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Zacks Investment Research Lowers Revance Therapeutics, Inc. (RVNC) to Hold
Revance Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVNC) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.
According to Zacks, “Revance is a Silicon Valley-based biotechnology company. The company is developing a portfolio of products for aesthetic medicine and underserved therapeutic specialties, including dermatology and neurology. Revance’s science is based upon a proprietary TransMTS® peptide technology, which when combined with active drug molecules, may help address current unmet needs. Revance’s initial focus is on developing daxibotulinumtoxinA, the company’s highly purified botulinum toxin, for a broad spectrum of aesthetic and therapeutic indications, including facial wrinkles and muscle movement disorders. The company’s lead drug candidate, DaxibotulinumtoxinA for Injection (RT002), is currently in development for the treatment of glabellar lines and cervical dystonia and has the potential to be the first long-acting neurotoxin. The company holds worldwide rights for all indications of RT002 injectable and RT001 topical and the pharmaceutical uses of the TransMTS technology platform. “
Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Revance Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Revance Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. BidaskClub upgraded Revance Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $28.00 price objective on Revance Therapeutics and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded Revance Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Revance Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.20.
Revance Therapeutics (RVNC) traded down 0.61% during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.60. The company had a trading volume of 260,573 shares. Revance Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week high of $28.30. The stock’s market capitalization is $758.15 million. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.69 and a 200 day moving average of $22.49.
Revance Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RVNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.90) EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.93) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $0.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.05 million. Revance Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 55.21% and a negative net margin of 32,936.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.88) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Revance Therapeutics will post ($3.77) earnings per share for the current year.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: “Zacks Investment Research Lowers Revance Therapeutics, Inc. (RVNC) to Hold” was published by American Banking News and is the sole property of of American Banking News. If you are viewing this report on another domain, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of US & international copyright & trademark legislation. The legal version of this report can be accessed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2017/09/16/zacks-investment-research-lowers-revance-therapeutics-inc-rvnc-to-hold-2.html.
In related news, CEO L Daniel Browne sold 22,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.76, for a total value of $518,928.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 178,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,070,626. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 18.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Revance Therapeutics by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Revance Therapeutics by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,815 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Revance Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $231,000. American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in Revance Therapeutics by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 12,590 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Revance Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.
About Revance Therapeutics
Revance Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. The Company is focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of botulinum toxin products for multiple aesthetic and therapeutic indications. Its peptide technology enables delivery of botulinum toxin type A through two investigational drug product candidates, DaxibotulinumtoxinA for Injection (RT002), or RT002 injectable, and DaxibotulinumtoxinA Topical Gel (RT001), or RT001 topical.
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domain: finance


What factors contribute to poverty in the United States? Also Are existing welfare policies effective in combating poverty? Why or why not? What policy reforms should be recommend?
Basically poverty remains one of the most complex issues in the world without any clear resolution in the... View the full answer


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Some people, on both sides of the musical fence, would like to see pop and classical music kept firmly apart. Others happily embrace both with. They were ripped off from classical composers. finite number of chord progressions in pop music (many of which can be traced back to Bach). Pages in category "Popular songs based on classical works". The following 82 pages are in this category, out of 82 total. This list may not reflect recent changes.
Classical music in pop - Hill PromoAnd even without the lyrics, Brooklyn Duo get it across beautifully. More Periods and Genres See more More Periods and Genres. His work sits at the time of a broader cultural movement where artists and poets were doing the same, but what became a musical commonplace was begun by him. Signed in as Show comment Hide comment. But the conundrums are there nonetheless because it became so commonplace for white musicians to rip off the music of black people. We've constructed this great building of Beethoven-the-man on top of his music, but if you strip that away and ask what's going on in this music, it's not always the same thing.
VideoOne Direction - What Makes You Beautiful (5 Piano Guys, 1 piano) - The Piano Guys Coolspiele Breaks Playback Music Seen. Have a listen to that organ - anyone else hear Bach's Air On A G-String? Can you name that fruit? UKpublisher of Life Death Prizes and other iconic brands about its goods and services, and those of its carefully selected third parties. Exactly which bit of JS Bach it is derived from, however, lottoschein check not as clear as one might think. Arista Records and Wikipedia].
Lebenszeiten: Classical music in pop
|WAS SIND ZAHLEN||Generally, Beethoven's impact has been felt much more strongly in classical music than in pop, because he wrote about paypal zahlung wird nicht angezeigt emotions without words. And does anyone want a cigar? TimLihoreau is here to kickstart your day with the coolspiele classical music on MoreMusicBreakfast … twitter. Janet Jackson is one of the most prolific pop artists of the last two decades. Please choose your username under which you would like all your comments to show up. All By My C Minor: Stile Antico perform Giaches De Wert's 'Deus iustus, et salvans'.|
|Classical music in pop||Angry birds space 3|
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domain: artistic


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Snoring Prevention in Charleston, SC
Many people across the U.S. snore. Are you among them?
Why Do People Snore?
In most cases, snoring occurs when the flow of air from the mouth or nose to the lungs is altered in some way. Usually, snoring can be attributed to a narrowing of the airway.
As you sleep, you breathe in through your nose or mouth. This air passes along the roof of the mouth (the soft palate) to the back of the mouth (the pharynx), where the tongue and upper throat meet. This area can collapse during sleep, narrowing the passageway or even blocking it completely – a serious condition known as obstructive sleep apnea. When the passage narrows, the soft palate and the small bit of flesh in the back of your throat known as the uvula vibrate. This vibration presents as snoring.
Other structures in the back of the throat, such as the tonsils and the adenoids, can also vibrate. The smaller the airway becomes, the louder the snoring.
Snoring Risk Factors
A number of factors can contribute to snoring or make you more susceptible, including:
- Your throat's muscle tone – If muscle tone is lax, it's easier for the tissues to collapse. Low muscle tone can be attributed to a lack of fitness or the aging process.
- Your nasal passages – If your nasal passages are blocked, as may occur when you have a cold, it becomes more difficult to inhale. The extra effort can cause the airway to narrow. Chronic causes of narrow nasal passages include allergies and nasal polyps.
- Tissues in the mouth, nose, and throat – When tissues become enlarged, snoring occurs. Snoring in children is often attributed to enlarged tonsils.
- Your nasal anatomy – If you have a deviated septum, this can disturb the airflow through the nose.
- Your weight – Being overweight or obese can cause fat in the throat to narrow the airway.
- Alcohol – Alcohol is a depressant, and it affects the part of your brain that regulates your breathing. If your tongue and throat muscles become overly relaxed, they may partially block air movement.
- Medications – Many medications, particularly those that treat allergies, depression, and anxiety, can relax you or make you drowsy.
At James Island Dental Associates, we offer a couple of devices to help open one’s airway to decrease the vibration of the tissues in the back of the mouth. These devices work by gently pulling the lower jaw forward, which moves the tongue away from the back of the throat.
The devices consist of an upper tray and lower tray that are attached by elastics to gently pull the lower jaw forward. We do not manufacture these devices here in our office; instead, they are fabricated in a dental lab. Impressions are taken of your mouth so that the trays are custom-made to fit snugly and comfortably for each patient. The plastic straps are adjusted accordingly until the snoring decreases.
Call for an Assessment
If snoring is affecting your sleep, lifestyle, or marriage, give us call at James Island Dental Associates at (843)762-1234.

domain: health


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A Molotov cocktail ignited a blaze that tore through a house in Brooklyn early Thursday, a law enforcement source said.
Fire marshals are investigating the all-hands fire in the three-story house on 83rd St. in Bensonhurst that erupted at 2:54 a.m. and burned for 25 minutes, the source said.
The Molotov cocktail was hurled into the house on a leafy block near the intersection of Bay Parkway and 83rd St., according to initial reports.
Two people were rushed to Lutheran Medical Center for smoke inhalation.
A Molotov cocktail is an improvised incendiary weapon made with a bottle and an accelerant.

domain: news


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Back in April, I told you about the upcoming iZettle. The iZettle is made by a Swedish company and allows European merchants to accept credit card payments on an iPhone just like Square does in the US. However, the iZettle accepts the chip-and-pin credit cards that are standard in Europe and othe...
A lot of our European readers are disappointed that the iPhone add-on Square credit card reader won't work in their neck of the woods. Square might not, but Europeans will soon be able to accept credit card payments on their iPhones anyway thanks to the iZettle credit card reader. The device its...
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MAFEX Superman (HUSH Version)
MAN OF STEEL
The best looking form and superior articulation have come together!
It's the best action figure in history!
-From DC Comics MAFEX welcomes a figure called "HUSH" SUPERMAN to the lineup.
-The particulars of the facial expression and other parts complete the recreation of the comic's image.
-Thanks to the specialized joint parts characteristic poses can be taken.
-The alternative hand parts included let various action scenes be recreated.
-Includes an articulated figure stand.


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Potential NAFTA issue could adversely affect Canadian small business
For four years, Amherstburg shop owner Dorothy Kryworuchko-Languedoc battled her own health issues along with an unfavourable exchange rate and a growing online shopping trend to keep the doors open.
She finally called it quits in June and closed Pied-a-Terre Home Décor and Gifts for good.
“The online ordering is killing small businesses,” Kryworuchko-Languedoc said Tuesday. “You can’t keep up with the prices. If it’s going to effect somebody like Sears, it’s going to effect small business even more so.”
As a business owner, Kryworuchko-Languedoc kept an eye on the issues surrounding negotiations between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. regarding a new North American Free Trade Agreement.
One of those is increasing the duty-free and tax-free threshold for e-commerce purchases.
The United States has let it be known they would like Canada and Mexico to fall in line with its own threshold of $800.
Canadians are currently able to buy up to $20 online without paying duty or taxes. It’s a rate that hasn’t changed in more than 35 years and exposed the Canadian government to pressure from online retailers and express couriers to raise the threshold to $200.
“That $200 is going to kill small business even more,” Kryworuchko-Languedoc said. “You’re going to see more businesses closing.”
Her fears are shared by the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce which has partnered with chambers in Niagara, Sarnia and Thunder Bay to oppose any increase in what’s known as the De Minimis Threshold.
“Any level of an increase in the DMT in Canada would be unwelcomed for retailers and raising the De Minimis level to $200 would lead to massive increases in cross-border purchases negatively affecting retailers in items such as apparel, footwear, books, toys, consumer electronics and housewares, most of which are priced below $200 and easily shipped. The losses in terms of new investments, jobs and economic activity could be significant,” stated a media release by the Windsor chamber.
Chamber president and CEO Matt Marchand said the four chambers plan to bring a no-increase resolution forward at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM next month in Fredericton, N.B.
“The fact you have four chambers coming out very aggressively for keeping the De Minimis where it’s at reflects the deep concern we have for protecting Canadian retail,” Marchand said.
Studies of U.S. online retail show only 22 per cent of American customers purchase from non-U.S. sellers. In contrast, 67 per cent of Canadians have made online cross-border purchases.
“There’s a huge trade imbalance,” Marchand said. “That’s the primary reason for leaving it where it is. You have to level the playing field. It’s unrealistic to expect Canadian retail to compete against the online giants in the U.S.A.”
Laurie Tannous is a special adviser to the Cross Border Institute at the University of Windsor. She has been dealing with issues related to the new threshold in the U.S. as the vice-president of government relations with Farrow customs brokers.
“We have U.S. operations so we’ve been living with this on the U.S. side and I’m dreading what could happen here in Canada,” Tannous said. “Small and medium-sized businesses will be impacted. Small retailers are already getting hit by online, you can expect you’re going to see closures.”
With no oversight by brokerages or customs, Tannous said Canada is opening itself up to an influx of contraband goods.
“People would be shocked at how much drugs and contraband are in online mail,” she said.
She said Australia raised its threshold and then reversed course after just a few years.
A C.D. Howe Institute report last year stated the government spent $166 million collecting duties and taxes under the current threshold, offset by just $39 million in revenue. The report suggests raising the threshold would benefit the federal government by reducing customs processing costs.
As president of the Downtown Windsor BIA, Larry Horowitz sees an increased duty-free threshold as yet another obstacle to overcome.
“Obviously it’s not good for the local economy but we have to be prepared for these types of things,” he said. “The businesses that are successful are focusing on the things that win, changing their hours, updating their look and feel.”
That’s how young entrepreneur Justice Fournier views it.
“You don’t own your customer,” said Fournier, who has several business ventures centred around food and fitness. “You have to attract the customer and provide service that’s affordable and the quality they’re looking for.”


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Southern High art teacher Michael Bell has won national awards, has helped his students win the national Rising Star Award four years in a row, was named Teacher of the Year—and that’s just during his day job.
When Bell isn’t teaching or running the art department at Southern, he is working on a narrative thematic series of paintings for his “buddies” on the HBO TV show The Sopranos.
One may wonder why a nationally recognized artist with TV star buddies is teaching in a high school art department, but for Bell the answer is simple—he loves the kids.
“I love this, being around kids, it gives me the juice,” Bell said. “Kids have so many ideas. Imagine being surrounded by artists with amazing ideas all day long, it is so cool to have that. If I was alone in my studio all day I would go crazy. I love the kids and the relationships we form.”
On Feb. 15, the College Board awarded Bell the William U. Harris Award of Excellence, a national award given to teachers who demonstrate a commitment to serve and inspire young people.
But it wasn’t always national recognitions for Bell. When he first came to Southern 19 years ago he was a part-time educator teaching just two classes. Since then, he has risen to chair of the department, started a nationally sponsored art show called ArtQuest for students, and expanded the Southern art department to include five full-time teachers—the most in the county.
“I always wanted to do for kids what nobody did for me,” Bell said. “I know there is talent in everybody, it is just a matter of pulling out personal stories and getting them to find out why they are creating it or why it is important to them.”
What is perhaps one of Bell’s most remarkable accomplishments is the number of times one of his students has won The Rising Star Award. Each year the National Art and Education Association awards one student in the nation the award—one of Bell’s students has won the last four years in a row.
“It’s crazy. Each year I am like, 'I don’t know if they are going to give it to us again,'” he said. “But the quality of the work is there each year and it is hard to beat us.”
Bell also works hard to ensure his students get the money they need for college. Last year alone they had $2,256,000 in scholarship offers, which is something Bell says they try to build off of each year.
Bell said that he knows a day will eventually come where he has to give up teaching to further pursue his art career. He spends many weekends already traveling all over for different shows and jobs. But for now, he is happy working with the kids who inspire his work.
“It’s not about curriculum; it’s about the relationships I have with the kids and helping them pull out stories from their work,” Bell said. “I want to be a teacher that leads by example, how can I tell them their work is good if I haven’t made it to gallery shows? I need to lead a path for them.”


Steve Bullock served as Montana's attorney general before being elected governor in 2012.
His presidential campaign announcement video highlighted his successful efforts to expand Medicaid, his support for same-sex marriage and his bipartisan effort to ban dark money from the state's politics.
Here's where the Democrat stands on key issues:
Climate crisis: Bullock has praised the Green New Deal, the broad plan to address renewable-energy infrastructure and climate change proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, for “building up conversation” on combating climate change, but he’s stopped short of endorsing it. “We can do better with a more focused plan,” he told The Washington Post in June. The governor supports rejoining the Paris climate accord, the landmark 2015 deal on global warming targets that Trump has pledged to abandon, and believes many of the goals can be achieved more quickly than outlined in the accord. Bullock believes the US can reach zero emissions before 2050.
The economy: The governor has said he would end Trump’s trade war, which he says hurts rural communities. Bullock’s campaign told The Atlantic that he now opposes how the Trans-Pacific Partnership — an 11-nation trade deal negotiated under Obama that the Trump administration has withdrawn from — was written. Still, a campaign spokesman told The Atlantic he believes the withdrawal has left America “on the sidelines.” Bullock supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Education: To make college affordable, Bullock has proposed freezing college tuition in Montana and floated reducing the federal student loan interest rate. He also supports expanding eligibility for Pell grants. Bullock has said he believes in providing a path so two-year college is “available for all” but noted in a May “we’ve also got to recognize that not everybody’s going to go to college,” pushing instead for professionally recognized certificates and apprenticeships.
Health care: Bullock opposes Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ "Medicare for All" proposal, which would create a government-run health care plan and essentially eliminate the private insurance industry. Instead, Bullock says, the Affordable Care Act should be improved. He supports a buy-in public option for health care while keeping private insurance.
Immigration: Bullock has advocated continuing Obama-era protections for undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as minors, and he is one of 11 governors who urged Congress in 2017 to support these immigrants. In 2018, after Trump signed a memo to send National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border, Bullock refused to deploy guardsmen.
Gun violence: Bullock supports banning so-called assault weapons and limiting access to high-capacity magazines. He supports universal background checks and so-called “red flag” laws, which allow families and police to petition a judge to temporarily block someone’s access to firearms if there is credible concern they might hurt themselves or others. Additionally, he supports age minimums for those who can purchase firearms.
From CNN's Dan Merica
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio entered the Democratic presidential race hoping to convince voters that he, as the head of the nation’s largest city, was the most accomplished progressive in the field of hopefuls.
De Blasio has seen more success than some – he qualified for both the June and July debates – but the mayor is still looking for a breakout moment to move him from the pack of candidates hovering under 1% support.
De Blasio has looked to tout a slate of policy wins in New York – namely guaranteeing universal pre-K and a $15 minimum wage – as examples of what he would do for the nation as president.
De Blasio has been mayor of New York since 2014, when he overwhelmingly won the office in the 2013 election. The mayor, in another convincing win, won reelection in 2017. Prior to being mayor, de Blasio was the city’s public advocate and a member of the New York City Council.
The mayor has been far more aggressive than most of his opponents, regularly slamming other candidates for perceived missteps. His most frequent target is former Vice President Joe Biden, who the mayor has attacked for nostalgic comments about Southern segregationist senators and views on abortion.
The strategy has done little for the mayor, though, who looks unlikely to qualify for the Democratic National Committee debate in September.
From CNN's Dan Merica
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a candidate who got into the race in mid-May, far later than most of his competitors, has a clear goal: Convince Democratic voters that the way to beat President Donald Trump is by nominating a Democrat who has been successful in a state that overwhelmingly supported the President in 2016.
So far, though, that argument has not been resonating. Bullock failed to qualify for the first Democratic debate. And though the governor qualified for the debate in July, he looks unlikely to qualify for the Democratic National Committee debate in September.sonos sonos One (Gen 2) - Voice Controlled Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa Built-in - Black read more
Bullock is a two-term governor from Montana: He won his first term in 2012, but his calling card came when he – as a Democrat – won reelection in 2016, the same year Donald Trump won Montana by 23%.
Bullock is a lifelong Montanan, a fact he has highlighted throughout this campaign. He first ran for office in 2000, when he lost the Democratic primary for Montana attorney general. Bullock entered private practice after that loss -- including a stint working in Washington, D.C. -- before he ran, this time successfully, for attorney general in 2008. After one term as attorney general, Bullock successfully ran to become Montana's governor in 2012.
While Bullock is a more moderate Democrat – taking positions that, in large part, reflect his state’s electorate – the governor has been a leader on campaign finance reform. He also entered the 2020 race late because he worried that a presidential campaign would imperil his successful campaign to expand Medicaid in Montana.
Bullock’s campaign has focused intently on Iowa, where the governor and his team believe his brand of liberalism can resonate with rural voters throughout the state. Most polls, however, have the governor at 1% in the state.
From CNN's Dan Merica
It’s now or never for Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Both men are struggling to gain traction in the 2020 race and facing the near certainty that they won’t qualify for the Democratic National Committee’s debate in September.
But the prospect of making the October debate could compel the two Democrats to forge on, so Bullock and de Blasio enter their respective CNN town halls on Sunday with a similar goal: Make a moment, seize on that moment and hope the unexpected happens and they jump in both polling and fundraising.
It’s happened before. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was a relative unknown when he headlined his first CNN town hall in March. But a well-reviewed performance, punctuated by a number of viral moments, boosted him in the polls and filled his campaign coffers, two things that de Blasio and Bullock would welcome.
Time is of the essence for the two Democratic executives. In order to qualify for the September debate, candidates must receive contributions from at least 130,000 individuals, coming from at least 400 unique donors in 20 or more states and reach 2% in at least four DNC-approved polls by August 28.
That may be too tall of a hill to climb for either candidate – neither appear to be anywhere close to either threshold.
From CNN's Caroline Kelly
CNN will host town halls with Democratic presidential candidates Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio live from New York City tonight.
CNN's Alisyn Camerota will moderate the town hall with Bullock at 6 p.m. ET. CNN's Ana Cabrera will host the town hall with de Blasio at 7 p.m. ET.
About Bullock: He participated in the first night of CNN's recent Democratic debate late last month, during which he recounted losing his nephew to gun violence as well as described his background as a union-side labor negotiatorbefore becoming his state's attorney general.
About de Blasio: The New York mayor participated in the second night of the CNN Democratic debate last month, where he was pressed on his handling of Daniel Pantaleo, the New York police officer accused of fatally choking


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What is the video game, Earthbound?
Even today, it’s so hard to answer that question.
It was like a group of children taking dolls from a toy chest.
Old dishes no longer used in the kitchen.
Nuts and bolts found inside a toolbox.
Little flowers and leaves from the backyard.
And they were all laid down on the carpet with everybody singing made-up songs.
Ready to talk all day about that world they just made.
That, I think was how Earthbound was made.
Well, I’m a grown-up too,
so I didn’t hold back in adding things here and there,
like putting more angles here,
hiding a secret there,
and sometimes slipping in little mean things.
Then a whole lot of friends came over to play.
And they helped it grow as they were having fun as they pleased.
They gave it branches, leaves and flowers,
to what was once a simple story of just root and trunk.
For every person that played, there are that many iterations of Earthbound.
As I met different people on unrelated occasions,
they told me “I found out about you by playing Earthbound.”
This was not only right after the game was out.
People were telling me this after it’s been out for quite some time.
All sorts of people tell me about their memories,
about all the things I left in the playground called Earthbound.
From the tiny safety pins, broken pieces of colored glass to the withering leaves.
When I ask them, “how do you remember so much?”
With their eyes gleaming, they say,
“I love that world so much I remember everything about it.”
I reply right away saying “me too.”
Ah hah! That may be it.
Maybe I wanted to make a playground.
A playground filled with things no matter how small or unwanted,
they would all be kept dear in people’s hearts.
It looks like all my friends from around the world have discovered the theme to the game as they were playing – even though I didn’t think I gave it one.
That’s right, that’s something I also wanted to do all along.
I was already a grown-up at the time I was making Earthbound,
but now that thirty years have been added to my life, I’ve grown up even more.
I think about things that I didn’t back then.
Things like, “what kind of a person do I want to be when I die?”
I already know the answer to this one.
It’s “someone with a lively wake.”
The person who passed away has to be in all sorts of different people’s memories.
What they’ve done, how stupid they were, what kind of things they did for fun,
and how kind that person was sometimes.
All the people who are still alive are laughing,
wanting to be the first one to bring up those things to everyone around them.
The life I want to live is something that can be concluded with that kind of a party-like wake.
Fame and fortune, setting records and accomplishments are all meaningless.
That person is inside those stories that are told,
where people talk about their episodes, casually and sincerely.
Well, it’s not dead, and it’s not even human,
but to me Earthbound is a game that’s kind of like that guy.
Now that you’ll be able to play Earthbound to your heart’s content,
I hope you’ll play it with someone and create all kinds of great, happy memories.
I’m glad that this day has come.
And I think everyone who had a part in making this game is very excited too.
Thank you for everything.
When I first read Mr. Itoi's write-up, I was stunned at how much it mirrored my own feelings on EarthBound, which holds the distinction of being my favorite video game ever made. Only very recently had I realized my feelings on the game had come full circle, and the tears I shed upon its Virtual Console announcement just a few months before affirmed that EarthBound was as close to me as ever.
But despite my undying love for it, it's a title that's hardly penetrated public consciousness, so an introduction is necessary. Despite the singular name, EarthBound is actually the second of a JRPG trilogy known in Japan as Mother. Why did Mr. Itoi grant the series such an unusual name? There's his personal connection with the John Lennon song of the same name, for starters, but the name betrayed typical JRPG conventions of the time. There were no dragons or fantasies or legends implied, but a word associated with feelings of warmth and love.
That, and there are a whole lotta Motherships flying around. Choosing to instead take place in a tongue-in-cheek parody of America, protagonists in the form of children take on aliens, robots and brainwashed hippies as they gather melodies, battle with psychic powers and baseball bats and pop guns while learning the values of love. It wasn't uncommon for JRPGs to use avatars as proxies for the player, but Mother was unprecedented: for all the imagination it took to imagine yourself in Ye Olden times, here was an adventure you could forge in your very own backyard.
One that North America never gave a chance. While beloved cult classics in their native country of Japan, Mother had its own set of troubles settling into the very country that inspired it. The original Mother for the Famicom had been fully translated and localized for American NES release, but was quietly canceled in the face of the upcoming SNES. Mother 2, or what we know as EarthBound, was released in 1995, but what was perhaps the worst advertisement concept in video game history prevented any sort of mainstream success.
There were two factors that prevented EarthBound from falling into the ether. One was that the audience it did grab and speak to grew into some of the most passionate fans the industry has ever seen. Indeed, the folks at Starmen.net have created much noise for roughly two decades now, what with it hosting annual summer playthroughs for EarthBound, petitions begging for Mother 3's revival from cancellation and translation patches for titles that never made it over to America (Mother 3 and the GBA port Mother 1+2). Believe it or not, there's actually a Wikipedia article on how passionate we Mother fans are.
We'll get into the other one later, but what makes EarthBound so special? Honestly, I cannot bear to begin with any one detail without immediately seguing into another. There's the colorful, minimalist graphic style that leaves just enough detail for the players to fill in the gaps; the script, handwritten by Itoi himself and manages a wonderful balance of being rip-roaringly funny and achingly sincere; the music, an absurdly unique blend of genres, sampling and dissonance by Hirokazu Tanaka and Keiichi Suzuki; the New Age Retro Hippie, one of the brainwashed denizens you meet in Twoson who fights by brushing his teeth and whose theme music is obviously (amazingly?) inspired by Johnny B. Goode.
In case you hadn't caught on, EarthBound is something of a part-comic, part-thought-provoking deconstruction of JRPGs. But it's never a cynical one; actually, it's a progressive one. Where Itoi stumbled in the very same traps he wanted to avoid for the original Mother, none of the large, confusing maps or frustrating random battles are present here. Take the latter: not only does everything from aliens to possessed road signs traverse on the very same maps you do, but enemies you've long since outstripped will flee at first sight. If you chase them down, you'll beat them in, literally, a flash. (So long, Worthless Protoplasms!) Yes, it may throw monkey wrenches like randomly blocking players with iron pencil statues, but it's largely all for the sake of comedy. (After all, why do you think they can only be dismantled through a device known as the "Pencil Eraser"?)
It's a game that invites you in not just because of how weird and funny it is, but because it makes you the star, and it's dead-set on making you feel like one. The naming screen asks what your favorite thing is, which subsequently becomes the name of Ness's personalized PSI attack. Your favorite food isn't just whipped up by your Mom, but is the topic of conversation among several NPCs ("Bread"? Please...we do not have such trash on our menu"). Kids who play it are often tempted to name Ness and the gang after themselves and their friends. The game actually speaks to you at certain points--no, not Ness, but you, the player holding the controller.
In a way, it becomes a game that transcends "play". You don't spend your time grinding for levels or meticulously planning battle strategies like other JRPGs, but instead are actually invested in what NPCs have to say and find yourself exploring every crook and nanny of every town just to make sure you've talked to everyone. After all, why wouldn't you want to talk to Ruffini, the drugstore dog who's possessed by Itoi? And you better make it a habit to pick up every phone you see, because if Ness hasn't called his mother for a while, he'll be stricken by homesickness and rendered useless in battle.
It's a living, breathing, organic world where you can call Mach Pizza and wait at the bus stop. Concerts are attended (actually, they're woven into the storyline!) and you can experiment with what condiments go on what foods. You can ride a bike and ring its bell if only for the shortest of times (or can you?). Is that a treehouse hidden in the forests of Onett? What are those two conspicuous dots lying in the Dusty Dunes Desert, and what happens if I interact with them? Who is Nico, the little girl who sings and dances in Magicant, Ness's realm of memories? What's the deal with that tiny, inaccessible house outside the stretches of Twoson?
Itoi's toy chest comparison hits the mark; indeed, EarthBound may very well be an electronic toy chest. Not in the "build-your-world" context of Minecraft and Little Big Planet, mind, but a metaphorical one; alongside its bright colors, the game's oblique projection tilts the perspective just enough to present it as a diorama, with the characters as dolls and figures you want to pick up and play with. EarthBound's character sprites are hardly as detailed as, say, Chrono Trigger, but as mentioned before, they stay just minimalized enough for players to come up with their own personalized details. (Think about it: how many different interpretations of Ness have you seen in the game's countless troves of fan art?)
One of my favorite examples involves the lone NPC you see above. You see that guy with the blond hair? Try reading his shirt. Okay, you can't, but note how it's just legible enough to make out the famous "I Heart" brand of shirts. What does he love? We don't know, but boy can we have fun filling in the blanks. (apparently Itoi loved the character as much as we did, as the NPC reappears in Mother 3) There are other favorite designs, namely how the members of Tessie Watching Club always have binoculars glued to their faces and conspicuous Mr. T lookalikes (the best possibly being a resident of Twoson, who, after a kidnapping incident is resolved, claims he'll be "careful" not to kidnap anyone. It's not nearly as suspect as it sounds, but that it's said so straight-laced always has me howling).
So while EarthBound's graphics are hardly a looker by SNES standards, they remain timeless via the player's own projection. Just take how it treats the game's sole visual stunner: the psychedelic battle backgrounds. Pulsing and fluttering around like a music visualizer, these fluctuating abstractions steal the show of the admittedly simple battle encounters. EarthBound's battle system isn't the deepest you'll come across, and you can't even see your party, but that's okay. After all, you're the star; how the kids fend off aliens with baseball bats and frying pans and bazookas and the hexagonal chaos that are PSI attacks is entirely up to your imagination.
Take an old perception of mine as some food for thought: are you fighting in the streets of Onett, or are you zapped into dimensions host to those zany 3D backgrounds? Back when I was a kid, I perceived it as the latter, and mentally framed all the battles as such. Was I taking the presentation literally as-is, or did I take inspiration from the whole "crime-fighting kids who keep their occupation secret" cartoon trope? Regardless, even now I occasionally get caught up in that little theory, and now maybe you can, too.
But if we must praise the battle system from a "game" perspective, there is no other nominee but the rolling HP meter. Whereas enemy damage is immediately applied to your characters' HP in other RPGs, any attacks here slowly dwindle down number-by-number as according to how much was inflicted. Even if you're dealt mortal damage, a serving of Hamburgers or casting a PSI LifeUp will save yourself before the ticker reaches zero. EarthBound keeps its battle just interesting enough to keep the player invested, but it doesn't go for flashiness lest it overrides its purpose of immersion.
Needless to say, EarthBound was far ahead of its time for a 1994 video game, and so much of this has to do with the excellent, excellent writing. That Mr. Itoi is, first and foremost, a copywriter/essayist should speak for itself on how different it's going to be, but consider how he's considered to be one of Japan's most eccentric. Hardcore Gaming 101's review elaborates on how the Japanese kana for the original Mother 2 projects what can be best described as a free-flowing script that, despite the childish inclinations from that sector of the Japanese language, never comes across as patronizing.
All woefully difficult to conserve in translation, you understand, and yet Mother 2's transition into EarthBound results in what's NOA's first legitimately great localization. I'm not exaggerating here: just read up on Clyde Mandelin's super comprehensive Mother 2 vs. EarthBound comparison, and you'll realize how any mistranslations that slipped by are a drop in the bucket to how perfectly it captures Itoi's tone. Bear in mind this is from the mid-90's; granted, we'd just started to figure out this "localization" business (no more "Dodongo dislike smoke!" for us Nintendo fans), but that the localizers felt the words "crap" and "sexy" were needed to flesh out Itoi's world just proves EarthBound's localization is a real gift. (Bear in mind not only had NOA been enforcing a strict "kid's only" set of depiction guidelines at the time, but the former word only just recently became standard for Fire Emblem games, while the latter remains exclusive to good ol' EB)
And what a gift the writing itself is. It's a masterful blend of wit, parody, casual speak, and occasional sincerity. Helpful one moment and sudden (but clever!) Beatles reference the next. It'll break the fourth wall, but only in ways that'll serve the game's world and the player's connection. There are two entire dungeons dedicated to gloriously parodying RPG tropes. It's not outright manic, but it's the logic behind an earlier point: you want to explore everything the game has to offer. For example, you discover early on that while not every building is accessible, you'll still receive an answer should you knock on the door. How many houses can I enter, you might wonder, and so you're encouraged to find out what lies in them. If you can't, you're at least rewarded with funny dialogue.
The NPC dialogues are really the winner here. I could elaborate on any number of them, but I particularly enjoy the ones who betray conventions. The first woman you meet in Twoson who introduces the town, for one; I dare not spoil the punchline, but I can confirm the conversation will induce more philosophical ponderings on NPCs you never thought possible. Anyone invoking wordplay (namely the Happy-Happyist Cult, who desire to paint the world blue) is a riot, and I also appreciate the wordplay behind the towns ("Twoson--we got this name because we weren't first").
Of course, the best of the best are everyone's favorite part of the game: the Mr. Saturns, a race of tiny aliens fond of ribbons, help Ness engage in introspective coffee trips, and are, at one point, held captive by sentient piles of barf. Oh, and they speak in broken English, with their font as a mess of foreign-styled scribbles (apparently inspired by the handwriting of Itoi's daughter). This results in beautiful dialogue like in screenshot above. Basically, if they don't make you at least crack a grin, you don't have a soul.
Anyone could make a case for EarthBound's quirky, innovative writing being the best part of the game, but you could just as easily do the same for its quirky, innovative score. For the sake of context, I consider the Super Nintendo to be home to the greatest soundtracks in gaming history, be it the orchestral flair of Kirby Super Star and Chrono Trigger, the rock of Star Fox, the chill ambiance of the Donkey Kong Country games, and Super Mario RPG's repertoire of xylophones, pianos and whistles remaining the very best of Yoko Shimomura. As opposed to the limited channels of NES chiptunes and the N64's weak MIDI instrumentation, the balance of synth in SNES music is almost magic in how there's no compromises in producing truly rich scores. There's a homely, warming nostalgia to it all, and you could swear early examples like Super Mario World and SimCity were scored around this very purpose.
Maybe it's how the composers built upon Itoi's love of Lennon and based the soundtrack around how much he sang about love. Maybe it's Keiichi Suzuki's non-game music background or Hirokazu Tanaka's unique approach to producing music (perhaps he took inspiration from the "living creature" sound of Metroid?). Whatever it is, it expertly plays into the game's themes. Take the concept of Ness's home: no matter how far you've gone in your journey, no matter how many countries you've travelled, you're always welcomed home with a serving of your favorite homemade food, courtesy of Mom. Even with the fate of the world on his shoulders, Ness is still, after all, a young boy.
And all the while, a slow arrangement of the Pollyanna overworld theme from the first Mother plays. If I'm forced to choose a favorite song, it would be this. It is a Lazy Sunday and a tearful homecoming all in one, topped off with what can only be described as a heavenly choir. It always, without fail, makes me feel safe and loved, makes me reflect whether I'm playing the game or simply looking it up on YouTube.
We could spot similar themes in Eight Melodies, which plays throughout the game in various forms. It echoes in toy-box form whenever a new melody is gathered at a "Your Sanctuary", and again as a whole in the game's most heartwarming scene: Ness visiting his baby-self in monochrome. It's echoed again in the Sound Stone item; a deeper introspective that gradually morphs with the more melodies you gather. But up until all are collected, it stops after your last melody and thumps with perhaps the most unique sampling: an instrumental take on Lennon's Give Peace a Chance.
Of course, EarthBound doesn't always get all mushy. Let's not forget it is a weird, weird beast, and we learn that the moment we reach the naming screen. We're greeted with the game's first instance of ear-catching dissonance, consisting of a Monty Python's Flying Circus sampling before diving into a pop beat. It's a beat so infectious that I tend to stick around far longer than I should, staring at each character's animations as I file through their lists of default names.
Actually, EarthBound doesn't just stick to samplings; at times, it pays full-blown tributes, including one of my favorite pieces above. The theme of the Sky Runner machine is undoubtedly derived from The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again, (or, at the very least, its intro) and fans had long since speculated EarthBound took so long to reach the Virtual Console due to music licensing/infringement issues, with this song at the top of the list. If that's the case, then I dub it a necessary evil that we had to wait so long, because I cannot imagine anything more perfect than the technopop launch buildup and the steady, pronounced percussion of the actual flight.
Obviously, EarthBound's music has its roots (and rightfully so!) in the Western sphere. Its parody of American culture comes alive best in Twoson, a laid-back tune I actually once wrote about. All the numbered-town tunes with their own brand of American nostalgia, but I particularly enjoy this one in how it's the sort of the tune that'd accompany a country drive. I'm also fond of the theme for the town's Chaos Theater, undoubtedly one of the game's top atmospheric tracks (just listen to all the little clinks!).
There are so, so many more I could elaborate upon---the snowy nostalgia of Winters and the Snow Wood Boarding School, the latter of which is another atmospheric winner through its borrowing of of Mother's Snowman theme. The tribal, jubilant walk of The Lost Underworld. My favorite of the psychedelic battle themes, which is reserved for mini-boss fights. The climatic fusion of 8-bit marches, rock guitars and haunting ambience for the masterpiece that is the final boss battle. The heartwrenching duo of Because I Love You and Smiles And Tears for their respective ending setpieces. There are many others.
But I fear I've shared too much already, and I haven't even discussed what I love most about the game.
The reason why EarthBound resonated so much with its fans is because while it's a fantastical sci-fi experience following the tale of four children, it's all framed within very human circumstances.Just ask the guy who grew up without a father and was comforted by how Ness communicated with his absent father through telephone (which is the game's method of saving). *Or the gay man who had anti-gay rallies take place on his street, and could only find solace in Jeff's friend: Tony, a homosexual child who dreams of taking walks with his bespectacled roommate.
*This story was shared on a Starmen.net forum post nearly a decade ago. I've since been unable to find it, but the tale's stuck with me as a prime example of EarthBound's immersion.
And take me. The other factor that prevented EarthBound from falling into the American abyss--the one hooked me into the game--was that Ness was included in the roster for the Nintendo 64's crossover fighter Super Smash Bros. The character fascinated me all the way up through the GameCube's Melee: here was a young boy who sauntered into a Nintendo all-star fray as if he was on the same level as Mario or Donkey Kong, and all he had to show for it was his brand of psionic powers. That was rad.
What was even radder was how his source game ticked off every box that 4th Grade me identified with. It was weird not just for the sake of being weird, but was entirely self-aware (NPCs commonly mention the game's title) and ripped on RPG tropes (the aforementioned Pencil Statue). I was out-of-touch and awkward and the game's "neglected" status became an identifiable symbol, a treasure hidden within the flood of "I rented Enter the Matrix over the weekend" during Circle Time.
Oh, and I also liked random humor. The likes of Invader Zim and Ed, Edd n' Eddy warped my young mind with their mall security zombies and buttered toast, and soon a new outlet of humor was born and eventually expressed through the likes of Games in the Basement and writings/drawings revolving around Kung Fu Animal Forces and Zombie Men. And now for the first in my favorite medium, I had a refuge in a game that hosted Mr. Saturns, peanut-cheese bars, and trout-flavored yogurt. Even if others didn't accept me, I was vindicated through this one game alone.
Of course, I've grown to further appreciate the game's satire as I've gotten older, but the way it's transformed the mundane into the hysterical is just phenomenal. Here's an example I've grown to recognize as one of my favorites: after collecting the first of the Eight Melodies, Ness is accosted by Onett's police (who, just so you know, are going for the world record in road-blocking) for trespassing in a restricted area, and is told to report the station. There, the chief explains that while he's aware Ness wishes to travel to Twoson, the roads shall remain blocked unless he completes a certain test. Leading him down to an isolated room, he turns to Ness and asks if he can "get past five of my best men..."
At the time, I took this at face-value. So Ness had to take on some policemen now, okay. I'd already put a stop to the biggest, baddest gang in town and took down a giant ant, and it's not like I wasn't already running over police in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. How was fighting cops any different than stomping on Goombas? It wasn't until I was replaying it in college when I realized this guy legitimately pitted a little boy against trained policemen. Cops that chose to battle with karate chops rather than firearms, mind, but it was enough to send me into hysterics (that it was already home to some of the game's best quotes was icing on the cake).
That this seemingly pointless event occurs again and again throughout the game tricks you into thinking it's just one of EarthBound's gleeful methods of screwing with the player. And maybe it kind of is; I'll admit I actually hated him as a kid for interrupting my game. But right after the character roll call at the end, you realize his purpose when he pulls up a camera stand: as the credits roll, those very same photographs scroll by as Smiles and Tears instills the warmest of smiles or renders you a sobbing mess.
nothing sort of embarrassing (I'll leave to you to guess which one is mine). But it was how I was part of a beloved secret--a masterpiece forgotten by society--that mattered most.
That, and how I learned the word "nostalgia". Imagine it: a ten year old knowing the word nostalgia! It's true. The Starmen.net hippies I idolized used the word to describe their memories of EarthBound and how Super Smash Bros. Melee glorified Nintendo history and I wanted in on whatever they were talking about. Was it the way the towns of Onett and Twoson recalled memories of a youth I didn't have, or how I imagined kids back in 1995 waking up in the languid hours of the morning and rushing downstairs to play EarthBound, or how I felt when I listened to Melee's arrangement of Pollyanna?
Whatever it was, it was the greatest feeling in the world; my most cherished secret of all. And now it's fourteen years later and I'm still playing EarthBound. It's a game that has grown up with me, gradually building upon what I adored about it as a child alongside all the trials and tribulations of being a young adult. It's a game all about nostalgia and making memories, and now I can mine that very same nostalgia I once sought to discover. The irony continues to blow my mind; I can't think of anything else like it.
EarthBound is not a game of excitement or thrills, the most common reasons people play games. In that sense, I often don't recommend as a game game. But for games that require any sort of investment, or introduce any sort of theme or message, or push the boundaries of what exactly is defined as a video game, it is, with the very possible exception of its own sequel, the very best video game not just under Nintendo's banner, but the best video game you can play, on any console. EarthBound is a game that will grow the more you play it, and I eagerly anticipate to see what I'll discover next time I visit its world: where I can be a kid and an adult all in one. Say fuzzy pickles!


The Oregon Model
On election night, Doug McVay abided by his own self-imposed media blackout. “If I had been watching cable news this year, I’d have thrown something really heavy at the TV,” he said. Instead, he hunkered down in his Portland home with his cat Jasmine and old episodes of Stargate SG-1, where the good guys inevitably win in the end. “Sometimes, you just need those stories,” he said. For anyone working to roll back America’s ruinous drug war, boy do they. Until recently, the good guys have been perennial losers in a country of unyielding criminalization, mass incarceration, and D.A.R.E officers peddling propaganda to grade schoolers.
The morning after election night, though, the longtime drug policy activist woke up feeling like decades of work were not in vain: Measure 110, Oregon’s ballot initiative to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all drugs—including meth, heroin, and cocaine—and redirect funds towards substance use treatment decisively passed 58.5 to 41.5 percent. “Holy mackerel,” McVay said before whistling loudly. He was confident Measure 110 would win but was “blown away” by its overwhelming victory.
In 1984 when McVay was in his twenties, he went out to Oregon with a group of activists to try and pass Measure 5, one of the first attempts to legalize cannabis since a tax implemented in 1937 functioned as an effective ban, thanks in no small part to a racist campaign against Mexican migrants. When Measure 5 went to the voters in 1986, it lost, garnering just 26 percent of the vote. “We got kinda creamed,” he said. Oregon would not vote to legalize weed for another twenty-eight years, when it earned 56 percent of the vote in 2014. Six years later, McVay sees Measure 110 as evidence of how far the movement has come. “I’m just disappointed it took this long. I knew it’d happen . . . because the good guys never give up.”
Decriminalizing all drugs had long been considered a drug policy pipe dream in America, where the story of the drug war is one of perpetual escalation. For over half a century, politicians from both major parties fell over each trying to cook up the most potent batch of draconian punishments that, to this day, have done little but disproportionately harm people of color, rip families and communities apart, and saddle people who use drugs with criminal records that prevent them from obtaining student loans, steady housing, and gainful employment. As a senator, President-elect Joe Biden took a leading role in crafting some of the harshest drug laws on record—laws that activists around the country have since been fighting to undo.
If legislators and representatives are too chickenshit to change America’s punitive drug laws, then the people will simply do it themselves.
Oregon’s vote to decriminalize all drugs, making it the first state in the nation to do so, marks a historic turning point in that struggle. “Oregon showed the world that a more humane, compassionate approach is possible,” said Kassandra Frederique, executive director of The Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group that spent millions backing Measure 110 and successfully campaigned to legalize cannabis in five other states, bringing the number of states where cannabis is legal to fifteen.
These resounding drug policy wins are proof that the country is often far more progressive on drug issues than its elected officials. Deep red states voted to legalize cannabis; blue cities decriminalized psychedelics and elected reform-minded prosecutors. Voters around the country are showing that if legislators and representatives are too chickenshit to change America’s punitive drug laws, then the people will simply do it themselves. Still, these victories are bright spots in otherwise dark times: overdoses, addiction, and deaths of despair are soaring in a country breaking under economic austerity and an unrelenting pandemic. While criminalization has clearly not served the state of Oregon—where overdose deaths spiked by 70 percent during the months of April and May—now the state faces the daunting task of overcoming structural hurdles to change and proving that treating drug use outside the criminal justice system can bring results. “Passing Measure 110 is one thing,” Haven Wheelock, one of the ballot’s original petitioners who works at a syringe exchange in Portland, said. “Making it actually work is something else entirely.”
Measure 110 is an elegant one-two punch. First, it strips criminal penalties for drug possession and swaps them for a noncriminal $100 citation, no more serious than a traffic ticket, that can be waived if one agrees to a free health assessment conducted by a licensed drug counselor. Second, the measure creates a new funding stream for a statewide network of treatment and harm reduction services by redirecting tens of millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue, in addition to making use of new savings that will come from reductions in arrests, convictions, and other police spending: according to a report from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, the measure will reduce convictions for drug possession by nearly 90 percent, from 4,057 convictions in 2019 to an estimated 378 in 2021. “What we’re doing is totally divorcing the funding stream for treatment and health services from the criminal-legal system,” Lindsay LaSalle, attorney and policy director at the Drug Policy Alliance, said. “I think it’s so important because there are so many subconscious levels of coercion that happen as a result of all the money being funneled through the criminal-legal system.”
The shift in priorities will result in Oregon’s biggest public investment in health and social services to treat drug use—a unique opportunity to overhaul a broken health care system and envision a new approach that no longer hinges on ultimatums and coercion. Instead, care providers, treatment centers, and organizations like the Miracles Club, which provide addiction recovery services to Portland’s Black community, will be able to apply for grants from the state to build out programs that serve people who have been harmed by the drug war.
A new way of doing things in Oregon is desperately needed. Another report from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission gives a blunt assessment of where the state currently stands on treating addiction: “Oregon now ranks among the most challenged states in the nation for substance abuse and mental health problems, while at the same time ranking among the worst states for access to care.” In fact, it sits in forty-seventh place in access to addiction treatment despite the fourth highest addiction rate in the country. The report goes on to describe a fragmented network of public and private services with “very little data to measure outcomes.” In other words, Oregon spends roughly $235 million per year on treatment and prevention services that few people can access, and among those who do, it’s largely unclear whether they’re actually benefiting in any meaningful way.
“Oregon doesn’t have a lot of treatment options right now,” Brent Canode, executive director of the Alano Club of Portland, a recovery services nonprofit, said. “What you end up with are long waiting lists, and we know waiting lists are death lists when it comes to substance use disorder. If you are on a waiting list for three to six weeks, there’s a good chance you might not be around when your number is called.” Oregonians voted overwhelmingly to change all of this. Now, those who fought tirelessly to pass it feel a mandate to deliver a new approach that voters want. Decriminalization officially activates on February 1, 2021, but it will take much longer to actually create the infrastructure that will save lives.
To that end, three “working groups” have been convened to build Oregon’s post-decriminalization world. One group will focus on racial equity, ensuring organizations that serve communities of color are prioritized and given adequate funding and support for their programs. Another group is focused on policing and the criminal justice system, and will work to ensure, among other things, that police change their habits and stop viewing drugs as a pretense to make arrests. The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission estimates that racial disparities in drug arrests could drop by 95 percent and that convictions of Black and Indigenous individuals could plummet by 94 percent because of the measure. But given that law enforcement officials like district attorneys, chiefs of police, and sheriffs organized against the measure, it remains to be seen if the racial disparities in policing will decline as projected. Research by Leo Beletsky, a drug policy expert, finds that changes to drug laws must be followed up with intensive police training and monitoring—otherwise police could undermine reforms by using reasons other than drug possession to initiate stops and make arrests.
Wheelock and Canode both belong to the third working group tasked with reshaping addiction, recovery, and harm reduction services across the state. Canode hopes to see a much broader spectrum of care become accessible. “We know that it’s really fucking hard to stay in recovery when you don’t have safe and supportive housing, when you have felony convictions and are unable to gain sustainable and meaningful employment,” Canode said. “We can now address these social determinants through Measure 110 programming.” He argues that not everyone necessarily requires treatment in a residential setting. Services that help people get their lives back can run the gamut, he said, from housing to job training to record expungement (the measure does not automatically expunge prior convictions, but it’s possible for the state legislature to pass legislation that does).
One of the biggest challenges to building new health care infrastructure in Oregon is the fact that such limited data exists about the efficacy of the current system, both public and private, despite a years long effort to more effectively measure outcomes. This will hopefully change under Measure 110, which will be audited and evaluated every two years to track both outcomes and spending. While there’s a degree of flying blind until that first evaluation occurs, there is strong evidence that harm reduction strategies save lives.
Implementing decriminalization and building out a new suite of services while increasing support to those that already exist will be an experiment yet to be undertaken at this scale anywhere in the United States.
Which is why decriminalization may create a much more welcoming climate for innovative harm reduction services, like checking street drugs for the presence of illicit fentanyl and creating supervised consumption sites. “I’m really excited about the collateral benefits decriminalization can bring to other harm reduction efforts,” Canode said, noting that if a supervised consumption site is approved it can be funded through Measure 110’s grant program. While there are underground safe consumption sites operating throughout the United States, none of them are sanctioned by the government. In 2019, a judge ruled that consumption sites do not violate federal law, but no city has yet to take the leap and officially open one. Joe Biden’s Department of Justice could drop any pending appeals in that case, signaling they would let a site open—or they might not.
Which programs and organizations will receive funding—and how much—ultimately rests with a newly created group called the Oversight and Accountability Council, which is made up of doctors, epidemiologists, and social workers appointed by the Oregon Health Authority. Perhaps most importantly, though, people who have been impacted by addiction and drug enforcement will also serve on the council, a clear recognition that people who know the horrors of drug criminalization must have a seat at the table where decisions are being made.
Implementing decriminalization and building out a new suite of services while increasing support to those that already exist will be an experiment yet to be undertaken at this scale anywhere in the United States—and many things could go wrong. “The most dangerous period is the transition period,” said Morgan Godvin, a commissioner on Oregon’s Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, who became an advocate after spending time in federal prison for selling heroin that led to her best friend’s fatal overdose. “Public opinion and the narrative could be warped in detrimental ways. Even if it’s not real, people will try to insinuate that decriminalization is causing a spike in drug use.”
Now that uber-potent, illicitly manufactured fentanyl is making its way to Portland from the East Coast and Midwest, overdose deaths could keep rising, for instance. “It will be important to urge caution in early interpretation of the effects of Measure 110,” according to Andy Seaman, an addiction medicine physician and researcher in Portland. “There has been an increase in overdose of 70 percent since April associated with fentanyl. There will be claims that Measure 110 is causative if this trend continues.” The measure may likewise face opposition in rural parts of the state, which voted by wide margins against it. “More conservative counties can sabotage implementation,” Godvin said. “We’re going to be battling against this.”
Wheelock feels the pressure to get it right and build a system that works. “This isn’t just about Oregon for me,” she said. “It’s so important to me that we do this right because if we don’t, it’s going to be really hard for other states to replicate it. And our opposition has pushed back on this. But I don’t need to worry about saying that out loud anymore now that we won. The truth is, I want decriminalization nationally.” The dominos are lining up: with cannabis now fully legal in fifteen states, what’s stopping them from also ending the criminalization of other drugs and funding treatment with new tax revenue? Oregon’s victory has put wind in the sails of Washington State’s Treatment First campaign, which, like Oregon, aims to end unnecessary drug prosecutions and fund treatment. Oregon took the first step so that other states may follow suit.
During the 1990s, Portugal’s drug problems looked a lot like America’s do now: opioid overdoses were rampant, and at one point, the country had the highest HIV transmission rate in the European Union. Portugal’s drug laws were likewise harsh, with roughly half of people in prison there for drug-related offenses. The American way––criminalize, criminalize, criminalize––utterly failed to bring results in Portugal, so they ran in the opposite direction. In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize all drugs and invest heavily in treatment and social services. The country has made remarkable progress in the years since, and what became known as the “Portugal model” is celebrated by activists around the world.
What’s happening in Oregon is “the Portugal model on a state level,” McVay said. “We’ve seen it work successfully in another country for twenty years. Treating people who use drugs as others, stigmatized and brutalized, is what causes the real drug problems. We’re getting people to understand that.”
There’s an important lesson for Americans to take away from Portugal’s story: decriminalization was only the first step. Shifting the culture is what ultimately transformed the country and led to the drop in incarceration and addiction rates. Instead of being considered criminals and junkies, people struggling with drug use and addiction began to finally be treated with dignity and respect. You cannot humanize people you deem to be criminal. Oregon has taken the first step, but it will take an unshakable commitment—and years of follow through—to enact change in the systems of policing and health to finally treat people with addiction like they’re no longer criminals. “It’s a slow process,” McVay said, “but hey, in 1984, the Oregon ballot measure didn’t work. Back then, people thought we were crazy for even trying.”


The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) held a public open house to detail a possible project that would add a second main track between Lee's Summit and Strasburg. The route is experiencing capacity issues and currently serves four Amtrak trains and close to 30 freight trains a day.
MoDOT says the proposed construction of a second track would improve on-time performance and reliability for the existing Missouri River Runner route, increase speed in suitable sections of the corridor to improve travel times, provide a service to promote more balanced use of travel options in the corridor and improve freight movement within the corridor.
Officials will have several design considerations to deal with on the potential project. The corridor has five cures that would require a larger radius to accommodate higher speeds for passenger trains. The centerline of the new second mainline would need to be 20 feet from the centerline of the existing track, wood crossties would be replaced with concrete crossties and the rail strength would be increased. Additionally, culverts and bridges would be extended and resized to allow for adequate drainage and an access road for maintenance vehicles would be provided. The project would also require a large number of grade crossings to either be consolidated, grade separated or have their warning devices upgraded.
MoDOT has not identified funding for this project, but seeks to gain environmental clearance and complete preliminary engineering on the project with a grant awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.


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Icahn Increases Stakes in Biotech Bets
|January 29th, 2009||
|SEC filings revealed today that Carl Icahn has increased his stakes in Amylin (AMLN) to 12.1 million shares (8.8%) and Enzon Pharmaceuticals (ENZN) to 3.5 million shares (7.8%). |
Icahn is planning to nominate a slate of five directors for Amylin’s board. In addition to Icahn's nominees, another activist Eastbourne Capital, which owns over 12% of Amylin’s shares out, is seeking to elect its own slate of five directors.
Icahn has also nominated a director who is affiliated with his hedge fund for Enzon’s board. In August 2008, Enzon’s executives had stated that they were interested in pursuing Icahn’s demand that they sell or spin-off parts of Enzon’s business. However, in December, the management team reversed course saying that current market conditions had forced them to abandon a spin-off strategy.
. Enzon has also been targeted by another shareholder activist, DellaCamera Capital Management, which currently holds a 7.5% stake in the company.
For Detailed Investor Profiles on these Investors, click below:


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ArtsFairfax, a nonprofit that has been designated as the county’s arts agency, announced the winners of this year’s awards on Tuesday (July 27).
“For ten years, our annual Arts Awards has recognized the creative visionaries who inspire us, engage us, and create transformational change in our communities,” ArtsFairfax President and CEO Linda S. Sullivan said in a press release. “This year’s honorees exemplify the impact that artists, arts and cultural organizations, and those that support them are making to the future of Fairfax County.”
In addition to marking their 10th anniversary, this year’s Arts Awards herald a return for both the awards themselves after they were canceled last year and local arts groups, which are tentatively starting to reemerge from the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Reston Town Center Association (RTCA) will receive the Arts Philanthropy Award, which “recognizes an individual, corporation, or foundation that has provided leadership funding or long-term monetary support to the arts,” according to ArtsFairfax.
A private nonprofit incorporated in 1988, RTCA says its mission is to “maintain a vibrant and viable downtown for the benefit of residents, employees, and visitors,” including by providing public arts, social, and civic events at Reston Town Center.
Since its founding, the association has maintained an Art Fund with revenue from its annual commercial property assessments to support public art and cultural programs, such as the summer Concerts on the Town and the annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, according to Arts Fairfax.
While the summer concerts were canceled for a second year in a row, RTCA is planning to bring back the Tephra Fine Arts Festival in September, and it is working with Herndon’s NextStop Theatre on a new Theater in the Park initiative expected to launch next spring.
“Supporting a strong cultural proposition is central to our mission,” RTCA Executive Director Robert Goudie said. “It is part of what we think differentiates Reston Town Center as a compelling destination. So we are very proud to receive this recognition, especially from an organization, ArtsFairfax, that is so important to the region’s arts scene.”
Goudie says RTCA shares the award with its partners, including Reston Community Center, Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, Public Art Reston, Washington West Film Festival, and Reston Town Center owner Boston Properties.
This year’s other honorees are:
- Jinx Hazel Award: National Museum of the United States Army
- Arts Impact Award: 1st Stage Theatre
- Arts Education Award: Traveling Players Ensemble
- Individual Arts Education Award: artist Kelli Schollard-Sincock, who volunteers as an art class teacher at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center
The 2021 ArtsFairfax Awards will hold a reception on Oct. 15 in The Atrium at Capital One Hall (7750 Capital One Tower Road) in Tysons. Tickets are now available for purchase.
Photo via Reston Concerts on the Town/Facebook
This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal…
The Fairfax Health District reported a small uptick in COVID-19 cases over the past week, while the availability of vaccines for the area’s youngest residents expanded. With more than 500…
For the second time in the past month, Reston Association’s Board of Directors has appointed a new board member — a process that is typically conducted with a member-driven election….
Local police are investigating an incident of arson and graffiti that occurred at St. John Neumann Catholic Community Church in Reston yesterday (Sunday). The graffiti, which was found at the…


Section 26a of the TVA Act
Subpart D: Activities on TVA Flowage Easement Shoreland
§ 1304.300 Scope and intent
Any structure built upon land subject to a flowage easement held by TVA shall be deemed an obstruction affecting navigation, flood control, or public lands or reservations within the meaning of section 26a of the Act. Such obstructions shall be subject to all requirements of this part except those contained in subpart C of this part, which shall apply as follows:
(a) All of §1304.212 shall apply.
(b) Sections 1304.200, 1304.203, 1304.207, and 1304.209 shall not apply.
(c) Section 1304.201 shall not apply except for paragraph (c).
(d) Section 1304.202 shall apply except that TVA shall determine on a case-by-case basis whether it is necessary to remove materials accumulated behind sediment control structures to an upland site.
(e) Section 1304.204 shall apply except that the “50 feet” trigger of paragraph (i) shall not apply. TVA may impose appropriate requirements to ensure accommodation of neighboring landowners.
(f) Section 1304.205 shall apply except that the facilities described in paragraph (a) are not limited to locations within an access corridor.
(g) Section 1304.206 shall apply except for paragraph (b)(3).
(h) Section 1304.208 shall apply except that TVA approval shall not be required to conduct the activities described in paragraph (a).
(i) Section 1304.210 shall apply except for paragraph (d).
(j) Section 1304.211 shall apply except to the extent that it would restrict mowing or other vegetation management.
Nothing contained in this part shall be construed to be in derogation of the rights of the United States or of TVA under any flowage easement held by the United States or TVA.
(a) Power lines, poles, electrical panels, and wiring shall be installed:
(1) In a way that would not be hazardous to the public or interfere with TVA operations; and
(2) In compliance with all State and local electrical codes (satisfactory evidence of compliance to be provided to TVA upon request).
(b) Electrical service shall be installed with an electrical disconnect that is located above the 500-year floodplain or the flood risk profile, whichever is higher, and is accessible during flood events.
TVA’s issuance of a permit does not mean that TVA has determined the facilities are safe for any purpose or that TVA has any duty to make such a determination.
§ 1304.302 Vegetation management on flowage easement shoreland
Removal, modification, or establishment of vegetation on privately owned shoreland subject to a TVA flowage easements does not require approval by TVA. When reviewing proposals for docks or other obstructions on flowage easement shoreland, TVA shall consider the potential for impacts to sensitive plants or other resources and may establish conditions in its approval of a proposal to avoid or minimize such impacts consistent with applicable laws and executive orders.
§ 1304.303 Channel excavation
(a) Channel excavation of privately owned reservoir bottom subject to a TVA flowage easement does not require approval by TVA under section 26a if:
(1) All dredged material is placed above the limits of the 100-year floodplain or the TVA flood risk profile elevation, whichever is applicable, and
(2) The dredging is not being accomplished in conjunction with the construction of a structure requiring a section 26a permit.
(b) Any fill material placed within the flood control zone of a TVA reservoir requires TVA review and approval.
(c) TVA shall encourage owners of flowage easement property to adopt the standards for channel excavation applicable to TVA-owned residential access shoreland.


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Airdate: August 20th 2015
Donna Douglas of the Classic TV Show "The Beverly Hillbillies" makes a visit to the Studio City Cafe. Episode 1079
Airdate: July 11th 2008
4th of July 2008 Nancy Harmon
Nancy Harmon appears on the 4th of July celebration at the Jim Bakker Show. Episode 1242.

domain: entertainment


The generally positive conduct of parliamentary elections on 1 October, and the high level of voter participation underscore Georgia’s commitment to its democratic path, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood said in a joint statement on October 2.
"The EU congratulates the Georgian Dream coalition on its election victory. The Georgian people have now spoken. Both responsible government and constructive opposition are essential parts of a functioning democratic society,” the statement reads.
In the statement the EU called on all representatives elected to the new parliament “to work together in the interests of Georgia.”
“We take full note of ODIHR’s preliminary assessment of the conduct of the elections which considers that the process has shown a healthy respect for fundamental freedoms at the heart of democratic elections,” the statement reads. “We look forward to continued close cooperation with Georgia on our ambitious mutual agenda of political association and economic integration.”


Can Windows 10 run on Intel Celeron?
For processing, Windows 10 requires a CPU clocked at a minimum of 1 GHz. This is a very low bar to beat, as even Intel’s low-power Atom and Celeron processors have been above the 1 GHz mark for several years. … This processor should be paired with 1 GB of RAM for 32 bits and 2 GB for 64 bits.
- Is my Intel processor compatible with Windows 10?
- What Intel processors can run Windows 10?
- Is Intel Celeron still good in 2020?
- Is Intel Celeron fast enough?
- Can the i5 7200U run Windows 11?
- Does Microsoft release Windows 11?
- Which version of Windows 10 is better?
- What is the maximum RAM for Windows 10?
- What is better Celeron or Intel?
- Are Celeron processors slow?
- What is the downside of the Celeron processor?
- What is the fastest Intel Celeron processor?
- Is Intel Celeron good for zooming?
- Can Intel Celeron run games?
Is my Intel processor compatible with Windows 10?
on your keyboard and start typing System, choose System Information which will display the processor information with name and number. Go to the product specification site and type the processor number in the search box. … In the following table, we can see that the processor is compatible with Windows® 10, 64-bit.
What Intel processors can run Windows 10?
Windows IoT Core processors
|Windows Edition||Intel processors||NXP processors|
|Windows 10 1803||Up to currently enabled Intel Joule, Atom, Celeron and Pentium processors||N / A|
|Windows 10 IoT Core 1809 (SAC)||Up to currently enabled Intel Atom, Celeron and Pentium processors||Up to through currently enabled NXP i.MX processors|
Is Intel Celeron still good in 2020?
The bottom line. The thing is, laptops with Celeron or Pentium cores can still be used. … If you’re looking to improve the performance of your entry-level laptop, you should definitely consider upgrading to at least an SSD.
Is Intel Celeron fast enough?
And, the fastest dual-core processor, the Celeron N4000 is 47.4% faster than the Celeron N3050.
|Intel Celeron N4000 1.10 GHz||1452|
|Intel Celeron N3450 1.10 GHz||1835|
|Intel Pentium 4415Y 1.60 GHz||2197|
Can the i5 7200U run Windows 11?
The Intel i5-7200U dual-core chip, which was released in 2016, is apparently too old. Microsoft announced the system requirements for Windows 11 during Thursday’s big reveal. … The same system requirements also say a 64-bit compatible dual-core processor with a 1 GHz clock speed is sufficient to run Windows 11.
Does Microsoft release Windows 11?
Microsoft is set to release Windows 11, the latest version of its best-selling operating system, in October 5th. Windows 11 introduces several updates for productivity in a hybrid work environment, a new Microsoft Store and is the “best Windows for games”.
Which version of Windows 10 is better?
Compare Windows 10 editions
- Starting Windows 10. The best Windows ever just keeps getting better. …
- Windows 10 Pro. A solid foundation for every business. …
- Windows 10 Pro for workstations. Designed for people with advanced workloads or data needs. …
- Windows 10 Enterprise. For organizations with advanced security and management needs.
What is the maximum RAM for Windows 10?
Physical memory limits – Windows 10
|Version||Limit on X86||Limit in X64|
|Windows 10 Education||4GB||2 TB|
|Windows 10 Pro for workstations||4GB||6 TB|
|Windows 10 Pro||4GB||2 TB|
|Windows 10 startup||4GB||128 GB|
What is better Celeron or Intel?
The amount of L2 cache can have a big effect on performance. Clock speed – Intel manufactures Pentium 4 chips to run at a higher clock speed than Celeron chips. The faster Pentium 4 could be 60 percent faster than the faster Celeron. … Pentium 4s tend to be 30 percent faster than Celerons.
Are Celeron processors slow?
Celerons are Reduced Pentiums and many of the instruction codes related to, say, multimedia, are removed from Celeron’s “instruction set.” Therefore, it responds more slowly to multimedia tasks than the equivalent Pentium processor, as it has to do more work to achieve the same effect.
What is the downside of the Celeron processor?
Regarding office applications, lack of L2 cache it is a great disadvantage. Today Celeron processors are available as dual-core, running at higher speeds, with more cache built right into the central CPU.
What is the fastest Intel Celeron processor?
The fastest of these processors is the Intel Celeron N3450 Quad Core. Using the Celeron N3060 as a reference, the Celeron N3450 is 91.5% faster, almost twice as fast. The second fastest processor, the Celeron N4000 with a gain of 55% followed by the N3160 with a gain of 18.7%.
Is Intel Celeron good for zooming?
Yes, will be compatible with Zoom.
Can Intel Celeron run games?
Any modern Intel CPU is capable of playing with the proper GPU. Even dual-core Pentiums and Celerons. Paired with the GTX 1050 Ti, you can play 1080p at near-maximum settings while playing single-player games.
Conclusion paragraph: Let me know in the comments what you think about this blog post. about Can Windows 10 run on Intel Celeron?. Did you find it helpful? What questions do you still have? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
#Windows #run #Intel #Celeron


Cedarburg considers $12.8 million TIF for Highway 60 industrial park
Cedarburg officials are considering a $12.8 million tax incremental financing district to facilitate the creation of a 60-acre business park on the south side of Highway 60, west of Sheboygan Road.
City officials have wanted to create a business park on the property since 1998, when they purchased it for $750,000.
The expansion of development in the area — most recently the Glen at Cedar Creek subdivision — has brought sewer and water utilities up Sheboygan Road, reducing the cost of extending utilities to the future business park.
The business park would be divided into seven parcels, although City Administrator Mikko Hilvo said the number of lots could change depending on the needs of prospective tenants.
The city is in negotiations with an anchor tenant interested in building a manufacturing campus on a 15-acre parcel close to Highway 60. The tenant's name has not been disclosed yet, but Hilvo said a development agreement should be presented to the common council in May.
Mayor Mike O'Keefe said he is confident that more manufacturers will be interested in coming to the business park once it is built.
"We are learning that it's an 'If you build it, they will come' type of thing," he said.
To fund the installation of sewer, water and other infrastructure, the city has proposed $12.8 million in expenditures through a TIF district, a mechanism that allows municipal governments to finance public improvements with the additional tax revenue generated by the development.
The $12.8 million figure includes $8.2 million for the installation of public infrastructure, such as sewer, water, engineering costs and the construction of an access street within the business park.
Highway 60 would also need to be upgraded. A civil engineering firm is working with the state Department of Transportation to determine what changes would be required, but Hilvo said the road would likely have to be widened to create turn lanes into the business park.
The remaining $4.6 million includes $4.4 million for long-term interest and finance-related expenses, as well as $170,000 for the administration of the TIF.
City officials expect manufacturing plants to add $42.2 million in additional value by 2031.
Due to the depreciating nature of manufacturing property, the plan also assumes property values will decrease 2% annually, bringing the additional value of the property to $30.9 million at the end of the TIF's 20-year lifespan.
The project is expected to generate $11.4 million in additional tax revenue during the 20-year life of the district. The additional tax revenue, plus an estimated $2.3 million in land sale revenue, would be used to pay back the project expenses by 2041, one year before the TIF district legally expires.
City officials said the revenue projections are conservative, since they assume only 40 of the 49 developable acres will be developed.
The $2.3 million in land sale revenue is based on the sale of 30 acres at an average of $75,000 per acre. The remaining 10 acres will be offered as an incentive to a prospective tenant, according to the plan.
The TIF project plans were approved April 27 by the Cedarburg Community Development Authority. The common council voted April 27 to rezone the property for business park use.
The TIF plans still need to be approved by the common council and the joint review board, which is composed of representatives from tax-collecting entities that would be affected by the district.
Infrastructure improvements are scheduled to start in fall 2020, and tenants could start building in fall 2021, Hilvo said. He said he envisions the tenants mostly being industrial or manufacturing uses.
Hilvo said the extension of sewer and water utilities to the business park could eventually pave the way for further development southwest of the business park, near Washington Avenue.


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SANDISFIELD, MA (WHDH) — State Police say six people were arrested following protests in restricted areas at a gas pipeline project in Sandisfield.
In a release, police say the protest was “planned and peaceful.” Protesters entered an area designated as restricted and did not leave when troopers ordered them out. They were arrested without incident.
The restricted area is owned by the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, where crews were clearing trees.
The six people arrested were charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. Those people are:
1. Montserrat Archbald, 53, of Whately.
2. Carole Horowitz, 66, of Amherst.
3. Elizabeth Caretti Ramirez, 47, of Holyoke.
4. Nastasia V. Lawton-Stickler, 33, of Leominster.
5. Lundy Bancroft Jr., 57, of Florence.
6. Christopher C. Sabo, 31, of Ashfield.
(Copyright (c) 2018 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)


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Discover how you can Grow Healthy Plants
I would like to congratulate you on growing your own vegetables it is such a fantastic thing to do. There is nothing like having your own tasty homegrown strawberries and tomatoes.
We have put this pack together for you, so you will have everything you need to keep your plants and soils healthy during the growing season. Strawberries and Tomatoes are hungry plants, which means you need to feed them with good nutrition when they are producing fruits.
If you wanted, you could follow what I do with mine.
- Soil health is vital ( Healthy soil = Healthy plants ) Add the granular seaweed to the soil or compost, whether in containers or direct into your garden. This is slowly releasing and holds the moisture around the plants better.
- Roots ( Healthy Roots, Healthy Shoots = Healthy Fruits) Dip the roots of your plants into the root booster this will boost the root growth and the energy the root has to develop. It also helps with transplant shock.
- Feeding, Spraying / Misting the leaves of the plants with Betterplants’ unique liquid seaweed is an instant hit of nutrients for your plants and will protect the plant against stress, Also when you spray the leaves with our liquid, is proven that the nutrient is absorbed 10 times fast then root feeding.
- Root feeding, whey your plants are flowering, feeding and watering regularly is key to healthy plants and fruits. This is why we adding the tomato feed to the pack, Now you are feeding the plants from the root up and the leaves down. This is a powerful way to feed your plants.

domain: food