period. Experts expect this trend of lower costs and spreading use to continue.

It is certainly proving beneficial for small farmers and rural residents, many of whom are beyond the reach of the national grid.

A growing number of rural farmhouses across Kenya now have a small solar panel on their thatched or corrugated iron roofs. Even the smallest panel can charge a mobile phone and power two light bulbs simultaneously, helping families save on the expense of buying kerosene for lamps. What’s more, the light from a solar-powered bulb is about 15 times brighter.

Farmer Frederick Kaveta, 34, has a solar panel on the corrugated roof of his home in Ukumbani, southwest of Nairobi. For him, it brings both economic and health benefits.

“We used oil lamps in the past at night for the children to do their homework. (But) the price of the oil has gone up, and the lamps smoke badly and make us cough,” he explains. “The solar light is healthier and I save some 500 shillings ($5) a month because I don’t need to buy oil. With 500 shillings, I can buy two or three meals for my family of four.”